Xirtamehtsitahw's Hacking Thread

[xirtamehtsitahw]

And now, for something exactly the same as before (no, not really ):

I found a half-assed "disable auto-fall" code for Tetris DS (U).

The code is 2217DD22 00000020, and it is (of course) in Action Replay format. It doesn't work very well (if at all) past level 15 or so. That is because of how FAST the blocks fall past level 15. At level 20, the blocks automatically spawn at the bottom of the well, so you have to basically maneuver/rotate them AFTER they have already touched the well floor. This only gives you a small amount of time to react to each block, but once you start moving/rotating them, you can keep moving/rotating them until you don't do anything to the block for about half a second or it gets "locked" into place by being dropped into a gap where it can't turn or move.

I was wondering if anyone could come up with a code to affect block SPEED (not the actual level modifier). This would mean that you could play level 20 at level 1's speed (but keep level 20's points multipliers). I've tried poking around, but couldn't find anything of significance. Besides, I don't currently have a DS emulator on my laptop, but that could change shortly (depending on if I can even use said emulator--my laptop is only a single-core 2.2 GHz machine).

[xirtamehtsitahw]

How to Play NES Tetris REALLY Fast

1. Set the framerate to 180 per second (3x normal PSP speed).

2. Use the disable auto-fall and fast soft-drop codes.

3. Start on level 19.

Watch as the blocks perform controlled nosedives toward the bottom of the well!

This setup basically eliminates the often annoying lag that occurs, especially at higher levels (e.g. level 15+).

There seems to be a small, harmless sound bug which makes the game fall completely silent for up to a minute at a time, but this bug is fairly rare, and only occurs once (maybe twice) throughout an entire playing session. I haven't found out what causes this bug, but as it doesn't cause problems with actual gameplay, I don't think it's a big deal.

I challenge anyone to cycle the levels with these codes. It is indeed possible, but not exactly what I would call "easy".

You'll need to score over 3500 lines to do so! Good luck...you'll need it.

[xirtamehtsitahw]

How Well Do You Know Mario?

Here's a quiz on the various Super Mario Bros. games that have been released.

Don't expect to simply ace this quiz blindfolded unless you really know your Mario games.

1. What Mario game does NOT feature a single underwater segment?

2. What was Mario also known as besides Jumpman and (of course) Mario?

3. What were the people of the Mushroom Kingdom often transformed into by Bowser's black magic, according to the Super Mario Bros. 1 instruction manual?

4. Two-part question: how many enemies do you have to defeat in succession with a sliding shell to earn 1UP in Super Mario Bros. 1, and in what two worlds is this possible?

5. How many colors of shells were originally planned for Super Mario World? (Here's a hint--it's NOT four.)

6. How many actual children does Bowser have? A) 1. B) 7. C) 8.

7. How many damsels-in-distress (not counting multiple rescues) has Mario had to save, and what are their names?

8. What games (not counting sports, Mario Kart or Smash Bros. titles) have featured Princess Peach as a playable character?

I'll post the answers after some undisclosed length of time.

[xirtamehtsitahw]

How to Make SvR 11 Easy Difficulty Finally Worth Playing

Easy difficulty is usually reserved for young players, as they don't have the coordination and timing skills necessary for the higher difficulties.

However, this difficulty has some advantages you may want to consider:

1. You can hold submissions for longer against the AI.

2. The AI hardly ever resorts to irritating cheap tactics (like spamming jabs).

3. The AI won't release submissions it uses on you, allowing you to break free.

4. It (usually) takes longer for the AI to decide to activate the Kip-up ability.

5. Their moves (including finishers) do less damage to you than on other difficulties. This means that if you happen to eat a finisher, it won't cost you the match (usually).

Plus, to make playing on Easy worthwhile, simply set the PROB_EASY flag to somewhere between 300 and 400. I do NOT suggest going higher than that, because of a weird glitch which causes the AI to ALWAYS reverse submission attempts after blocking their punch or kick. Personally, I use the value 375, with maxed out reversal-frequency sliders, and the reversal damage flag set to ON, so that the AI is pretty aggressive, but not overbearing and insanely reversal-happy.

