SynaMax
@synamax.bsky.social
Music/SFX, video game historian, self-taught programmer, artist. One half of Psychic Rink.
Currently working on: "Nested Dreams" (1st original game), Acrolyte (music)
youtube.com/synamax
psychicrink.itch.io
patreon.com/synamax
synamax.bandcamp.com
Currently working on: "Nested Dreams" (1st original game), Acrolyte (music)
youtube.com/synamax
psychicrink.itch.io
patreon.com/synamax
synamax.bandcamp.com
Here are the three palettes that I show in the previous video, one per row. There are sixteen colors in each palette and as you can see color number 11 in the first row is that transparent outline. In the second row, it's red.
November 4, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Here are the three palettes that I show in the previous video, one per row. There are sixteen colors in each palette and as you can see color number 11 in the first row is that transparent outline. In the second row, it's red.
Been taking a look at how color palettes work in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. By changing the selected palette for Alucard, we can see there's actually a hidden outline that the pixel artist drew for every frame. The default palette forces the outline color to be transparent.
November 4, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Been taking a look at how color palettes work in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. By changing the selected palette for Alucard, we can see there's actually a hidden outline that the pixel artist drew for every frame. The default palette forces the outline color to be transparent.
Changing sound IDs is one of my favorite things to do when messing around with a debugger. It often leads to humorous results.
November 4, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Changing sound IDs is one of my favorite things to do when messing around with a debugger. It often leads to humorous results.
I've been researching another game, Cube Quest by Simutrek (the first game with 3D polygons and arguably the main inspiration for the Polybius urban legend). I just looked up Simutrek's founder, Noah Anglin, and found his obituary. In an incredible coincidence, today would've been his birthday.
July 4, 2025 at 10:50 PM
I've been researching another game, Cube Quest by Simutrek (the first game with 3D polygons and arguably the main inspiration for the Polybius urban legend). I just looked up Simutrek's founder, Noah Anglin, and found his obituary. In an incredible coincidence, today would've been his birthday.
Absolutely floored that the Sinistar documentary has been received so positively. It's already surpassed 10k views in less than a week! I need to clean up the source code for the new mods, but they will be uploaded online soon. I might make a new repository to keep things less cluttered.
May 7, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Absolutely floored that the Sinistar documentary has been received so positively. It's already surpassed 10k views in less than a week! I need to clean up the source code for the new mods, but they will be uploaded online soon. I might make a new repository to keep things less cluttered.
Happy Bandcamp Friday and thank you for the 1,000 views on the Sinistar documentary! Thinking about putting up some of my background music from the doc later today (even sooner if there's enough interest). Links below
May 2, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Happy Bandcamp Friday and thank you for the 1,000 views on the Sinistar documentary! Thinking about putting up some of my background music from the doc later today (even sooner if there's enough interest). Links below
Enjoying the virtual live tour hosted by @textfiles.com at @archive.org!
May 1, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Enjoying the virtual live tour hosted by @textfiles.com at @archive.org!
Later today, I'll be publishing the documentary that I've been working on these past two years. Can't believe it's finally complete.
April 30, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Later today, I'll be publishing the documentary that I've been working on these past two years. Can't believe it's finally complete.
There's another explosion sprite that's very similar and used often but I can't seem to find where it came from. It appears in MegaRace (DOS), Rise of the Triad, Microcosm (3DO port) and the arcade game Space Lords. Don't recall finding any match on Pond5 or other stock libraries, maybe I missed it.
March 28, 2025 at 6:25 PM
There's another explosion sprite that's very similar and used often but I can't seem to find where it came from. It appears in MegaRace (DOS), Rise of the Triad, Microcosm (3DO port) and the arcade game Space Lords. Don't recall finding any match on Pond5 or other stock libraries, maybe I missed it.
So close to 10k YT subscribers.
February 26, 2025 at 4:38 PM
So close to 10k YT subscribers.
Last year, I was able to get in touch with Stephane Picq, a musical hero of mine. His soundtrack for MegaRace on DOS is what got me interested in video game music, all those years ago. I was working with him on ripping the MIDI data and FM instruments to the game for an OST remaster. RIP my friend ❤️
February 3, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Last year, I was able to get in touch with Stephane Picq, a musical hero of mine. His soundtrack for MegaRace on DOS is what got me interested in video game music, all those years ago. I was working with him on ripping the MIDI data and FM instruments to the game for an OST remaster. RIP my friend ❤️
I made the trashcans outside of the fast food joint (and my partner did the voice of the hidden Sexy Psyko in the motel)
January 24, 2025 at 6:17 PM
I made the trashcans outside of the fast food joint (and my partner did the voice of the hidden Sexy Psyko in the motel)
I have deleted my account from that site. Should have done it sooner.
