@RetroGames We're not running the hack tutorial as a site piece, so it was suggested I paste the guide into the comments. There are 5 images, which I will put on a host shortly. I also need to post this in a few parts.
HEAD: A simple hacking tutorial
SUB: We never thought we'd be giving BRA instructions to retro fans
TEXT: After our article on hacking Buster Busts Loose on SNES, several readers expressed an interest in a straightforward tutorial. What follows are two very basic hacks for Zelda: Link to the Past on SNES, using Mesen. Different emulators have different tools and UI, and there are also bespoke utilities for hacking games on different systems. But our goal is to show that by doing something very simple, such as changing just one number, big things can happen.
You don't need to create whole new levels or anything. The point is to have fun and explore games in a different way. We are amateurs and new to this, but if you can play Zelda, you can hack Zelda. Both involve puzzle solving. The only "tricky" bit is maybe getting your head around hexadecimal. All those numbers you see are likely to be hexadecimal (0-F) rather than decimal (0-9). All you need to know is that after 09 is 0A, up to 0F. Most of the time you'll be hacking 00 to 01, or vice versa, but here's a chart to cheat just in case: https://tkcomputerservice.com/hexadecimal-conversion-chart.htm
The biggest advice is to ignore things which are not relevant to your specific goal at that moment. Hacking isn't like the Matrix. It's not glamorous or fancy, really. It's more like a slow police stakeout. You'll be sitting observing most of the time, waiting to see if anything changes.
@GeneJacket It does sound basically just like Duke 3D reskinned as BTILC. But we'll never know. If the team loved the film, they might have really put the effort in to make it good?
The IP exists. They made a licensed board game.
It's quite feasible that a dev or publisher would license it today and make something decent. maybe angle it as a sequel to the movie. Maybe make it in the style of games from back then, or modern games.
First played this in 2001. Visited Japan. Bought a Duo R abd this in Akihabara. Back at my hotel room I unplugged the aircon to plug this in, hooked up to the hotel CRT TV.
Didn't go to bed until after midnight. Just sat playing while eating sushi, totally blown away by how good it was.
Excellent feature - good work documenting the unknown!
I, for one, loved Hotel Mario. Putting aside the Mario name, and the CDi troubles, it is a fantastic single-screen arcade-style platformer. Donkey Kong, Manic Miner, whatever your favourites are - this is another fantastic example in that genre. Using a wired controller it's very responsive, the level themes are inventive, the gameplay evolves with each new hotel, adding fun new gimmicks. For me, this comes fairly close to capturing that Nintendo magic. It's better than the single screen Mario Bros. with POW block - that was just boring. This is fun!
So, I'm assuming there will be a follow up feature interviewing her husband, Michael Ahn, about the Philips? Please? I don't know about anyone else, but I need more Philips / Nintendo articles in my life.
Now, to be fair, these are decompile projects. Not recompile like the above Goemon one. But once you've decompiled it, not long until you can then recompile it. (I think.)
There's a guy on Twitter building a list of already recompiled projects, along with how well they function.
@KitsuneNight I have always hated them, and was angry that initially you couldn't disable them on PS3. I'd be playing a nice game, chilling, relaxing, kicking back, and suddenly an air raid klaxon goes off and the screen is invaded and tainted by these hideous ghoulish little medallions for - as you say - literally nothing. Took me right out of the flow / zone. Was so glad when Sony allowed them to be disabled.
Having said all that, I did intentionally Platinum Demons' Souls.
@sdelfin Bankbank cooked up an IPS patch to remove dashing via double tap in Cybernator. I'm not sure if we should upload it to rhdn or just email it to you. I need to do some testing first.
@RetroGames Wrote a step by step tutorial for two fun hacks in Zelda for everyone to try (18 steps so everything is covered). They teach a method which can be done in other games too. Will update you when it's up.
The RHDN submission was rejected due to the supplied screenshots being "too pixelated". They've tightened up their process, and it's a PITA to get approval. I could resubmit with cleaner screens. Or you know what? Just get it on Romhacks. No fuss there. It's not like RHDN pays anyone, their submission process should be easier than this.
@marc_max
Interesting. I wonder if they actually deleted the code for passwords, or left it in but put a shunt in so you can't access it. If the latter, it might be as simple as NOP'ing whatever line dismisses it.
@MysticX
Same. Skyblazer on SNES was finished in two days, but it was so much fun I kept it for years and would replay my favourite levels just for the pleasure of it. Excessively tough games were dropped pretty quick. I finished Earthworm Jim once and never went back.
@GhaleonUnlimited
I'm flattered, but I think there are at least 101 other better hacks that better represent this. Fixing Contra and CVIII for example. Good luck with you presentation.
@BulkSlash
We have a veteran here! These all sound quite excellent. Are you uploading online? Good luck with the F-Zero endings.
@sdelfin
This Cybernator hack sounds very simple given it won't even need save states. I'll have a peek if time permits. It should be as simple as starting on the first level, having the debugger open, and then repeatedly doing it to see where the branch is. Then possibly just putting NOP there. It depends how the double tap is read by the loop. I would not want to accidentally disable the dash for all control methods.
@DestructoDisk @Mario500
Thank you for the feedback. It was an off the cuff remark reflecting my deep annoyance at Konami's attitude, but you're right, it is not essential to the tone of the piece and if younger readers enjoy the site I will endeavour to encourage this by refraining from such language in future. (I just freelance, given it was asked.)
