DKC Atlas Forum

[Qyzbud]

All of DKC Atlas is important to me, but perhaps the most unique and significant feature on show here is our collection of level maps.
An atlas is, by definition, a collection of maps... so it's no surprise that these level maps are a big part of what makes DKC Atlas tick.

Below is a linked, colour-coded guide to our map collection.

The Map List:
Click a level's name to view its map...

DKC ____________________________ Kongo Jungle Jungle Hijinxs! Ropey Rampage! Reptile Rumble! Coral Capers! Barrel Cannon Canyon! Very Gnawty's Lair! Monkey Mines Winky's Walkway! Mine Cart Carnage! Bouncy Bonanza! Stop & Go Station! Millstone Mayhem! Necky's Nuts! Vine Valley Vulture Culture! Tree Top Town! Forest Frenzy! Temple Tempest! Orang-utan Gang! Clam City! Bumble B Rumble! Gorilla Glacier Snow Barrel Blast! Slipslide Ride! Ice Age Alley! Croctopus Chase! Torchlight Trouble! Rope Bridge Rumble! Really Gnawty Rampage! Kremkroc Industries Inc. Oil Drum Alley! Trick Track Trek! Elevator Antics! Poison Pond! Mine Cart Madness! Blackout Basement! Boss Dumb Drum! Chimp Caverns Tanked Up Trouble! Manic Mincers! Misty Mine Loopy Lights Platform Perils

DKC2 ____________________________ Gangplank Galleon Pirate Panic! Mainbrace Mayhem! Gangplank Galley! Lockjaw's Locker! Topsail Trouble! Crocodile Cauldron Hot-Head Hop! Kannon's Klaim Lava Lagoon Red-Hot Ride Squawks's Shaft Krem Quay Barrel Bayou Glimmer's Galleon Krockhead Klamber Rattle Battle Slime Climb Bramble Blast Krazy Kremland Hornet Hole Target Terror Bramble Scramble Rickety Race Mudhole Marsh Rambi Rumble Gloomy Gulch Ghostly Grove Haunted Hall Gusty Glade Parrot Chute Panic Web Woods K. Rool's Keep Arctic Abyss Windy Well Castle Crush Clapper's Cavern Chain Link Chamber Toxic Tower The Flying Krock Screech's Sprint The Lost World Jungle Jinx Black Ice Battle Klobber Karnage Fiery Furnace Animal Antics

DKC3 ____________________________ Lake Orangatanga Lakeside Limbo! Doorstop Dash! Tidal Trouble! Skidda's Row! Murky Mill! Kremwood Forest Barrel Shield Bust-Up Riverside Race Squeels on Wheels Springin' Spiders Bobbing Barrel Brawl Cotton-Top Cove Bazza's Blockade Rocket Barrel Ride Kreeping Klasps Tracker Barrel Trek Fish Food Frenzy Mekanos Fire-Ball Frenzy Demolition Drain-Pipe Ripsaw Rage Blazing Bazukas Low-G Labyrinth K3 Krevice Kreepers Tearaway Toboggan Barrel Drop Bounce Krack-Shot Kroc Lemguin Lunge Razor Ridge Buzzer Barrage Kong-Fused Cliffs Floodlit Fish Pot Hole Panic Ropey Rumpus Kaos Kore Konveyer Rope Klash Creepy Caverns Lightning Look-Out Koindozer Klamber Poisonous Pipeline Krematoa Stampede Sprint Criss Cross Cliffs Tyrant Twin Tussle Swoopy Salvo Rocket Rush

Map Progress colour codes:

0. Not yet commenced
1. Terrain/scenery viewable only
2. Bananas mapped out
3. Objects/items in place
4. Baddies in starting positions
5. Hidden objects/overlays available

Fully animated maps!
When a map is developed to the point of being fully animated (with individually positioned sprites), it will be given an '!' after the level name on this list - just like when all bonuses have been found in a level, when playing the games.

How big are these maps? (filesize)
Load time/file size varies from map to map, depending on the level's dimensions and complexity. Typically maps are between ~200KB and ~1MB, although some of the biggest levels (particularly tall ones) may be as much as 1.5MB in size. Many elements (sprites, background graphics, toggle buttons, etc.) will be cached once loaded, so it's really just the level terrain that accounts for most of the loading time/file size.

