Castlevania Thread - Vampires, Whips, and Horror's Greatest Hits Now In One Gaming Franchise

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

I'll never get tired of your shit taste in media

 

[Tepes Thot]

Here we go again.

Wonder what modern dogma they’ll curb stomp the series with this time.

 

[Maniacal Foreigner]

I think im the only guy actually looking forward to this. Ironically for the Haitians (hahahaha) and unironically for the fights, villains and more alucard.

I also think you're the only guy actually looking forward to this.

 

[Brain Power]

I am NOT looking forward to them shitting even more on Juste and Richter having niggermutt babies with a cat eater. Alucard is not even supposed to be around during Rondo!

 

[Michael Wade]

They’re eating the dogs. The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. they’re eating the pets and the people!

 

[Calandrino]

I am NOT looking forward to them shitting even more on Juste and Richter having niggermutt babies with a cat eater. Alucard is not even supposed to be around during Rondo!

I want to see a lot more GAY INTERRACIAL ANAL SEX

 

[Eddie Riggs]

 

[Eddie Riggs]

The man who did the kickass art for Order was Masaki Hirooka


He's on twitter, mostly drawing anime girls now. Some of his more eye-catching work (Archive)





This one looks somewhat similar to Shanoa

Extra interview (L | A Translated with ChatGPT)

A Q&A with illustrator Masaki Hirooka

Illustrator Masaki Hirooka, who participated in the production of Metal Max 3 as the designer for the protagonist, heroine Cora, and many other main characters. How did he approach this well-established series? Amidst his busy schedule, we conducted a Q&A email interview to find out.

Q01. When did you start drawing illustrations? Also, could you share what inspired you to begin or any works that influenced you?

A. I’ve been doodling in notebooks since I was a child. I remember often imitating the monsters from the Famicom version of Wizardry, as well as the illustrations by Yoshitaka Amano in The Heroic Legend of Arslan and Vampire Hunter D novels.

Q02. Did you learn to draw on your own, or did you study at a specialized school?

A. I started drawing on my own. I worked at a game company, but I didn’t do any drawing as part of my job there. I used my time after work and on weekends to practice drawing.

Q03. What led you to start working in the gaming industry?

A. Although I wanted to work as an illustrator, I knew that without enough skill, I wouldn’t get anywhere when an opportunity came. So, I focused on improving my drawing abilities rather than seeking out jobs.

Eventually, I received my first job offer via email. At that time, it wasn’t common to receive job requests through email, so I was a bit skeptical when I responded.

Q04. For Metal Max 3, you were mainly in charge of designing the characters. Was there anything specific you kept in mind while designing?

A. When I was assigned to work on a new Metal Max title, I bought the previous games and checked information online to gather as much as I could. I needed to understand the world and design trends of the earlier games while creating something new. During meetings with the development staff, I had to grasp what they were expecting from me through our discussions.

Q05. Is there a character design you created this time that you feel is a standout?

A. The design of the male nurse. This character, who is always walking around while seemingly giving himself a transfusion via an IV drip, really captures the essence of the Metal Max series, in my opinion.

Q06. You were also responsible for the main visual used on the game package. What concept did you have in mind when creating it?

A. I imagined a scene where Cora, having stolen the protagonist's bike, is speeding away while hurling a parting insult at the protagonist. I made sure that Cora, the protagonist, and Blade Tooth (the robot) wouldn’t interfere with the title logo at the top of the illustration.

I also carefully adjusted their placement so the image would still work when trimmed for the nearly square packaging of the Nintendo DS. Additionally, though it may not be very noticeable, the ruined buildings in the background are a crucial element in representing the game’s world, so I paid great attention to the details there as well.

Q07. You also created the visual for the live-action promotion, which is featured on the cover of this book. Can you tell us about that?

A. This visual was based on the rough layout I submitted. Actors portraying the characters were photographed according to that layout, and the live-action image was used for advertising. I then redrew the illustration, making some slight adjustments based on the live-action reference.

Since the actors faithfully recreated the poses I had specified in the composition, their performances were helpful for my final drawing.

Q08. Were there any challenges you faced while working on Metal Max 3?

A. In the early stages of the game’s development, it took quite some time to get the rough character designs approved. Until the project gained momentum, I spent a lot of time thinking through ideas and gathering reference materials.

However, after that, thanks to the support and consideration of the development staff, the process moved along smoothly.

Q09. What do you do to refresh yourself when you feel stuck at work?

A. I started riding a road bike three years ago. It’s a convenient and fast way to get around Tokyo, and above all, it’s enjoyable. Since I began using it regularly as part of my training, I feel that my overall health has improved.

Q10. Finally, do you have a message for the players of Metal Max 3 who purchase this book?

A. After learning about the concept art in this book, you might notice different expressions when you see the characters in the game again. I would be delighted if you take an interest and play the game two or three more times!

 

[Gravemind]

So, the Dominus Collection is really good. Only problem with the PC port is that there's no native fullscreen or resolution options. It always launches windowed. You can either alt + Enter to manually force fullscreen, or you can manually resize the window to whatever resolution you want.

There also seems to be a weird bug specifically with the PC port where the game CAN crash for reasons that may specifically be tied to overusing the Rewind function. Granted, I never ran into this myself until I started playing Order of Ecclesia after fully completing Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin. It's not too bad unless you're overly crutching on Rewinds without saving or making savestates. Just something to be aware of.

 

[Grub]

So, the Dominus Collection is really good. Only problem with the PC port is that there's no native fullscreen or resolution options. It always launches windowed. You can either alt + Enter to manually force fullscreen, or you can manually resize the window to whatever resolution you want.

