The Professor Layton for Smash Ultimate support thread! See OP for where to meet us next after the boards close. Thank you for all your support!

[fogbadge]

Its a fan project called Professor Layton and the Unbreakable Nightmare. A romhack that goes over Professor Layton and Pandora's/Diabolical Box with a brand new story and puzzles to solve.

They post updates every so often at the Professor Layton reddit page, they also have a Twitter and Discord group if you want to follow their progress more closely. They even have some custom songs that you can take a listen to if you want.

im not one for romhacks, but unbreakable nightmare is a good title

Spoiler

and pretty appropriate for pandora's box albeit kind of spoilery[/spoilers]

 

[Curious Villager]

That's interesting. Are they using new backgrounds and stuff or are they recycling the ones from Pandora's?
Also, could you provide a link to their sites?

Here's a link to their website.
From what I've seen, their mostly making brand new assets from the ground up. The returning characters confirmed so far are Hershel, Luke and Flora and even they might get some touch ups on their designs due to the game taking place in a snow setting.

im not one for romhacks, but unbreakable nightmare is a good title

Spoiler

and pretty appropriate for pandora's box albeit kind of spoilery[/spoilers]

I think the only reason they are going for a romhack over making a new game from scratch is because 1) its easier to develop for and 2) their a bit less likely to get taken down with a C&D.

Now here's hoping Level-5 is more like Sega when it comes to fan projects and less like Nintendo....

 

[GoodGrief741]

Its a fan project called Professor Layton and the Unbreakable Nightmare. A romhack that goes over Professor Layton and Pandora's/Diabolical Box with a brand new story and puzzles to solve.

They post updates every so often at the Professor Layton reddit page, they also have a Twitter and Discord group if you want to follow their progress more closely. They even have some custom songs that you can take a listen to if you want.

That sounds cool. If it's ever done I'll give it a shot.

 

[fogbadge]

Here's a link to their website.
From what I've seen, their mostly making brand new assets from the ground up. The returning characters confirmed so far are Hershel, Luke and Flora and even they might get some touch ups on their designs due to the game taking place in a snow setting.


I think the only reason they are going for a romhack over making a new game from scratch is because 1) its easier to develop for and 2) their a bit less likely to get taken down with a C&D.

Now here's hoping Level-5 is more like Sega when it comes to fan projects and less like Nintendo....

why what do sega do?

 

[Curious Villager]

why what do sega do?

Sega did what Nintendon't.
Not purging every fan game that crosses their path, or at least not as often, or even outright hiring them if its something interesting enough (from what I understood with Sonic Mania at least)

 

[fogbadge]

Sega did what Nintendon't.
Not purging every fan game that crosses their path, or at least not as often, or even outright hiring them if its something interesting enough (from what I understood with Sonic Mania at least)

well i kind of get where nintendos coming from (well from a creative point at least) id be annoyed if someone else was using my characters

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Well, apparently everyone else is okay with it, even Capcom. And Square-Enix, as long as you don't make fan projects based on Square games.

I'd say the only reasons to get pissy are if fans make money off of a fan project, or stuff's outright stolen and the original creators aren't credited. If the broad law of creator ownership was applied, then fan art basically would be outlawed. So if anything, it's getting a bit old hat of a mentality otherwise.

 

[Curious Villager]

well i kind of get where nintendos coming from (well from a creative point at least) id be annoyed if someone else was using my characters

So long as their not profiting of it in any way or remaking a game that would in turn give people a free option to get a game. it shouldn't be too much of an issue. At least not any more than your average fan art or fanfic does. Which yeah, game companies can apparently sue for that too, they usually don't though unless people are profiting off those too.

Since this is a romhack, all team top hat would probably provide is the patch for the game, you're on your own when it comes to aquiring the means to injecting said patch into your game. So long as they're not asking for any donations or provide or tell how to get the original game's rom file or anything, they should hopefully be fine.

 

[fogbadge]

So long as their not profiting of it in any way or remaking a game that would in turn give people a free option to get a game. it shouldn't be too much of an issue. At least not any more than your average fan art or fanfic does. Which yeah, game companies can apparently sue for that too, they usually don't though unless people are profiting off those too.

Since this is a romhack, all team top hat would probably provide is the patch for the game, you're on your own when it comes to aquiring the means to injecting said patch into your game. So long as they're not asking for any donations or provide or tell how to get the original game's rom file or anything, they should hopefully be fine.

well i cant speak for the companies but its not the money that would bother me

 

[GoodGrief741]

Nintendo's just doing their due diligence in covering their asses in case they ever need to pursue litigation. Legally speaking, it's encouraged to send C&Ds to anything you have the right to because being lenient weakens your case in the event that you actually want to take legal action.

