I've been neglecting my music fans for quite some time now news-wise.

Well, I've been pressed hard with Chaos Sonic, so I haven't been able to produce much music.

However, I have one song finished and ready for upload, and several songs in the list of projects.

They are all Megaman.

Finished Product: Whistle Concert from MM 3

Unfinished project: Chill Man's stage from MM 10

Future projects:
Solar Man's stage from MM 10
Sheep Man's stage from MM 10
Bubble Man's stage from MM 2 ~ detailed cover
Wily's final stage from MM 10

What can I say, MM 10 has very great music, in a way, it surpasses 9.
To elaborate, Bubble man's stage will assume the format of my unfinished (and delayed, not cancelled) Sonic Act 3 album, with more originality put into it, not just a simple cover.

To my Chaos Sonic fans, this does not at all mean, that I'm slacking on CS.
It will be done in time for summer vacation, I'll try to meet that deadline.

Finished Scene 3, really not too much trouble, save for the prep work.

I tied some loose ends from Chapter 1 that I left lying around, I'm sure for the 3 or 4 people who still remember Ch 1, their minds will be blown adequately.

To be honest, Scenes 1-4 are roughly dialogue and plot progression, Scene 5 will be 90% epic fight scene, and I want to make it worth the wait for those who go through all the hectic reading, if you're intrigued about the plot, then it ought be a treat, if you're there for the action, then jump to the last Scene.

I have to do prep work for Scene 4, Act 14. But it won't be that hard, more so since it'll be the shortest scene in the chapter.

I had a fair bit of fun doing prep work for Scene 3, I had to change a few palettes for the mysterious Red Chaos Sonic (not a "new" character, don't worry....he really doesn't have a lot of screen time after this chapter), editing character mugs and making new MCs for higher animation purposes.
CS4 is fun work with, and I've finally gotten used to it

I'm still pretty dedicated to keeping an adequate amount of sounds in this chapter, but until I get to the fight scene, I won't have to worry about much. I've certainly made more of a balanced library than I did before.
Chapter 1 was a mess in output.
Chapter 2 was a disaster in the fla.

But I found a balance and Chapter 3 will be fairly lightweight in the fla and a step up from Chapter 2 in substance. I have some close in shots using a fake zoom, more sounds, more music and another extras section containing an easter egg hunt for custom colored Chaos Emeralds.

Everything is going nicely and I can't wait to get to the climax so I can work on the epic fight scene.
Unlike Chapter 2, where I was seriously running out of frames (reaching the 16k limit) and memory to run the fla, I have plenty of space and I predict that I'll have roughly 8k frames to work with.

Surely this will be the biggest fight scene in Chaos Sonic yet.
Hype.

Chaos Sonic Chapter 3: 60% completion.

Lost my internet again.....

However on the bright side, this gave me a great opportunity to stop procrastinating on CS Ch3.
I mostly did prep work for a while, but I managed to perfect Scene 1 and I'm going head first into Scene 2, and every thing is working out very well.

One thing I fucking orgasmed over (literally), is that I found a completed copy of Chapter 2.fla on a friend's laptop, the very same laptop that I used to upload Chapter 2 to Newgrounds, Christmas of 08.
I grabbed it and looked around just to be reminded that Chapter 2 was sloppy as hell--well, the actual movie was pretty well done, but it was over 15k frames and my fla library was so packed and fucked up that I can't manage ANYTHING else in flash, because it's out of memory just holding Chapter 2, so CS4 wasn't gonna help me, luckily, I still have 8, so I'll open up Chapter 2 in Flash 8, make a new file, copaste everything I need, then close out Chapter 2 (I don't have enough memory to save my new file with Ch2 open), then save my new project, then open THAT up in CS4, and do another copaste.

It's roundabout as hell, but it works, this saves me so much redoes of MCs, it's mind boggling, I'll be redoing some for the sake of perfection, but a lot of them, especially Chaos Sonic MCs, I'm just gonna bring over from an earlier project.

With full resources, I am in very high spirits and I'm still working on it like hell, I'm listening to the fans and putting extra effort into sound effects this time around, I also have my animation up full of emotion and what not.

Here's hoping it all stays good.

Chaos Sonic Chapter 3: 35% Complete.