To do this sort of advanced-level modification to Smackdown 2011, you'll need the actual iso (of course), UMDGen 4.0, and a hex editing program.

A word of warning, however: do NOT even think about thinking about asking me where to find PSP isos. You WILL be reported, as it is against the rules. I myself received an infraction for a similar offense when I was still new to this site.

You have been warned.

[xirtamehtsitahw]

Answers to Mario Quiz

1. As far as I know, the only mainstream Mario game (based on 2-D Super Mario Bros. gameplay) which does NOT feature a single underwater segment is Super Mario Bros. 2. It has 20 worlds and lots of sand (and digging), but NO swimming. It does have quite a few waterfalls in it, though.

2. Mario has gone by three names: Mario (of course), Jumpman, and originally was going to be called Mr. Video. The name Mr. Video never became official, although the mustachioed carpenter-turned-plumber was officially referred to as Jumpman in the original Donkey Kong. He acquired his current moniker after a rent dispute between Nintendo and their landlord, Mario Segale (who happened to be an Italian-American, and Mario did have that sort of look...so the name stuck).

3. Blocks, coins and even "horsehair plants" (those tall, white-leafed "trees" you sometimes see in Worlds 5 and 7).

4. The correct answer is NINE (not counting the shell). The point values increase as follows: 400 (or 500), 500, 800, 1000, 2000, 4000, 5000, 8000, 1UP, and you can achieve a 1UP with a sliding shell in 3-2 and 5-1 (the latter is a bit harder, though). That's not to mention the various places one can perform the infamous "1UP staircase pogo"...

5. The correct answer is SIX--in an early beta of Super Mario World (then still known as Super Mario Bros. 4), the shell colors were going to be set as green, red, yellow, blue, brown and black. The brown and black shells never made it into the final product, but black-shelled Koopas have been used in a few SMW hacks. They explode 5 seconds after being stomped, similar to the ant-shaped enemies from Super Mario Land. I don't know what function the brown shells had.

6. The correct answer is ONE--Bowser Jr. is the only Koopaling that Nintendo will admit to being Bowser's child. The origin of the first seven Koopalings (Iggy, Larry, Lemmy, Ludwig, Morton Jr., Roy and Wendy) was never explained, and some have suggested they were created (behind the scenes) by Kamek, the head Magikoopa (possibly to try to stop Mario after failing to do so when the plumber was a baby). Another possible explanation was that Bowser himself, no slouch in the magic department, created them himself, to act as minions with whom to more easily take over the Mushroom Kingdom. (They still failed, on EIGHT separate occasions--Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, New Super Mario Bros. Wii/2/U, Super Mario 3D Land/World, and New Super Luigi U).

7. The correct answer is THREE. The first was Pauline (originally known simply as "Lady"), then Peach, and finally Daisy. To this day, Peach is by far the most common princess that Mario has to save.

8. The correct answer is THREE. The games where you can play as her are Super Mario Bros. 2 (probably the most well-known example), then came Super Princess Peach, nearly 20 years after SMB2, and finally Super Mario 3D World, for the Wii U. She was originally going to be a playable character in New Super Mario Bros. Wii (and possibly 3DS' New Super Mario Bros. 2), but Satoru Iwata couldn't find a decent way to implement Peach's classic floating mechanic into the game (without making it too easy).

How many of these did you already know? Maybe I'll do a Pokemon-based quiz sometime soon.

[xirtamehtsitahw]

How to create "abnormal" difficulty level in PSP SvR '11

Go into the game's misc.pac and PreLoad.pac files, and set the PROB_NORMAL flag to 999, instead of its default value of 55. This makes the AI-controlled wrestlers roughly EIGHTEEN times stronger than on default Normal difficulty. Thus, I term this "souped-up" difficulty level "Abnormal".

Abnormal difficulty AI still follows most of the basic "guidelines" of Normal difficulty (won't release submissions, and will allow you to break out of them; they take longer to break out of submissions, though they break out faster than on Easy difficulty).

