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<forumuser name="MarkeyJester" />
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'''MarkeyJester''' is a [[Tech Member]] on [[Sonic Retro]] and known as the "Resident Jester" of the [[Sonic scene]], he is a skilled software engineer spanning knowledge of several assembly CPU architectures and C/C++, with musical and artistic knowledge, making him one of the few who can both create assets artistically/musically, and program them. He develops hacks/homebrew games, tools, and guides, and occasionally shares help on the forums. He has worked with multiple teams on projects such as [[Sonic Megamix]], [[The S Factor: Sonia and Silver]], [[Sonic Boom (hack)|Sonic Boom]], and [[S3K Battle Race]], as well as a multitude of solo projects. He has created various personal effective compression formats, and several game engines from scratch, as well as a handful of graphical manipulation tools.
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'''MarkeyJester''' is a UK-based member of the [[Sonic scene]] and a [[Tech Member]] on [[Sonic Retro]]. He is an extremely skilled [[ROM hack]]er, specializing in the fields of [[SMPS|music]], [[ASM|programming]], and artistic creation. He is the sole developer of two different [[''Sonic'' hacks]], ''[[Sonic Regen]]'' and ''[[Sonic 1 Brother Trouble]]'', and of various smaller but generally very well-received projects (see below); and he has assisted with other prestigious hacks such as ''[[The S Factor: Sonia and Silver]]'', ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog: Redemption]]'', and recently ''[[Sonic Megamix]]'' as a member of [[Team Megamix]] specialising in artwork.
 
  
 
==History==
 
==History==
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MarkeyJester made his first appearance to the Sonic scene via a video he uploaded on YouTube of his first public ROM hacking project, ''Sonic Regen''. The hack impressed many people who watched the video, primarily those in the [[Sonic Retro IRC channel]]: it supported features such as the [[Super Peel-Out]]; the [[Tornado Attack]]; and brand new art, music, and levels. After a group discussion in the IRC channel, [[Tweaker]] urged [[Jayextee]] to invite Markey to join [[Sonic Retro]], though Markey did not comply at the time until weeks later when [[Malevolence]] reinvited him once again. Following this, Markey began visiting the IRC channel, becoming a constant – and, to many, welcome – presence within the channel, contributing positively towards its general atmosphere.
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MarkeyJester began on a hunt on the internet to find old Sonic related stuff from his childhood, having not owned a [[Sega Mega Drive|SEGA Mega Drive]] in years, he wanted to gain some form of nostalgia from his search. He eventually came across screenshots of the ''Sonic 2 beta'' levels, and a tutorial on putting them back into the game, of course, his knowledge on binary ROM manipulation was very limited, and didn't know about the existence of emulation. One day, using his school computers, he downloaded an emulator and a few Sonic ROMs to play around with on his home computer, with a guide on editing uncompressed art and a hexadecimal editor he had picked up months before, he began editing the art of Sonic in the Sonic 2 beta ROM, here he had learnt about the tile and palette system, and was on his way to learning more about Sonic hacking and the Mega Drive hardware in general.
  
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After a few months of participating in the channel, Markey decided to join the Sonic Retro forums. He promptly made a topic for ''Sonic Regen'', sparking several pages of praise and encouragement for the hack to continue. Markey's impressive skill also led to his being easily convinced, however: sceners such as [[Aquaslash]], [[Malevolence]], and several others would ask him to join their hacking teams and help them with art, music, and programming for their own hacks. Being friendly and outgoing, he gladly accepted the offers; however, he eventually found himself swamped with too much work, and he decided to quietly leave the scene, fading into obscurity.
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After months of working with binary ROMs, he was inspired by videos on YouTube of the ever popular Sonic Megamix, after pursuing knowledge on how they managed to make their modifications possible, he had discovered [[Disassemblies|split disassemblies]] and their potential in Sonic hacking, and got straight to work on putting in the [[Super Peel-Out]] (with thanks to the Spindash guide, which contained a lot of information about the animations, mappings, and plc format), and after moderately succeeding, he incorporated his hack onto it and integrated his level artwork. Shortly before obtaining home broadband, he made a YouTube video of his hack in play, featuring a water level with half new art, new character abilities, and some new music, which seemed to have impressed many at the time, it encourage those at SonicRetro to invite Markey to the [[Sonic Retro IRC channel]], and the forums.
  
