Star Wars (Namco) & Splatter House Hacks

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MottZilla
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Star Wars (Namco) & Splatter House Hacks

Post by MottZilla »

Since atleast officially the PowerPak doesn't support Namco 106 which these games use, I decided I'd give hacking them a try. I was pretty successful. Both games were hacked to run on Sunsoft FME-7 (Batman Return of the Joker). Star Wars works except for graphics issues in the space scene or scenes (I haven't played all the way through) because I didn't do anything with the IRQ.

Splatter House though works nearly perfectly. It only has a slight error with the sprite #0 hit it does which causes a tiny line of pixels to the left of the lifebar. Hopefully someone else here likes either of these games and has the PowerPAK so they can now enjoy them too. I also documented everything I did to Splatter House so people can learn or better yet maybe someone with more time might want to take it further and make it run on MMC3. It'd be better for repros then. ;)

If anyone uses these and experiences any problems let me know. Splatter House was tested beginning to end though and should be perfect.

http://ninjagaiden4.thegaminguniverse.c ... index.html
Last edited by MottZilla on Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Tormenter
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Post by Tormenter »

Id love to have Splatter House completed on MMC3, that would be awesome
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MottZilla
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Post by MottZilla »

I still might try to do that myself. I plan to correct the sprite 0 issue too.

Also I played as far as I could through Star Wars and it crashed on me when I was fighting Darth Vader on Yavin 4 and died. I don't know if that means you just can't die there or if it was isolated. But I've been told that was next to the last level. And I doubt anyone would beat that game anyway as I was cheating like crazy and still had trouble figuring out what to do. :p

Anyway, I've played through Splatter House several times now on the NES and haven't had any problems. We'll see about the MMC3. I've got plenty of MMC3 games I wouldn't mind transforming.

Update: I decided to give it another shot. I think I should be able to pull off MMC3 Splatter House. I understand what the game is doing a bit better after really looking into it. So far it looks like just a matter of time and I'll have it working fine. So you could expect a MMC3 version from me in the future.

Update 2: I removed patch details from the patch download but they are available if anyone really wants to see. More importantly the MMC3 version is coming along. Everything until Stage 2 is perfect. Stage 2 and beyond is yet to be done but from what I've done so far I'm confident the rest will work out.
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marvelus10
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Post by marvelus10 »

This is great, keep up the good work.

thanx eh
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MottZilla
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Post by MottZilla »

I've run into a problem with MMC3 Splatter House. I ran out of CHRROM. =( I thought it would make it with room to spare. But it's down to the wire and I'll have to free up some room somewhere. I know of a few places. I'm not sure if I'll have room yet, but at the current stage the game is playable beginning to end with only 1 spot with corrupt graphics, and I believe only 1 background animation missing.

I'm hoping I can sort it all out.

Update: The hack is complete. I tested it and it seems to work perfect now. I'm working on the patch package now. It will consist of both an IPS patch and a Win32 executable. The IPS patch takes care of the PRGROM while the Win32 executable handles modifying CHRROM chunks. I'll post when it is ready to go.
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MottZilla
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Post by MottZilla »

I've updated my webpage with the MMC3 version. Feedback/test results would be appreciated for more confirmation that it works properly. It shouldn't have any problems but if it does please tell me. So tell me if you play it and it works perfectly or if it doesn't. Enjoy. http://ninjagaiden4.thegaminguniverse.c ... index.html
Last edited by MottZilla on Fri Jul 18, 2008 7:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Tormenter »

MottZilla wrote:I've updated my webpage with the MMC3 version. Feedback/test results would be appreciated for more confirmation that it works properly. It shouldn't have any problems but if it does please tell me. So tell me if you play it and it works perfectly or if it doesn't. Enjoy. http://ninjagaiden4.thegaminguniverse.c ... apper.html

This is still showing as mapper 19 for me with nestopia? I was going to try to put this on an actual wired up cart to see how it goes, but its showing vrom switch, and that would be impossible to wire up, as the required board only uses 28 pins.

Would it be hard to use a pretty common mapper, like 4? Mario 3 uses, etc. Thanks!
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MottZilla
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Post by MottZilla »

Did you apply the IPS patch? It should alter the PRG ROM section and the header to "mapper 4". If you only ran the executable, then all it did was shift around CHRROM data. You must apply the IPS patch. Either before or after running the SH_CHR_Patcher program. If you still have trouble let me know.

I think you may have to find a "mapper 4" board that can support a 128kb prg rom and a 256kb chr rom.

Also, when you load in Nestopia, check the PRGROM and CHRROM CRCs, and see if they match the PATCHED CRCs. The readme lists the original and patched ROM crcs.