However, that's where the similarities end. On Abnormal difficulty, there are certain moves to avoid using, as the AI will ALWAYS counter them:

1. Blocked-punch/kick submission attempts
2. Regular grappled strikes (only applies to kicks, for some reason)
3. Blocked-kick counter strikes
4. Top rope grapples
5. Running turnbuckle strikes

There are moves, however, that the AI will NEVER counter--chain grapple submissions and (usually) groggy submissions. On VERY rare occasion, the AI will actually counter a groggy submission, but I've only seen it maybe a handful of times during the entire time I've played this game, and trust me--I've sunk THOUSANDS of hours into it.

Also, there are moves the AI almost never does--chain-grapple submissions (The AI has only attempted these THREE times during the entire nearly 10,000 hours I've put into this game). I have actually NEVER seen the AI perform a submission following my punch/kick being blocked. They usually go for a regular or strong strike, and on rare occasions a grapple move or finisher/signature move.

[xirtamehtsitahw]

How to create "left handed" versions of most moves in SvR '11

Here is a quick tutorial on how to "mirror" moves (or what the game calls "horizontal flipping").

Let's take Chokeslam 4 as an example.

Its ID value is 156F, which will show up in a character's moveset addresses as 6F 15. (That is called Endian format.)

To make it a LEFT-handed chokeslam, replace the 15 with 95 (basically just add 80 to the byte).

The resulting left-handed chokeslam will have a value of 956F (shows up in-game as 6F 95).

This can be done to pretty much any move, except for actual reversal animations. You can even change chain-grapple holds (rear waistlock, side headlock, front facelock and wrist lock) to their left-handed equivalents this way.

Do NOT attempt to change moves with values starting with 03 (and maybe 05). Doing so will freeze the game when you try to play that character. This is because there are no mirrored animations for reversals.

P.S. I just saw the AI attempt a chain-grapple submission...on another AI opponent. That makes FOUR times it's happened in all. Of course, I broke up the submission attempt by using an axe handle strike (it was during a triple-threat match, and you can "lose" the match without even being involved in a pin or submission).

UPDATE: I just found another weird bug in the game which will cause it to freeze. If you are playing as a character who uses horizontally-flipped ("left-handed") chain-grapple holds, and your opponent also uses them, the game will freeze when you attempt to reverse their grapple hold into one of yours, because there are no "left-handed" reversal animations. Seems the game's developers did NOT think of everything...

Basically, I'm saying to stick to the default chain-grapple holds. Pretty much any other non-reversal move can be "mirrored", but stay away from mirroring the actual chain-grapple animations.

[xirtamehtsitahw]

SmackDown vs. RAW 2011 AI Routines & Game Freezes

Here is a thorough listing of the various ways the AI can be either cheap (or downright CHEAT), and some common (and not so common) game freezes I've run into.

1. The AI loves to spam jabs and jab combos, because of how short each move is, making it very difficult to counter.

2. The AI can and will make itself IMMUNE to counters on occasion. How this occurs is either the AI decides whether to respond to your inputs or not, or it temporarily disables your reversal button (without your knowledge).

3. The AI is capable of changing whom you're targeting, without your input. This usually causes you to target the referee, your tag partner, or your manager. I've even been DQed because I was forced to target the referee too many times. This can also happen to you, but it's not nearly as common.

4. The AI will often go after your manager, in an effort to draw the DQ against your team by making him/her counter the opponent's move. As you know, managers aren't supposed to get directly involved in a match except to distract the referee, unless DQs are turned off.

5. The AI is capable of disabling your tag partner's ability to exit the ring, thus drawing the DQ via 5-count. This can, however, also affect the opposing team as well, but it's not nearly as common.

6. The AI is capable of disabling hit detection against itself on occasion. This will be most noticeable when attempting a running strike or grapple from behind, and you simply pass right through the opponent as if they were a ghost. This will happen to your character as well, but is not as common.

7. The AI is capable of using a "dummy grapple" to block any reversal attempts against its finisher. A dummy grapple is one where the AI appears to try to grapple you, but "misses", then suddenly hits their (now reversal-proof) finisher. I've even seen the AI perform a dummy-grapple finisher on me...while his back was turned to me!