@RetroGames
OK, so I've been thinking about what kind of specific simple tutorial one could give that's easier than this Buster hack, but also fun, and I've just tested it: Link to the Past, those guards at the start? You can mess with Link's vertical position to bypass them and explore the rest of Hyrule in the rain. It's weird and cool! No enemies, except in caves and dungeons. I'm busy today but hope to write up a set of instructions for this tomoz. (I used SNES9X which is a bit more newcomer friendly, but if I can I'd like to give a tutorial on doing this same thing in both emulators - every emu has a slightly different GUI and style of tools.) If not Sunday then Monday. Or Tuesday at the latest!
I think this is a fun primer for anyone who hasn't tried it before. You're only hacking just one value - Link's vertical position. But it allows you to access the map in a non-normal alternate state, with spooky stuff going on. If one can crack this, you'll have the knowledge to do similar in other games.
Princess Zelda's "help me" message keeps popping up, so I might also look at NOP'ing that.
@RetroGames
There are two options that I used in this instance. Debugger, which shows you the game loop as it runs (you'll need to hit Esc to pause it). And then WRAM, which will look like a list of numbers in a grid. Which is slightly less intuitive, but hacking a number in RAM is simpler than hacking assembly.
If you're wanting a gentler introduction, SNES9X (I use the Xbox port) has a cheat search to look for specific values. Probably an easier less intimidating start.
But Mesen, in that massive screen of options, should allow you to have it check for single value changes (not at my PC otherwise I'd type a mini walkthrough).
Mario is good. Once you find the option to search / track values and changes, you can search for lives. Lose one and see what goes down by 1.
Warning: some games assign the internal value 00 to something onscreen which says "1".
If you fail to get anywhere, I will sit down and type a simple tutorial for you (and others), over the weekend at some point. Just a basic step by step to dip your toe in the water.
EDIT: sitting here trying to describe it without the emulator in front of me, from memory, makes me realise how frustrating it can be for a newcomer.
@RetroGames If you feel insulted then I wish to apologise. My intention was only, sincerely, to encourage others to prod at games with the available tools.
I don't think one needs any special abilities beyond being able to play games and hold a controller, and basic literacy.
If your immediate belief is that this is out of touch, then I've fallen short of my intended goal.
I am not good at maths, and I found assembly prior to this intimidating. But allow me to share a simpler example or two:
A lot of emulators allow you to search for a single number value. The first time you do this, it will check every possible value. Too many to be useful.
But after this, if you lose 1 life, you can ask it to search that list again, for anything that went down by 1. The result? It will show you where the game keeps track of lives.
You can also use this method to move to the right. Then ask it to search for any number that went up by any ammount. Probably a few things went up. But you can keep repeating to narrow list. Go left and ask it to search numbers that decreased.
Eventually you will find the value tracking your onscreen position. So you can change it to go outside walls.
These are just two simple number searches. But that's still hacking. And it's fun putting your character beyond barriers.
Anyone who can play games and navigate game menus can fiddle around like this.
I don't expect anyone to do feats of Rainman style genius. But if you use emulators, pop open that debugger or cheat search, and see if you can find and change just one number.
Maybe it's lives first. Maybe you play around more and try other stuff.
My desire is not to imply I have superhuman abilities, but to encourage everyone to use the powerful tools now commonplace to play around.
Even if it goes wrong, so what? All you've lost is some time spent playing. Of course if try it and find it boring or frustrating, then fair enough. At least you gave it a go.
@gingerbeardman Yes! Nasir. In interviews he said Square knew him already from his Apple II games. So that was a good avenue in. I would rank that alongside Henk Rogers as a fascinating example of gaijin doing well in JP during those times.
@Diogmites Cool reply. I didn't think highly of Perry either. He basically rocked up with cannons blazing and demanded entry. Galapagos Syndrome is a fascinating rabbit hole to go down. I like to apply it to the Japanese FPS, was doing its own funky thing in isolation while the rest of the world was building up to Doom.
@Diogmites Thanks! That statement needed expanding really, since both before and after WWII there were different scenarios.
After the Admiral Perry incident the country did open up. And send delegates abroad to study how foreign countries operated. There was even consideration to adopting English. And they were part of the League of Nations, etc.
But when you look at all the sources for the last 200 years, there is a recurring feeling of otherness.
Random example: the term "Galapagos Syndrome" originates from Japan. It applies to phones and computers. JP phones and PCs were wholly unlike any others until later standardisation. Take computers for example. Americans, Brits, French, East Bloc, there was to a degree common overlap. A Yugoslavian could move to the UK and do well coding Speccy games (it happened). Japan? That's a whole other ballgame with different rules and set-up.
I don't want any of this to sound negative or xenophobic. The Japanese are very warm and kind to foreigners. They're a wonderful and creative nation I'm enamoured with. But being successful there, in business, having come from outside the culture, requires special fortitude.
For concrete specific examples I'd cite interviews with: Jeremy Blaustein, Victor Ireland, Ted Woolsey, Joseph Redon, Henk Rogers, Jez San. Game Over by David Sheff. Possibly Kalinsky of Sega, in terms of how US/JP staff handle things - though Sega is kinda odd, given the huge infighting between depts.
@gingerbeardman
A valid statement. However, for me, it's interesting because of how the Japanese do business. There's a lot of etiquette and expectations unique to Japan, which foreigners can struggle with. Certainly with Henk Rogers he described a mild resistance to foreigners.
Japan was very insular; during the Tokugawa period; pre-WWII (even post WWII; English language signs for tourists were only added post Millennium with the world cup; seeing another gaijin was rare generally). It was also a mono-ethnic nation. You rarely saw foreigners if at all. Other East Asian nations like China and Korea also have a troubled history with Japan, so you didn't see them overtly.
I'm generalising, obviously. Based on personal observation, interviews, and what I recall ftom my Understanding Japan module from uni.
But broadly - Japan was very much for the Japanese. They exported or imported, sure, but modified to suit their tastes.
