Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow: Castlevania: Dawn of Dissonance - A Juste Story Mode Hack

Castlevania Dawn of Dissonance is a Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow romhack aiming to modify most of the games content. There is a new story, new items, sprites, weapons, music, and most of the castle was modified in both small and big ways. Set 8 years after his last adventure, join Juste Belmont and his companions as they work to unravel the plot of the Bartley family.

3/6/2022 Update 1.0.6 is on its way. The author recommends holding off until then considering the recent feedback :)

Notes:

-This is first and foremost a difficulty hack

-Belnades Blood Edition differences are in the patch notes.

-Lvl 1 Mode patches are now available in the download (Patch to a vanilla DoS rom)

-Retroachievements made by Shmelyoff now updated for v1.0.5!: https://retroachievements.org/game/17554

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Castlevania - Dawn of Dissonance
By: Serbagz
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Castlevania - Dawn of Dissonance is a small fan-made Castlevania - Dawn of Sorrow ROM hack
that aims to modify most of the game's content. Included is an xdelta patch that must be
applied to your dump of Castlevania - Dawn of Sorrow.

File: Castlevania - Dawn of Sorrow (USA).nds
CRC-32: 135737f6
MD5: cc0f25b8783fb83cb4588d1c111bdc18
SHA-1: 47530ff87e608f88105a314fdf36dc385f8dec94
SHA-256: 3ddc8b0eac841b6005ff4c38a184b517fa8225ac905aad951b0572850358d8b0


xdelta UI:
https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/598/
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Version Differences:

Belnades Blood Edition:
- Juste sprites, batform, and all his portrait colors are flipped to blue
- Juste's overcoat is blue and has a new description
- A cutscene where Sophia mentions Juste's face being red as his jacket is redone
- Intro credits are blue
- Bat Familiar has blue eyes
- Langolier Familiar's outline is blue instead of red
- Iron Impacts eyes are now blue
- Fuma's Armor is now blue
- Tunic of the Hero is now blue and resists ice
- Hyrulian Archer wears a blue tunic and fires ice arrows
- Union Confodere is blue and does ice damage
- Four 7s is now blue
- Berserker Armor has a blue aura
- Merman and his bestiary portrait are purple
- Demon familiar (spell) carries a blue spear
- Juste's Summon Doves are now blue instead of pink
- Juste's Dragon Tail has blue eyes
- Magic Vacuum now has blue eyes

Level 1 Mode:
- Disabled the ability to gain experience
- Juste's starting HP raised from 150 to 300
- Just's starting MP raised from 100 to 200
- Juste's starting STR raised from 6 to 12
- Juste's starting CON raised rom 5 to 10
- Juste's starting INT raised from 10 to 16
- Juste's starting LCK raised from 7 to 20
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Changelog:

v1.0.5 - August 11, 2021
Serbagz:
- Drastically improved Juste's Dash spell (big thanks to Devanj!)
- Fixed money in front of Hell Boar sprite in the Demon Guest House
- Corrected the HP text on Rice Ball
- Added a hitbox to Juste's fist when using Seiryu's Charge
- Fixed Spear Familiar's unwanted status flags
- Removed the "Soma-Sama" line from Sweet Jail
- Fixed a slightly misaligned door in one of the Abyss rooms
- Alucard's outline is now set to black
- Fixed the snap on Sonia's hard landing animation
- Added the proper casting skill in air animation for Sonia
- Buffed Spirit Shot's base damage (no longer scales with soul level)
- Cleaned up details on Juste's jumping gun animation
- Cleaned up Juste's Throw/Bullet Spell animation timings
- Cleaned and improved some animations on a few more weapons
- Replaced Familiar Sword with a new weapon
- Renamed Familiar Sword +1 and adjusted synth tree slightly
- Replaced Capsule Monster #47 with a malphas styled Dark Lightning
- Adjusted a couple of enemy placements
- Nerfed the damage output on several enemies
- Death can no longer be frozen in time using Stopwatch
- Lowered the volume slightly on a few themes
- Fixed tiling issues in a few rooms
- Added a secret room, making the map completion an even 106%

DeadSkullzJr:
- Fixed the header related issues
- Resized the ROM image to match the proper size standards
- Added custom game icons for both versions of the hack
- Created a tweak to enable Dual-Slot Mode without requiring Castlevania - Aria of Sorrow in slot-2
- Created a tweak to disable the ability of gaining experience in Level 1 Mode