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Around March of 2009, Markey secretly returned to the scene under the alias '''DrXInsanity''', under which he posted the first footage and subsequent release of his newest project, ''[[Sonic 1 Brother Trouble]]''. As with ''Sonic Regen'', the release of this hack spurred on a massive wave of praise and encouragement to join the Sonic Retro forums. Markey complied, and he found himself instantly promoted to a [[Tech Member]] upon registration. It was not revealed who DrXInsanity's true identity was until a private conversation between Tweaker and Markey, where the former expressed suspicion that MarkeyJester and DrXInsanity were the same person. Markey privately confirmed this at the time, and he later made a topic publicly admitting his true identity.
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Of course, things didn't look up too well after a few months of being within the scene, he had offered his help carelessly towards too many people, and was left with far too much work, it was then that he decided to quietly leave the scene. Despite leaving the scene, he continued his work from scratch once again, learning more about the software engine in [[Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit)|Sonic 1]], and the hardware of the Mega Drive, feeling guilty though about running out on the people he had offered to help, he came back to the scene months later under the alias '''DrXInsanity''' to hide his identity, and released his new hack ''[[Sonic 1 Brother Trouble]]'' in demo form, and obtained [[Tech Member]] status upon registration of SonicRetro, of course, [[User:Tweaker|Tweaker]] worked out that it was Markey in disguise right away, but allowed him to remain anonymous until weeks later when he would reveal his true identity.
  
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Nowadays, Markey acts as a regular presence on the Retro forums, commenting on other hacks and being a helpful and encouraging presence towards beginning hackers. Although he has finished working on ''Sonic 1 Brother Trouble'', he has worked on many other projects such as the researching and disassembling of [[Sonic Crackers]]. Although he no longer attends the Retro IRC channel, he has been known to visit a few other private channels to have a chat every now and then. Since 2011 or thereabouts, he has been a member of [[Team Megamix]], contributing to its main project, ''[[Sonic Megamix]]'', with original artwork for levels and objects.
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==Today==
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Markey has been working mostly on tools, research and homebrew projects, whilst ROM hacking directly is not a main pursuit these days, he is often encouraged to make the occasional hack at times.
  
