I may check how actual Simon Belmont sounds. I used your Alucard's SD_ALK_00004.wav file in the game build above. Thanks for the heads up and many thanks for playing! :)
I tried to find Simon Voice Samples, but had no luck .
(or found the NES sfx ... ;),
but thanks to this new build simons voice is at least male.
( it bugged me since the early builds ).
Maybe the sfx in the MainTitleScreen are also a bit "ruff".... ;) hehe
Ohh, and about the Simon Sprite. Please dont get me wrong Dante,
i really like the redesign, it´s very accurate to the original NES Coverartwork .. .. but i guess... its the teeth. XD when i look at his Facei get serious "super double dragon" (SNES) flashbacks XD
Maybe a option, like in Turrican 2 AGA with an option to change the sprite would be nice; but thats just a idea. As you know, its easy to come up with an idea, but to make it a reality is another thing ;)
More Ideas: make the Subweapon work like in the Original. Fire+Up.
Pleeease :)
Also, the stage with frankenstein seems... so .... short.... as something was missing...
+ the game is too easy ;)
Well, enough of my silly ideas to improve Castlevania for the AMIGA even more.
This is already great .....I never had thought that a good version of Castlevania would come to the Amiga. (even if it plays quit different)
I've got this issue on CD32: I don't think sky should behave like that. After getting to the monster (a sort of Franklenstein) I got killed and the game just froze. Using UAE embedded in Amiga Forever. Thank you.
This happens in WinUAE if you use certain settings, specially "fastest possible" and cycle-exact off. But we're not sure of the exact settings that cause this. At the moment I'd recommend using FS-UAE instead, with FS-UAE Launcher, it's the only one so far that got CD32 100% right, as shown in Amiga Bill's livestream from Sunday (the area you're showing starts at 03:12:35 on the livestream link) . But it'd need to convert the MP3 music in the ISO to WAV and edit the .cue file to match the converted file names.
Amazing! Thank you very much for the video on real hardware. If possible, please inform Neil at IRN to use your latest footage (could be your video of the standard 1200 version) because he's using footage with the older/temporary character which was not the titular Simon Belmont yet. :) Thanks again for your work covering all the new releases!
The CD audio indeed doesn't loops. You can check Earok's Super Star Wars Holiday CD32, it has the same limitation (and it's a port by the creator of the engine himself). I'd say that it's a hard limit. But, I remember that I did the following "hack": I edited some songs, doing a copy and paste of its whole length at the ending, so it simulated at least one loop. The drawback is that the ISO gets bigger, and our hosting space here is limited. So, this is mostly used on very long stages (such as stage 5). But, I may do the extreme looping like 3 or 4 repeats with total disregard to the ISO sizes and Itch.io hosting space. At the moment it's the only shot we got.
About the ladders and the animation, I always remember that Wayne's World movie scene with the guitar shop and the poster pinned in the way where it reads "NO starway to heaven". I mean, I gotta pin a poster here "no reports of ladder animation"! :) The whole ladder is actually a bit of a hack on top of engine's "slope" physics (ie a thing that wasn't meant to be used that way). It may improve for v1.0 (we're at v0.9), but you will ALWAYS be able to moonwalk or do other funky moves there! Bottom line: you can moonwalk on SNES Super Castlevania too, and I'm sure that it was not done by just one programmer like me on his spare time. ;)
Watched the clip from your stream, that's very interesting. It didn't freeze, technically speaking, the camera just lost focus on the player character and wandered all the way to the left (for no reason). This happened once on the same place and you can see a screenshot of the exact same place and issue taken by Jimmie.s80@gmail.com a few comments below, 7 days ago. I issued a hotfix for that and it never happened again. But I'll check that spot again, thank you very much for reporting! I was a bit overwhelmed by the massive issue of CD music that refuses completely to play, which was completely unexpected so I put a lot of effort attempting to solve it (which fortunately seems to play correctly for you as far as I saw in your clip) and so I didn't had time yet to check more closely that fateful spot on world2.
Thanks for your detailed report and have a great Sunday!
Thanks for the detailed response!! I finished the game and would play it again when you have another update. Yes someone mentioned later that you could moonwalk in Dracula X too.
As a workaround for the music, Left Shoulder (Rewind button on CD32 pad) can restart the audio track playback.
I was also able to get myself lost out of screen in the early stage where you come down from a ladder from the upper left. After coming down automatically, I went back up to the ladder and started jumping offscreen until I couldn't get back in the game. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2357525280 Perhaps spawn some invisible or off-screen blocks, to block players from getting stuck up there?
I guess its still quite early for a thorough testing, but I was mainly curious and it was fun trying it out :-) Will keep trying out each update and report my finds.
Thanks, that clip is very cool: by sheer insistence you managed to get on the floor from previous level :D (yeah, it's still there, everything is there, it's just the camera that crops down). That wasn't an issue before CD32, as I was just loading and unloading levels at will. I can't do that on CD32, because 1) it'll wear out your CD reader 2) CD loading times are slow 3) the CD music stops when a loading operation starts (hard limit, no workaround). So, the whole level or most part of it must be loaded on memory at once to avoid all of the above!
I need to give it some thought. I could just block the way out more consistently, as seems that my little text msg "no backtrack allowed" wasn't enough. ;)
The CD repeat workaround I mentioned seemed to work on AmigaBill's stream, he didn't "ran out of music" and he normally likes to take his time on a level. But making super lengthy versions of the tracks is not a very elegant way. The restart music button that I added on left shoulder button to force it was also meant for early troubles when the music refused completely to start (seems fixed now).