v1.0.4 - July 24, 2021
Serbagz:
- Remapped several areas throughout the castle
- Adjusted enemy placements in a few areas
- Cleaned the hitboxes on a couple of weapons that needed refinement
- Reworked the Rahab boss fight and area around Rahab's boss room
- Blood across the game is now properly red
- Cleaned the collar on Juste's backdash sprites
- Fixed the horizontal flip of Juste's downkick sprites
- Added Stopwatch as a fifth sub-weapon for Sonia
- Stopwatch now effects more enemies
- Changed Sonia's Axe sub weapon in to Spirit Shot (Stab/Holy)
- Byakko's Spirit is now a proper a white tiger cub (Slash/Lightning)
- Flame Breath spell is now Dragon Tail (Strike/Fire)
- Needles across the game have become Frozen Needles (Ice/Stab)
- Tome of Gorgon was replaced with a new upgrade to the final tome (Ice)
- Buffed the Chaos Ring replacements MP regen speed from 1MP per frame to two MP per frame
- Juste's starting HP is raised from 120 to 150
- Juste's starting MP is raised from 80 to 100
- Juste's starting INT raised from 6 to 10
- Justes starting LCK raised from 3 to 7

Notes:
All starting stat buffs apply to Sonia Mode too

MaskedDedede:
- His guide on editing Chaos Ring regen speed
- His guide on adding a 5th ability to the Julius character slot
- His guide to editing blood color in Dawn of Sorrow
- Provided palettes for Puppet Master and Paranoia blood splashes
- Provided new icons for the Sonia Mode abilites Hellfire, Spirit Shot, and Soul of Bat
- Beta testing lots of this update

Darkaiden95:
- His guide on editing DSVania in-game starting stats

DeadSkullzJr:
- Fixed the header related issues
- Resized the ROM image to match the proper size standards
- Added custom game icons for both versions of the hack
- Created a tweak to enable Dual-Slot Mode without requiring Castlevania - Aria of Sorrow in slot-2

v1.0.3a - May 19, 2021
Serbagz:
- Added Sonia's new uppercut and downkick sprites along with the proper animation fixes by Masked Dedede
- Fixed the buggy Mollusca and Slugs in certain areas
- Fixed the song Ecclesia being incorrectly named in the sound room
- Fixed an incorrect doorway tile on the Abyss map
- Fixed the boss music randomly playing in Sonia Mode in Abyss rooms with Stolases that are set to not be summoned

DeadSkullzJr:
- Fixed the header related issues
- Resized the ROM image to match the proper size standards
- Added the game icons to both versions of the hack
- Created a tweak to enable Dual-Slot Mode without requiring Castlevania - Aria of Sorrow in slot-2

v1.0.3 - May 17, 2021
!!!IT IS RECOMMENDED TO START A NEW GAME TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS UPDATE!!!

Serbagz:
- Fixed the main menu background, added por style shaded text, and menu bracket
- Fixed a floating invisible standable tile in Demon Guest House
- Fixed the glitched wall in the Abyss
- Fixed one of Juste's in air attack sprites head being clipped
- Fixed a black line that appeared during Juste's bat transform animation
- Fixed a slowdown that occured when killing a certain Disc Armor in the Violet Tower
- Fixed the scaling on LCK Boost
- Fixed the palette of all Delicious Curry levels
- Fixed a text box during the Abyss Gate scene where Alucard says one of Sonia's dialogue lines
- Fixed Alucard's double jump wings clipping through the transition room ceiling
- Fixed Sonia saying Julius's old "YURUSE" line after killing Dracula
- Fixed Alucard not appearing in the scrolling credits of the best ending
- Fixed and replaced spike traps that were behind map layers
- Fixed the slowdown that occured during the Zephyr fight
- Updated Sophia's room to feel a bit more Velvet Room- y
- Maxim's Reports have slightly different dialogue now
- The Skeleton Key's description has been updated to be more accurate
- The Dead Crusader sprite and bestiary portrait have been recolored to match Portrait of Ruin
- Buffed STR bonus from Berserker Mail
- The time between Abaddon's Locust Swarms has been reduced
- Zephyr's idle and swing recovery frames have been greatly reduced
- All spear weapons have been reworked to be faster weapons
- Cleaned up several Falcis animations
- Replaced the Unrivaled Spear spell animation was fixed to appear as a Spear Familiar instead
- Sophia's Blue Splash and Holy Lightning spells are now obtainable by Juste
- Trickster now has cards for Maxim, Sophia, and Lydie
- In honor of the new announcement, Fuma's Armor has been added to the game
- Added cake
- Noticable general balance, enemy placement, item placement, and weapon synthesis changes
- Reshaped and retiled several rooms throughout the game
- Added two new rooms to the game for new acquisitions
- Added new ending credits background images
- Reworked the shop's buy and sell prices
- Potions are now balanced in the same style as Order of Ecclesia
- Drinks now restore MP
- Reduced the spawn locations of Metroids
- Gave Metroid's death effects portal a more fitting palette
- Edited and fixed up a few story cutscenes
- Added a Kojima styled portrait for Darius, original image hand drawn by Acediez https://www.deviantart.com/acediez/gallery/all
- Made a new portrait for Sophia to compliment the others
- Changed several character voices throughout the game
- Due to quite a few complaints, a few songs were changed
- Created a Belnades Blood version of the cover art made by DevianBelmont
- Edited and implemented many contributions made by EchidKnux and MaskedDedede

- Alucard
* He will now only address Juste as "Belmont" in main story scenes
* Buffed his run speed to match Sonia's
* Added a more SotN like backdash
* Changed inner cloak color to match Twilight Cloak from SotN
* Fixed weapon positioning to better fit his new unscaled sprite
(This has to be the same weapon for Juste too so there is some compromise.)