 
==Projects==
 
==Projects==
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* ''[[Sonic Regen]]'' ([[Sonic hacks|hack]]; discontinued)
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In order of creation:
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* ''[[Sonic 1 Brother Trouble]]'' (hack)
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* ''[http://mrjester.hapisan.com/01_Public/Sonic%20Regen%20Beta%20(v.1%20version).bin Sonic Regen (1.0 beta)]'' - Hack (2006 - 2008)
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* ''Sonic 1 SMPS Editor'' (homebrew application)
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* ''[[Sonic 1 Brother Trouble]]'' - Hack (2008 - 2010/July/04)
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* ''Sonic the Hedgehog: Redemption'' (hack)
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* ''Sonic 1 SMPS Editor'' - Homebrew application (2008 - 2009/April/20)
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* ''[[Project Sonic 1: Two-Eight]]'' (modified [[Disassemblies|disassembly]] that alters the game's level layout engine)
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* ''[[Project Sonic 1: Two-Eight]]'' - Modified [[Disassemblies|disassembly]] that alters the game's level layout engine (2010/June/24)
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* ''[[Jester's Challenge]]'' (hack; completed)
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* ''[[Jester's Challenge]]'' - Hack (2010/December/07)
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* ''[[Pana Der Hejhog]]'' (hack)
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* ''[[GetArt]]'' - Bitmap to Mega Drive tile/map/palette converter (2011/January/18)
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* ''[http://mrjester.hapisan.com/01_Public/Sonic%201%2050hz%20Faster%20Edition.bin Sonic 1 50hz Faster Edition]'' - Humorous hack (2011/June/16)
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==Level design record/list==
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* ''[https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/sonic-1-d3lsiml-twisted.25854/ Sonic 1 Twisted]'' - POC hack (2011/July/15)
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* ''[[Align Sprite]]'' - A tool that aligns bitmap sprite sheets in a suitable manner for SonMapEd (2011/July/29)
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Because MarkeyJester has created more than 20 level designs for various projects (including his own), a record of these designs would be useful. [http://mrjester.hapisan.com/02_LevelDesignRecord/ Here] is a long list, featuring images; whereas a smaller list is provided below.
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* ''[[Pana Der Hejhog]]'' - POC (Proof Of Concept) hack (2011/September/03)
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* ''[[Doctor Robotnik's Creature Capture]]'' - Hack (2012/April/01)
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(In order of latest appearance:)
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* ''[http://sonicresearch.org/community/index.php?threads/sprite-plotter.2704/ Sprite Plotter]'' - Bitmap sprite sheet to Mega Drive sprite data converter (2012/April/15)
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*Lakeside Paradise Zone – Sonic Regen Beta – Late 2007
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* ''[http://sonicresearch.org/community/index.php?threads/sonic-1-cdss-edition.2868/ Sonic 1 CDSS Edition]'' - Collect 50 rings, and jump into the stars above a lamppost. POC hack (2012/July/28)
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*Pinball City Zone – Sonic Regen Beta – Early 2008
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* ''[http://mrjester.hapisan.com/01_Public/S1MUSH.rar Sonic 1 Mega Mushroom Edition]'' - POC/Humorous hack - POC hack (2012/July/28 Directly after CDSS)
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*Lakeside Garden Zone – Sonic Regen Final – Mid 2008
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* ''[http://sonicresearch.org/community/index.php?threads/sonic-1-the-ring-ride.3201/ Sonic 1 The Ring Ride]'' - POC hack (2013/May/24)
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*Sky Highway Zone – S-Factor – Mid 2008
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* ''[https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/sonic-paint.31613/ Sonic Paint]'' - Hack (2013/June/21)
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*Green Hill Zone (An Edit) – Sonic XI – Late 2008
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* ''[http://sonicresearch.org/community/index.php?threads/sonic-1-the-ring-ride-2.3272/ Sonic 1 The Ring Ride 2]'' - POC hack (2013/July/15)
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*Atlantic Cellar Zone – Sonic XI (Sonic 1 Lunacy) – Late 2008
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* ''[https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/mnemonic-player.31982/ Mnemonic Player]'' - An application to allow one to display and control multiple bitmap images via an assembly like script system (2013/August/30)
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*Haunted Circus Zone – Sonic XI – Late 2008
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* ''[http://mrjester.hapisan.com/01_Public/S1SMTH.bin Sonic 1 Smooth Edition]'' - POC hack (2013/August/31)
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*Speedust Factory Zone – Sonic XI – Late 2008
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* ''[https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/sonic-3d-glasses.32311/ Sonic 3D Glasses]'' - POC Hack (Requires Red/Cyan 3D glasses) (2013/November/25)
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*? (A Jungle Theme'd Level) – ? – Early 2009 (Created with [[MKAmeX]])
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* ''[http://sonicresearch.org/community/index.php?threads/sonic-1-the-ring-ride-3.3497/ Sonic 1 The Ring Ride 3]'' - POC hack (2014/February/01)
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*Emerald Island Zone – Sonic 1 Brother Trouble – Early 2009
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* ''[http://sonicresearch.org/community/index.php?threads/sonic-1-the-ring-ride-4.3509/ Sonic 1 The Ring Ride 4]'' - POC hack (2014/February/09)
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*Cathedral Palace Zone – Sonic 1 Brother Trouble – Late 2008
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* ''[https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/the-naked-hedgehog.32805/ The Naked Hedgehog]'' - POC/Humorous hack (2014/April/01)
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*Secret Ocean Zone – Sonic Regen Beta (Sonic 1 Brother Trouble) – Late 2007
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* ''[https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/i-hog-that-hate-hedge.33455/ I HOG THAT HATE HEDGE]'' - POC/Humorous hack (2014/September/24)
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*Neon Tokyo Zone – Sonic 1 Brother Trouble – Early 2010 (Original Design By [[Mercury]])
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* ''[http://mrjester.hapisan.com/01_Public/RevSMPS.exe RevSMPS]'' - A tool to take Sonic 1 SMPS tracks and reverse them (2014/September/24)
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*? – ? – Early 2010
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* ''[https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/the-chaos-layer-alpha.33492/ The Chaos Layer]'' - Alpha of The Chaos Layer (2014/October/05)
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*? – ? – Mid 2010
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* ''[https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/sonic-1-the-next-level.34835/ Sonic 1 The Next Level]'' - Sonic Hacking Contest Winner (2015/October/12)
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*? – ? – Mid 2010
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* ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2T0jsswyZU Sonic 1 CDSS Edition 2]'' - Unreleased Concept Hack (2016/October/18)
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*Starry Night Zone – Sonic Megamix – Mid 2010
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* ''[https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/twizzler-compression.36077/ Twizzler]'' - A powerful compression tool/format (2016/October/19)
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*? – ? – Late 2010
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* ''[https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/dual-pcm.36223/ Dual PCM]'' - A powerful PCM playback driver for the SEGA Mega Drive (2016/November/27)
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*Param Zone – Jester's Challenge – Late 2010
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* ''[https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/sonic-3-knuckles-battle-race.38293/ Sonic 3 & Knuckles - Battle Race]'' - Collaboration with Natsumi - Sonic Hacking Contest Winner (2018/November/10)
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*Placid Sapphire Zone – S-Factor – Early 2011 (Created with [[Aquaslash]])
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* ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcRDfi2XVMk Bitmap MD]'' - High quality Bitmap to Mega Drive graphics converter (2019/January/02)
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*? – ? – Early 2011
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* ''[https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/dual-pcm-flexed.38547/ Dual PCM - FlexEd]'' - Improved Dual PCM with pitch/volume/reverse playback (2019/April/13)
  
