wraggster
November 12th, 2020, 22:23
A Mesen Resource Pack is now available for the NES game, The Legend of Zelda. Upgrades include, but are not limited to, increased resolution, animated backgrounds, upgraded sound, and various gameplay enhancements. This was a group project and many elements had to come together to make the final product possible.
This is the first Mesen pack to utilize a new “background based” approach to graphic replacement on a large scale. Traditional graphic replacement methods for NES Emulators usually involve replacing individual 8×8 graphic tiles that are part of the native game coding. This often becomes an issue for graphic replacement artists because 8×8 tiles are often repeated many times within games due to the size limitations of NES hardware. Because of this, it is often very easy to fall victim to an HD Pack that looks very repetitive or artificial.
To avoid this pitfall, a programmer known as KYA built upon previous work done by Sour with regard to static background image replacement. Instead of replacing small 8×8 tiles, one large .png file is used in various areas as a “background” to fill the entire screen. Since the Overworld in the Legend of Zelda is made of many static screens that are all tied together, it was a perfect candidate for this type of approach on a large scale. Several memory checks are used to facilitate screen transitions, and the 8×8 tiles are still utilized for interactable blocks. This allowed for maximum creative expression and it allowed for much more interesting graphic upgrades.
Many “quality of life” features are also included courtesy of ShadowOne333. These are implemented via a bundled .ips file which is included in the pack.
Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhp0ySFnB5g
http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=31559.0
This is the first Mesen pack to utilize a new “background based” approach to graphic replacement on a large scale. Traditional graphic replacement methods for NES Emulators usually involve replacing individual 8×8 graphic tiles that are part of the native game coding. This often becomes an issue for graphic replacement artists because 8×8 tiles are often repeated many times within games due to the size limitations of NES hardware. Because of this, it is often very easy to fall victim to an HD Pack that looks very repetitive or artificial.
To avoid this pitfall, a programmer known as KYA built upon previous work done by Sour with regard to static background image replacement. Instead of replacing small 8×8 tiles, one large .png file is used in various areas as a “background” to fill the entire screen. Since the Overworld in the Legend of Zelda is made of many static screens that are all tied together, it was a perfect candidate for this type of approach on a large scale. Several memory checks are used to facilitate screen transitions, and the 8×8 tiles are still utilized for interactable blocks. This allowed for maximum creative expression and it allowed for much more interesting graphic upgrades.
Many “quality of life” features are also included courtesy of ShadowOne333. These are implemented via a bundled .ips file which is included in the pack.
Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhp0ySFnB5g
http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=31559.0