Projects Update (3rd Aug 2018)

So, I have many projects on the table as per usual (I'm a man who likes to have 5 projects on the go so that I can flutter between many of them to reduce chance of burnout). However, I would like to give updates on the state on each of them as some of them are of interest to others (and some probably won't be).

DK64 101% LOTAD - 2ND EDITION (AKA: DK64 101% LOMBRE)
Yes, I know, another time Ballaam is talking about the LOTAD, you're probably getting sick and tired of it by now. However, I'm excited for the outcome, and I know a few others are too. I do have rough aims of when I want to finish this project, it's not exactly a secret that I'm aiming for DK64's 20th Anniversary. With 2-and-a-bit levels to go and undoubtedly some sections to improve to cut the time down, I'm not willing to give any form of release month as some sections (*cough* Fungi *cough* will probably take quite a while).

I will end up releasing a trailer for it to get the release date out there when the time comes for it. I do want a reveal stream to happen for this, but I will need to talk to a couple people when it gets a little closer to see whether they are willing to participate.

DK64 RANDOMISER
This one (amongst most of the others) I have kind of put to the side whilst I have been working on the DK64 101 LOTAD v2 because I want to get that out in a reasonable time and also not drip feed on the Randomiser and feel guilty about not being able to put enough time in to bug fixing and development. I want to make sure that when I go back to working on the randomiser, I will have the time to investigate the inevitable "okay, why is this breaking".

I haven't forgotten about Rando, and I do have some plans on what to work on. I think the main thing that needs to be worked on is making the gameplay for Rando a bit more inviting for those who are not DK64 speedrunners/enthusiasts. We want to include paired loading zones (reducing fear of entering Loading Zones in general) and also just make it more enjoyable for the user (as well as fixing bugs left, right and centre.

We (the dev team) are still aiming to turn this into a ROM Hack rather than a Lua Script, but since there is only one in the dev team (Mittenz) who has experience of ROM Hacking, such a thing may take a while.

EJ3D 100% TAS
I put this on the backburner again because of the 101 LOTAD. I do want to get around towards making this, but it's going to be a while away until I do because I want to ensure that the DK64 Randomiser is in a good position beforehand. There are also some fancy new tricks which save time which won't affect anything I've done, but will make the rest of the route a little different.

EJ3D PC PRACTICE TOOLS
I do have a script already for this which has some basic functionality (TakeMeThere, warp to a pre-stored point, Restock Health/Lives etc, L to Levitate), but I do want to develop this more in a similar style to Mittenz's BK Practice ROM, making it easier for people to practice RTA for Jim 3D on PC and do ILs without having to exit the game, re-copy the save file and then enter it again.
This includes
- Flag & Save File Modifications to reset Udders / Marble score in a level
- Speedy Speeds
- Smart Warping to significant areas of levels (Since all of a level is handled under 1 map for Jim)
- Probably some other stuff here and there

I also want to put this on GitHub, and maybe introduce a way for people to tell that it's the practice tool (in a similar way to OoT's practice ROM having a different colour tunic for Link) so that the chance of people using L to Levitate to cheat a jump in RTA is reduced.

OTHERS
I have a few other ideas in mind here and there, but they're currently just ideas or not high enough on my list to warrant a paragraph or two on them. I may not get around to doing these at all.
> EJ3D PC Autosplitter (Does what it says on the tin)
> More work on DK64 Camera pan script (Quadratic paths, bug fixes, some usability stuff)
> DK64 Ultra Hardcore (Making DK64 super hard to beat, harder to 101%. Will be a script, have some very meme ideas.)