Random aside: JP doctors used to tell patients not to buy medicine abroad because JP medicine was specially catered to JP bodies.
You read interviews about Yamauchi, and he was mildly hostile to foreigners. Rogers earned his respect playing Igo.
Obviously foreigners were able to start companies in Japan, but they faced a set of unique local challenges in gaining acceptance from Japanese colleagues and consumers.
This is less to do with the games industry and more business in general.
For one thing, can you imagine starting a company and having to know Japanese or use a hotshot interpretor because so few JP businessmen spoke English? It's different to a foreigner going to America, where the language of business is English and everyone learns it.
I find foreigners staking a claim in Japan and succeeding to be unusual and fascinating (at least up until after the Millennium).
I take it that the chip emits some sort of electromagnetic field (RF? EMF?), which triggers the phone?
Don't quote me on this, but isn't that why old consoles had metal shielding in them? To comply with RF / EMF regulations about electrical appliances not affecting each other? I definitely remember reading a very dry document stipulating how an appliance must not affect, or allow itself to be affected by another. Or something.
I have a top end low-frequency and high-frequency scanner (this was great at finding some forgotten faulty wiring in my bathroom). The thing is, every single electrical appliance gives off some sort of field. You turn your console on and even the wired controllers give off something, even if you need to put the scanner up close. Put it near a live AC adapter and it goes off like a fire alarm.
I find myself deeply intrigued by the claim the JP version is producing some sort of uber field that interferes with other appliances.
@KitsuneNight LOL! I just said that randomly. However, you prompted me now to use Yandex to do a reverse image search. It can be used to look for "similar" images, so not simply the exact same one, but the algorithm recognises faces or objects and looks for similarly styled ones.
In this case, palm tree art (as opposed to photos).
And it brought up hundreds and hundreds, to the point where I stopped.
Nothing stuck out as predating or being an influence.
But! It turns out there are a lot of art images of palm trees out there.
@SnowyAria Thanks for the direct reply. I look forward to it whatever the results - interesting to hear it's not too difficult, given that difficulty is often the first thing to vertically sky rocket when developers go astray.
I love the atmosphere of legacy footage like this. Simpler times. Big CRT monitors. Technology feeling fresh, exciting, and a conduit for positivity.
No one having any idea that the good times would pass so quickly and, 30 years later, a generation would pine for the past.
Imagine going back in time and telling them: the world is gripped by plague, there's been multiple financial meltdowns, billionaires own and control everything, forever wars are the norm, the planet is dying, and Artificial Intelligence is stealing all your jobs, slowly but surely.
They wouldn't believe it. To be honest, I might not even tell them. I'd just go back and disappear. Pull my teeth out with some pliers so I couldn't be found.
@JMX
I use the Mega Everdrive Pro by Krikzz for Mega CD on my Mega Drive. It's expensive, but it runs everything pretty much flawlessly. I can even have the PAL BIOS boot up NTSC games (which run in NTSC), for nostalgia + best 60Hz experience. It's wild. It also runs 32X but I don't have the add-on.
This runs MD (obvs), SMS games in SMS mode, Game Gear games converted to SMS, Mega CD, and 32X. The only thing it doesn't run is Saturn and Dreamcast obviously. But I have ODE for those.
@KitsuneNight You might like the first two Suikoden. Both JRPGs. Not grindy, but also Murayama designed them so that if you walk in a straight line there are less battles, because he figured people just wanted to get to their destination. But if you walk back and forth there are more battles, since he knew players did this when wanting to get into a fight.
Bruno is currently based in London, teaching, and his English is fluent. If they're not already in contact then I'm sure it'll be a mutually beneficial meeting of minds.
@EarthboundBenjy I said the same thing with Metroid and Zelda ported to SNES, and the fact he didn't bother to add any of the quality of life enhancements modders have added (ie: proper maps to both Metroid and Zelda). These patches are freely available on RHDN, and they are excellent, adding new life to these old games, and greatly improving them. He did zero when porting these NES games. He didn't even bother adding L&R item selection in Zelda, which would be a number one first day addition.
These ports are pointless and I said as much.
And I got shot down.
The lesson is: do not question the guy making cheap, pointless no frills NES to SNES ports.
From past experience, old JP devs often don't think about this unless it's mentioned.
I say gently because a few bad actors online get aggressive and demanding. Even if he does not want it released to the public, we should respect that - the important thing is the EEPROM data is safe.
@KitsuneNight Absolutely. I wonder if they're already in contact - if not, and this article helps bridge a gap, then I am super happy. I'm not on Twitter otherwise I'd be tweeting.
To be honest I've not liked any of the looks over the years, other than the original in-game look on N64 - which was different to the box art even.
I suspect this is nostalgia.
That low poly N64 model, to me, looked exactly like a young Kate Beckinsale from the film Uncovered (1994). In fact if you Google pics you can compare the faces, which are noticeably similar. I had an adolescent crush on Kate, so it's skewed my subjectivity.
The XBLA remaster made her look... For lack of a better description, "more American".
They could make DLC where you can change her look to the original, remaster, and sequel. That would be an interesting experiment to guage the extent of people's reaction.
@RadioHedgeFund Yes, I noticed that too. Looked up the model she's based on, and she has a strong jaw, but the polygon model seems... Even more so?
I miss this old logo. Of the countless games I played which had this logo, I cannot think of any which was less than at least "pretty good", but I can think of many which were all time classics.
@nocdaes
Sadly Nintendo has not preserved all their games. Despite manufacturing all Famicom games, when it came to the FC anniversary they didn't even have certain first party (!) titles for photographing. Nintendo had to go begging Ritsumeikan University to ask if they could find some titles. Developed by Nintendo. Because Nintendo did not have physical copies. Of games Nintendo made. At Nintendo. Nuts!