Update: To simplify things I'm going to be updating the package. The Patcher program will now have you select your original ROM and where you want to output your patched ROM. It will then patch the CHRROM and then use a built-in IPS patch engine to apply the PRGROM patch. This should make things easier. I'll update when it is uploaded.

Update: I posted the new patcher on my webpage. This should avoid anyone from just patching their CHRROM and not applying the IPS patch.
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marvelus10
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Post by marvelus10 »

Wow this came together fast. Im going to have to set some time aside this week and try and make a cart version of it.
Thank you so much.

Can I make a request for your next project, Buzz and Waldog to work with the PowerPak or a hack to make a cart version.

Again thank you for this.
Tormenter
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Post by Tormenter »

MottZilla wrote:Did you apply the IPS patch? It should alter the PRG ROM section and the header to "mapper 4". If you only ran the executable, then all it did was shift around CHRROM data. You must apply the IPS patch. Either before or after running the SH_CHR_Patcher program. If you still have trouble let me know.

I think you may have to find a "mapper 4" board that can support a 128kb prg rom and a 256kb chr rom.

Also, when you load in Nestopia, check the PRGROM and CHRROM CRCs, and see if they match the PATCHED CRCs. The readme lists the original and patched ROM crcs.


Update: To simplify things I'm going to be updating the package. The Patcher program will now have you select your original ROM and where you want to output your patched ROM. It will then patch the CHRROM and then use a built-in IPS patch engine to apply the PRGROM patch. This should make things easier. I'll update when it is uploaded.

Update: I posted the new patcher on my webpage. This should avoid anyone from just patching their CHRROM and not applying the IPS patch.
Yeah I must have done it wrong the first time, 2nd time worked perfect. Have you played all the way through the entire game? Just want to make sure it doesnt crash or anything before I spend a few hours making a cart :)


By the way, your link is no longer working :*(
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MottZilla
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Post by MottZilla »

I have played through the entire game on the MMC3 version with Nintendulator. I played through the FME-7 version on the PowerPAK. I haven't done the MMC3 on the PowerPAK yet but it shouldn't have any problems since Nintendulator did not and the game doesn't do anything tricky. If you are concerned about it before making a cartridge you should run through it yourself on Nintendulator or you can wait till I play through it on the PowerPAK which I could do today.

About my webpage, I'm not sure what the deal is, I'm guessing my host is having problems. I don't own the site, I've only got a subdomain there related to another project of mine. If someone wants to mirror my patches I can send them. I don't have any other webspace at the moment.

Update: I have hacked Buzz & Waldog. It is currently patched to FME-7 however it will be patched to MMC3 shortly. My webpage is back up now.

Update: I overlooked something, and MMC3 will probably not happen. MMC3 for whatever reason (I didn't realize this) can't do 1 screen mirroring. This means there will be the FME-7 version and maybe I'll look into other options. Maybe a MMC3 board can be modded to do 1 screen mirroring?

Update: MMC3 may come out afterall if you can mod the cart mirroring.
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MottZilla
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Post by MottZilla »

I've updated my webpage as I hacked Buzz & Waldog on marvelus10's request. http://ninjagaiden4.thegaminguniverse.c ... index.html

Should work fine on emulators and PowerPAKs. Gotta pay attension if you build a repro though.

Also, I tested the MMC3 Splatter House on my PowerPAK and ran through it with no problems.
Last edited by MottZilla on Fri Jul 18, 2008 7:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
bunnyboy
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Post by bunnyboy »

AWESOME, I may have to put this on some carts.

To make a TKROM into TKSROM you just need to rewire CIRAM A10. Cut the CIRAM A10 wire that connects the mmc3 pin 10 to nes connector pin 22. Then solder a wire from nes connector pin 22 to mmc3 pin 12 (chr a17). You may have to cut the chr a17 trace that goes to the chr rom, but it should be unused on the 128KB chip anyways.

The wiki seems to be wrong in saying A16 is used for mapper 118. Bootgods site shows Play Action Football uses TLSROM (no wram) so modifying a TKROM should be much easier.
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Post by bunnyboy »

Interestingly Buzz and Waldog doesnt work on Mac Nestopia 1.3.7, but runs fine on Nintendulator/FCEUXDSP for Windows and FCEU for Mac. Mac Nestopia may be doing the strict no wram on mapper 118?
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MottZilla
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Post by MottZilla »

Thanks for the cart modding information. I'll have to try it when I get a chance. I should also probably add a small IPS patch for disabling the infinite lives in the prototype. That would probably be better for when you make a cartridge.

I found out what happens to Buzz & Waldog with no WRAM when I first did the FME-7 patch and hadn't enabled it yet. =)

Update: If you re-download the Buzz & Waldog patch it now has a "Lives.ips" to disable infinite lives. Also I added your cartridge hacking info bunnyboy.
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