It's was already so much trouble with only the default A1200/A4000 version, why I added so much extra work with the CD32? LOL.
Just a suggestion, would it be possible to add an options setting that toggles gameplay tips on and off? Also, I think the thunders should be triggered a little slower. They happen too often
Still a ton of stuff to do ahead of this, bear in mind that I started this when I was 47, now I just turned 50, but at least we're seeing a possible 1.0 on the horizon. Which doesn't matter that the support will cease after 1.0, with Green Beret, I added many features such as difficulty level and more.
Have tested the new iso the music works know on the bosses.Buts its the same color issue in the windows and there is no music at that part with the color issues in the windows
The color issue: uploaded a new ISO today, changed that background window to black instead of dark blue, let's see if that helps. Also forced the CD music on that part.
Just wanted you to know Dante there is some bugs in the cd32 version on level 2 if you fall down and die. Then it restart on that level its just a background and the big gaurds are just walking forward and no simon is visible
Hello and thank you for this wonderful gift to the amiga community! I just tested it on Winuae with the latest ISO that you posted online. This bug is still present in exactly the same place.
Tested the new iso just wanted to tell you it works now the music. If i push the left shoulder button on my competition pro pad it says load in the game and right away if i do this the music starts and working great. Great work Dante it works now.
Ok, I've reverted back the changes. Will keep trying until this is fixed. QUESTION: did it play the music in all boss fights or just the first one? Is music test options menu working? Thanks.
I dont think it worked at all in the boss fights.Playing music in the meny is also weird if you play one song it do not play if you chose 3 songs after that it plays the first you chosed
I have some problems with Latest WHDLoad version (January 2005) About Graphics & musics sounds in the intro just after waiting on start menu. Tested on my real A1200 A1230 Turbo+II @40 Mhz... but same way on WINUAE.
But when I press fire to play it all seems to works correctly...
Please could You have a look ? previous version worked correctly...
did you fix the music on the new Iso i have opening music now but the music wont play in game the only music i get is at the boss fight. have tried 2 brands i got on cdr Corporate express And mediarange burning the slowest i get on imgburn and i,m burning the que file.
I'm working on it. I've asked Hoffman (who did Shinobi on Neo Geo CD) and he suggested Red Book audio specs, which was needed also for music to work on the Neo Geo CD. So, I just added a new version (last one on downloads list) which describes Red Book audio on its screen name. I still don't know if it will work, it's also suggested to record the CD at the slowest possible speed.
User Eric H on X/Twitter burned 2 CDs and both worked, sent me video of running on real console, he got the music issue (possibly 192kbps to 128kbps export like described on the other reply) but like I said, those issues are expected, since it's one of the first CD32 games released with a experimental engine (Scorpion). To be honest, I'm surprised and pleased that it worked at all. It's just the music issue to fully solve and we're off to a great start! Have a great 2025 and thanks for playing.
I've just put the opening music back again, it was deactivated for test purposes when I was troubleshooting the CD music issue with user Eric H on X (the music that was failing to play was just Vampire Killer, the first level track, others seemed fine). There must be a way for you guys to test an ISO on real console without having to waste a blank disk or wear the reader (and thank you very much for the help, the experimental nature of the project and engine calls for a lot of trial and error until things are fine).
nicely work Cd32 version.Having some trouble with the music sometimes that it wont play as it supossed to do.Burn with Img burn and used the que file so the cd track gets on the cd
Try downloading again, I've did "hotfix": some music was at 192kbps, that one seems to be tough for the CD32 player to deal, changed all to 128kbps. It's all trial and error, there is no manual for that. :)
dante quando eu executo o jogo a imagem fica cortada na parte de baixo, ja iniciei em ntsc ja iniciei em pal e nada faz com que a imagem normalize. Estou usando a1200 real
Isso é NTSC, no A1200 real em PAL fica como nessa foto abaixo. Só pra garantir, vc tá ligado de segurar os 2 botões durante o boot e selecionar o botão PAL né? Não só apertar a barra de espaço (que só muda temporariamente). E vale lembrar, o modo PAL que salva nas preferences do Workbench não afeta jogos.
Algumas TVs (mesmo modernas) não suportam e acho que jogam de volta pra NTSC, que é o que pode ter acontecido aí. Como último recurso, vc pode tentar programas que forçam PAL no sistema mais incisivamente (resistem soft reset), como o Degrader (https://aminet.net/package/util/misc/Degrader).
Hi, the config file is located at CastlevaniaAGA_Win64\FS-UAE\Configurations\Default.fs-uae ... open it with Notepad or similar, so you can edit. By default, the FS-UAE embedded emulator runs at 960x540.
So, I don't own a 4K monitor to test but I'd assume that you need to add these lines in that file:
Are you playing it in forced NTSC/60Hz? That may make it overspeed. Other than that, maybe some adjusts here and there but in general it's already being criticized for being too easy so as a general rule it'll keep the pace. Which is more or less aligned with more modern takes on CV like the recent Haunted Castle remake by Konami itself.
It's nearly done content-wise (except for the soundtrack), but I also plan to port it to latest 2024 version of the engine (it's currently on a late 2023 version). That may help with remaining issues, such as when attacking while moving upstairs/downstairs.
I am also working in original game(s), which I may plan to announce in the future. That's heavily requested. :)
Muito legal, até comentei lá no video quando saiu, valeu! :) De lá pra cá já resolvi aquele problema do boneco as vezes não cair da borda da tela embaixo quando cai na água, entre outras coisinhas. Grande abraço!
Interesting bit about more RAM. There was a similar post some comments below, and it succeeds by using the HDF image file, following a quick guide (pic) that I did.
