I'm back to make a VERY SPECIAL ROM, and I need your guidance!

[GameplayLoop]

Here are the AFC East & AFC North small helmets in my upcoming ROM:

 

[GameplayLoop]

Since getting into graphics-editing mode at the beginning of August, I've been back and forth about the main title screen for this custom ROM. Some level of editing will be necessary to reference the theme of the ROM, but I'm torn on just how much to edit.

 

For instance, while I really dig the custom TB-org Main Title screen (great, great work, whoever did that), I do feel like the game loses a bit of its identity by changing the title screen too much. There's also the weird visual bug that happens when you allow the title credit to play after editing it.

 

At any rate, does anyone have clean examples of ROMs that may have tweaked the main title screen, but kept the meat of it intact? I'm definitely on the hunt for lightly-edited title screen inspiration.

Edited August 15, 2023 by Yak

[GameplayLoop]

Actually, I think OG TSB did the Bengals helmet best.

 

[GameplayLoop]

Previous Broncos big helmet:

 

 

Updated Broncos big helmet:

 

 

Edited August 15, 2023 by Yak

[GameplayLoop]

Some more small helmet tweaks. Again, most of these edits are of course personal preference. 

 

Previous Texans small helmet:

 

 

Updated Texans small helmet:

 

 

Previous Raiders small helmet:

 

 

Updated Raiders small helmet:

 

 

Previous Lions small helmet:

 

 

Updated Lions small helmet (WIP):

 

 

And I think the most surprising and impactful change... Previous Saints small helmet:

 

 

Updated Saints small helmet:

 

 

I'm actually kind of shocked that this whole time we haven't been using a white highlight of some sort with the Saints logo.

 

Edited August 16, 2023 by Yak

[Knobbe]

 @Yak That Texans logo is really good!

[Knobbe]

On 6/10/2023 at 11:16 AM, Yak said:

Alsooooo, I'm planning ahead to playbook play selections for each team. Does anyone have a preferred methodology for accurately scheming team playbooks? Back in the day, when I was doing current year ROMs, it was from my familiarity with watching team games or highlights. But does anyone have a strategy for historical team play selection?

 

I typically build them with simming in mind.

If a guy is getting all the carries, he'll have 3 running plays.

If guys are splitting, have 2 and 2, that sort of stuff.

If the TE is getting a lot of receptions, make sure he has a lot of routes.

Get running QBs a QB run play.

[GameplayLoop]

I'm messing around adding a white outline to the Cowboys & Bears small helmet logos. They're looking pretty good, but some tweaks are needed. But I do have some other nice updates.

 

Previous Cardinals small helmet:

 

 

Update Cardinals small helmet:

 

 

Previous Chiefs helmet:

 

 

Updated Chiefs helmet:

 

[GameplayLoop]

I tried a bunch of things to add a white highlight to the Bears logo, and it almost works. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a way to stick the landing on it enough to use it over the more efficient OG version. 

 

Similarly, although I prefer the updated logos below, I'm not happy with every element:

 

Previous Lions small helmet:

 

 

Updated Lions small helmet (I wish this updated logo wasn't as wide):

 

 

Previous Cowboys small helmet:

 

 

Updated Cowboys small helmet (I wish height would work better with the highlight):

 

 

 

Edited August 19, 2023 by Yak

[GameplayLoop]

Here's a nearly-finished draft of the complete small helmet set 🤙

 

[GameplayLoop]

I've asked this before, so apologies for repeating myself, but does anyone know where it is that the black drop shadow behind the main menu screen NFL logo went in many of our custom roms? I'll specifically refer to the TB-org Base rom. Was it hex changes that removed this, or tile changes?

 

1.) OG TSB 

 

 

2.) Custom rom

 

 

 

Edited August 20, 2023 by Yak

[GameplayLoop]

Question:

 

In the following thread, it says that the following is the location to change the pink color of the Tecmo Super Bowl main menu text: x1A147

Confirming, is that true? 

 

Quote

1.) Main Menu Screens

Okay first we'll change the Main Menu Screens, here are the offsets for those....

0x1A140 - 0x1A14F

0x1A850 - 0x1A85F

Now, to change the general main menu background, just change the value at x1A850 to whichever color you want, and that should work.

For the Pink Tecmo Letters and Year Numbers on the Main Menu Screens, just change the value at offset x1A147 and there you go.

 

 

 

[Knobbe]

On 8/20/2023 at 11:13 AM, Yak said:

Here's a nearly-finished draft of the complete small helmet set 🤙

 

 

I'm assuming that several of the helmets are throwbacks, notably NYJ and JAX.

The edits with the white outlines really pop when they're shrunk down.

 

 

[GameplayLoop]

4 hours ago, Knobbe said:

 

I'm assuming that several of the helmets are throwbacks, notably NYJ and JAX.

The edits with the white outlines really pop when they're shrunk down.

I agree! And good eye: this rom is made up of teams from different years. 
 

[GameplayLoop]

I have a bit of cleanup to do and hopefully a feature add or two, but with this video trailer I'm excited to announce that coming 9/10/23 is the very special project launch of...