Source: Pr Nakamura at Ritsumeikan.
EDIT: I was replying to your first comment then read others.
Please, I need to shatter your illusions and everyone else's, who think Nintendo or any other company has physical or digital copies.
They absolutely do not.
Dev computers are routinely junked. Dev hard drives erased. Legacy hardware scrapped. Even big companies like Nintendo are absolutely missing large portions of their own archives.
I know from first hand sources.
When they started doing digital or retro releases, or anniversary photoshoots, these big companies had to go to fans, universities, preservation groups, and ask if anyone had these items mint and complete.
Pause for a minute and consider this: Nintendo developed, manufactured, and published games, and 20 or 30 or 40 years later, they have zero trace of them in any office and had to rebuy them back on the aftersale market.
I was sitting in Ritsumeikan Uni, in Pr Aki's office, and he was telling me how the big N had, quite literally, lost stuff! And then he and others had to find and loan them back games they had made!
Also look up the story on one of N's earliest arcade games. Sky Skipper. That was almost, quite literally, lost forever. It was only thanks to fans it was saved.
Comments 425
Re: Konami Butchered This SNES Classic, So We Fixed It
@RetroGames We're not running the hack tutorial as a site piece, so it was suggested I paste the guide into the comments. There are 5 images, which I will put on a host shortly. I also need to post this in a few parts.
HEAD: A simple hacking tutorial
SUB: We never thought we'd be giving BRA instructions to retro fans
TEXT:
After our article on hacking Buster Busts Loose on SNES, several readers expressed an interest in a straightforward tutorial. What follows are two very basic hacks for Zelda: Link to the Past on SNES, using Mesen. Different emulators have different tools and UI, and there are also bespoke utilities for hacking games on different systems. But our goal is to show that by doing something very simple, such as changing just one number, big things can happen.
You don't need to create whole new levels or anything. The point is to have fun and explore games in a different way. We are amateurs and new to this, but if you can play Zelda, you can hack Zelda. Both involve puzzle solving. The only "tricky" bit is maybe getting your head around hexadecimal. All those numbers you see are likely to be hexadecimal (0-F) rather than decimal (0-9). All you need to know is that after 09 is 0A, up to 0F. Most of the time you'll be hacking 00 to 01, or vice versa, but here's a chart to cheat just in case:
https://tkcomputerservice.com/hexadecimal-conversion-chart.htm
The biggest advice is to ignore things which are not relevant to your specific goal at that moment. Hacking isn't like the Matrix. It's not glamorous or fancy, really. It's more like a slow police stakeout. You'll be sitting observing most of the time, waiting to see if anything changes.
Re: EverDrive Maker Krikzz Releases $40 Genesis / Mega Drive ROM Cart, Open-ED
I have the fancy Everdrive with Mega CD support. AMA.
Re: Duke Nukem's Co-Creator Reveals Old Pitch For 'Big Trouble In Little China' Game
@GeneJacket It does sound basically just like Duke 3D reskinned as BTILC. But we'll never know. If the team loved the film, they might have really put the effort in to make it good?
The IP exists. They made a licensed board game.
It's quite feasible that a dev or publisher would license it today and make something decent. maybe angle it as a sequel to the movie. Maybe make it in the style of games from back then, or modern games.
I guess I'm just very optimistic.
Re: Duke Nukem's Co-Creator Reveals Old Pitch For 'Big Trouble In Little China' Game
Genuinely my #1 film.
I wonder about the possibilities if they'd made a good game for the NES or SNES. Something as good as Alien 3 on the SNES for example.
Re: Anniversary: Castlevania Classic Dracula X: Rondo Of Blood Is 30 Today
First played this in 2001. Visited Japan. Bought a Duo R abd this in Akihabara. Back at my hotel room I unplugged the aircon to plug this in, hooked up to the hotel CRT TV.
Didn't go to bed until after midnight. Just sat playing while eating sushi, totally blown away by how good it was.
Incredible experience.
Re: Has Your SNES Pad Seen Better Days? Don't Worry, A Fix Is Coming
@KitsuneNight
Funky how?
Surely start/select match up.
L/R to L/R.
Y, B, A to ABC on 3DO?
X is null...
No?
Bit concerned now...
Re: Has Your SNES Pad Seen Better Days? Don't Worry, A Fix Is Coming
@KitsuneNight You have one of the fabled SNES TO 3DO adapters?
Lucky! I'm waiting for a restock.
Re: Has Your SNES Pad Seen Better Days? Don't Worry, A Fix Is Coming
It's why I'll happily buy junk or non-working first party controllers for any system.
If a cable or circuit board is dead, the membranes might still be good for salvage! Fixed a few pads like this over the years.
Re: Interview: Say Hello To Jocelyn Benford, The First Person To Give Princess Peach A Voice
@samuelrclaesson
I'd love to read it. I just found your Radosh interview too! Thanks for pointing it out.
Re: Interview: Say Hello To Jocelyn Benford, The First Person To Give Princess Peach A Voice
Excellent feature - good work documenting the unknown!
I, for one, loved Hotel Mario. Putting aside the Mario name, and the CDi troubles, it is a fantastic single-screen arcade-style platformer. Donkey Kong, Manic Miner, whatever your favourites are - this is another fantastic example in that genre. Using a wired controller it's very responsive, the level themes are inventive, the gameplay evolves with each new hotel, adding fun new gimmicks. For me, this comes fairly close to capturing that Nintendo magic. It's better than the single screen Mario Bros. with POW block - that was just boring. This is fun!