About the Level Map Viewer:
The section of DKC Atlas which displays the level maps is called the Level Map Viewer (LMV). The LMV interface includes buttons which allow you to toggle which layers you want to see - which means you can show/hide bananas, objects, items, baddies, terrain, backgrounds, foreground graphics, hidden objects, secret passageways and so forth... basically I'm doing my best to include everything that could make a map useful (but am also doing my best to make them load as quickly as possible!). The LMV is a combination of web pages and scripts designed to display these maps in any web browser, so anybody should be able to check out these maps.

Advanced mapping goals
Maps are considered 'complete' once all elements are in place, but at some stage, I hope to include extra information, such as; the speed, movement range and behaviours of certain baddies; the rotational speed, range and blasting distance of barrel cannons; the range of movement and initial direction of moving platforms, etc. etc... These will all require careful thought, but I have some good ideas for how to accomplish some of these 'advanced' mapping goals. Of course, I'll also need input and feedback from other passionate and knowledgeable fans, to ensure that what I'm producing is the best and most worthwhile result possible.

Brief backstory of this project
I actually started piecing together these maps before work on this site had begun, so this project has been many years in the making... but thankfully I've had help along the way from other patient and passionate fans, so it hasn't been entirely a solo effort. As soon as I first pasted together a series of screenshots to make my first 'rough' terrain map, I knew I wanted to create full level maps to share with the world. I always hoped I'd eventually produce interactive, animated and info-rich maps, and now we're well on the way to seeing that dream come true for all levels in the DKC trilogy, and DKL/DKCR maps are quite possibly just around the corner!


Thanks to those of you who have helped with this project; creaothceann, Simion32, Cody, Stone, Kingizor, et al.

[Jomingo]

I don't have a technically gifted mind, but I would like to say that a map project for this site would be awesome. It would fit perfectly with the rest of the site, and serve a good reference for when they point out secrets in certain levels.

[Qyzbud]

That's exactly what I was thinking and hoping.

Actually, the site's name comes from this project; an atlas is, by definition, a collection of maps.

[Kowbrainz]

Map is amazing. Amazing.

I can honestly say I had absolutely no clue about those two life balloons in the corner until just now. This is an awesome idea - being able to pinpoint hidden secrets like this is a great thing.

I'm just wondering how much time each of these takes. This is the first level here... I can't imagine how you'd do hundreds of levels like this, especially the larger ones.

Good luck with the project, it'll be a great feat if it gets finished.

[Tompa]

Very nice map there!

How were you able to see the positions of the tire, barrel and balloons in the end? As it doesn't scroll there :/. There are many maps where I wonder the same thing, not DKC though.

There could be a cheat code which make all the enemies stand still. That would help you get the exact position. I went through the list at GameFaqs but couldn't find anything similair.

You could write that there's a 1 up balloon in the DK-hut. And perhaps add how the bonuses look like.

But yeah, very nice work. Keep it up.

[cfh]

Qyzbud, your maps are simply amazing. This will come in handy when Simion and I have to re-create these levels in the level builder. The Mine Cart Carnage map you gave us a while ago was also very high quality. Keep up the great work!!

[Qyzbud]

Thanks for your suggestions, Tompa, and for your comments, Kowz and cfh.

Yeah, maps of this precision and complexity take an aweful lot of time, patience, experimentation and attention to detail. When I began this project, I did things very inefficiently, and often inaccurately. Sometimes I'd go back to a 'complete' map, and completely redo it using better techniques that I had discovered/developed. I would estimate that with my current know-how, a map should take about 7 hours to complete, but I must say that from level to level there are many different challenges, and a lot of difference in height/width dimensions, so it would vary dramatically.

To see parts of the level that the game itself never reveals, I developed a series of Pro Action Replay codes which give me the power to shift the view around at will. As you can imagine, this was quite a breakthrough in the development process, and I went back to fix up every single level using this newfound ability.

Currently, I've all but finished mapping DKC's levels, but I haven't done the bonus rooms yet, and of course there is the moving objects problem. I have no idea how to freeze them in place, or how to show their type of movement. I've toyed with some ideas though, and I'll share them in detail soon.

[Cyclone]

Hey Qyzbud. Just a thought... can't you just 'freeze' the state in zsnes so the baddies don't move? also what about the extra bg layers that were missing in that beta map? I quite like that map though very well done.

ps. I really like the layout and colour skeme of these forums.

[Kowbrainz]

ZSnes is able to turn off sprites as well, so you could probably just turn them off, then add the sprites in manually later.

[Qyzbud]

The bg layer is there, I've just faded it to a darker look so that the foreground stands out more clearly. I'm not sure if I'll include extra graphics layers in the final versions of the maps, or not. Those effects layers are essentially useless info, but they do add to the aesthetics somewhat.