I'll be honest, when I said Ch3 was back in business, that only particularly meant that, thanks to an swf decompiler, I was able to recover an extremely small portion of my original project, I was still low in morale to continue the project and I even considered cancelling it.
This was also because of the costs I had to endure through getting a makeshift copy of my original project back, for one, it was bugged up the ass. Every element in my library had it's own item, literally multiplying the number of objects I had in my original movie, and I'm comparing it to my 80% complete copy that I lost, I ended up with over 5000 items in my library, each button had an object in it and each object had a bitmap in it, even if it was just text. The Text boxes were expanded, the sounds were ruined, delayed and all attempts at balancing them so they won't sound stupidly loud were gone. My MCs were ruined as well, every character sprite had their own bitmap to it, to when it came to a point where I had to take stuff from other chapters.
I still have the original fla to Ch1 and I managed to decompile Ch2 (with the same bugs of course) for resource purposes.

It might actually be easier to just remake the MCs from scratch.
I'll have a lot to (re)make and then some.

I had to replace some music and most sound effects I had and rebalance them. I'll have to get my text boxes (in the movie) right, might be a good opportunity to make a new one, there are different styles of the same one, might get the opportunity to make some more, or I can just take the original one from Ch1 with no sweat and keep going.

To add, (not really a flash related issue), most of the fonts I were using in Ch3 weren't on my new computer, so I had to download some and replace the others with close equivalents, I had to experiment and change text around like mad. This took 2 hours alone.

All and all, it took me roughly 3 hours without breaks to fix all the bugs and errors in the new fla, I had to move most of the crap in my Library into a "Bulk" category and I think it'll be a good idea to abandon it completely from here on.

On that note however, I have some good news.
I got the Adobe Master Collection CS4 for Christmas, so after 3 years of being behind on the Flash software, I'm now up to date, I'm still toying around with it, but it's pretty solid. I now have Flash CS4, as well as plenty of other stuff that I have no clue how to use. Assuredly, this has gotten me interested back into Chaos Sonic, my interest in Flash has went up and I am getting back into it, I finished refining the Title Screen and Menus, next I'm going to, step by step, rebuild the chapters and chapter elements, get the music back for the chapters and get some new MCs going. Perhaps improve.
It's gonna be a minute before I get things off the ground, but I may get things going by the end of the week if I'm uninterrupted.

In any case, I'm back into Chaos Sonic and Ch3 is (for real this time) back in business.

I promised!

I finished the first area, with hair ripping real-time puzzle, hilarious dialogue, infinity traps and 'balls to the wall' difficulty.
I have a demo up, it's technically the full game, with only the first area (Yoshi's Island) modified, so after you beat the first castle, you're done with the demo.

Now the real hard part is putting it together. I'm not going to give you the ROM file, because it's illegal.
However, with some (I hope) simple steps, you'll be playing in no time.

Follow this FAQ first.
This tells you all you need to know about IPS files.

Now download this, this lets you apply IPS files to your UNMODIFIED ROM.

Lastly, download my IPS of Super Mario Underworld demo v1.
Rapidshare link. If the rapidshare link runs dry, tell me so I can reupload it.

You need your own Super Mario World ROM, make sure you have the American version, no other versions will work. Make a copy of it, so you won't lose your original.
Patch the ROM with the IPS and play it on your favorite emulator. Tell me what you think about it!

I'm a nice person, but this game is pretty hard to figure out and it requires a bit of backtracking to make it anywhere, but again, I'm a nice person and in time, I will write a guide on how to beat these stages, I tested them personally, so they're all possible to beat, just gotta think.

If you're man enough to not use save states, I give you ultimate props, but I can't stop you should you choose to, nor can I really take your word for it in the case that you do and lie about it, just enjoy it.

I recently got into ROM hacks, namely Super Mario World, and to quench my thirst to make games about as hard as most 1980s NES games, I've decided to craft Super Mario Underworld.

Plot: Mario has been summoned into the Hell-end of purgatory and his job is to kill this unknown entity and get himself out alive. Good thing the netherworld tries all it can to keep that form happening!

I'm doing the full monty, overworld changes, palette swaps, an overhaul on that Disney ass music, with hair ripping difficulty tested by yours truely.
I'll also throw in some puzzles, make you think.
The Yellow Switch palace is a good example.

Forcing you to come in with a cape to survive then forces you to get rid of it, so you'll be small enough to get by and press the switch.
So you'll have to backtrack and get the cape and walk by through the stage to know what happens next.
I also added in some infinity holes, that if you fall in them, you must either reset the game, kill yourself (if possible MUAHAHAHAHA) or let the time run out.