January 22, 2025 at 4:28 AM
I have deleted my account from that site. Should have done it sooner.
I love games that have a border around the 3D screen; I understand they did that because of limitations but the aesthetic of seeing the dashboard around you is cool. Captain Blood is a good example of this.
October 30, 2024 at 2:31 PM
I love games that have a border around the 3D screen; I understand they did that because of limitations but the aesthetic of seeing the dashboard around you is cool. Captain Blood is a good example of this.
For the first time ever, here's some animated sprites ripped from the laserdisc game Star Rider. Took a while to figure out how to get the color palettes working. The biker sprites have a lot of cool details (like the HUD lights in front of the driver) but you can barely see them during gameplay.
October 29, 2024 at 11:03 PM
For the first time ever, here's some animated sprites ripped from the laserdisc game Star Rider. Took a while to figure out how to get the color palettes working. The biker sprites have a lot of cool details (like the HUD lights in front of the driver) but you can barely see them during gameplay.
I'm glad I grabbed what I did from the Internet Archive for my upcoming documentary. I found this magazine picture of the Cosmodrome from the laserdisc arcade game "Star Rider". Because of the stretched-out video, we never got a good view of it until now. Sending best wishes to the IA team, you rock
October 21, 2024 at 4:23 PM
I'm glad I grabbed what I did from the Internet Archive for my upcoming documentary. I found this magazine picture of the Cosmodrome from the laserdisc arcade game "Star Rider". Because of the stretched-out video, we never got a good view of it until now. Sending best wishes to the IA team, you rock
For the first time ever, the Sinistar sprite from Star Rider with a much more accurate color palette.
October 18, 2024 at 5:22 PM
For the first time ever, the Sinistar sprite from Star Rider with a much more accurate color palette.
Got a surprise in my comment inbox today. hbomberguy commented on my Metroid Prime album! To quote the British, I feel very chuffed.
October 4, 2024 at 9:05 PM
Got a surprise in my comment inbox today. hbomberguy commented on my Metroid Prime album! To quote the British, I feel very chuffed.
Recently added a new feature to Sinistar that restores unused text found in the source code: "Captain, our bomb bay is full!"
October 2, 2024 at 2:44 PM
Recently added a new feature to Sinistar that restores unused text found in the source code: "Captain, our bomb bay is full!"
I really liked the cover art to Charli XCX's "Vroom vroom" EP, I can't believe it's been replaced on streaming services with a "brat"-inspired cover that was literally made in about 30 seconds.
September 12, 2024 at 3:08 PM
I really liked the cover art to Charli XCX's "Vroom vroom" EP, I can't believe it's been replaced on streaming services with a "brat"-inspired cover that was literally made in about 30 seconds.
Spent several hours today scanning (and recovering!) the rare schematics to the 1984 arcade game, Star Rider. The old scans online are missing a lot of detail. When I got home, I discovered the scanner at the store put the files in a hidden partition on my USB drive. Had to use PS to recover them!
September 8, 2024 at 4:41 AM
Spent several hours today scanning (and recovering!) the rare schematics to the 1984 arcade game, Star Rider. The old scans online are missing a lot of detail. When I got home, I discovered the scanner at the store put the files in a hidden partition on my USB drive. Had to use PS to recover them!
I'm close to finishing the script to my documentary about the development history of the arcade game Sinistar. Researching and documenting how this game was made has been an incredible journey and I'm excited to share with you my findings. The source code has plenty of easter eggs and unused code.
September 3, 2024 at 7:57 PM
I'm close to finishing the script to my documentary about the development history of the arcade game Sinistar. Researching and documenting how this game was made has been an incredible journey and I'm excited to share with you my findings. The source code has plenty of easter eggs and unused code.
I'm ready to transition from Twitter. I'm currently locked out because of "suspicious activity" so they're forcing me to do this Arkose Challenge thing to regain access. The problem is once I complete it and pass, it doesn't actually take me back to Twitter and I'm stuck in an infinite loop.
May 29, 2024 at 6:03 PM
I'm ready to transition from Twitter. I'm currently locked out because of "suspicious activity" so they're forcing me to do this Arkose Challenge thing to regain access. The problem is once I complete it and pass, it doesn't actually take me back to Twitter and I'm stuck in an infinite loop.