So, I'm assuming there will be a follow up feature interviewing her husband, Michael Ahn, about the Philips? Please? I don't know about anyone else, but I need more Philips / Nintendo articles in my life.
Re: Can You Match These Consoles With Their Controller Ports?
I own that 3DO model! How did I get that wrong.
The rest were Atari systems - clearly topic I need to study more.
Re: N64 Classic Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon Gets Fanmade PC Recompilation Project
@Futureshark
Reddit thread:
https://www.reddit.com/r/n64/comments/ssas1b/every_n64_decompilation_project_2_microcode/
Now, to be fair, these are decompile projects. Not recompile like the above Goemon one. But once you've decompiled it, not long until you can then recompile it. (I think.)
There's a guy on Twitter building a list of already recompiled projects, along with how well they function.
Re: N64 Classic Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon Gets Fanmade PC Recompilation Project
You are correct - it is indeed one of the best games on N64. I always felt it never got the praise it deserved back in the day.
I've been waiting for this one for a while now (there's a bunch of N64 recompile projects in the works).
But why oh why is it JP only? A big part of the fun is the wacky (and excellent!) localisation into English.
Is it just a case of waiting until implemented, or did they give a very specific reason why?
Re: GameCube Gets Achievements Thanks To The Dolphin Emulator
@KitsuneNight I have always hated them, and was angry that initially you couldn't disable them on PS3. I'd be playing a nice game, chilling, relaxing, kicking back, and suddenly an air raid klaxon goes off and the screen is invaded and tainted by these hideous ghoulish little medallions for - as you say - literally nothing. Took me right out of the flow / zone. Was so glad when Sony allowed them to be disabled.
Having said all that, I did intentionally Platinum Demons' Souls.
Re: Konami Butchered This SNES Classic, So We Fixed It
@sdelfin
Bankbank cooked up an IPS patch to remove dashing via double tap in Cybernator. I'm not sure if we should upload it to rhdn or just email it to you. I need to do some testing first.
@RetroGames
Wrote a step by step tutorial for two fun hacks in Zelda for everyone to try (18 steps so everything is covered). They teach a method which can be done in other games too. Will update you when it's up.
Re: Konami Butchered This SNES Classic, So We Fixed It
The RHDN submission was rejected due to the supplied screenshots being "too pixelated". They've tightened up their process, and it's a PITA to get approval. I could resubmit with cleaner screens. Or you know what? Just get it on Romhacks. No fuss there. It's not like RHDN pays anyone, their submission process should be easier than this.
@marc_max
Interesting. I wonder if they actually deleted the code for passwords, or left it in but put a shunt in so you can't access it. If the latter, it might be as simple as NOP'ing whatever line dismisses it.
@MysticX
Same. Skyblazer on SNES was finished in two days, but it was so much fun I kept it for years and would replay my favourite levels just for the pleasure of it. Excessively tough games were dropped pretty quick. I finished Earthworm Jim once and never went back.
@GhaleonUnlimited
I'm flattered, but I think there are at least 101 other better hacks that better represent this. Fixing Contra and CVIII for example. Good luck with you presentation.
@BulkSlash
We have a veteran here! These all sound quite excellent. Are you uploading online? Good luck with the F-Zero endings.
@sdelfin
This Cybernator hack sounds very simple given it won't even need save states. I'll have a peek if time permits. It should be as simple as starting on the first level, having the debugger open, and then repeatedly doing it to see where the branch is. Then possibly just putting NOP there. It depends how the double tap is read by the loop. I would not want to accidentally disable the dash for all control methods.
@DestructoDisk @Mario500
Thank you for the feedback. It was an off the cuff remark reflecting my deep annoyance at Konami's attitude, but you're right, it is not essential to the tone of the piece and if younger readers enjoy the site I will endeavour to encourage this by refraining from such language in future. (I just freelance, given it was asked.)
@RetroGames
OK, so I've been thinking about what kind of specific simple tutorial one could give that's easier than this Buster hack, but also fun, and I've just tested it: Link to the Past, those guards at the start? You can mess with Link's vertical position to bypass them and explore the rest of Hyrule in the rain. It's weird and cool! No enemies, except in caves and dungeons. I'm busy today but hope to write up a set of instructions for this tomoz. (I used SNES9X which is a bit more newcomer friendly, but if I can I'd like to give a tutorial on doing this same thing in both emulators - every emu has a slightly different GUI and style of tools.) If not Sunday then Monday. Or Tuesday at the latest!
I think this is a fun primer for anyone who hasn't tried it before. You're only hacking just one value - Link's vertical position. But it allows you to access the map in a non-normal alternate state, with spooky stuff going on. If one can crack this, you'll have the knowledge to do similar in other games.
Princess Zelda's "help me" message keeps popping up, so I might also look at NOP'ing that.
Re: Konami Butchered This SNES Classic, So We Fixed It
@RetroGames
There are two options that I used in this instance. Debugger, which shows you the game loop as it runs (you'll need to hit Esc to pause it). And then WRAM, which will look like a list of numbers in a grid. Which is slightly less intuitive, but hacking a number in RAM is simpler than hacking assembly.
If you're wanting a gentler introduction, SNES9X (I use the Xbox port) has a cheat search to look for specific values. Probably an easier less intimidating start.
But Mesen, in that massive screen of options, should allow you to have it check for single value changes (not at my PC otherwise I'd type a mini walkthrough).
Mario is good. Once you find the option to search / track values and changes, you can search for lives. Lose one and see what goes down by 1.
Warning: some games assign the internal value 00 to something onscreen which says "1".
If you fail to get anywhere, I will sit down and type a simple tutorial for you (and others), over the weekend at some point. Just a basic step by step to dip your toe in the water.