Oh and each sprite is indeed manually positioned, each on a separate layer in my Photoshop file. The state can be paused, but by the time the baddies are on screen, they've already moved slightly from their initial location... Therein lies the problem. Others mightn't mind if a sprite is off by a pixel or two, but that's a huge deal, to me. Things like this make the difference between a perfect map, and an imperfect map.

[cfh]

To see parts of the level that the game itself never reveals, I developed a series of Pro Action Replay codes which give me the power to shift the view around at will.

Would you mind sharing these codes?

[Qyzbud]

Sure, I'll make it part of an update in the next few days.

[Kowbrainz]

Is there a similar code for DKC2 and 3 as well?

I'd love to be able to look around the levels and see all the goodies I've missed after all these years. Then again, I *could* just wait for your updates for that kind of stuff.... that would be more fun, wouldn't it?

[Qyzbud]

I must admit you'd probably enjoy it more if you found all the secret stuff yourself... I've been thrilled by many discoveries which I'm looking forward to sharing, but I don't mind providing some codes so you (and others) can go exploring without me.

I have found many useful codes for all three games, I'm going to have to test if my codes work for all versions of the games, or if I have to provide alternates for PAL/NTSC etc... All in the name of research and knowledge!

Tomorrow's update will be rather codey indeed.

[Simion32]

Oh and each sprite is indeed manually positioned, each on a separate layer in my Photoshop file. The state can be paused, but by the time the baddies are on screen, they've already moved slightly from their initial location... Therein lies the problem. Others mightn't mind if a sprite is off by a pixel or two, but that's a huge deal, to me. Things like this make the difference between a perfect map, and an imperfect map.

Ah, a sprite positioning problem. I'd be glad to help with that, since I am still studying the physics engine in Donkey Kong Country. I have already found a few related ram addresses (one of which is actually a "table" of horizontal speed values for every sprite). One other interesting thing is that if I modify the code which writes speed values to this table, and force it to write nothing, ALL moving sprites will completely stop moving. The sprites will still be animated, though. I'll try to create an action replay code that will blank out all of the speed values (i still have to find vertical speed though), and you can use it for mapping the sprites.

[Qyzbud]

You. Are. AWESOME.

This will be the biggest breakthrough for the mapping project since camera positioning.

Even if you can't manage a PAR code, a hack of the game or a little info on how else I can freeze sprite positions would be so very useful. I will finally be able to add the maps I've been dying to display on the level pages.

Thank you.

[Cody]

Qyzbud, I love the idea.

I was recently experimenting in Bramble Scramble, and it appears that two of the Brambles layers aren't exactly, how you say, possible to constrict together. If you have a moment, could you perhaps look at this to see if Rare didn't add any effects in the otherwise invisible-without-tools area?

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/5052 ... rerak7.jpg

[cfh]

Strange, I wonder what could be there. I bet there's a banana bunch up there.

[Qyzbud]

Sure, I'll take a look.

I've seen all of Bramble Blast, but I haven't yet checked out all there is to see in Bramble Scramble.


EDIT: Yeah, they really don't join up here. I can't even see why Rare designed it like this.

bramble-scramble-join.png (12.2 KiB) Viewed 560128 times

Seems like it would have been just as easy to have things connected nicely.

Oh well, it gives us mappers and adventurers something to talk about, eh?

[Cody]

That picture made me wonder something: How do you get the game to view that section of the level? I've tried using vSNES, but it doesn't let me view around the the stated save file. Did you develop Pro Action Replay codes to move the camera around in DKC2, as well?

[Kowbrainz]

That picture made me wonder something: How do you get the game to view that section of the level? I've tried using vSNES, but it doesn't let me view around the the stated save file. Did you develop Pro Action Replay codes to move the camera around in DKC2, as well?

http://www.dkc-atlas.com/pages/dkc/stud ... codes.html

[Cody]

What does that page have to do with DKC2?

[Kowbrainz]

Nothing. Nothing at all.

What it does signify, is that I'm quite late for my eye exam. Must be off, now!

[Qyzbud]

Kowz, you japester!

Back to the issue at hand. Yes, Cody; I've got full camera control for the trilogy. Took a darn lot of tinkering, but was oh-so worth it.

Makes mapping infinitely easier, more accurate and more thorough.

Of course it still takes twelve kinds of forever to create the maps (as you know).

[cfh]

Can you please post the PAR codes for the other games? That would be great!

[Cody]

That'd be fantastic. I really, really support this website and the areas of the DKC franchise built around it, and the codes would significantly satisfy my DKC needs.

