Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everybody!  Today is the last day of 2009 and the end of a decade.  I will never forget these past 10 years.  I know in the future, it will be looked back on and I will have lived it.  2010 is a new beginning.  It's the year I graduate from High School.  I have seen that date since kindergarten but now, it's finally come true.  This is certainly a milestone for all of us.

And as a bonus, Prof.9, of TREZ has finally completed my long-desired wish.  He finally figured out the encryption routine used to encrypt Megaman Star Force 3's message files.  I got Greiga Master to make a program to convert the rom and see all of the game's script.  I could not find a debug region like the past games, unfortunately, but I did find some goodies.  I will share them now.  Please note that I am not making this up.

...tStart_demo030a!.Temp_Message


The_"flag_for_having.talked_to_everyone_on_the.beach"_has_been_raised!.
Start_DM0209!..'.....


I'm_sitting_in_for_the.Environmental_System_Hertz!.Start_DM030b!..................................
CThe_cut_scene_starts_when.you_talk_to_me!.....È


...tYou_got_two_Luna_Frags!.So_let's_start_the_demo!

That's about it.  I still never figured out what the "DM" abbreviation meant.  Besides a few testing messages that are never seen, I also found all the swear words in the English language. (which I will not post here for obvious reasons)  I already knew "CAPCOM" was censored for some reason. (in MMSF2, sending it as cipher revealed a bonus message)  Also censored are the words "usersupport", "supportcenter", "supportstaff", and "admin" which seem like an odd choice for me.  I guess they wanted to prevent impersonators.

Then there's another mystery set of words probably belonging to a menu that I'm not aware of.

Here,_you_can_delete_or
rewrite_comments_written
by_you_or_your_Bothers

I believe the game doesn't allow free comments between anybody.  If this feature existed, communication problems may not have existed.

Then there's another list of seemingly random nouns.  Again, I don't know where these appear, if at all.  Some of them have nothing to do with the game at all.


Keith_HevyCannon_SpadMgnes_Tongue_Upnorth_Snooker_Peppers_BurgerQuest_
Troy_DrillArm3_DiamndIce_Tail_Tropica_Dodgball_Liver_TacoFantasy_Gavin_BlackInk_
DrkPhntm_Heart_The_City_Cricket_
Okra_FishHunter_Gomer_SmileCoin1_TaursFire_Everywhere_Boonies_GateBall_Celery_
PorkMonster_Mopey_WhtMeteor_CygnsWing_
Optimism_Resorton_Hockey_Mushroom_ChickenFighter

I've checked all the ciphers and there is no bonus like last time.  But I found another list instead.  These are random character names that are never used and are not Cipher codes.

Taurus.Cancer.Diamond.Ophiuca.Crown.Plesio.Kidd.Cygnus.Lyra.Club.Apollo.Phantom.
Leo.Hollow.Wolf.Gemini.Libra.Corvus.Condor.Moon.Spade.Auriga.Virgo.Pegasus.Ace.
Andromeda.Rogue.Protoman.Dragon.Joker.Le_Mu.Bass.Alpha.Beta.Gamma.Delta.Epsilon.
Zeta.Eta.Theta.Iota.Kappa.Lambda.Mu.Nu.Xi.Omicron.Pi.Ro.Sigma.Tau.Upsilon.Phi.Kai.Psi.
Omega

It's clear that the first set are boss names.  Kidd, I believe is Kung Foo Kid.  It's basically every boss in the Star Force series plus the greek names for certain symbols.  What's even more puzzling is that Protoman is on that list, which is strange in 2 ways: 1 is that you don't fight him, and 2 because his name is spelled with one uppercase letter which would not be the case because BN spelled his name as "ProtoMan" and MMSF3 would spell it as "Proto Man".

Update: It seems that the above list has to do with special folder names.  Obviously because the feature was removed, I did not have enough knowledge of it.

That's all I got.  But I had fun.  Once again, I thank Prof.9 for figuring it out.  I am thrilled to finally see it.