There also seems to be a weird bug specifically with the PC port where the game CAN crash for reasons that may specifically be tied to overusing the Rewind function. Granted, I never ran into this myself until I started playing Order of Ecclesia after fully completing Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin. It's not too bad unless you're overly crutching on Rewinds without saving or making savestates. Just something to be aware of.

But is there actually any point to playing the Dominus Collection over emulating those games with the various qol hacks available for them?

 

[Gravemind]

But is there actually any point to playing the Dominus Collection over emulating those games with the various qol hacks available for them?

Depends on what you prefer more.

I think it's neat having every screen available at once (i.e., the map and status screens are both on screen at the same time without having to switch between them during main game playthroughs), and the way they adjusted the touch screen mechanic for Dawn of Sorrow is also neat (you "draw" the patterns by pressing button prompts in a specific order). Touch screen mechanics in other games are either handled by moving an in-game cursor with the right stick (and you can adjust its speed with the right trigger between three presets) or with mouse clicks (which I'm sure you can do in-emulator as well, but it's up to you). Plus, again, there's that little Rewind function to immediately walk back any mistakes you make (although, again, this CAN crash the game potentially if abused too much). There's also the fact that Dominus Collection comes packaged not only with the full, original version of Haunted Castle (that ancient Castlevania arcade game), but a full on remake of Haunted Castle as well that seems pretty good (haven't tried it yet, but people have been glowing about it).

Whether or not you want to give Konami money is on you and your choice to make. All I'm saying is, it's a good product.

 

[starborn427614]

Honestly, the only thing I don't care for in the collection is the inability to blow up the map to fullscreen when you're playing in handheld mode. That's a small thing for such an otherwise polished collection, though.

 

[Gravemind]

Honestly, the only thing I don't care for in the collection is the inability to blow up the map to fullscreen when you're playing in handheld mode. That's a small thing for such an otherwise polished collection, though.

I don't think any of the DS games had that function since the map is always accessible from the second screen.

Although technically, in almost all of the DS games (never checked for DoS), you CAN access a fullscreen map in the pause screen, which also shows the percentage of map completion as well.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

He's on twitter, mostly drawing anime girls now. Some of his more eye-catching work (Archive)

His environments are really nice. Good to see an artist who can't only draw waifus.

Depends on what you prefer more.

I think it's neat having every screen available at once (i.e., the map and status screens are both on screen at the same time without having to switch between them during main game playthroughs), and the way they adjusted the touch screen mechanic for Dawn of Sorrow is also neat (you "draw" the patterns by pressing button prompts in a specific order). Touch screen mechanics in other games are either handled by moving an in-game cursor with the right stick (and you can adjust its speed with the right trigger between three presets) or with mouse clicks (which I'm sure you can do in-emulator as well, but it's up to you). Plus, again, there's that little Rewind function to immediately walk back any mistakes you make (although, again, this CAN crash the game potentially if abused too much). There's also the fact that Dominus Collection comes packaged not only with the full, original version of Haunted Castle (that ancient Castlevania arcade game), but a full on remake of Haunted Castle as well that seems pretty good (haven't tried it yet, but people have been glowing about it).

Whether or not you want to give Konami money is on you and your choice to make. All I'm saying is, it's a good product.

Do Castlevania games go on sale often?

 

[Grub]

I think it's neat having every screen available at once (i.e., the map and status screens are both on screen at the same time without having to switch between them during main game playthroughs), and the way they adjusted the touch screen mechanic for Dawn of Sorrow is also neat (you "draw" the patterns by pressing button prompts in a specific order). Touch screen mechanics in other games are either handled by moving an in-game cursor with the right stick (and you can adjust its speed with the right trigger between three presets) or with mouse clicks (which I'm sure you can do in-emulator as well, but it's up to you).

Qtes are arguably worse. There's a hack that just completely removes the touchscreen nonsense.

Plus, again, there's that little Rewind function to immediately walk back any mistakes you make (although, again, this CAN crash the game potentially if abused too much).

So it's pretty much a worse version of the rewind function in emulators.

I think it's neat having every screen available at once (i.e., the map and status screens are both on screen at the same time without having to switch between them during main game playthroughs),

There's also the fact that Dominus Collection comes packaged not only with the full, original version of Haunted Castle (that ancient Castlevania arcade game), but a full on remake of Haunted Castle as well that seems pretty good (haven't tried it yet, but people have been glowing about it).

So pretty much these two things would be the only reasons.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

So pretty much these two things would be the only reasons.

Convenience too.

 

[Grub]

Convenience too.

I dunno man. I'm not really seeing the convenience factor here.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

I dunno man. I'm not really seeing the convenience factor here.
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I'm bad with computers but it took me a while to set up Bowser's Inside Story using an emulator, trying to bind the voice input to a button. I'd imagine reconfiguring touch inputs or installing patches would be another level of hassle I just don't care to deal with.

 

[Celebrate Nite]

I'm bad with computers but it took me a while to set up Bowser's Inside Story using an emulator, trying to bind the voice input to a button

What Emulator you using?

Because in Retroarch, the "microphone" button is L3/R3 if i remember correctly. And DesMuMe has a setting where it's always on and running by default.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

What Emulator you using?

Because in Retroarch, the "microphone" button is L3/R3 if i remember correctly. And DesMuMe has a setting where it's always on and running by default.

Idk, is EmuDeck just a front end for RetroArch or something? I play in DS on Steam Deck usually, sometimes my phone where I use MelonDS and just avoid games that use gimmicks.