[Kowbrainz]

At least if they could be stickeyed in the forums until the DKC2 and DKC3 pages go up... that'd be wonderful.

[Qyzbud]

Okay, that's another item for the to-do list, and it won't take too long either.

I like projects that don't take too long. Seems most of the ones I take on are the other type. ;)

[Stone]

Here is some Pirate Panic I did 10 days ago.
I don't have any PAR-code experience, so i just used those things DKC2 was willing to show me



I hope this is usefull for your mapping project, Qyzbud

[Qyzbud]

Not a bad effort, Stone.
Creating maps/layouts is fun and interesting, don't you think?

I have done Pirate Panic myself, actually. I really should create a checklist in my first post to show what levels I have done, and how complete they each are... Maybe tomorrow I can do that. Tomorrow can be a mapping development day for me. Hopefully an update to the main site, too!

[Stone]

I've began working on one of those Bramble levels, the one with those many barrels (Bramble Blast?)
If you haven't done that yet, I could provide my WIP map.

I wonder if it would be possible to recreate those DKL-levels with those Country-bits.
Would be especially nice for the level-editor, if you could redo DKL-style levels with the SNES graphics

[Qyzbud]

Actually, I've nearly finished Bramble Blast... sorry to say that. It looks great though, I'll share it here soon.

Do you think you could do Screech's Sprint or Bramble Scramble? Both of those would be helpful.

Edit: I like your DKL / DKC map idea... Cool concept!

[Stone]

I'll try doing Screech's Sprint because Cody posted something Bramble Scramble-looking a few days ago. I think he could finish that

I would also like to make a wallpaper out of one of these Bramble levels, it was always one of my favourite levels music- and graphics-wise.

Edit: WIP:

[Simion32]

Here's the patch I promised. Now you can get the exact positions of most sprites.
EDIT: I eventually will do something like this for DKC2 and DKC3, but it will be a while before I do. At least not until DKC's maps are nearing completion.

[Qyzbud]

Thanks so much. It will be quite some time before I'm finished with DKC, so that's good. No rush for you.

I'm going to go through now and populate all of my terrain layouts with correctly-positioned sprites. Awesome.

[Stone]

Ahhh, borrowing my fathers 19" TFT really helps in mapping issues


This is also the newest Wörk-In-Progreßß
Edit: Now I'm past the DK-coin and I think I have already reached the max dimension: 2832x2528. Both numbers are perfectly divided by 16, so the map should have no big errors

The Flying Krock
Screech's Sprint

Ohh, awesome job Qyzbud! All DKC1 maps already have their inanimated objects placed? That's a work of weeks!

[Qyzbud]

I have updated my first post with an up-to-date checklist of the mapping progress so far (and a note of credit for Simion's recent work, naturally). A few other pieces of information have been added/changed, so it may be worth having a look if you want to catch a few updated project details. I will post some maps soon, too.

Ohh, awesome job Qyzbud! All DKC1 maps already have their inanimated objects placed? That's a works of weeks!

Yes, all non-moving objects have been positioned for each and every one of DKC's level maps... and yeah, it certainly did take weeks! Heh. I'm looking forward to getting all of the moving objects done now. I put it off for quite a while, but now Simion has given me a way to do it with absolute precision, so I can't wait to get DKC's levels done!

By the way, good start on Screech's Sprint, Stone. I see you're a Photoshopper, too. As soon as you've done all you can, feel free to send the PSD (or a PNG) my way and I can work on filling in the invisible bits. It's great to have a bit of mapping help from you.

Wait a sec... Is your screen resolution 2960 x 1050??? That would indeed help with mapping. I'm working with a so-called 'widescreen' display which is almost exactly one third of what you have to play with. Oh how I'd love that much screen space...

[Stone]

Actually, that are just two screens working together
One is my LG Electronics M228WA 22" with a resolution of 1680x1050. The best thing is, it cost me about 350€ (don't know how much Dollar, and now it's only 310€) and you can use it as an TV, too! I have connected my N64 and it works fine. But the picture I get from my SNES flickers all the time and I haven't found any technical solution...
The other monitor is my fathers 19" with an resolution of 1280x1024. So combined they have a ridiculous high resoltuion of 2960x1050.

Edit: I'm proud to say that I'll post Screech's Sprint within the next day. (I hope you don't fall in a coma, Qyzbud. Working 24/7 isn't that healthy )
And maybe a wallpaper based on that level, too.

[Stone]

Sometimes things go on faster than you might think...


