Closing, and Possible Future

Over the course of 20 months (22 months if counting updates), I was experimenting with editing the Mega Drive version of Super Street Fighter II. I was showing these edits on Twitter, and some people started taking notice of them, which encouraged me to do even more experimentation on the matter. However, as time went by, I grew more and more ambitious for the ROM Hack.

I first released the ROM Hack in a pretty rocky state, where the command to Sagat's Tiger Uppercut  would always get mangled, preventing players from being able to use the move. There's a couple of other bugs that I don't know how to fix, such as the one where if Avra or Belva get hit at the same time that they recover all their health, their lifebar might freeze.

But the worst of all the issues is the slowdown that I introduced by mistake. Ken and Boxer's stages have among the most severe lag in the hack. I've tried so many different solutions to fix the slowdown while still running the massive amounts of code that I newly inserted. It is advised to play in stages with the least amount of lag, such as Blanka (Roll), Dhalsim (Mai) or Fei Long (Emily)'s stages.

Over the 2 months that I spent updating this hack, I made a few system changes as well as several character tweaks, including changes made in response to videos of the hack where external cheats are used. Some combos from certain characters were also patched out. However, there's still a lot of problematic matchups such as Chun-Li vs. Madonna, where Chun-Li can win simply by spamming jump-ins, as Madonna doesn't have good anti-airs against her. I think the updates should be more about major fixes than balance changes.

As it stands right now, I think it's too late to update this ROM Hack any further without major fixes such as alleviating the slowdown, unless someone can submit those fixes to me, which is extremely unlikely.

Making this ROM Hack completely changed my tweeting habits, and I certainly could use a break from all that manual tile work I did. When people continue to make videos about this hack, it makes it hard for me to move on from it. So it feels like I'm stuck in some sort of limbo situation when it comes to content creation across several different platforms.

So what do I do after this? As much as I would like for this ROM Hack to get added to Fightcade, the updates to the client itself have been extremely sporadic, ever since the year of 2022 ended. Unfortunately, I do not see a bright future ahead of the production of this hack, at least not for me. I kept going about promoting my Discord server for this ROM Hack in the worst way possible. After dealing with some spam that can't create any actual conversations on the server, I decided to increase its verification level to keep users in check.

At this rate, I'm not exactly inclined to make another one of these, especially when it comes to the process I use for inserting sprites. If I do ever get around to making another SF2 ROM Hack, I hope I don't create tons of slowdown with excessive amounts of ROM location jumps like I did here. Just to make myself clear, I am only an amateur at these things, like with my other hobbies such as creating games in Game Maker.

Rev. 1.9 Changelist

 -Fixed a crash that can occur when Player 1 starts Arcade Mode,
 and Player 2 holds any button except the Mode and Start
 buttons.

-Added some more code regarding the CPU activating Nightmare
 Dictator in Arcade Mode.

-Moved part of the hit code to a different location in the ROM.

Roll:

-S.HP and Neutral J.HP do more damage.

-Puny Peach 2nd startup's Head Hurtbox is reduced 2px downwards.

-Puny Peach's active Foot Hurtbox is reduced 2px both
 horizontally and vertically.

Dictator:

-Both S.MK's Hitboxes are raised 2px higher, so Emily can
 crouch under them.

-Psycho Crusher's Body Hurtbox is raised higher and expanded
 vertically, to further discourage the move from being spammed,
 especially from full screen. It can no longer pass through
 High Tiger Shots. Characters like Jadoo and Zangief can also
 counter it more comfortably.

-Psycho Crusher's Hitboxes are greatly reduced and don't reach
 as low, so they whiff on Belva during her crouch reels.

-Psycho Crusher's Hitbox during the 1st 2 rotations is moved
 back 6px.

-Psycho Crusher's Hitbox during the 3rd rotation is reduced 6px
 horizontally.

-Psycho Crusher's active animation loops to the last 4
 animation frames that use the same Hitbox (sans the LP
 version), negating its combo ability.

Nightmare Dictator:

-Nightmare Dictator receives 2 extra dizzy points per hit.

-Nightmare Dictator receives an extra 60 frames on his dizzy
 timer per hit.