 

[Curious Villager]

In that case it might be for the best to put up a disclaimer to make it clear that its only a fan project by fans for fans and in no way intended to compete or profit off the official series and to encourage supporting the official releases whenever they can.

But eitherway, this is more on Level-5 than Nintendo, so who knows how they handle fan projects. I think this is the first time that fans are doing a project like this for one of Level-5's IP's so we'll see how it goes I suppose.

 

[fogbadge]

In that case it might be for the best to put up a disclaimer to make it clear that its only a fan project by fans for fans and in no way intended to compete or profit off the official series and to encourage supporting the official releases whenever they can.

But eitherway, this is more on Level-5 than Nintendo, so who knows how they handle fan projects. I think this is the first time that fans are doing a project like this for one of Level-5's IP's so we'll see how it goes I suppose.

ah yes waiting and seeing the gamer's special

 

[Curious Villager]

ah yes waiting and seeing the gamer's special

The story of every gamer's life.

Guess we'll be hearing about Hero later today and probably be dropped tomorrow.
I'm not expecting much in regards to datamining but I hope the Hero is fun to play once he drops.

All in all, Eight is the closest thing we have to a Level-5 character in Smash right now, so I guess that's sort of one step for us, I wonder if they will be credited at all, be it in terms of any potential DQ VIII or IX music that is included or just the game's credits, guess we'll see...

 

[fogbadge]

The story of every gamer's life.

Guess we'll be hearing about Hero later today and probably be dropped tomorrow.
I'm not expecting much in regards to datamining but I hope the Hero is fun to play once he drops.

All in all, Eight is the closest thing we have to a Level-5 character in Smash right now, so I guess that's sort of one step for us, I wonder if they will be credited at all, be it in terms of any potential DQ VIII or IX music that is included or just the game's credits, guess we'll see...

im do actually hope he does come, im having a bunch of friends over tomorrow and itd be nice to have extra character regardless of who it is

 

[Curious Villager]

Modern newcomers like Hero always makes me wonder what kind of special gimmick Sakurai would give to Layton. Depending on.

Would Sakurai do something with the Picarat system somehow, not sure what but.... would he...?

 

[fogbadge]

Modern newcomers like Hero always makes me wonder what kind of special gimmick Sakurai would give to Layton. Depending on.

Would Sakurai do something with the Picarat system somehow, not sure what but.... would he...?

how would that even work? im drawing a blank

 

[Curious Villager]

how would that even work? im drawing a blank

I don't know, but since Sakurai seems to like to put in a fancy bar in a lot of his characters battle portraits, Its probably something to consider I guess, either that or some hint coin system or w/e.

I hope he doesn't do anything too gimmicky with Layton's moveset just for the sake of it though. Or at least nothing that puts in a limit on to you that you need to preserve for situational moments, as I would like to have access to his entire kit at all times instead of playing 4D chess with his moveset (even though that would probably unironically suit his character and the nature of his series....)

 

[Flyboy]

A hint coin system would be pretty darn cool, like Johnny from Guilty Gear.

 

[Curious Villager]

I wonder how that would work though, would he collect a hint coin after every ten steps or so and if he collected a certain amount (Like 10 or so), he can perform a certain special move?

 

[Flyboy]

I wonder how that would work though, would he collect a hint coin after every ten steps or so and if he collected a certain amount (Like 10 or so), he can perform a certain special move?

Perhaps - Spinal in Killer Instinct, the aforementioned Johnny, and ironically Phoenix Wright in UMvC3 had variants on that same idea. It could add some interesting strategy to a moveset that could be based around puzzling tricky play.

 

[Curious Villager]

Perhaps - Spinal in Killer Instinct, the aforementioned Johnny, and ironically Phoenix Wright in UMvC3 had variants on that same idea. It could add some interesting strategy to a moveset that could be based around puzzling tricky play.

Hmm I guess I'll have to check that out then. Knowing Sakurai, he would probably want to do something for the Prof we didn't consider.
And he might make use of some of the in game elements in a whole new way.

 

[fogbadge]

I don't know, but since Sakurai seems to like to put in a fancy bar in a lot of his characters battle portraits, Its probably something to consider I guess, either that or some hint coin system or w/e.