Also I'd say that the WHDLoad one is the recommended version for easy of use.
Its to run on a CD32 disc, i have no issue running it with fastram using the non crunched version. But the crunched doesn’t want to load, just wondered if there was an issue with it? I got a late 2022 build running on a stock CD32, but seems ram requirements have gone up slightly over the last year and a half, no problems if not possible with the crunched version, just letting you know not working for me.
I wish I could play this. FS-UAE keeps crashing on me and I can't figure out what combination of options I need in WinUAE to get this to load. I tried with an A4000 + 8MB RAM but I still get an out of memory error, even after slamming every single RAM option to its maximum and trying dozens of chip and Kickstart combinations. I'm stumped.
WHDLoad version: WinUAE RAM tab should be 2MB chip and 1MB Z2 fast (or anything actually, up to 8MB there, as you wish). If that still won't go, try the Castlevania AGA HDF, which is a hard disk image with the game pre-installed. Following the guide below on how to use this type of hard disk image.
Soundtrack is incomplete at the moment, only Vampire Killer, Stalker and Wicked Child are final versions (pending possibly some optimization to reduce memory size).
Just a quick one, there are meant to be 2 whip upgrades, which is displayed in level 1 - but once you lose a life you only regain one upgrade. A little on the easy side, maybe some difficulty options could be put in for final release. Brilliant game though, very nice indeed. Love the sprite and the animations too.
Just played and finished. Did it on the Windows version (FS-UAE emulated) So, first, I did not really like the button mapping you chose, so I had to change it around, but I guess that is something debatable.
Here are some issues:
- Losing all health results in an empty bar, only after an extra hit does the player die. - There is some weird tile collision where it seems like the player should hit the tiles but doesn't. - There are some leftover tiles in certain places under the view port, which result in sometimes the player falling and just awkwardly standing there. - Enemies suffer from friendly fire, which makes the game easier. (Could be a purposeful choice). - Hearts carry over, which most probably was done on purpose, but it adds to the overall easy feeling the game has. - When climbing the stairs and stopping, the player still does his walk animation for a few milliseconds. - There seems to be some screen warping on certain lines. - Enemies that jump sometimes multiple jump and end up off screen. - Sometimes enemies just burst into flames by coming into contact with Simon, which, whilst badass, makes the game easier. - There is an overall jankyness to collisions and animations, hard to pinpoint besides everything else I already talked about. - Sometimes weapons trigger with a delay, which is also a problem with the original Amiga ECS version, so it may be the emulator at fault.
The graphics look very very nice, but could use a little more work to be more distinct from Chronicles. The new Simon sprite looks amazing.
The soundtrack is hit and miss. Most tracks are good, some sound a little off.
Thanks for playing and for the detailed feedback. The ones that you marked as "purposeful choice", indeed, they are, to keep this brief.
The ones that are the hardest to fix (perhaps impossible given the current conditions):
- "There are some leftover tiles in certain places under the view port, which result in sometimes the player falling and just awkwardly standing there." << not tiles, there are no tiles under screen edge (map size ends at edge), it just doesn't want to go full offscreen in some places (in my tests, it's on certain key locations, so it was left low on priority since it's an issue that even benefits the player in some situations).
- "When climbing the stairs and stopping, the player still does his walk animation for a few milliseconds." << this one is very frustrating, wish I'd go with the SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT approach where it simply doesn't has an animation for stairs (would bring back so many days of my life).
- "...more work to be more distinct from Chronicles" << most of the tiles are actually from Rondo of Blood/TurboGrafx-16/highly reworked with even some SOTN here and there (such as mansion/world 1). Most enemies are from Chronicles, though (which may be the issue here).
- "There seems to be some screen warping on certain lines." << Emulator issue/FS-UAE, that doesn't seem to happen on real Amiga.
If you are moving downstairs and starts attacking with whip/chain, it may still keep going downstairs instead of stop and the resulting attack is unreliable/janky (hit detection on that nearest candle will probably miss). You're probably referring to this as an 'overall janky' bit. On FS-UAE, the button mapping isn't "native", it's a mapping on top of a mapping, so you may be losing a few milliseconds at each attack button press that probably won't happen on real Amiga ( I don't know much about FS-UAE and I just provided a solution for people wanting a simple way to play it, but I'm aware that it isn't the best solution regarding input response times).
As for the music, Vampire Killer, Stalker, boss fight and Wicked Child are done by a professional musician. The rest is a (desperate) attempt by me (no proper musician) to have at least a placeholder so the level will not be silent or "it has the wrong music" (as it happened before).
And lastly, bear in mind that I'm a "generalist", I do a bit of everything, on spare time, so there'll be always loose ends here and there if you can't afford a team of full time "specialists" in each area like Konami did in their glory Castlevania days.
Thank you for your answers. Well I did have fun playing it!
Yeah that "tile" issue is just a little awkward, but it doesn't detract from the game.
Don't worry about the stairs, the climbing animation is too good to sacrifice!
About sprites, you are right, I just personally would like to see more distinct ones.
As for music, any way to convince the original musician to do the rest of them? ^^'
Finally, FS-UAE was basically the best option I could find for someone who doesn't own an Amiga. If there is a better emulator, I'll hapilly switch over...
Thanks. Btw, I just updated it this morning, fixing a number of reported issues. The bottom edge of screen ("tiles") issue might be fixed now. About the music, there's also the musician that did the tunes for my version of Green Beret (Rush'n Attack) who is also very skilled. The problem is that skilled musicians are always busy with professional/paid projects. They are hard to allocate to fan games and hobby projects. But let's cross our fingers!