I'm in early development, but it's oh so fun.
I guess I can release a demo once I get to the first castle, I'd like others to try it, but be warned.
It's not for those who give up easily.

I you're a Tales fan, please take a look at this, but comment on this one.

True enough, I managed to buy a swf decompiler, and used that to get my early copy of chapter three (courtesy of Mizox) close to it's original .fla format as a decompiler can do for me.
I have the title screen and all it's elements, the entire movie however still needs to be redone, let hope I can superceed what I did before.

Luckily I have the script (also courtesy of Mizox).

Teaser pic below.

Official announcement?
No.

But through intelligent research, I've concluded that localization is more than likely deep within the realm of possibility and probability.

How? I viewed the trademark, which can be found at http://tarr.uspto.gov/

I searched and found the trademark for Tales of Graces (http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?re gser=serial&entry=77689925), and reviewed it. One thing that caught my eye was the Filing Basis, which shows 1(b).

Now legal definition of a 1b filing basis states "You'll note it's a 1B. When your basis for filing is 1B it means you haven't used it in commerce yet -- that would be 1A, Use in Commerce -- but you intend to:

Intent to Use

Check this box if actual use of the mark in commerce that the U.S. Congress can regulate (i.e., interstate commerce, territorial commerce, or commerce between the United States and a foreign country) has not yet occurred, but instead there is simply a bona fide (good faith) intention to use the mark in commerce at a later time after filing of this application. The intention to use may be by the applicant, the applicant's related company, or the licensee of the applicant. You may file under more than one basis, but you may not file an application based on both use in commerce under §1(a) and a bona fide intention to use a mark in commerce under §1(b) for the identical goods and or services (e.g., you cannot list "shirts" under Section 1(b) and Section 1(a), but you could list "shirts" under Section 1(b) and "pants" under Section 1(a)). NOTE: If filing under this basis, you will be required to submit a demonstration of use (i.e., submission of a form with an additional fee and a specimen (sample) of said use) later in the prosecution process of the application.

Use in Commerce

Choose this basis if actually already using the mark in commerce that the U.S. Congress may regulate (i.e., interstate commerce, territorial commerce, or commerce between the United States and a foreign country) in connection with the goods and/or services identified in the application. You must be able to provide the date of first use anywhere and the date of use in commerce that the U.S. Congress may regulate, and a specimen (sample) of said use. Use may be by the applicant, the applicant's related company, or a licensee of the applicant. You may file under more than one basis, but you may not file an application based on both use in commerce under §1(a) and a bona fide intention to use a mark in commerce under §1(b) for the identical goods and or services (e.g., you cannot list "shirts" under Section 1(b) and Section 1(a), but you could list "shirts" under Section 1(b) and "pants" under Section 1(a)). "

So in a nutshell, Graces hasn't been localized yet, but they plan on localization.
I've never been so hyped up about a Tales Game since Symphonia 6 years ago, looking at it in a Nintendo Power Magazine. And the TGS just made it a deal.
Man, TGS makes E3 look like the joke that it is, but I digress.

Localization very, very possible, but still keep our fingers crossed, Namco, being the owner of the Trademark, they can choose to change their mind--for any reason, or no reason at all, But being a huge Namco fan, I pray they don't.

I have my new computer.
Happy?
Yes....

So my mom sucks.
Love her to death, but she still sucks. She's been fucking around on my sister's computer and she's finally had it.
She performed a system recovery--without telling me prior.
Due to her shitty computer smarts, she thought she backed up everyone's shit, but didn't.

Long Story short, all the data for my songs in progress and most importantly Chaos Sonic Chapter 3 as well as Chapter 1 and 2 (for reference) are gone.
Like, "cannot recover them" kind of gone. So I'll have to restart the project for Chapter 3 literally from the ground up this time, instead of having used MCs and other elements taken from Chapter 1 and 2, song selection, sound effects, voice clips, custom sheets, and even the script.

If my sister had let me know prior, I would have been able to save those projects on a Flash drive, but because of this, the most I have is a disc copy of Chapter 1, which I'll admit has a very shoddy composition.

That's life, I guess.

P.S. I won't be restarting the project anytime soon.
Hiatus aside, I'll need to find everything I need all over again (sprite sheets, music sound effects, voice clips), reinstall Flash, and remake the script before I can even get back to work. Plus when you spend months working on something that gets put to absolute waste, it hard gaining the will to restart the effort, and having to do more work than previously, on the chance that it may not be as good as it once was.