EDIT: sitting here trying to describe it without the emulator in front of me, from memory, makes me realise how frustrating it can be for a newcomer.
Re: Konami Butchered This SNES Classic, So We Fixed It
@RetroGames
If you feel insulted then I wish to apologise. My intention was only, sincerely, to encourage others to prod at games with the available tools.
I don't think one needs any special abilities beyond being able to play games and hold a controller, and basic literacy.
If your immediate belief is that this is out of touch, then I've fallen short of my intended goal.
I am not good at maths, and I found assembly prior to this intimidating. But allow me to share a simpler example or two:
A lot of emulators allow you to search for a single number value. The first time you do this, it will check every possible value. Too many to be useful.
But after this, if you lose 1 life, you can ask it to search that list again, for anything that went down by 1. The result? It will show you where the game keeps track of lives.
You can also use this method to move to the right. Then ask it to search for any number that went up by any ammount. Probably a few things went up. But you can keep repeating to narrow list. Go left and ask it to search numbers that decreased.
Eventually you will find the value tracking your onscreen position. So you can change it to go outside walls.
These are just two simple number searches. But that's still hacking. And it's fun putting your character beyond barriers.
Anyone who can play games and navigate game menus can fiddle around like this.
I don't expect anyone to do feats of Rainman style genius. But if you use emulators, pop open that debugger or cheat search, and see if you can find and change just one number.
Maybe it's lives first. Maybe you play around more and try other stuff.
My desire is not to imply I have superhuman abilities, but to encourage everyone to use the powerful tools now commonplace to play around.
Even if it goes wrong, so what? All you've lost is some time spent playing. Of course if try it and find it boring or frustrating, then fair enough. At least you gave it a go.
Re: Wii And GameCube Emulator Dolphin Gets A Version Number Overhaul
Anyone else read up to the word "gets" then have a mild panic attack as their brain filled in the words "shut down"?
No one? Just me then?
Re: The Forgotten Legacy Of Taito Of Brazil
@gingerbeardman
Yes! Nasir. In interviews he said Square knew him already from his Apple II games. So that was a good avenue in. I would rank that alongside Henk Rogers as a fascinating example of gaijin doing well in JP during those times.
@Diogmites
Cool reply. I didn't think highly of Perry either. He basically rocked up with cannons blazing and demanded entry. Galapagos Syndrome is a fascinating rabbit hole to go down. I like to apply it to the Japanese FPS, was doing its own funky thing in isolation while the rest of the world was building up to Doom.
Re: The Forgotten Legacy Of Taito Of Brazil
@Diogmites
Thanks! That statement needed expanding really, since both before and after WWII there were different scenarios.
After the Admiral Perry incident the country did open up. And send delegates abroad to study how foreign countries operated. There was even consideration to adopting English. And they were part of the League of Nations, etc.
But when you look at all the sources for the last 200 years, there is a recurring feeling of otherness.
Random example: the term "Galapagos Syndrome" originates from Japan. It applies to phones and computers. JP phones and PCs were wholly unlike any others until later standardisation. Take computers for example. Americans, Brits, French, East Bloc, there was to a degree common overlap. A Yugoslavian could move to the UK and do well coding Speccy games (it happened). Japan? That's a whole other ballgame with different rules and set-up.
I don't want any of this to sound negative or xenophobic. The Japanese are very warm and kind to foreigners. They're a wonderful and creative nation I'm enamoured with. But being successful there, in business, having come from outside the culture, requires special fortitude.
For concrete specific examples I'd cite interviews with: Jeremy Blaustein, Victor Ireland, Ted Woolsey, Joseph Redon, Henk Rogers, Jez San. Game Over by David Sheff. Possibly Kalinsky of Sega, in terms of how US/JP staff handle things - though Sega is kinda odd, given the huge infighting between depts.
Re: The Forgotten Legacy Of Taito Of Brazil
@gingerbeardman
A valid statement. However, for me, it's interesting because of how the Japanese do business. There's a lot of etiquette and expectations unique to Japan, which foreigners can struggle with. Certainly with Henk Rogers he described a mild resistance to foreigners.
Japan was very insular; during the Tokugawa period; pre-WWII (even post WWII; English language signs for tourists were only added post Millennium with the world cup; seeing another gaijin was rare generally). It was also a mono-ethnic nation. You rarely saw foreigners if at all. Other East Asian nations like China and Korea also have a troubled history with Japan, so you didn't see them overtly.
I'm generalising, obviously. Based on personal observation, interviews, and what I recall ftom my Understanding Japan module from uni.
But broadly - Japan was very much for the Japanese. They exported or imported, sure, but modified to suit their tastes.
Random aside: JP doctors used to tell patients not to buy medicine abroad because JP medicine was specially catered to JP bodies.
You read interviews about Yamauchi, and he was mildly hostile to foreigners. Rogers earned his respect playing Igo.
Obviously foreigners were able to start companies in Japan, but they faced a set of unique local challenges in gaining acceptance from Japanese colleagues and consumers.
This is less to do with the games industry and more business in general.
For one thing, can you imagine starting a company and having to know Japanese or use a hotshot interpretor because so few JP businessmen spoke English? It's different to a foreigner going to America, where the language of business is English and everyone learns it.
I find foreigners staking a claim in Japan and succeeding to be unusual and fascinating (at least up until after the Millennium).
Re: Flashback: Remember When Virtua Racing Caused Prank Phone Calls?
I take it that the chip emits some sort of electromagnetic field (RF? EMF?), which triggers the phone?
Don't quote me on this, but isn't that why old consoles had metal shielding in them? To comply with RF / EMF regulations about electrical appliances not affecting each other? I definitely remember reading a very dry document stipulating how an appliance must not affect, or allow itself to be affected by another. Or something.