I hope he doesn't do anything too gimmicky with Layton's moveset just for the sake of it though. Or at least nothing that puts in a limit on to you that you need to preserve for situational moments, as I would like to have access to his entire kit at all times instead of playing 4D chess with his moveset (even though that would probably unironically suit his character and the nature of his series....)

hmm im not sure layton would be a gimmick character but we never know i guess

A hint coin system would be pretty darn cool, like Johnny from Guilty Gear.

whats he like? for those of us unfamiliar

 

[Flyboy]

hmm im not sure layton would be a gimmick character but we never know i guess



whats he like? for those of us unfamiliar

Simply put, he has coins that he can gain and lose during the fight, and certain attacks get stronger (or usable, in the case of tossing coins) depending on how many he has. Spinal from Killer Instinct gains skull tokens similarly with successful blocks, and these skull tokens allow him to use certain moves.

I feel that hint coins would be an interesting resource management move to power up the Prof, maybe replenished through tricky plays and a misdirection move.

 

[AmphabulouSnake]

Hey, just came by to say that the Mii Costume theory is seemingly unreliable now :
Despite Dragon Quest being Square Enix, the Geno and Chocobo mii costumes didn't come back from Smash 4, unlike the Tails and Knukles costumes when Joker got released.
This gives any characters that aren't from Capcom or Namco a legitimate chance to be part of the final two spots for the Fighters Pass now
Which means we could totally get Layton and Doom Slayer :DD

 

[AmphabulouSnake]

Simply put, he has coins that he can gain and lose during the fight, and certain attacks get stronger (or usable, in the case of tossing coins) depending on how many he has. Spinal from Killer Instinct gains skull tokens similarly with successful blocks, and these skull tokens allow him to use certain moves.

I feel that hint coins would be an interesting resource management move to power up the Prof, maybe replenished through tricky plays and a misdirection move.

In the Layton moveset concept I made, his "main" gimmick was his side special, "magnifying glass" which works the same way as the games, and you can find puzzles and hint coins all over the stages; puzzles give Layton a stat boost, and hint coins can give debuffs to opponents...
At least that's what I came up with...

 

[Curious Villager]

Hey, just came by to say that the Mii Costume theory is seemingly unreliable now :
Despite Dragon Quest being Square Enix, the Geno and Chocobo mii costumes didn't come back from Smash 4, unlike the Tails and Knukles costumes when Joker got released.
This gives any characters that aren't from Capcom or Namco a legitimate chance to be part of the final two spots for the Fighters Pass now
Which means we could totally get Layton and Doom Slayer :DD

We could indeed, I didn't think Sakurai and Nintendo would arbitrarily limit themselves on potential character choices based on whatever past costumes they need to bring back eitherway so I'm happy that theory is unreliable now.

Simply put, he has coins that he can gain and lose during the fight, and certain attacks get stronger (or usable, in the case of tossing coins) depending on how many he has. Spinal from Killer Instinct gains skull tokens similarly with successful blocks, and these skull tokens allow him to use certain moves.

I feel that hint coins would be an interesting resource management move to power up the Prof, maybe replenished through tricky plays and a misdirection move.

I suppose that's one way of handling that if I understood correctly, I'll probably have to look up a video of these characters to get a better idea of how Layton would hypothetically work with a hint coin system.

 

[fogbadge]

Simply put, he has coins that he can gain and lose during the fight, and certain attacks get stronger (or usable, in the case of tossing coins) depending on how many he has. Spinal from Killer Instinct gains skull tokens similarly with successful blocks, and these skull tokens allow him to use certain moves.

I feel that hint coins would be an interesting resource management move to power up the Prof, maybe replenished through tricky plays and a misdirection move.

an interesting mechanic, i suppose it could work for layton

 

[Curious Villager]

I kinda just remembered but enhanceable spirits are still a thing for DLC characters. So I suppose they could still do something like that for the Layton series. Some notable choices would probably be Flora, Alfendi and Descole. They probably won't do a lot of characters for the spirit board though.

If we where to assume that Layton won't have any alts. Then excluding him.
Luke, Flora, Emmy, Katrielle, Alfendi, Don Paolo, Descole, Grosky, Chelmey, Stachenscarfen and Granny Riddleton would probably cover most/all the essentials.
I wonder if they would do a group spirit as well, I don't know if the Layton series has had a suitable group artwork though. Then again,they'd probably pin them all in one...

 

[fogbadge]

I kinda just remembered but enhanceable spirits are still a thing for DLC characters. So I suppose they could still do something like that for the Layton series. Some notable choices would probably be Flora, Alfendi and Descole. They probably won't do a lot of characters for the spirit board though.