8. The AI is capable of buffering its ground grapple moves, thus blocking any attempts you make at reversing them. You'll see the AI do what I call the "buffer shuffle"--that is, they'll appear to dance in place as they attempt to lock onto your character and perform a reversal-proof ground grapple.

9. The AI is capable of performing ground submissions on you, even after you have begun to get to your feet. I've even seen the AI do so to me when I've already gotten to my feet and begun to walk away or attempt to grapple them--but I get sucked into a ground submission instead!

Now, I'll describe some weird AI behavior attributed to the above.

1. If the AI decides to start spamming jabs, but misses, and you back away, they'll continue to spam jabs on thin air, often for upwards of a dozen hits.

2. If the AI decides to perform their four-hit strike combo, but misses, they'll often continue the combo unabated, as if you were still standing there (but you've actually moved off and are pointing and laughing at the AI making a complete idiot of themselves).

3. Sometimes, the AI will attempt to attack thin air, following hitting you with their previous attack, due to expecting you to be where they are now attacking (but, for example, you rolled away).

4. You can actually cancel an AI run-in attempt using signature moves with a very long animation (The People's Elbow and the Ballin' Elbow are notorious examples). The AI will try to load a run-in DURING the move animation, but because the two moves mentioned above have such long animations (the Ballin' Elbow is easily 30 seconds long!), the AI forgets to actually send the run-in wrestler to the ring, and the run-in never takes place. Heaven help the AI should the Worm have ever been implemented...that sucker is almost a MINUTE long!

Now, for some game freeze issues:

1. The game will often (if not ALWAYS) freeze during 6-man tag matches if any of the following wrestlers are involved:

Rey Mysterio, John Morrison, Evan Bourne

Quick solution: free-agent them, or if you absolutely HAVE to have them on your roster, make CAWs of them. They're pretty easy to make (especially Mysterio--they have every part needed to make the Master of the 619).

2. Occasionally, the game will freeze following a swerve by the AI if they don't land their finisher before you earn yours.

3. Occasionally, the game will freeze, seemingly out of spite, if you manage to outperform them despite their TECH attribute being maxed out (100), and/or the reversal rate is maxed out (all six AI-frequency sliders at their highest value). This might be due to the AI being incapable of increasing its own difficulty any further to deal with your suddenly godlike capabilities.

4. While technically not a game freeze issue, there are times when the list of tag teams will suddenly be replaced with 70 "null" teams, all consisting of five duplicates of the first member of the original championship tag team. There is a way around this: slap one of the other groups of tag belts (World or WWE) on the glitched team, then have them drop the titles to another pair of wrestlers of your choosing (say, Undertaker and Kane) via Custom Match. Once the titles change hands, simply delete the 70 null teams, and your champions should reappear on the list. You may have to manually make the champions a tag team, however (if they aren't already).

[xirtamehtsitahw]

Wii: Wired For Frustration?

Seriously--the Nintendo Wii (and its successor, the Wii U) is the most aggravating console EVER devised. It needs one cable to power the machine, a second to allow for video output, and a third just to enable the wireless controllers. On top of that, if you wish to use rechargeable batteries for your Wii Remotes, you'll need a charge station...which requires a FOURTH cable/cord. Thus, that's four cables/cords that can easily become entangled with each other, causing undue frustration and potential trip hazards.

Also, the Wii is one of the most difficult consoles to "jailbreak" (that is, modify its software to enable the playing of homebrew). If you do something even SLIGHTLY wrong, you could easily brick your Wii. At the very least, you'll run into issues where games will refuse to work properly, no matter what you do.

IMO, I'd suggest sticking with modding handhelds (such as the PSP, Vita, DS and 2/3DS). They're a LOT easier to mod, and a lot easier to deal with the various problems that can arise (game freezes, et cetera).

BTW, I even threw my (still-working) Wii in the trash. Anything that attempts to bring the Pokemon Tangela to life is not worth having around, especially given the nearly microscopic size of my bedroom. I need every square inch of floorspace I can get.

