I should be able to do a proper update video next week, but for now here's another mini update on the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Castlevania SotN project!

Both the water and the mermen were absent from the 2023 Xmas demo, so I'm happy to be able to include them now

If you look closely, you'll be able see the CRAM dots around the water line, as I'm currently changing the entire palette on a single h-int line using C language.

I'm covering these up with those surface waves, and I think it works ok. Normally you have to flicker these on and off as having that many sprites on a single horizontal line results in sprite flicker, but it seems to work fine having them all "on" at the same time.

At the moment they stay at the same position the screen instead of scrolling, as having enough surface water sprites to cover the entire area with scrolling does mean I'll have to flicker the sprites. I'll experiment a bit and see what I can come up with.

I also need to add different movement physics for when Alucard is in the water. Adding some "splash" sprites when he and the mermen jump in and out would also be nice (if I have enough sprites to spare)

Speaking of the mermen, great job by @GabrielPyron to get 3 colours on mermen on a single 15 colour palette!

I've also switched over to the new XGM2 driver for the music. The driver only released this year and had some bugs before where it would mangle the music, but I think it sounds ok now - let me know what you think

This version of Dracula's Castle is by 76KB. I don't think they have an account here, but here's their YouTube upload of the song: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Dracula's Castle (YM2612 Cover) via @YouTube

@YouTube Finally, regarding water effects in the game, for the Underground Caverns I may try the different approach of simply turning on shadow and highlight mode at the water surface instead of changing the palette. That way you can avoid the CRAM dots, but the effect may be too subtle

Much better h int tô the water then use sh mode Cram dots is something very common on the platform thats nobody conplain about

I think it depends on the scene and the colours used. Whenever you're ready you can send me an example of the underground caverns along with an underwater palette and we can test things out!