Wow this is amazing. I like the new Simon sprites.
There is a little problem throwing the knife (other weapons maybe also) . The animation is too slow. The knife already hits the enemy while Simon is still busy throwing it.
Edit: With PUA 2021 core with RetroArch it's better!
Great to hear it's better with PUA 2021 core! I've made it throw it instantly at button press (shoulder button on CD32 pad) instead of waiting the last frame of animation (for best possible responsiveness: gameplay first).
You'll thank me after you try a version that throws the knife only at the last frame, believe me, it gets in the way! :D I might do only one frame, though, that would work too. Thanks for playing!
Added a WHDLoad version among the downloads (the 3rd one). Just open its folder and double click in the CastlevaniaAGA icon. Thanks! P.S.: it'd need some other RAM, or FastRAM, as usual for WHDLoad.
Hi, I am currently using a laptop, connected to a second monitor as my main monitor; However, the game is maximized on the wrong screen. Is there a way to avoid this from the emulator?
Hi, if the emulator is WinUAE, you can go to WinUAE's folder, then Configurations > Host. There's a couple of files there that you can edit (opening on Notepad: Fullscreen.uae), where gfx_display=0, you can alter to 1 or other values. Save, test, try values of 1 or 2 until it displays on your correct screen.
If you're on the FS-UAE one (the Win64 build), then you may also download the FS-UAE launcher that has the launcher window (the little button at the corner let you choose the screen):
In reality, I had opted for the friendlier version (PC/Windows, pre-set embedded emulator), since I’m unfamiliar with the system. And it seems that there’s no way to configure the parameter you mentioned from here. However, I don’t want to bother you, so I think it’s better to change the screen order from Windows when I want to play. Thank you very much for your time! 😊
Very good work, thank you.It's interesting to watch as game development progresses and the game gets better all the time.I also included it in my February 2024 New Games On Amiga video.
Wow, nice job! Good game, you can praise it. I'd rather complain a little. The protagonist's flashing is annoying. He always flashes when he's hurt, and he's always hurt, so he flashes a lot. It's not good to play with your character flashing. Another small thing that bothers me: The candles flicker too fast. One more thing, the protagonist's moaning became quite boyish, not manly. That's all I have to complain about, everything else is great! The ending music is beautiful.
Thanks for your feedback. Your complaints are easy things to fix, just reducing frequency of candles flashing and things like that. It's all part of polishing, which is next project phase. As a rather big project for a solo dev, specially on a retro system, priority was to attempt to fit all levels and bosses before losing energy and motivation (solo devs tend to lose motivation before all levels are in place, you can see many stalled projects with about 1 to 3 stages at max). By the way, nice avatar! I really liked Another World / Out of this World and sometimes it figures in my top 10 games of all time (not just Amiga). And thanks again for playing Castlevania AGA to the end!
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Hi Date.
This is incredible !!!!! :) (no need for my voice tho) ;)
The womans voice feels so out of place, dont you think ? (mybe its just me)
:)
Anyway, i added Alucards SFX when he got hurt (there are 3 different ones)
https://www.mediafire.com/file/cmkzev05nhwkyel/Ouchi-SFX.7z/file
Feel free to chose the one you like the most.
(or is there a way to randomize those 3 SFX when simon gets hit)
Another thing that would make this even better...
Fire+Up for the Subweapons. pleeeease.
Maybe also the older Simon Sprite that you used before.
idk, maybe a option. I just like the older better
(i think the " old one "was ripped from chronicles)
Thank you so very much Dante for making this legendary Title for the Amiga.
Bless you dante. <(^_^)>
Awesome, here we go:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16KDA0Q_vKulN93qnhwX-s0y0S71pjgBi/view?usp=shari...
I may check how actual Simon Belmont sounds. I used your Alucard's SD_ALK_00004.wav file in the game build above. Thanks for the heads up and many thanks for playing! :)
Thank YOU dante !! this is much better :)
I tried to find Simon Voice Samples, but had no luck .
(or found the NES sfx ... ;),
but thanks to this new build simons voice is at least male.
( it bugged me since the early builds ).
Maybe the sfx in the MainTitleScreen are also a bit "ruff".... ;) hehe
Ohh, and about the Simon Sprite. Please dont get me wrong Dante,
i really like the redesign, it´s very accurate to the original NES Coverartwork .. .. but i guess... its the teeth. XD when i look at his Facei get serious "super double dragon" (SNES) flashbacks XD
Maybe a option, like in Turrican 2 AGA with an option to change the sprite would be nice; but thats just a idea. As you know, its easy to come up with an idea, but to make it a reality is another thing ;)
More Ideas: make the Subweapon work like in the Original. Fire+Up.
Pleeease :)
Also, the stage with frankenstein seems... so .... short.... as something was missing...
+ the game is too easy ;)
Well, enough of my silly ideas to improve Castlevania for the AMIGA even more.
This is already great .....I never had thought that a good version of Castlevania would come to the Amiga. (even if it plays quit different)
Thank you Dante,
I've got this issue on CD32: I don't think sky should behave like that. After getting to the monster (a sort of Franklenstein) I got killed and the game just froze. Using UAE embedded in Amiga Forever. Thank you.
This happens in WinUAE if you use certain settings, specially "fastest possible" and cycle-exact off. But we're not sure of the exact settings that cause this. At the moment I'd recommend using FS-UAE instead, with FS-UAE Launcher, it's the only one so far that got CD32 100% right, as shown in Amiga Bill's livestream from Sunday (the area you're showing starts at 03:12:35 on the livestream link) . But it'd need to convert the MP3 music in the ISO to WAV and edit the .cue file to match the converted file names.