I have left some Squawks in it (Dk-coin, finish-line, too. oops...), hope they'll guide you the right way

Oh, have forgotten to set the occupacy back to 100% for one piece
Edit: Now it should be fixed. Have fun, Qyzbud!

[Cody]

Stone, if you could layout the whole entire Screech's Sprint, down to the complete brambles, I'd be very much obliged. I'm trying to create a DKC2 MySpace layout and that's perfect.

[Stone]

ähhm, you talk about those places you have to use PAR-codes to see them? Sorry I don't have any experience with that now...
But I'm working on an wallpaper at the moment, should be ready in a few minutes, have a look
Edit: And it is ready

Now I've reuploaded the map. Hope everything is fine now

[Qyzbud]

Ah, great work, Stone. This collaborative effort will be a great way to get maps done quicker! Leaving sprites in like that is quite fine. I will be using your layout mostly as a positioning reference, so don't worry. It's best if the sprites don't cover up any terrain, but that's easy for me to correct anyway.

Cody, Stone is good at getting the rough terrain layout in place, and I'll be patching the gaps. I mightn't get a chance today, as I have a few other missions and committments, but it shouldn't be long.

Right, I'll be working on getting at least a finished version of Jungle Hijinxs up for public viewing today, hopefully some others.

[Cody]

Qyz, if you're fine with this, I'd love to help Stone get the layouts of any level in the trilogy. You can even choose which levels if so!

Edit: Sure, Stone, I can finish Bramble Scramble. I admit that I hardly touched it since I posted the error, but it shouldn't take me too long

[Qyzbud]

Absolutely. It would be awesome to have you onboard. I'm quite glad that I invested a few hours into formatting the checklist in my first post, so you guys can see which ones haven't been started yet... At this stage, there are no particular maps which are more 'urgent' than others - all of the ones which are grey in my checklist are up for grabs! It's probably sensible to target the early DKC2 ones, if you have no real preference... That way we can release them in sequence as the site evolves.

[Cody]

Thanks a lot!

Unfortunately, I have to redo Bramble Scramble completely, since I used Prt Scrn instead of SNES9X's screenshot feature.* Doing the first causes the colors to be slightly imprecise, and although it isn't visible to the naked, untrained eye, it certainly wouldn't fit the perfectness of DKC Atlas' maps.

*I knew about the colors difference before I posted the original picture, but planned on finishing Bramble Scramble as a MySpace layout (and who would ever call me out for slight pixel differences, eh? ).

[Stone]

I have used SNES9XW_XP_PPRO and one of my PS2-controllers (yes Playstation controller for SNES game ) and just configured it so that it does a png ever time i press one of the left shoulder buttons. Actually it would have been better if I could also change the sprites on/off with a trigger, but I don't know how to do it yet.

If you have photoshop, or any good graphic programm use this occupacy-function. Really helps fast connecting of those tiny bits. In the photoshop-version I have you can open some png, then a few short CNTR-A, CNTR-C sequences to throw them into your empty picture. After that press 5, and the occupacy will decrease. Match two pieces together and then hammer on the 0 button until occupacy is 100% back again

[Cody]

I decided to try Squeals on Wheels as my first official project. I think I did rather well, taking approximately 4 1/2 hours and 200 SNES9X screenshots to construct the said level. Do you feel that I did a well enough job to allow me to further expand and replicate more layouts, Qyz?

[Stone]

Looks as good as mine and you've done it a lot faster than I did my Screech's.
Those Brambles are a bit harder I think, just not that continious like a rectangular Squeely-Wheely design.
How big are those levelpieces? Are they something like 16x16, 32x32 or even bigger?
You can easily fill in fitting pieces in areas you can only see half the brambles by using just the same block of an other level-piece.
Next thing: Does Photoshop support something like palette swapping? Screech's Sprint could also work with dark Bramble Scramble colors

I'm not at home at the moment, but I think I'll do Topsail Trouble next. I'm just not sure if it is the level I think of... (something with dark clouds and climbing?)

[Simion32]

According to my knowledge, the tiles are most likely 32x32.

[Cody]

You can easily fill in fitting pieces in areas you can only see half the brambles by using just the same block of an other level-piece.

It's not as easy as it seems. I want these maps to be as accurate as possible, so every single bit on my maps is put together from direct, non-edited SNES9X screenshots. Qyz should be able to accurately fill in the gaps as he goes through each level since they're not always predictable.

Hopefully you understand.


EDIT: Before I read that you wanted me to work on DKC2, I'd already started Demolition Drainpipe (and competed Squeals on Wheels). I'll make note to work on DKC2 as time progresses.