-Opponents get knocked back further by Nightmare Dictator.

Rev. 1.8 Changelist

System changes:

-Special moves now have a fixed input window of 7 frames,
 instead of a random number between 7-14 frames. This might
 reduce the likelihood of charge moves coming out by accident
 with charge times disabled.

Other changes:

-The computer in Arcade Mode now treats the Mode+LP color as an
 alternate color, meaning it won't use the MP color if the
 Mode+LP color is chosen. This change also extends to
 "Marionette Mode" where you hold Up+A+B+C to force a Mirror
 Match against the computer.

-Moved the character selection, tripped physics and Avra's
 hitstun code to different locations in the ROM. Added a
 character form check for Avra's name announcement upon
 selection.

-Players can now use different color packs whose color index
 matches each other in mirror matches. For example, Ryu can now
 use his LP color against another Ryu who has the Mode+LP color
 selected. In the case of Hold colors, the other player is
 forced to use the color pack that's different from the color
 pack that the other player chose.

-If you hold the Mode Button when selecting Arcade Mode, the
 computer will choose random colors. This is a very
 experimental addition.

-Tweaked some code to allow for Dictator to show his Nightmare
 palette swaps on round start when human-controlled, and
 outside of Arcade Mode.

-The game now lets you play as Dictator in his Nightmare form,
 with the same button codes that activate Belva at the start of
 a round. Hold Back+X+Y+Z+B or Back+Y+Z+B+C. At first, you
 weren't meant to be able to play as Nightmare Dictator unless
 you circumvented the way the character forms work, as he is
 simply the same character but with his attack animations sped
 up, which allows him to special cancel more of his normals.

 If you think about it, sped up attack animations does have a
 few downsides, such as making it harder to time jump-ins, and
 Diagonal J.MP juggles don't work as well.

 The opponent needs to win only 1 round against Dictator to
 win the match if he's in his Nightmare form.

Stage changes:

-The blue tones in Chun-Li's 1st stage palette now match most
 of the other stages.

-A few corner pixels on the bottom tile of the trees at the top
 corners in Dee Jay's stage use the "canvas" color. It looks
 better this way.

Shotos:

-Massively nerfed frame data and damage across the board.

Guile:

-Foot Hurtbox used when knocked down is expanded 6px forward,
 for juggle combos to work against him more consistently.

Chun-Li:

-Foot Hurtbox used when knocked down is expanded 10px
 horizontally, for juggle combos to work against her more
 consistently.

-The part of her dizzy animation where she's leaning back has
 its Head and Body Hurtboxes each expanded 4px forward.

-Spinning Bird Kick's Handspring Hitbox is expanded 4px
 horizontally, to make it easier to hit a dizzy Chun-Li from
 the front while she's leaning back.

-Reverted the nerf where Kikouken's later active part causes
 an air reset instead of knocking down airborne opponents. This
 way, it can be used in corner combos followed by a Spinning
 Bird Kick.

Zangief:

-Launcher knockdown animation's 1st 2 parts now have a Foot
 Hurtbox.

-Knockdown animations' last frame each use a different Head
 and Foot Hurtbox, and a previously unused Body Hurtbox that
 used to have its dimensions duplicated from Knee Drop's Body
 Hurtbox. Said Body Hurtbox also covers most of his torso.

-Fixed Zangief's Burn Knockdown animation not having a drop
 shadow. It was like this on unmodified MD SSF2.

-C.LK has the same range that C.MK used to have, like in New
 Legacy.

-C.MK's Hitbox is expanded 4px horizontally.

-J.LK's startup uses a different Head Hurtbox that's closer to
 his head, and the Foot Hurtbox is removed.

-J.LK's Hitbox is reduced 4px downwards. It was too good
 against Dictator and Madonna. All the other characters (Roll
 included) had good answers against it. This also means Jadoo
 can now crouch under it.

-Diagonal J.LK's startup uses the same Hurtboxes as the neutral
 version.

Dictator:
-Knockdown's descent Foot Hurtbox is expanded backwards.