To everyone that had problem with WHDLoad version: download again, the icon was not pointing to the correct file, now it is. Thanks!
Awesome - CD32 version!
Amazing! Thank you very much for the video on real hardware. If possible, please inform Neil at IRN to use your latest footage (could be your video of the standard 1200 version) because he's using footage with the older/temporary character which was not the titular Simon Belmont yet. :) Thanks again for your work covering all the new releases!
Great game, thank you.
Thanks for the video and thanks for playing!
Awesome!
This is amazing !!! ; thank you so very much Dante Dev !!!
Hmm maybe its just me, but 2 things kinda confuse me. :)
Why has Simon the Voice of a Girl/Woman ?
Why the "effect" when beating a boss ? looks out of place; literally.
:) greetings and many thanks,
Torti
I could mod the voice of Simon with the one you want :)
Just send me the sample in WAV format and I'll put it in the game and send you a link of that version! Could be your voice if you wish! ;)
Great progress! Plays really fast! Keep up the good work!
I have some concerns which I wanted to share with you so you can keep improving it.
1. when I walk up down ladders using diagonals, he may somehow start to moonwalk even while getting off the ladders :)
2. The CD audio doesnt loop (noticed it on stage 1)
3. While I was jumping and shooting, during a screen transition, I was able to glitch freeze my character. Better to see in the following vid what I mean.
https://www.twitch.tv/amigalivegaming/clip/ArborealCrepuscularReindeerCoolCat-wa...
Again great work!
Hi, thanks for playing and for your message!
The CD audio indeed doesn't loops. You can check Earok's Super Star Wars Holiday CD32, it has the same limitation (and it's a port by the creator of the engine himself). I'd say that it's a hard limit. But, I remember that I did the following "hack": I edited some songs, doing a copy and paste of its whole length at the ending, so it simulated at least one loop. The drawback is that the ISO gets bigger, and our hosting space here is limited. So, this is mostly used on very long stages (such as stage 5). But, I may do the extreme looping like 3 or 4 repeats with total disregard to the ISO sizes and Itch.io hosting space. At the moment it's the only shot we got.
About the ladders and the animation, I always remember that Wayne's World movie scene with the guitar shop and the poster pinned in the way where it reads "NO starway to heaven". I mean, I gotta pin a poster here "no reports of ladder animation"! :) The whole ladder is actually a bit of a hack on top of engine's "slope" physics (ie a thing that wasn't meant to be used that way). It may improve for v1.0 (we're at v0.9), but you will ALWAYS be able to moonwalk or do other funky moves there! Bottom line: you can moonwalk on SNES Super Castlevania too, and I'm sure that it was not done by just one programmer like me on his spare time. ;)
Watched the clip from your stream, that's very interesting. It didn't freeze, technically speaking, the camera just lost focus on the player character and wandered all the way to the left (for no reason). This happened once on the same place and you can see a screenshot of the exact same place and issue taken by Jimmie.s80@gmail.com a few comments below, 7 days ago. I issued a hotfix for that and it never happened again. But I'll check that spot again, thank you very much for reporting! I was a bit overwhelmed by the massive issue of CD music that refuses completely to play, which was completely unexpected so I put a lot of effort attempting to solve it (which fortunately seems to play correctly for you as far as I saw in your clip) and so I didn't had time yet to check more closely that fateful spot on world2.
Thanks for your detailed report and have a great Sunday!
Thanks for the detailed response!! I finished the game and would play it again when you have another update.
Yes someone mentioned later that you could moonwalk in Dracula X too.
As a workaround for the music, Left Shoulder (Rewind button on CD32 pad) can restart the audio track playback.
I was also able to get myself lost out of screen in the early stage where you come down from a ladder from the upper left.
After coming down automatically, I went back up to the ladder and started jumping offscreen until I couldn't get back in the game.
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2357525280
Perhaps spawn some invisible or off-screen blocks, to block players from getting stuck up there?
I guess its still quite early for a thorough testing, but I was mainly curious and it was fun trying it out :-)
Will keep trying out each update and report my finds.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks, that clip is very cool: by sheer insistence you managed to get on the floor from previous level :D (yeah, it's still there, everything is there, it's just the camera that crops down). That wasn't an issue before CD32, as I was just loading and unloading levels at will. I can't do that on CD32, because 1) it'll wear out your CD reader 2) CD loading times are slow 3) the CD music stops when a loading operation starts (hard limit, no workaround). So, the whole level or most part of it must be loaded on memory at once to avoid all of the above!
I need to give it some thought. I could just block the way out more consistently, as seems that my little text msg "no backtrack allowed" wasn't enough. ;)
The CD repeat workaround I mentioned seemed to work on AmigaBill's stream, he didn't "ran out of music" and he normally likes to take his time on a level. But making super lengthy versions of the tracks is not a very elegant way. The restart music button that I added on left shoulder button to force it was also meant for early troubles when the music refused completely to start (seems fixed now).
It's was already so much trouble with only the default A1200/A4000 version, why I added so much extra work with the CD32? LOL.
Yes, I think that they were talking recently about this possibility either on EAB or Discord.
Just a suggestion, would it be possible to add an options setting that toggles gameplay tips on and off? Also, I think the thunders should be triggered a little slower. They happen too often
It's a valid suggestion but low on priority list.
Still a ton of stuff to do ahead of this, bear in mind that I started this when I was 47, now I just turned 50, but at least we're seeing a possible 1.0 on the horizon. Which doesn't matter that the support will cease after 1.0, with Green Beret, I added many features such as difficulty level and more.