If we where to assume that Layton won't have any alts. Then excluding him.
Luke, Flora, Emmy, Katrielle, Alfendi, Don Paolo, Descole, Grosky, Chelmey, Stachenscarfen and Granny Riddleton would probably cover most/all the essentials.
I wonder if they would do a group spirit as well, I don't know if the Layton series has had a suitable group artwork though. Then again,they'd probably pin them all in one...

i can see them having the layton mobile as a spirit

 

[Curious Villager]

i can see them having the layton mobile as a spirit

Ah yes, definitely, it would totally be a big heavy Ivysaur with dash knockback ability charging across the stage.

 

[fogbadge]

Ah yes, definitely, it would totally be a big heavy Ivysaur with dash knockback ability charging across the stage.

could be metal as well

 

[Curious Villager]

So I'm thinking about updating the OP again with some additional info.
What would you guys recommend me including?

Things like the series history, sales numbers, Nintendo and their history with Level-5 etc?

I don't know how many read the OP these days but still....

 

[AmphabulouSnake]

I think sales number is important to some people, and I think it could be beneficial to show the history between Nintendo and Level 5...

 

[fogbadge]

So I'm thinking about updating the OP again with some additional info.
What would you guys recommend me including?

Things like the series history, sales numbers, Nintendo and their history with Level-5 etc?

I don't know how many read the OP these days but still....

sounds good, history with nintendo i certainly worth taking note of

 

[Curious Villager]

Alright I'm thinking of adding a history and legacy section, let me know what you think.

Layton's History and Legacy​

As of 2018, the Layton series has sold over 17 million copies which is very impressive for a relatively young series that was born in 2007. The second, third and fourth best selling third party DS games of all time have all been games in the Layton series too, only being beaten out by Dragon Quest IX, which ironically was another game developed by Level-5.

The series has had a huge impact during the DS era, especially in Japan and Europe and it helped spark Level-5 into high prominence as the first franchise they published. This success also didn't go unnoticed by the games industry and especially Nintendo themselves. As Shigeru Miyamoto himself praised the series along with Animal Crossing for bringing in a large female demographic into gaming, it was also a series that was held in high regard by the late Satoru Iwata and Satoru Shibata, the latter of whom even helped further promote the series in Europe and have it featured among various Nintendo characters on their official website.

Professor Layton is without a doubt a huge icon of the DS era of Nintendo and still going strong to this day, Its safe to say that he is essentially to the DS what Megaman was for the NES and Banjo Kazooie was for the N64.

Also I'm wondering if I should add this video too as it goes more in depth of the series origins, let me know what you think.

 

[Flyboy]

I love that section because so many people who don't do their research think Layton is niche or unimportant. Having numbers and Miyamoto himself on our side is very helpful. Easy to point at too.

 

[fogbadge]

Alright I'm thinking of adding a history and legacy section, let me know what you think.



Also I'm wondering if I should add this video too as it goes more in depth of the series origins, let me know what you think.

all looks great to me

I love that section because so many people who don't do their research think Layton is niche or unimportant. Having numbers and Miyamoto himself on our side is very helpful. Easy to point at too.

even for us fans its nice to have a reminder of how well its done

 

[Curious Villager]

Indeed, as fogbadge said, its not just those who are unfamiliar with the series, but also for us Layton fans as well, its good to give ourselves a reminder too from time to time about the huge impact the series has had when it first came out and how far it has come ever since.

If Level-5 is confident enough to organize a whole world puzzle solving event for the series when LMJ first came out as well as a whole concert, then we should certainly give the series some more credit. Its definitely nowhere near as niche or obscure as some people might think, that's for sure.

 

[GoodGrief741]

Indeed, as fogbadge said, its not just those who are unfamiliar with the series, but also for us Layton fans as well, its good to give ourselves a reminder too from time to time about the huge impact the series has had when it first came out and how far it has come ever since.

If Level-5 is confident enough to organize a whole world puzzle solving event for the series when LMJ first came out as well as a whole concert, then we should certainly give the series some more credit. Its definitely nowhere near as niche or obscure as some people might think, that's for sure.

Us puzzle-solvers need that morale boost from time to time.

 

[Erureido]

Alright I'm thinking of adding a history and legacy section, let me know what you think.



Also I'm wondering if I should add this video too as it goes more in depth of the series origins, let me know what you think.

This is a great write up that shows just how iconic Professor Layton is, especially in the DS era!

One thing I would add is the cameos he has made in other Level 5 games like Inazuma Eleven as a cameo team with Luke and Emmy, Professor Lenkon from Yokai Watch being heavily inspired by him, and his billboard cameo in LBX. The cameos he makes in those games shows how iconic Layton is within his own company.

You can also mention that even Level 5’s CEO values the Layton series greatly for its role in making Level 5 noticeable to the world. There was a Forbes article about it, but I can’t seem to find it right now.