 
==External Links==
 
==External Links==
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* [http://www.youtube.com/user/MarkeyJester MarkeyJester's YouTube Channel (closed)]
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* [http://mrjester.hapisan.com/ MarkeyJester's home page (Under Construction)]
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* [http://www.youtube.com/user/DrXInsanity DrXInsanity's YouTube Channel (closed)]
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* [http://mrjester.hapisan.com/04_MC68/Index.html MarkeyJester's 68k Beginners Tutorial]
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* [http://www.youtube.com/user/MarkeyTheJester MarkeyJester's new YouTube Channel]
 
  
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[[Category:Sceners]]
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[[Category:User pages]]

Latest revision as of 19:30, 5 December 2019

MarkeyJester is a Tech Member on Sonic Retro and known as the "Resident Jester" of the Sonic scene, he is a skilled software engineer spanning knowledge of several assembly CPU architectures and C/C++, with musical and artistic knowledge, making him one of the few who can both create assets artistically/musically, and program them. He develops hacks/homebrew games, tools, and guides, and occasionally shares help on the forums. He has worked with multiple teams on projects such as Sonic Megamix, The S Factor: Sonia and Silver, Sonic Boom, and S3K Battle Race, as well as a multitude of solo projects. He has created various personal effective compression formats, and several game engines from scratch, as well as a handful of graphical manipulation tools.

History

MarkeyJester began on a hunt on the internet to find old Sonic related stuff from his childhood, having not owned a SEGA Mega Drive in years, he wanted to gain some form of nostalgia from his search. He eventually came across screenshots of the Sonic 2 beta levels, and a tutorial on putting them back into the game, of course, his knowledge on binary ROM manipulation was very limited, and didn't know about the existence of emulation. One day, using his school computers, he downloaded an emulator and a few Sonic ROMs to play around with on his home computer, with a guide on editing uncompressed art and a hexadecimal editor he had picked up months before, he began editing the art of Sonic in the Sonic 2 beta ROM, here he had learnt about the tile and palette system, and was on his way to learning more about Sonic hacking and the Mega Drive hardware in general.

After months of working with binary ROMs, he was inspired by videos on YouTube of the ever popular Sonic Megamix, after pursuing knowledge on how they managed to make their modifications possible, he had discovered split disassemblies and their potential in Sonic hacking, and got straight to work on putting in the Super Peel-Out (with thanks to the Spindash guide, which contained a lot of information about the animations, mappings, and plc format), and after moderately succeeding, he incorporated his hack onto it and integrated his level artwork. Shortly before obtaining home broadband, he made a YouTube video of his hack in play, featuring a water level with half new art, new character abilities, and some new music, which seemed to have impressed many at the time, it encourage those at SonicRetro to invite Markey to the Sonic Retro IRC channel, and the forums.

Of course, things didn't look up too well after a few months of being within the scene, he had offered his help carelessly towards too many people, and was left with far too much work, it was then that he decided to quietly leave the scene. Despite leaving the scene, he continued his work from scratch once again, learning more about the software engine in Sonic 1, and the hardware of the Mega Drive, feeling guilty though about running out on the people he had offered to help, he came back to the scene months later under the alias DrXInsanity to hide his identity, and released his new hack Sonic 1 Brother Trouble in demo form, and obtained Tech Member status upon registration of SonicRetro, of course, Tweaker worked out that it was Markey in disguise right away, but allowed him to remain anonymous until weeks later when he would reveal his true identity.

Today

Markey has been working mostly on tools, research and homebrew projects, whilst ROM hacking directly is not a main pursuit these days, he is often encouraged to make the occasional hack at times.

Projects

In order of creation:

External Links

Retrieved from "https://info.sonicretro.org/index.php?title=User:MarkeyJester&oldid=305344"