No boss fight music only on stage 1
stage 2medusa stage 3 the mummy no music on boss fights
Ok, added music triggers for the other bosses, try latest ISO. May have fixed the the background colors issue too. Do you have a TF card on your CD32?
i have the TF328 8Mb fastram
Have tested the new iso the music works know on the bosses.Buts its the same color issue in the windows and there is no music at that part with the color issues in the windows
Good, thanks!
The color issue: uploaded a new ISO today, changed that background window to black instead of dark blue, let's see if that helps. Also forced the CD music on that part.
No intro music? No music at this part in the game? Tried left shoulder buton no response graphics glitches in the Windows background
Thanks for all the testing and reporting, I just uploaded a new ISO fixing this.
Tested the new iso just wanted to tell you it works now the music. If i push the left shoulder button on my competition pro pad it says load in the game and right away if i do this the music starts and working great. Great work Dante it works now.
Have tested the cd32 redbook iso version.Music do not work ingame only at boss fights
Just uploaded a new attempt, red book too, now using for in-game the same method used for boss fights that seems to work.
tested the new version you uploaded it wont play any music now not the ingame music it played before on the boss fights.
Ok, I've reverted back the changes. Will keep trying until this is fixed. QUESTION: did it play the music in all boss fights or just the first one? Is music test options menu working? Thanks.
I dont think it worked at all in the boss fights.Playing music in the meny is also weird if you play one song it do not play if you chose 3 songs after that it plays the first you chosed
Hi,
I have some problems with Latest WHDLoad version (January 2005) About Graphics & musics sounds in the intro just after waiting on start menu. Tested on my real A1200 A1230 Turbo+II @40 Mhz... but same way on WINUAE.
But when I press fire to play it all seems to works correctly...
Please could You have a look ? previous version worked correctly...
Many Thanks Pascal
I'm working on that. I will upload a fixed WHDLoad version in the next hour. Thanks for playing and reporting!
Hi,
Many thanks for this new version it works great now.
Congratulations for this nice game
did you fix the music on the new Iso i have opening music now but the music wont play in game the only music i get is at the boss fight. have tried 2 brands i got on cdr Corporate express And mediarange burning the slowest i get on imgburn and i,m burning the que file.
I'm working on it. I've asked Hoffman (who did Shinobi on Neo Geo CD) and he suggested Red Book audio specs, which was needed also for music to work on the Neo Geo CD. So, I just added a new version (last one on downloads list) which describes Red Book audio on its screen name. I still don't know if it will work, it's also suggested to record the CD at the slowest possible speed.
there is something wrong with the iso all my other games works perfect burned on cdr so nothing wrong with my cd32 laser
User Eric H on X/Twitter burned 2 CDs and both worked, sent me video of running on real console, he got the music issue (possibly 192kbps to 128kbps export like described on the other reply) but like I said, those issues are expected, since it's one of the first CD32 games released with a experimental engine (Scorpion). To be honest, I'm surprised and pleased that it worked at all. It's just the music issue to fully solve and we're off to a great start! Have a great 2025 and thanks for playing.
what burn program should i use what is the best to use to burn out the iso
Try this guide: https://www.retro32.com/gaming/amiga-cd32/0401202029-amiga-cd32-games-iso-downlo...
Also, check this image. Not sure if useful at this point but it's regarding CD tracks.
tried to burn a new cd same trouble with music it plays when it feels to play in game-No opening music in the menu
I've just put the opening music back again, it was deactivated for test purposes when I was troubleshooting the CD music issue with user Eric H on X (the music that was failing to play was just Vampire Killer, the first level track, others seemed fine). There must be a way for you guys to test an ISO on real console without having to waste a blank disk or wear the reader (and thank you very much for the help, the experimental nature of the project and engine calls for a lot of trial and error until things are fine).
nicely work Cd32 version.Having some trouble with the music sometimes that it wont play as it supossed to do.Burn with Img burn and used the que file so the cd track gets on the cd
Try downloading again, I've did "hotfix": some music was at 192kbps, that one seems to be tough for the CD32 player to deal, changed all to 128kbps. It's all trial and error, there is no manual for that. :)
very good
Does the Windows version support controllers? It seems not.
It does. You must start it with the controller already plugged in.
dante quando eu executo o jogo a imagem fica cortada na parte de baixo, ja iniciei em ntsc ja iniciei em pal e nada faz com que a imagem normalize. Estou usando a1200 real
Isso é NTSC, no A1200 real em PAL fica como nessa foto abaixo. Só pra garantir, vc tá ligado de segurar os 2 botões durante o boot e selecionar o botão PAL né? Não só apertar a barra de espaço (que só muda temporariamente). E vale lembrar, o modo PAL que salva nas preferences do Workbench não afeta jogos.
Algumas TVs (mesmo modernas) não suportam e acho que jogam de volta pra NTSC, que é o que pode ter acontecido aí. Como último recurso, vc pode tentar programas que forçam PAL no sistema mais incisivamente (resistem soft reset), como o Degrader (https://aminet.net/package/util/misc/Degrader).
Hi i downloaded the 2nd option with pre-embedded emulator, how do i go about getting this to integer scaling upto 4k on my monitor ?
Hi, the config file is located at CastlevaniaAGA_Win64\FS-UAE\Configurations\Default.fs-uae ... open it with Notepad or similar, so you can edit. By default, the FS-UAE embedded emulator runs at 960x540.