 

🏉 TB12 Tecmo Super Bowl - Hall of Fame Edition 🏉

                   ~ 31 rival teams facing off against The Greatest of All Time ~
 

Edited August 22, 2023 by Yak

[GameplayLoop]

On 8/20/2023 at 2:06 PM, Yak said:

I've asked this before, so apologies for repeating myself, but does anyone know where it is that the black drop shadow behind the main menu screen NFL logo went in many of our custom roms? I'll specifically refer to the TB-org Base rom. Was it hex changes that removed this, or tile changes?

 

1.) OG TSB 

 

 

2.) Custom rom

 

 

 

I figured this one out. Whoever originally redesigned this logo also changed some hex around on the screen, as well as removed the background colors. I’m guessing this revised NFL logo could be remade, and the black backdrop background on the NFL logo reimplemented, but I’m unlikely to do so for the launch of this rom.

[GameplayLoop]

Box Art - Front Cover

 

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by Yak

[GameplayLoop]

Well, my dudes! This Sunday, 9/10/23/, I'll be releasing:
 

🐐🏈 TB12 Tecmo Super Bowl - Hall of Fame Edition 🏈🐐

~ 31 rival teams facing off against The Greatest of All Time ~

 

Thanks to everyone who's helped to make the past 9+ months a memorable time building this project.

I first thought of making this rom two years ago, after it looked like TB12 was going to retire. Since his unretirement, I had been loosely plotting design elements through in my head over the course of his final playing year. I began actual work on the rom as soon as it was confirmed that TB12 was going to stay in retirement this past offseason.

 

Thanks very much to @SBlueman for helping to gather resources in this thread, and acting as a friendly community rep when I started this process. Sometimes that kind of positive energy can help to motivate action!

 

I started by focusing on building out a series of spreadsheets to preserve and transform NFL player stats into TSB roster attributes, and to eventually compare against OG TSB roster attributes. Huge, huge thanks to @bruddog for building all kinds of super useful tools and documentation to help build a TSB rom. I created a very basic structure for how I would select Tom Brady rivals, which seems to have worked well enough.

 

I spent the majority of the first several months exclusively on choosing, rating, and building roster attributes from the wealth of player data that I had accumulated in said spreadsheets on the actual NFL players. After creating a draft of the rom's opposing rosters, I began modeling the attribute sets after OG TSB rosters. I've made very subtle tweaks here and there to extend the caps of certain attributes, but only in very select circumstances. The roster attribute tables are very much in the realm of OG TSB. I wanted to rate and score the other teams before selecting and grading the Patriots roster; I wanted the Patriots to be built around the other teams’ attributes.  

It took around 8 months of part-time work to build these rosters. I'm sure there are tweaks here and there that will help, but I've spent more time on these rosters than any previous rom that I've released. 

 

I spent August working on graphics edits and installing minimal hacks, which was a lot of fun. I had never previously given myself so much time to make graphic edits, and it was a real treat. Being able to take a scan through the large and small helmets, and making sweeping changes was totally worth it. I think it's all looking real slick right now.

 

Thanks to @jstout for popping over! Always glad to have him come around. With help from @Knobbe , I installed Jstout's awesome 4-3 formation 32-team edit, which has been incredible to see uniquely applied to teams across this historical rom. With the Defensive team data screen edits, and the on-field change, it's the perfect amount of upgrade from OG TSB's experience to represent an evolution, but still very much in-line with OG gameplay. There may be a tweak here or there in a blocking assignment or RB route that could be made, but this hack is the juice. Awesome stuff. 

 

This TB12 Tecmo Super Bowl rom has been a long time coming, and I'm proud of the work that has gone into it. It's been a nice swan song for the past 20+ years of watching Tom Brady absolutely dominate the NFL, and the related Tecmo Super Bowl projects that I created purely from the motivation of watching the 2000-2020 New England Patriots football team. Tom Brady is the one true football QB GOAT, and I wouldn't have spent my time on this unless that was a fact.

There's a very good chance that I'll make a "Pro" version of this rom in the future. Bruddog and others have made some incredible hacks since I regularly visited these forums a decade ago or so, and I'm excited to see what kind of advanced experience can eventually be created. But that'll be for the future. Until then...

 
Thanks, everybody!! 🐐🏈
 

Edited September 5, 2023 by Yak

[Knobbe]

@Yak Thanks for all the mini-helmet updates, presented here in gif form

 

N.E.  DAL. 
BAL. PIT.  DET. 
HOU. TEN. N.O.
K.C.  L.V.  ARI.

 

 

[Bolt]

17 hours ago, Knobbe said:

 

The beauty of this gif cannot be overstated

[SBlueman]

On 9/4/2023 at 11:36 AM, Yak said:

Thanks very much to @SBlueman for helping to gather resources in this thread, and acting as a friendly community rep when I started this process. Sometimes that kind of positive energy can help to motivate action!

 

 

 

Glad I could be of some help! Just doing my part to try to make this place a bit friendlier to people who want to edit the game. The only way a community can grow is to help each other. Nothing juices you up more than when you finally get over the hump on something you are stuck on. 

[Ryzzynnwa]

All respect to Tom Brady, but greatest QB can't be a title someone holds when the NFL changes the rules to make it easier for you. On a positive note, I love that you are that amped about Tecmo All time Roster creation as I am. I am curious did you base it on stats with upgrades and downgrades based on rules changes? or is just based on stats with no outside factors?