Sagat:

-Head Hurtbox used during knockdowns is moved 11px forward and
 expanded 3px horizontally and 5px vertically.

-Body Hurtbox used during knockdowns is expanded horizontally,
 but reduced vertically.

-Tiger Shot recoveries are 1 frame slower.

Avra:

-J.HP is now a butt attack like S.HP.

-Diagonal J.HP reuses Neutral J.HP's animation data.

Cammy:

-Knockdown animations' last frame use the same parameter list
 as each other.

-Knockdown animations' last frame has no Head or Body
 Hurtboxes, and uses the Foot Hurtbox that was used for Far
 S.MP's startup, which now covers her body.

-Far S.MP's 1st startup part and recovery use the same Foot
 Hurtbox as Close S.MP's startup.

-LK Cannon Drill active parts' sprites are placed lower to
 the ground.

-LK Cannon Drill's 1st active part has no Head Hurtbox, uses
 a different Body Hurtbox that goes up to the middle of her
 torso, and uses her crouching Pushbox.

-LK Cannon Drill's 1st active Hitbox reaches lower.

-All collision boxes on LK Cannon Drill's 2nd active part are
 placed lower. With all these changes, LK Cannon Drill can
 now travel under projectiles, like in Capcom vs. SNK 2 (at
 least against Sonic Booms, for example).

Emily:

-Knockdown animations' last frame use a Body Hurtbox that's
 more projected forward.

Character Colors:

Ryu Mode+MP: Adjusted the skin color on his in-game palette.
Now it's darker overall, matching the portrait further. The 2nd
skin tone stood out too much from the other skin tones.

→ 

Ryu Mode+LK: 4th skin tone is -1 Red. The skin seems to work
better this way.

→


Jadoo Mode+LP: Hair is colored purple to resemble Nekomusume
from GeGeGe no Kitarou.

→

→

Jadoo Mode+Hold: Hair is now colored green, 1st shirt tone is
now -2 darker, suspender skirt is now colored brown.
The attire's color scheme somewhat resembles one of my OC's,
Debby who appeared in the Outbound comics and Candra and the
Spite Crew.

→
→

Roll Mode+LP: Dress has a slight tint of orange, and outlines
are now pitch black, so her lifebar name doesn't appear
identical to her default color.

→


Roll Mode+LK: The eyes on her portrait are now colored antique
bronze.

→


Roll Mode+HK: New skin color, adjusted her hair color to better
accommodate her white tones, portrait's eyes are colored red.

→
→

Guile Mode+HP: 1st skin tone is -1 Green. It reflects on his
portrait better.

→

Chun-Li Mode+Start: Brightened her skin and attire in the hopes
of making it more distinguishable from her Start color, in the
case of Mirror Matches, now that both players have more freedom
in what colors they can use in Mirror Matches.

→

Zangief HK: Adjusted the skin tone on his portrait to further
match the in-game palette. (This was not easy for me...)

→

Zangief Mode+LK: Adjusted the skin tone on his portrait to
further match the in-game palette.

→

Mai Start: Last (dark) palette index is now 1,0,0, to further
differentiate it from her Mode+Start color.

→

Mai Mode+LK: Darker skin color, colored her "stripes" green,
portrait matches her in-game palette much closer.

→

→

Mai Mode+Start: Brightened her attire further on both her
portrait and in-game sprites, and re-colored her "stripes" blue
in the hopes of making it more distinguishable from her Start
color, in the case of Mirror Matches, now that both players
have more freedom in what colors they can use in Mirror
Matches. The palette now sort of reminds me of Kim Wu from
Killer Instinct 2/Killer Instinct Gold.

→

→

Sagat HP: Made an actual attempt at making his skin on his
in-game palette resemble his Super Turbo Jab color. I don't
know what I was thinking leaving this skin color as it was.

→

Sagat Start: Re-colored his shorts stripe from blue to green.
After looking at Sagat's palettes, I realized that none of them
have a green shorts stripe.

→

Sagat Hold: Shorts are a more subdued yellow in the hopes of
making his lifebar name more distinguishable from his Mode+MP
color, and the dark shorts stripe tone is a basic dark red.
Bongo-colored Sagat!