So, I don't own a 4K monitor to test but I'd assume that you need to add these lines in that file:
fullscreen_width = 3840
fullscreen_height = 2160
4K displays are 3840 x 2160 resolution. Source and more video options to try: https://fs-uae.net/video-options
I noticed the game's enemies and the speed in general seems very fast, will you slow it down a little in the future?
Are you playing it in forced NTSC/60Hz? That may make it overspeed. Other than that, maybe some adjusts here and there but in general it's already being criticized for being too easy so as a general rule it'll keep the pace. Which is more or less aligned with more modern takes on CV like the recent Haunted Castle remake by Konami itself.
Hows the work coming along on this one Dante? :D
Thanks for the interest!
It's nearly done content-wise (except for the soundtrack), but I also plan to port it to latest 2024 version of the engine (it's currently on a late 2023 version). That may help with remaining issues, such as when attacking while moving upstairs/downstairs.
I am also working in original game(s), which I may plan to announce in the future. That's heavily requested. :)
Amazing port🤘🏻 looking forward to hear about your original game.Will it be for the Amiga?
Thanks for your words, JTB81. :)
Any new game will most likely have an Amiga version down the road.
Gameplay
Muito legal, até comentei lá no video quando saiu, valeu! :) De lá pra cá já resolvi aquele problema do boneco as vezes não cair da borda da tela embaixo quando cai na água, entre outras coisinhas. Grande abraço!
Vielen Dank für dieses großartige Spiel! :-)
Danke fürs Spielen! :-)
Some serious amount of work has happened since the last time I took a look at this project. Well done and look forward to seeing the end result.
Thank you very much!
Having no luck with the game-crunched.exe file does it require a new de-cruncher, or what existing one will work with it?
What file are you using?
stock version, with the crunched file. Also tried with more ram just to check and still wasn’t loading it.
Interesting bit about more RAM. There was a similar post some comments below, and it succeeds by using the HDF image file, following a quick guide (pic) that I did.
Also I'd say that the WHDLoad one is the recommended version for easy of use.
Its to run on a CD32 disc, i have no issue running it with fastram using the non crunched version. But the crunched doesn’t want to load, just wondered if there was an issue with it? I got a late 2022 build running on a stock CD32, but seems ram requirements have gone up slightly over the last year and a half, no problems if not possible with the crunched version, just letting you know not working for me.
I wish I could play this. FS-UAE keeps crashing on me and I can't figure out what combination of options I need in WinUAE to get this to load. I tried with an A4000 + 8MB RAM but I still get an out of memory error, even after slamming every single RAM option to its maximum and trying dozens of chip and Kickstart combinations. I'm stumped.
WHDLoad version: WinUAE RAM tab should be 2MB chip and 1MB Z2 fast (or anything actually, up to 8MB there, as you wish). If that still won't go, try the Castlevania AGA HDF, which is a hard disk image with the game pre-installed. Following the guide below on how to use this type of hard disk image.
Thanks so much! I finally got it to work with the guide!
Is it possible to have the soundtrack as a separate download?
Soundtrack is incomplete at the moment, only Vampire Killer, Stalker and Wicked Child are final versions (pending possibly some optimization to reduce memory size).
Just a quick one, there are meant to be 2 whip upgrades, which is displayed in level 1 - but once you lose a life you only regain one upgrade. A little on the easy side, maybe some difficulty options could be put in for final release. Brilliant game though, very nice indeed. Love the sprite and the animations too.
I will be doing a preview on my channel shortly.
Thanks, and yes, it's purposely on the easy side at this point so the people can see that it already has beginning, middle and end.
Thank you very much, loved it and left a commentary, a like and a subscribe there. :)
Just played and finished. Did it on the Windows version (FS-UAE emulated)
So, first, I did not really like the button mapping you chose, so I had to change it around, but I guess that is something debatable.
Here are some issues:
- Losing all health results in an empty bar, only after an extra hit does the player die.
- There is some weird tile collision where it seems like the player should hit the tiles but doesn't.
- There are some leftover tiles in certain places under the view port, which result in sometimes the player falling and just awkwardly standing there.
- Enemies suffer from friendly fire, which makes the game easier. (Could be a purposeful choice).
- Hearts carry over, which most probably was done on purpose, but it adds to the overall easy feeling the game has.
- When climbing the stairs and stopping, the player still does his walk animation for a few milliseconds.
- There seems to be some screen warping on certain lines.
- Enemies that jump sometimes multiple jump and end up off screen.
- Sometimes enemies just burst into flames by coming into contact with Simon, which, whilst badass, makes the game easier.
- There is an overall jankyness to collisions and animations, hard to pinpoint besides everything else I already talked about.
- Sometimes weapons trigger with a delay, which is also a problem with the original Amiga ECS version, so it may be the emulator at fault.
The graphics look very very nice, but could use a little more work to be more distinct from Chronicles. The new Simon sprite looks amazing.
The soundtrack is hit and miss. Most tracks are good, some sound a little off.
Thanks for playing and for the detailed feedback. The ones that you marked as "purposeful choice", indeed, they are, to keep this brief.
The ones that are the hardest to fix (perhaps impossible given the current conditions):
- "There are some leftover tiles in certain places under the view port, which result in sometimes the player falling and just awkwardly standing there." << not tiles, there are no tiles under screen edge (map size ends at edge), it just doesn't want to go full offscreen in some places (in my tests, it's on certain key locations, so it was left low on priority since it's an issue that even benefits the player in some situations).
- "When climbing the stairs and stopping, the player still does his walk animation for a few milliseconds." << this one is very frustrating, wish I'd go with the SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT approach where it simply doesn't has an animation for stairs (would bring back so many days of my life).