- Sophia
* Now uses Alucard's old run speed which is much faster than her old run speed
* Nerfed Holy Flames damage slightly and greatly increased its range
(This effects Juste's Holy Flame also.)

Masked Dedede:
- Fixed up most item icons and recreated new ones for weapons like the Holy Sword, Spectral Sword, and Alucard Sword
- Changed the palette of the Postitron Rifle EX to match Aria of Sorrow
- Improved the shading on this hack's succubus palette and improved the shading on the SotN palette for Dracula
- Improved the shading on their bestiary portraits as well
- Provided better sprites and color palettes for the Cross and Holy Water flame which will effect both Juste and Sonia
- Furthur improved coloring and shading on both versions of the Vampire Killer
- Improved some of Sonia's general movement animations
- Added additional Cosmetic changes on top of Serbagz's to improve the UI, spell and fire effects, and other small details

EchidKnux: https://www.deviantart.com/echidknux/gallery/all
- Created a completely new custom made sprite for Lydie. Color palette and head were made by Vydartz (https://www.deviantart.com/vydartz/gallery/all)
- Provided a recolored Dawn of Dignity Celia Portrait originally hand drawn by Acediez (https://www.deviantart.com/acediez/gallery/all)
- Touched up the details on Cecilia Bartley's sprites

DeadSkullzJr:
- Fixed the header related issues
- Resized the ROM image to match the proper size standards
- Added custom game icons for both versions of the hack
- Created a tweak to enable Dual-Slot Mode without requiring Castlevania - Aria of Sorrow in slot-2

v1.0.2 - April 8, 2021
Serbagz:
- Fixed Sophias last few attack frames and added a headsmash animation
- Added the final frame to Juste's up animation
- Cleaned up several weapon animations which includes greatswords
- Aguni slightly less bugged now? (Please report)
- Reimplemented enemy #47 (Bouncing Frog) so it is now possible to obtain the new "Chaos Ring" item
- Bugbear now uses the palette from Castlevania - Order of Ecclesia.
- Updated Bugbear and Dracula Bestiary portraits to match the new palettes
- Magic Armor added to Maxim's shop
- Flying Sword was ugly so it has been replaced with a chair
- Lots of general balance and enemy placement changes compared to v1.0.1
- Soul Eater Ring is on a 50k discount special
- Changed the Power Throw soul description to be more accurate

DeadSkullzJr:
- Fixed the header related issues
- Resized the ROM image to match the proper size standards
- Added custom game icons for both versions of the hack
- Created a tweak to enable Dual-Slot Mode without requiring Castlevania - Aria of Sorrow in slot-2

Notes:
Belnades Blood Edition (v1.0.2) now includes Juste's top screen portrait, Juste's Overcoat, and
Sophia doesn't mention how his face is "red as his jacket" and instead says something else.

v1.0.1 - April 4, 2021
- Fixed Juste and Sophia banter portraits that contained an accidental spoiler
* Fixed several typos and item descriptions
- Touched up several areas that had bugs/annoyances like enemies clipping and reintroduced Bugbears back to the game as later game enemies
- Rewrote one of Maxim's banter scenes
- Dracula now uses the palette used from Castlevania - Symphony of the Night
- Added a Belnades Blood Edition variant of the hack

*:
- Sinister Greatsword was too long, renamed it to Flying Greatsword
- Ring of Vlad no longer says DO NOT SELL as you cant sell it anyway
- Rapid Fire Shots description should be more accurate now

DeadSkullzJr:
- Created a tweak to enable Dual-Slot Mode without requiring Castlevania - Aria of Sorrow in slot-2

v1.0.0 - April 2, 2021
- Initial release
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Known Bugs:

- Aguni's sprites may bug out a bit during his fight, his cutscene is fine however.
- The Medusa Head level nine soul has the wrong graphic
- There may be some typos (contact me if that is the case)
- Some death effects use the wrong frame at times.
- The hack has known issues with TWiLight Menu++ and is not supported currently.
- The ending after killing the secret boss is slightly bugged.

Database match: Castlevania - Dawn of Sorrow (USA)
Database: No-Intro: DS (all) (v. 20210227-111036)
File/ROM SHA-1: 47530FF87E608F88105A314FDF36DC385F8DEC94
File/ROM CRC32: 135737F6