I have a top end low-frequency and high-frequency scanner (this was great at finding some forgotten faulty wiring in my bathroom). The thing is, every single electrical appliance gives off some sort of field. You turn your console on and even the wired controllers give off something, even if you need to put the scanner up close. Put it near a live AC adapter and it goes off like a fire alarm.
I find myself deeply intrigued by the claim the JP version is producing some sort of uber field that interferes with other appliances.
Re: Random: Was Hudson Copying Sega's Homework With Adventure Island III's Palm Trees?
@KitsuneNight
LOL! I just said that randomly. However, you prompted me now to use Yandex to do a reverse image search. It can be used to look for "similar" images, so not simply the exact same one, but the algorithm recognises faces or objects and looks for similarly styled ones.
In this case, palm tree art (as opposed to photos).
And it brought up hundreds and hundreds, to the point where I stopped.
Nothing stuck out as predating or being an influence.
But! It turns out there are a lot of art images of palm trees out there.
Re: The "Worst PlayStation RPG Ever" Is Getting A Fan Translation
@SnowyAria
Thanks for the direct reply. I look forward to it whatever the results - interesting to hear it's not too difficult, given that difficulty is often the first thing to vertically sky rocket when developers go astray.
Re: Random: Was Hudson Copying Sega's Homework With Adventure Island III's Palm Trees?
It looks like yes.
Unless Sega referenced some pre-existing art or painting somewhere, which Hudson also referenced?
Like, maybe we find there was a melon soda can from 1990 that had this exact same tree design?
Re: Cancelled SNES Game 'Cooly Skunk' Could Finally Be Getting A Cartridge Release
This gives off the very slightest feeling of Ukiyotei's other SNES game: Skyblazer
I wish Skyblazer had gotten a sequel. While this has similar elements, I'm not sure it'll scratch the same itch.
Re: The "Worst PlayStation RPG Ever" Is Getting A Fan Translation
Fascinating.
However, how's the difficulty balance?
Saga Frontier games have infamously borked difficulty balance, which are fascinating to read about, but kinda awful actually to play.
Re: Zelda II Has Been Ported To The SNES
@sdelfin
It has a map? Nice! Thanks - that must have been an update. The first release just had extra saves. Will check out.
Re: Zelda II Has Been Ported To The SNES
@Bonggon5
I felt the same when Metroid was "ported" but without the map system which fan hacks added to the NES original.
These bare bones ports completely lack the quality of life improvements added by fans over the years.
Re: Turns Out Shining Force CD Didn't Actually Need The Sega CD Backup RAM Cart
@GhaleonUnlimited
I do not, but I am messaging resident SF expert Ash Day right now.
Re: Unearthed Footage Shows Early '90s Office Of Star Fox Developer Argonaut
I love the atmosphere of legacy footage like this. Simpler times. Big CRT monitors. Technology feeling fresh, exciting, and a conduit for positivity.
No one having any idea that the good times would pass so quickly and, 30 years later, a generation would pine for the past.
Imagine going back in time and telling them: the world is gripped by plague, there's been multiple financial meltdowns, billionaires own and control everything, forever wars are the norm, the planet is dying, and Artificial Intelligence is stealing all your jobs, slowly but surely.
They wouldn't believe it. To be honest, I might not even tell them. I'd just go back and disappear. Pull my teeth out with some pliers so I couldn't be found.
Re: 'SuperSega' FPGA Console Will Play Genesis, Master System, Saturn And Dreamcast Games
@JMX
I use the Mega Everdrive Pro by Krikzz for Mega CD on my Mega Drive. It's expensive, but it runs everything pretty much flawlessly. I can even have the PAL BIOS boot up NTSC games (which run in NTSC), for nostalgia + best 60Hz experience. It's wild. It also runs 32X but I don't have the add-on.
This runs MD (obvs), SMS games in SMS mode, Game Gear games converted to SMS, Mega CD, and 32X. The only thing it doesn't run is Saturn and Dreamcast obviously. But I have ODE for those.
Re: 'SuperSega' FPGA Console Will Play Genesis, Master System, Saturn And Dreamcast Games
No Sega Mega CD support?
Re: Konami Renews Trademark For Axelay, One Of The Best SNES Shmups
@NinChocolate Nicely said!
Yes, absolutely, a good shmup can work within even severe limitations with the right art direction, coding, and game design.
You mention GB. Have you played Mercenary Force? One of my all time favourite hori-shmups.
Re: Konami Renews Trademark For Axelay, One Of The Best SNES Shmups
Many people say the SNES isn't as good as the Mega Drive for shmups.
I just point to Axelay. One of my all-time favourites in the genre. So much life and energy and inventiveness.
Re: It's Insane How Much 'Zelda' Is On Switch, And That's Why It's Nintendo's Best Console
@KitsuneNight @GameGear1991
Thanks. Hard pass. The hardest pass. If this pass were any harder I'd black out due to lack of blood to my brain.
I have never touched PS Plus and I wouldn't even if they gave it to me free the first 6 months.
All of it is a scam and I am still surprised anyone buys into it or even likes it.
Absolutely detest that kind of nonsense.
Re: 30 Years On, And Capcom Is Still Making "Millions" From Van Damme's Live-Action Street Fighter Movie
I miss the days when film, comic, and book adaptations of games would go in crazy non-canonical directions. Like weird alternative interpretations.
This divergence is what I loved about the SFII movie.
How does it make this money?
Digital downloads? BD sales?
Re: It's Insane How Much 'Zelda' Is On Switch, And That's Why It's Nintendo's Best Console
@GameGear1991 I don't own a Switch. Are you saying it's not digital purchases, and when your sub expires the games don't run?