- "...more work to be more distinct from Chronicles" << most of the tiles are actually from Rondo of Blood/TurboGrafx-16/highly reworked with even some SOTN here and there (such as mansion/world 1). Most enemies are from Chronicles, though (which may be the issue here).
- "There seems to be some screen warping on certain lines." << Emulator issue/FS-UAE, that doesn't seem to happen on real Amiga.
If you are moving downstairs and starts attacking with whip/chain, it may still keep going downstairs instead of stop and the resulting attack is unreliable/janky (hit detection on that nearest candle will probably miss). You're probably referring to this as an 'overall janky' bit. On FS-UAE, the button mapping isn't "native", it's a mapping on top of a mapping, so you may be losing a few milliseconds at each attack button press that probably won't happen on real Amiga ( I don't know much about FS-UAE and I just provided a solution for people wanting a simple way to play it, but I'm aware that it isn't the best solution regarding input response times).
As for the music, Vampire Killer, Stalker, boss fight and Wicked Child are done by a professional musician. The rest is a (desperate) attempt by me (no proper musician) to have at least a placeholder so the level will not be silent or "it has the wrong music" (as it happened before).
And lastly, bear in mind that I'm a "generalist", I do a bit of everything, on spare time, so there'll be always loose ends here and there if you can't afford a team of full time "specialists" in each area like Konami did in their glory Castlevania days.
Have a great weekend.
Thank you for your answers. Well I did have fun playing it!
Yeah that "tile" issue is just a little awkward, but it doesn't detract from the game.
Don't worry about the stairs, the climbing animation is too good to sacrifice!
About sprites, you are right, I just personally would like to see more distinct ones.
As for music, any way to convince the original musician to do the rest of them? ^^'
Finally, FS-UAE was basically the best option I could find for someone who doesn't own an Amiga. If there is a better emulator, I'll hapilly switch over...
Overall, this is an amazing feat! Congratulations
Thanks. Btw, I just updated it this morning, fixing a number of reported issues. The bottom edge of screen ("tiles") issue might be fixed now. About the music, there's also the musician that did the tunes for my version of Green Beret (Rush'n Attack) who is also very skilled. The problem is that skilled musicians are always busy with professional/paid projects. They are hard to allocate to fan games and hobby projects. But let's cross our fingers!
Wow this is amazing. I like the new Simon sprites.
There is a little problem throwing the knife (other weapons maybe also) . The animation is too slow. The knife already hits the enemy while Simon is still busy throwing it.
Edit: With PUA 2021 core with RetroArch it's better!
Great to hear it's better with PUA 2021 core! I've made it throw it instantly at button press (shoulder button on CD32 pad) instead of waiting the last frame of animation (for best possible responsiveness: gameplay first).
You'll thank me after you try a version that throws the knife only at the last frame, believe me, it gets in the way! :D I might do only one frame, though, that would work too. Thanks for playing!
Hi, why not make whd-load install? Boot without-startup sequence is kind of boring. Thanks for a great game and keep on the great work!
Added a WHDLoad version among the downloads (the 3rd one). Just open its folder and double click in the CastlevaniaAGA icon. Thanks! P.S.: it'd need some other RAM, or FastRAM, as usual for WHDLoad.
That was very nice of you! Work great from WB on my A4000 now using whd-.load version. The gfx, sound is amazing! Thanks
Hi, I am currently using a laptop, connected to a second monitor as my main monitor; However, the game is maximized on the wrong screen. Is there a way to avoid this from the emulator?
Hi, if the emulator is WinUAE, you can go to WinUAE's folder, then Configurations > Host. There's a couple of files there that you can edit (opening on Notepad: Fullscreen.uae), where gfx_display=0, you can alter to 1 or other values. Save, test, try values of 1 or 2 until it displays on your correct screen.
If you're on the FS-UAE one (the Win64 build), then you may also download the FS-UAE launcher that has the launcher window (the little button at the corner let you choose the screen):
In reality, I had opted for the friendlier version (PC/Windows, pre-set embedded emulator), since I’m unfamiliar with the system. And it seems that there’s no way to configure the parameter you mentioned from here. However, I don’t want to bother you, so I think it’s better to change the screen order from Windows when I want to play. Thank you very much for your time! 😊
Is there going to be a cd32 iso of this great game
Thanks for your words. I hope so, it's worth saying that I have a CD32 too. :)
Ooooh! Here's hoping for a CD 32 version!
Very good work, thank you. It's interesting to watch as game development progresses and the game gets better all the time. I also included it in my February 2024 New Games On Amiga video.
Thank you for your words and thank you very much for including it in the February 2024 video. Cheers!
Wow, nice job! Good game, you can praise it. I'd rather complain a little. The protagonist's flashing is annoying. He always flashes when he's hurt, and he's always hurt, so he flashes a lot. It's not good to play with your character flashing. Another small thing that bothers me: The candles flicker too fast. One more thing, the protagonist's moaning became quite boyish, not manly.
That's all I have to complain about, everything else is great! The ending music is beautiful.
Thanks for your feedback. Your complaints are easy things to fix, just reducing frequency of candles flashing and things like that. It's all part of polishing, which is next project phase. As a rather big project for a solo dev, specially on a retro system, priority was to attempt to fit all levels and bosses before losing energy and motivation (solo devs tend to lose motivation before all levels are in place, you can see many stalled projects with about 1 to 3 stages at max). By the way, nice avatar! I really liked Another World / Out of this World and sometimes it figures in my top 10 games of all time (not just Amiga). And thanks again for playing Castlevania AGA to the end!