New early release - Axelay + 3.58 MHz FastROM Beta v0.2
Added 2021-03-27 23:11:21 +0000 UTCGood news! The FastROM version of Axelay proved to reduce a good amount of slowdown and it's stable. This means that I'm releasing the beta patch for all patrons! Keep in mind this is not the final version, so there can still be some bugs and slowdown around.
You can download the patch under the attachments of this post. This is a BPS patch, so you need the original USA Axelay ROM before applying it. If you don't know how to apply BPS patches, make sure to read my SnesLab article for more information: https://sneslab.net/wiki/How_to_apply_ROM_patches
The patch doesn't remove all slowdown, but I will keep working on optimizing the game code until it feels 100% good on all stages. The game doesn't need SA-1 since it's already optimized enough by Konami, however there's still some spots that can be optimized and that's what I'm doing currently.
You're free to record and stream it, make sure to mention me so more people can know my work.
If you have any feedback, bug or slowdown spot which you think it must be improved, please comment on this post and I'll analyze for a workaround.
Have fun!
Comments
Hi Vitor, excellent work. It runs incredibly smoothly. Looking forward to Area 88.
Alan David Dawkins
2021-03-29 18:13:44 +0000 UTCThank you for the detailed feedback! I will keep these points in mind on the next version. FastROM requires a bit more time for optimizing everything since it involves more analysis and feedback compared to SA-1 (since you know SA-1 will do its job perfectly once you get rid of all bugs) but I think the FastROM patch is going well for the first version
Vitor
2021-03-28 20:11:13 +0000 UTCI played quite a bit today and here is my feedback: I managed to produce slowdowns starting at level 1 when destroying enemies that explode into boulders. I had some slowdowns at the second level boss. I saw a slowdown just before the 3rd level boss, but it's not systematic. I had some slowdowns in 4th level when the screen was heavily loaded with fire and enemies. At 6th level, slowdowns as large enemy ships come closer to each other in the 1st part of the level, then towards the end of that level, when there is a lot of action as well. Nothing dramatic either. In fact, there's more sprite erasing than slowing down now. I hope I have given you some tips for your optimization. See you soon for a next version. (I play on a super famicom and an SD2SNES PRO, with a PAKAPUNCH video cable on a Sony PVM)
Le Duc
2021-03-28 20:05:04 +0000 UTC