Teaser 8

So at this rate, it seems I won't finish before the New Year.  I hope to finish very soon because I'm almost done.  There might not even be any more teasers.  Maybe one more showing ACDC Hills in use (the map I made)

Here is teaser 8, the very final area.

The final battle will take place soon.  It will be epic.  While there will be no Star Force reference, I will try to get WaveMan to appear in battle somehow.  After all this, it feels almost necessary.

Episode 10-4 stuff

My latest episode had some very unique content in it.  I won't release the life virus sprite file yet but I will release the cutscenes.

First, the Life Virus Sigma cutscene.

The hardest part about making this had to be the recoloring.  You can see the gem on the lower hand still has some green on it.  It was just too difficult for me.  The music used during the battle was the Life Virus battle music from Rockman EXE: Operate Shooting Star.  The music is just slightly improved which is good enough for me.  I got that from Nigoli's rip over at his blog.  The last seconds of the battle use music from the cell phone game, Rockman EXE Legend of Network.  It's the music for the final boss, the Trojan Horse.

A partial soundtrack for the game is available on Rockman PM.
http://www.rockmanpm.com/?p=music/rockmanexelegendofnetworksamplesoundtrack

There is also a Phantom of Network partial soundtrack.
http://www.rockmanpm.com/?p=music/rockmanexephantomofnetworksamplesoundtrack

Next is the WaveMan cutscene.  This shows the full body design that I created.

I realize the design does have its flaws, but then again, I'm not perfect.  For a first fully original design, it came out really well.  I still have the original sketch with me.  The background was designed in Adobe Illustrator.  I made it at school in spare time.  This scene is also wider than the others because I made it on an HD 16:9 scale (1920x1080).  If the stars came out kind of bad, it's because I was following a tutorial on creating a starry effect.  If I had more time, I could have perfected it.  The wave road was created in Illustrator as well thanks to the Gradient Mesh tool.  I realized too late that the road was missing borders on the side.  I chose Illustrator to make this because it has the easiest, fastest, scalable 3D effect.  That's how I was able to give the road some depth.  I made the mugshot out of the art as well.

Just to be fair, I'm also releasing the completed art of WaveMan on a transparent background so it may easily be used anywhere.

Also, the emblem was remade and here is the revised one.

MegaMan EXE in Modnation

A friend of mine sent these pictures to me.  He created MegaMan EXE in a game called Modnation.  I think it looks really neat.  It's awesome when games let you customize your own character.  You can see in one picture, even the character from Dead Space has been made.  This looks like an excellent addition to the kart game.

Rockman EXE Legacy project

I am a member of the EXE Legacy Project.  Currently, I'm the one who created the colored illustration of their main character, Patch Hikari.  A demo is coming soon and it could be one of the few decent MMBN fangames out there.

Link is here.

http://rockmanexelegacy.comlu.com/

Here is Patch.  The full-scale version is on my Photobucket.

Episode 10-4 completed!

There is still more to the episode.  This concludes WaveMan's Last Resort, revels his full new form, and the secret boss.

Next stop, the final destination.

Merry Christmas!

I think it would be appropriate if I wish everyone a Merry Christmas.  It's that time of year where people should be more giving and kinder.  I managed to find gifts for everyone I know.  I spent Thursday night at my cousins house.  They live within walking distance of Disneyland so they get a great view of the loud, car-alarm-inducing booms of the fireworks show they play every night.  I watched the fireworks from the driveway, since the weather here is always tolerable, then spent the rest of the night watching Up on a Mac. (that's a first)

I had a great time.  Christmas is always a great time of year around here.  These are the days I will always remember.  Merry Christmas!

Teaser 7

I'm hoping to cut off the next episode part at a really suspenseful time.  It also seems like I have enough minutes for another publishing.

Here is teaser 7.

Ooh.  Mysterious, right?  This will be the most confusing map I've ever had to set.  And guess what music I'll pick for this?

Simple Palette Editor

Greiga Master has released his latest program.  It is called Simple Paletted Editor.  Basically, you can import and edit palettes from any file much faster and effectively than the previously used Advanced Palette Editor.