Note that hit sparks are color coded by player port (Blue when Player 1 hits Player 2, Yellow when Player 2 hits Player 1).

→

Sagat Mode+Hold: Gloves and socks are colored from purple to a
soft blue... it probably looks more bland this way. I had no
idea what I was thinking when I made this color. It felt like
an embodiment of the jankiness of this ROM Hack, but I might
regret changing this color later down the line.


→

Avra & Belva Mode+LP: Avra's jacket/Belva's dress is now
colored teal green, as they were lacking in colors where that
piece of attire is green.

→

→

→

→

Claw Hold: Has a brand new skin color that isn't overly reddish
in tone.

→

→

Cammy Mode+MP: Her eyes on her portrait are now colored green,
and the color of her leotard is adjusted, further matching my
OC that this color is based on, Pink Mountain from Diaper
Enforcers Deluxe. It's also an attempt to make it easier to
tell her lifebar name apart from her Start color.

→

→

Cammy Mode+MK: Adjusted her 4th skin tone, as it stood out too
much.

→

Cammy Mode+Start: Brightened her leotard and made her beret
more reddish orange on her portrait to match her in-game
palette further.

→

Emily Mode+LP: Dress is now a green color, and her bows are
colored bright pink for variety. Her previous color was
appropriate due to the Mirror Match color restriction, but now
that it has been lifted, it lost its purpose.

→

→


Madonna Mode+LK: Adjusted the skin on her portrait to match
her in-game palette further.

→

Madonna Mode+HK: Dress is now colored orange to distinguish
the lifebar name from HK.

→

→

Madonna Mode+Hold: Slightly brightened her dress on her in-game
palette.

→


Nightmare Dictator HP: Brightened the lightest attire tone.

Nightmare Dictator is given brand new palettes that are used
when he's using the 2nd color pack.

 
Here are some counters to Dictator's Psycho Crusher:

Shotos: Far S.LP (tends to trade), Far S.MK, Shoryuken

Ryu: Far S.HK

Jadoo: C.HP (time it as Dictator is near Jadoo) LP Headbutt, MK Butt Slam

Roll: C.LP, C.MP (most consistent), C.HP (can trade if done too close), Super Roll Back Dash J.LP

Guile: Far S.LP, S.LK, Far S.MK, C.HP, Flash Kick

Chun-Li: Far S.LP, Close S.HP, Far S.HP, Far S.LK, Far S.MK, C.HP

Zangief: S.HP, Close S.MK, Close S.HK, C.LP, C.MP, C.HP (more consistent), Knee Drop, Lariat

Mai: Far S.MP, S.LK, S.MK, S.HK, Close C.LP, Close C.MP, Close C.HP, Far C.LK, Far C.MK

Dictator: S.LP, Far S.HP, C.LP, C.HP, J.MK

Sagat: Close S.HP, Far S.HP,  J.LK, Back Dash J.MK, Back Dash J.HK, Tiger Uppercut

Avra: S.LP, S.HP, Butt Slap, S.HK (strict timing), Jump steered backwards followed by J.HK, Mighty Heel

Claw: Close S.MP, Close S.HP, Far S.MK, C.HP (must be early) J.HP, Flip Kicks

Cammy: Far S.LP, Close S.MP, Far S.HP, S.MK, C.HP, Diagonal J.MP, MK & HK Cannon Drill, Thrust Kick

T. Hawk: Far S.MP, Close S.HP, Far S.HP, Far S.LK, Far S.MK, Close S.HK, C.LP, C.MP, C.HP 1st Active Part, Diagonal J.HP, Tomahawk Buster

Emily: S.LP, Far S.HP, S.LK, S.MK, Far S.HK, C.MP, Elemental Kicks

Madonna: S.LP, S.HP (must be early), S.MK, C.MK, LK & HK Magic Waltz, Swan Kicks (even later cycles with less invincibility will work)

Belva: S.HP, S.HK (hard timing), C.HP (up close), Diagonal J.HP, J.LK, J.MK (seems to work better during neutral jumps), Home Run Rush, Smile Cream

Belva can cleanly low profile Psycho Crusher.