Arkanoid level editing?

andy251203

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I'm a big fan of Arkanoid and Arkanoid II and play them all the time. I'm sure everyone else who loves the game can agree on this: the same old levels get BORING after a while!!

Anybody ever consider a way to rom hack either game and change the levels around? It would be awesome to have a level editor program that could open up and edit the appropriate ROM image. You could then burn a new rom chip and play fresh levels! I would love to do something like this, but it's beyond my level of expertise.
 
I'm a big fan of Arkanoid and Arkanoid II and play them all the time. I'm sure everyone else who loves the game can agree on this: the same old levels get BORING after a while!!

Anybody ever consider a way to rom hack either game and change the levels around? It would be awesome to have a level editor program that could open up and edit the appropriate ROM image. You could then burn a new rom chip and play fresh levels! I would love to do something like this, but it's beyond my level of expertise.

I don't understand.

You're talking about adding levels that are not in the original game?

Changing around the levels that are already in the game makes no sense. The idea is to get good enough at the game so that you can get to the end and therefore see all the levels. Harder levels are supposed to be toward the end of the game. If you want to see them them the best thing to do is practice.

I doubt many would like to face the Elevator level in Donkey Kong immediately upon starting the game, or the 9th key maze in Pac-man as soon as you press the start button. It would just kill the game.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
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I think he is meaning he wants to make his own levels so he has different levels to play and not the same ones that are in the game. Not sure that it is easily possible but it would be cool.






I don't understand.

You're talking about adding levels that are not in the original game?

Changing around the levels that are already in the game makes no sense. The idea is to get good enough at the game so that you can get to the end and therefore see all the levels. Harder levels are supposed to be toward the end of the game. If you want to see them them the best thing to do is practice.

I doubt many would like to face the Elevator level in Donkey Kong immediately upon starting the game, or the 9th key maze in Pac-man as soon as you press the start button. It would just kill the game.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
I am currently working on a custom Arkanoid. It will appear at MAGfest in January (http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=192274).
I've written the software and made the hardware (you can't just modify the ROMs... you need to defeat the protection on the board). I also added high score save and level select. Buffet (see thread link above) designed the new levels. Some of them are very cool. I'll post pics eventually.

I'm thinking it might be cool to have a level designing contest here and create a KLOV edition. What do you guys think?
 
It would be awesome to have a KLOV edition of Arkanoid, it might finally push me over the edge to buy one!

Now just to see what butchered classic cabinet I want it in :p

Honestly, I could totally see this being awesome.
 
I think he is meaning he wants to make his own levels so he has different levels to play and not the same ones that are in the game. Not sure that it is easily possible but it would be cool.

If that is true then he might as well have said he wanted another Arkanoid game. Now, if someone thinks we need another Arkanoid (in addition to the four Arkanoid games already out there), the question is, have they gotten to the end of all of those versions, and therefore seen all levels before calling the game boring?

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
sometimes it's just fun to make mods and customizations the the ones that already exist. You don't need a whole new game just some custom brick placement. Using bricks to spell "KOLV" would be pretty cool.

A pac man maze spelling KLOV might do well too.
 
Being an Arkanoid addict myself, I'd love to see anything relative to Arkanoid level editing/new games/etc come to fruition and definitely see value in it.

I am currently working on a custom Arkanoid. It will appear at MAGfest in January (http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=192274).
I've written the software and made the hardware (you can't just modify the ROMs... you need to defeat the protection on the board). I also added high score save and level select. Buffet (see thread link above) designed the new levels. Some of them are very cool. I'll post pics eventually.

I'm thinking it might be cool to have a level designing contest here and create a KLOV edition. What do you guys think?
I'd love to see pics and more info on this one...So awesome that you are working on this.
 
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I am currently working on a custom Arkanoid. It will appear at MAGfest in January (http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=192274).
I've written the software and made the hardware (you can't just modify the ROMs... you need to defeat the protection on the board). I also added high score save and level select. Buffet (see thread link above) designed the new levels. Some of them are very cool. I'll post pics eventually.

I'm thinking it might be cool to have a level designing contest here and create a KLOV edition. What do you guys think?

Wasn't the Arkanoid series the biggest beneficiary of conversions back in the "Golden Age"?

They obviously squeezed as much out of the series as they could. So perhaps something really unique is in order.

(I've had several game ideas myself, so it will be interesting to see how you approach this).

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
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That aside though, again I would definitely be interested in new/modified Arkanoid whether KLOV-only special or otherwise and can't wait to see what Matt and Buffet are working on :001_sbiggrin:

I'm with you on Darren's comments:

Comment 1: You suck at Arkanoid. Get better and you'll see more levels.

Comment 2: I'm better than you, therefore MY opinion shall rule. NO more levels.

Yes, you ARE entitled to your opinion. But damn, they sure did crap on the OP's parade.

That's MY opinion.
 
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All of this over Arkanoid.

I have seen it all now.
 
OK girls, settle down.... :D

First off, I just want to say this: Designing and playing your own Arkanoid levels is fun as hell!

On the original games the levels do generally get more difficult as you go along (or at least that was the intent), but there are several exceptions. That's all subjective anyway, and depends on your playing style (and learning some tricks/strategy on certain levels).
The levels in the MAGfest X game are not really sorted by difficulty (the first couple levels are pretty easy though). It would take a lot of play testing to figure out the best order, and we don't have time to do that (maybe we can do that for the KLOV edition). Buffet made most of the levels very challenging anyway. That's why I put a level select at game start. That way people will have a chance to try out all the levels at the event.

ArkEdit (link above) was the tool Buffet used to design the levels. I provided him with a configuration file to use with the program so that I could easily extract the level data and inject it into my custom Arkanoid code. I'll do the same/similar thing when it comes time to do the KLOV version.
 
BIID, the PC version of Arkanoid II: Revenge of DoH had a level-edit feature, and you could edit just about everything. Spent hours playing that.
 
ArkEdit (link above) was the tool Buffet used to design the levels. I provided him with a configuration file to use with the program so that I could easily extract the level data and inject it into my custom Arkanoid code. I'll do the same/similar thing when it comes time to do the KLOV version.
Were you able to defeat the chip security making this mod useful on an existing PCB or does it require complete new hardware? Also...I noticed mention of integrating high score save into your project...will this too work with current Ark boards?
It's so awesome that you guys are working on this...I can't wait to see it in action :001_sbiggrin:
 
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