You can download the program from TREZ's Custom Programs section available only to registered members.

http://s6.zetaboards.com/The_Rockman_EXE_Zone/topic/8600381/1/

New Icon!

This is in fact, very minor.  I've finally decided to attempt to recreate the current TREZ logo, originally made by Greiga Master.  I like the concept being based on the MMSF3 logo.  I tried doing things my way and this is what I got.

My version of the current TREZ logo


It's not official or anything.  I don't mean to replace anything and I made it specifically for a new icon.  I won't have to use a forum avatar for my icon here and on Youtube.  It is now a crop of the logo with "TREZ" written in Univers font on the top-left.


These two images posted here may not be used by anyone without prior consent.

Episode 10-3 completed!

Yup, I finally got around to publishing the next part.  It seems sort of the same as the last part but episode 10-4 where WaveMan's new looks appears.  Also, that special boss.

But for now, 10-3 features Wave Space 2 with PlantMan as the area boss.  Just one more area after that.

Teaser 6

I spent a lot of time yesterday working on the latest episode.  I'd have to say, the hardest part had to have been the Plantman battle.  Not only did the battle freeze randomly. but I couldn't win!  It was too difficult and glitchy though it probably won't make much of a difference in the final product.

There is the screenshot.  The full-area spore attack was last-minute and wasn't too devastating.  It's a twister attack.  They're not the exact moves as the entry, but it was getting late and glitchy, so not everything made it.

Now I have to convert another map.  It's always a hassle.

Winter Break is here!

I knew it would be a very busy week.  I hardly even had time to watch my DVR recordings.  It's Friday and I can begin to resume New Crisis production.  In my small spare time this week, I decided to remake the Megaman Star Force emblem again and reupload it.  This time it's even more accurate than before.  I mean it, it probably won't get any better than this.

Here is a preview.  You may use it however you'd like.

You can always download the source files.  Also, a newer version of Inkscape has been available for a while now.  I think it's better than the older one.

Now, if I recall correctly, I said I would complete my WaveMan drawing.  Well I have completed it and I think it looks awesome.  However, I won't be revealing it any time soon.  That shall wait for the cutscene where it should appear in Episode 10-4.  I spent time attempting to simulate a deep space background for it. 
...I guess that's a spoiler.  No ground!

Teaser 5

I've attempted to start working on The New Crisis again.  It's really tedious to get back all the resources I had before.  I decided to just do both battles and the text scenes in a long weekend.  It turns out I'll have busy days this week.  Friday is my real free day.

There is the teaser.  Just a glimpse of what comes next.  I'm expecting the Plantman battle to be really fun.

MMBN Sprite Tools

For the most part of the weekend, I felt enfermo, sick.  I had to spend most of my time helping Greiga Master finish his Animated Mugshot Generator. There is a demo video up.  I'm posting it here since I would have done the same thing if I recorded the demo.

The end-result looks awesome.  I'm amazed by the graphical progress BN hacking has made (mostly due to me)  At least now in The New Crisis, WaveMan can actually speak.  It will be awesome!  I hope to finish most of the work during my Winter Break coming up next week.  That doesn't mean I won't do anything this week.  A teaser will indicate progress so keep following.

The burden is gone!

Over the past days I had a research paper due.  It was a lot of work, too.  6 typed pages minimum.  Now that I finished the paper, I can find the time to start working on the rest of The New Crisis.  I'll post updates as I go along, like always.

If anyone is curious, I'm posting my research paper here.  I got a perfect score.  Converted from Microsoft Word Document to PDF.  No plagiarism please!

The Cold War Research Paper: by Hugo Miramontes
Download

Megaman Battle Network Logo Re-Uploaded

Since the old links to the vector source of the MMBN logo is gone, I've updated and re-uploaded it.  Check out the Hi-Res MMBN6 Logo again!



Download the source (PNG,SVG,GIF,TTF)

Also, the newer "regular" Megaman Battle Network logo.

no update!

I can't work on my series for two reasons.  I have a lengthy school project due and Greiga Master thinks he can make a game in C++ so I can't get on the computer as much as I should.  I really hope to finish everything before 2010.