Re: Turns Out Shining Force CD Didn't Actually Need The Sega CD Backup RAM Cart
I always resented Shining Force CD for making me delete all my other adventure and RPG saves, just for it.
After I did... Turns out I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.
Re: The Term JRPG Is "A Positive" According To Persona 5 Designer
@KitsuneNight You might like the first two Suikoden. Both JRPGs. Not grindy, but also Murayama designed them so that if you walk in a straight line there are less battles, because he figured people just wanted to get to their destination. But if you walk back and forth there are more battles, since he knew players did this when wanting to get into a fight.
Re: The Quest To Preserve And Document Tectoy's Zeebo Console
Bruno is currently based in London, teaching, and his English is fluent. If they're not already in contact then I'm sure it'll be a mutually beneficial meeting of minds.
Re: Run-And-Gun Classic Contra Has Been Ported To SNES
@EarthboundBenjy I said the same thing with Metroid and Zelda ported to SNES, and the fact he didn't bother to add any of the quality of life enhancements modders have added (ie: proper maps to both Metroid and Zelda). These patches are freely available on RHDN, and they are excellent, adding new life to these old games, and greatly improving them. He did zero when porting these NES games. He didn't even bother adding L&R item selection in Zelda, which would be a number one first day addition.
These ports are pointless and I said as much.
And I got shot down.
The lesson is: do not question the guy making cheap, pointless no frills NES to SNES ports.
Re: A Copy Of The Lost Famicom Title Moeyo Butaman Has Been Found
Someone should very gently suggest it be dumped.
From past experience, old JP devs often don't think about this unless it's mentioned.
I say gently because a few bad actors online get aggressive and demanding. Even if he does not want it released to the public, we should respect that - the important thing is the EEPROM data is safe.
Re: The Quest To Preserve And Document Tectoy's Zeebo Console
@KitsuneNight Absolutely. I wonder if they're already in contact - if not, and this article helps bridge a gap, then I am super happy. I'm not on Twitter otherwise I'd be tweeting.
Re: Poll: What Do You Think Of Jo's New Look In Perfect Dark?
To be honest I've not liked any of the looks over the years, other than the original in-game look on N64 - which was different to the box art even.
I suspect this is nostalgia.
That low poly N64 model, to me, looked exactly like a young Kate Beckinsale from the film Uncovered (1994). In fact if you Google pics you can compare the faces, which are noticeably similar. I had an adolescent crush on Kate, so it's skewed my subjectivity.
The XBLA remaster made her look... For lack of a better description, "more American".
They could make DLC where you can change her look to the original, remaster, and sequel. That would be an interesting experiment to guage the extent of people's reaction.
@RadioHedgeFund
Yes, I noticed that too. Looked up the model she's based on, and she has a strong jaw, but the polygon model seems... Even more so?
Re: Random: Who Designed Konami's Famous "Bacon Strips" Logo?
I miss this old logo. Of the countless games I played which had this logo, I cannot think of any which was less than at least "pretty good", but I can think of many which were all time classics.
Re: Talking Point: Is Nintendo Erasing Its Own History In Its War On ROM Sites?
@avcrypt You're part of the movement preserving these games? You're doing the Lord's work - may your data remain uncorrupted.
Re: Talking Point: Is Nintendo Erasing Its Own History In Its War On ROM Sites?
@nocdaes
Sadly Nintendo has not preserved all their games. Despite manufacturing all Famicom games, when it came to the FC anniversary they didn't even have certain first party (!) titles for photographing. Nintendo had to go begging Ritsumeikan University to ask if they could find some titles. Developed by Nintendo. Because Nintendo did not have physical copies. Of games Nintendo made. At Nintendo. Nuts!
Source: Pr Nakamura at Ritsumeikan.
EDIT: I was replying to your first comment then read others.
Please, I need to shatter your illusions and everyone else's, who think Nintendo or any other company has physical or digital copies.
They absolutely do not.
Dev computers are routinely junked. Dev hard drives erased. Legacy hardware scrapped. Even big companies like Nintendo are absolutely missing large portions of their own archives.
I know from first hand sources.
When they started doing digital or retro releases, or anniversary photoshoots, these big companies had to go to fans, universities, preservation groups, and ask if anyone had these items mint and complete.
Pause for a minute and consider this: Nintendo developed, manufactured, and published games, and 20 or 30 or 40 years later, they have zero trace of them in any office and had to rebuy them back on the aftersale market.
I was sitting in Ritsumeikan Uni, in Pr Aki's office, and he was telling me how the big N had, quite literally, lost stuff! And then he and others had to find and loan them back games they had made!
Also look up the story on one of N's earliest arcade games. Sky Skipper. That was almost, quite literally, lost forever. It was only thanks to fans it was saved.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/games/2023/sep/11/the-quest-for-sky-skipper-the-rarest-nintendo-arcade-machine-in-the-world
Games companies could not care less.
They only care about appeasing shareholders at the next quarterly profits meeting.
Re: "Thank You, Margaret Thatcher!" - How The UK Played A Leading Role In Eastern European Computing
@Krull
I've come to find that many, so many of my all-time favourite games were made in Europe.
Resi Gaiden (GBC) - UK
Alien 3 (SNES & GB versions) - UK
Goldeneye / Perf Dark (N64) - UK
Jeff Minter games - UK
Sacred Armour of Antiriad (Spectrum) - UK
Pathologic (PC) - Rus
Stalker (PC) - Ukr
Gothic (PC) - Ger
Elex (PC) - Ger
EYE: Divine Cybermancy (PC) - France
Witcher series (PC) - Pol
This list could go for ages. One just needs to dig a little.