In comparison, a default XBox 360/One only requires two cords/cables--one for video (which hooks up to your TV) and the other to power the console. 'Nuff said.

Will we ever see the rise of WIRELESS consoles (powered by rechargeable batteries or even solar cells)...?

[Helder]

So what happened to the codes? If you want to have a thread where you like to speak your mind do so in the Lounge and try to keep your codes you make in this thread.

[xirtamehtsitahw]

Ah. Gotcha. Anyway, I'd like to ask if I could also post info about various hacks I'm attempting (such as sprite swaps in Pokemon games). While not technically codes, they are a type of game hacking, and thus I would think are allowed. (As long as I don't post direct links to the actual hacks/roms. )

[Helder]

Such things would be better suited for the Miscellaneous-Game-Hacking section since rom hacks or the like go there. Try to stick mainly to actual code posts in this section and you can do whatever you want in the lounge as well.

[xirtamehtsitahw]

All right. Anyway, I'll post a little something I found a few years ago, regarding Mystery Dungeon Sky.

Play as ?????????? (Pokemon #0):
122B5158 00000219

?????????? is a nearly complete version of Arceus (using the Substitute doll as its OW spriteset, and Bulbasaur's picture set).

In addition, instead of being a Normal-type (Arceus' default typing), it is a Steel-type.

It doesn't have the greatest of stats, but it gets some really good moves:

Level 10: Gravity
Level 20: Earth Power
Level 30: Hyper Voice
Level 40: Extremespeed

And, above all, it can learn Judgment (which appears in-game as $$$$). Judgment is the single most powerful move in the game--it can take out entire ROOMS of enemies with one use, but doesn't have perfect accuracy. You'll miss on occasion, especially against Pokemon who have very high evasiveness (such as the Starly family).

[xirtamehtsitahw]

Finally, a long-overdue update to my thread! I found a couple more interesting CWCheat codes for Super Mario Bros. 3Mix:

1. Start level with Yoshi (replaces Kuribo/Goomba's Shoe)*:

0x00341C5D 0x00000001

*Turn the code on before entering a level, then turn it off again. I may try to create a jokered code to make it easier (hold Triangle before entering a level). If you don't turn the code off after finishing a level (grabbing the flagpole), the game will take a long time to proceed to the map screen (because it's constantly trying to make a constantly respawning Yoshi disappear).

2. UPDATED Suit toggle:

0xD0000000 0x10000100
0x003417DD 0x00000003
0xD0000000 0x10000200
0x003417DD 0x00000004
0xD0000000 0x10000001
0x003417DD 0x00000006
0xD0000000 0x10008000
0x003417DD 0x00000002

Square = Fire
L = Tanooki
R = Penguin
Select = Boomerang

2. No Enemy Clipping (press Triangle to disable after completing a level)

0x00341C30 0x00000050
0xD0000000 0x10001000
0x00341C30 0x00000000

3. Permanent Star Power (press Triangle to disable after completing a level)

0x00341C31 0x00000030
0xD0000000 0x10001000
0x00341C31 0x00000000

Still trying to find out where the debug-menu flag is stored in this game's memory. Thus far, it still eludes discovery. Perhaps someone else (lee4, rimsky82) could lend me a virtual hand in finding this elusive code? Pretty please?

[xirtamehtsitahw]

Yet ANOTHER CWCheat Code for Super Mario World!

Infinite Time (Hold L+R to allow timer to count down)*

0x0096C868 0x00000300
0xD0000000 0x10000001
0x0096C868 0x000000CE

*This is important for Chocolate Island 2: the secret exit is temporarily "unlocked" for 49 seconds (starting from one second ticked off the clock to 50 seconds ticked off the clock). If you do not let the timer count down briefly, the secret exit will remain locked. Of course, disregard the above if you're only going for the normal exit.

Also, unless you want a glitchy "62,464" points to be added to your score in 400-second levels, I'd suggest briefly disabling the stop-timer code (hold L+R, let one second lapse, then release). The highest time bonus the game will accurately display is 19,950 (for 399 seconds).