ActRaiser Recomp

Pre-Release v0805

This update adds atmosphere to Marahna and Aitos, enhances Death Heim’s original final-battle artwork in diorama mode, and reduces rendering and editor overhead. It also brings a bonus from our ongoing ActRaiser 2 work: its winged Master is now available to import and play in ActRaiser’s stages.

Audio

• Fix duplicate or rapidly retriggered menu and dialogue blips at instant message speed when Extended sound channels is enabled, including menu confirmations and Yes/No selections. Slower message speeds retain their normal per-character sound.

Presentation and environments

Classic means the flat action renderer, including widescreen. Both modes means classic and diorama. Environmental effects are optional in either mode; the background-material enhancements below require diorama.

• Both modes, with Environmental effects: Add Marahna Act 1 swamp atmosphere with canopy light, rolling mist and wakes, hanging vines, fireflies, jade wisps, moss and dew.
• Both modes, with Environmental effects: Add Marahna Act 2 temple atmosphere with warm shrine torches, cool window light, dust, low wisps, wet ledges and drips. Lighting stays aligned across the connected gallery and sanctuary.
• Both modes, with Environmental effects: Refine Aitos Act 1 lava bubbles, molten detail, warm light, waterfall spray and mist. Environmental recipes support US, Japanese and European terrain layouts.
• Diorama, with Environmental effects: Refine Aitos’s distant storm and layered cloud lighting, with editable cloud openings, light shafts and background brightness.
• Diorama, with Environmental effects: Enhance Death Heim’s original final-battle nebula with coloured glow, fighter illumination and sparse blue/magenta drifting dust. Preserve the original artwork, fight, sprites and timing; pause freezes the added motion. Enable Action 3D → Scene → Diorama 3D and Environmental effects. The normal effects switch controls this enhancement in the game and editor; the completion-scene option is independent.

Room-by-room diorama presentation work remains ongoing, including widening tile maps, refining background policies and skybox rendering, and adding unique environmental effects to more levels.

ActRaiser 2 and the winged Master

Work on ActRaiser 2 support is underway, including its action stages and world navigation. Full-game support remains in early development. In the meantime, you can use ActRaiser 2’s Master in ActRaiser’s stages, with gliding, diving and sword moves within ActRaiser 1’s action levels:

1. In Workshop → Sights & sounds → Game imports, choose ActRaiser 2 / Master character.
2. Select your own unmodified ActRaiser 2 (USA) ROM (.sfc or .smc) and press Extract & install.
3. Restart your updated game and open System → Game. Enable ActRaiser 2 Master under Quality-of-life improvements. The setting starts off; you can switch characters during the same level.

Importing also adds ActRaiser 2 · above the clouds to the Workshop’s Scenery choices. ActRaiser 2 · Fillmore patrol becomes available when the Workshop also has the original ActRaiser scenery from your US build ROM. The scenes respect your atmosphere and reduced-motion preferences. See the Workshop import guide.

Rendering performance

• Reduce repeated mist-lighting calculations and effect-resource preparation.
• Diorama: Reduce sprite-capture clearing work and repeated lighting work for transparent sprite pixels.

Performance improvements depend on the device, graphics backend and scene.

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