Hacking Sequential codes PSX

[jin299]

Yes it froze for me too when i tried manipulating the same instruction, so is there any register in particular that stores the correct data we are looking for? because I have already tried changing a few registers but couldn't find anything?

Also are read breakpoints useful for this?

Also I have encountered a strange problem when using the debugger what exactly do you do when the debugger doesn't execute a breakpoint at the right time, example most of the time when I put a breakpoint on an instruction the debugger won't break on that address all the time, did you ever have this problem?

[jin299]

I found one new ram hack code for the game Street Fighter Alpha 3 for the psx. Honda'a bearhug kills the opponent with 99 hit combo, just though you guys would like to know.

[Helder]

Post the code in the Last Generation section so we can add it to the site, maybe start a thread so you can post codes you find.

[jin299]

Cool man oh and I almost forgot I found another music modifier code for the game, this one is a seperate one from the other one it allows you to always fight with the final round music I wonder if there's a way using asm to load the music, an allow the fight to go on for 2 rounds instead of one?

I never mentioned this before but I found the code that lets you use the shadowloo boss ism in the game seeing as there was never an proper hack released for the game I hacked the code a while back ago. it's really amazing what you can do with ram hacking in a game.

Now there's something I have to ask you man, do you know if it's possible to find a code through ram hacking for the game, that allows you to disable the intro animation's at the start of the fight, exacly like how a fight starts in World Tour Mode?

I already tried to hack the code by using a different to search, to compare when there was an animation performed in a match to when there isn't, but couldn't find anything?

[Helder]

I would look at a timer either a decreasing timer or increasing timer, for example as soon as the match start freeze the emulator and do an initial search then try doing a less than search every second that passes if that doesn't produce results try doing greater than.

[jin299]

This hacking theory is for finding the disable animation code, right? because if so I already tried using that method to hack the code by hacking the timer before the match starts but didn't find anything?

Also quick question I found the music modifier code in ASM hacking that loads the music in the game, but it still only loads 6 music tracks, how would I use the registers to find the address that loads all the music for the game, while backtracing in the debugger or to find the code would that require a trace log?

[Helder]

It might be helpful to do a trace with Mess but you might get lucky in scrolling up and looking at the loads and checking the addresses in the registers for possible tables which we can manipulate. I don't think this is something you should attempt as it is quite difficult seeing how this game is programmed but if you want to waste time and possibly learn something in the process go for it.

[jin299]

Right so would observing the addresses and values in the registers in real time, gives us an indication as to what is needed to load the music tracks in the game.

Hacking ram codes is one thing but hacking asm codes is another different breed of beast altogether. example I always have often wondered how you hack asm codes from existing ram hacks. Helder I got to know something man you know all the asm codes you hacked yourself, like super jump, run faster than normal,hit anywhere hacks did you have to use a tracer to find most of them codes, or did you find any of them using no$cash and by observing what is in the registers, because I have always wanted to create new simple asm hacks for my favourite games. but was unsure about how to create them with the debugger.

I was wondering what type of new asm codes can you hack using the debugger and the character modifier address? would any of the addresses and values stored in the registers help or would it require a tracer to find a new code?

Apart from the ram address of the character modifier values stored in the registers, I suspect that the other values and addresses being stored in the other registers, wouldn't be of any use in helping us find a new asm hack right?

[Helder]

The codes you're referring to are not simple hacks and many times I used the registers to make the codes I wanted. For example Megaman 8 (PSX/Saturn) Jump codes where simple to do once I looked at the values loaded into the registers and went line by line through the ASM BUT like many ASM routines affect a number of things, the routine I made changes to also affected flying enemies as well as enemies who jumped (only 1 or 2 in the game). So I used the registers to look at the characters address that has the value that is called into the registers and made some changes since it's a RAM address and it instantly went back to the default value so I put a break on it to see where the changes came from. Long story short I used the register to find where the original static value that was being copied to another location which then was used in the jump routine and just edited it and I could jump higher without affecting other characters in game.

This was done before I started to use MESS for the Trace Logs so I did alot codes the old fashioned way of tracing back manually which is time consuming but you learn alot in the process. The other codes like Walk Through Walls and Hit Anywhere can be made without the Trace Logs BUT it becomes alot easier to find where the instructions come from and compare branches from 2 log files.

Now if you want to do simple hacks learn to hack infinite lives/health/time type codes to get familiar with the ASM and hacking them in general. I really became proficient in ASM hacking on the NDS where I did alot of ASM hacking and also learned to do my own custom routines but to even do that you need to know the ASM instructions and how it behaves and only way to do that is hacking and going line by line and trying to understand what each line is doing.

[jin299]

The thing is already know in asm what nop does, in infinite health codes but the problem is I don't know how to to apply the instruction to other asm hacks I want to make, in terms of understanding health codes in asm there pretty straight forward to learn, but anything beyond them example hit anywhere, superjump codes are incredibly difficult , to hack properly, do you think the debugger in cheat engine maybe would be more user friendly to use?

Also now that were on the topic of talking about asm the instructions ori, add, li, and lui, function exactly the same way as one another which do calculations of adding when they hold a value of zero right? example ori v1, 0, $4 lui v1, 0, $4, li v1, $4.

[Demonic722]

You're going to need to familiarize yourself with a lot more instructions than NOP if you plan on advancing. As a beginner, you should stick to very simple codes as Helder suggested since you're only hurting yourself by trying to dive into more advanced codes this early. That said, you should try to understand what's happening in that health (or any other code you can hack) routine.

What would you do if both the player and the enemy share the same routine for health? Would your NOP stop the player from losing health and continue to deduct health from the enemy? How is the game deducting health? Is it adding a negative value or subtracting a positive? Although these are just basic questions, they're things you need to keep in mind while learning ASM and hacking an ASM code. You have to be able to read and interpret the instructions to determine how the game works and alter them accordingly.

By the way, I advise to stay away from Cheat Engine if the console you're hacking has an emulator with a decent debugger.

[jin299]

Demonic722 thanks man I really appreciate all the advice and guidance you have Helder have been given me, having said that would it be possible for me to hack simple asm codes first.

Also i have a question to ask you man is it possible to hack new asm codes with the debugger by observing whats already currently being stored into the registers, example I noticed that there were other addresses and values being stored into other registers, in the debugger, when i was was trying to find the values for the character modifier values of player 2 in Arcade mode for the game Street Fighter Alpha 3. Can I change the other addresses and value that are being stored in the other registers, other than the registers that stores the ram address and value for the player 2 character modifier code or would that not be a good idea?

Do you usually use trace logs to find new asm hacks when using the debugger and could you give me example of code, you could make by backtracking in the debugger if possible man thanks.

[Demonic722]

Can I change the other addresses and value that are being stored in the other registers, other than the registers that stores the ram address and value for the player 2 character modifier code or would that not be a good idea?

If you know the significance of that address, I don't see why not.

Do you usually use trace logs to find new asm hacks when using the debugger

I have a background in NDS hacking so I wasn't fortunate enough to have trace logs.

and could you give me example of code, you could make by backtracking in the debugger if possible man thanks.

You're currently learning MIPS so I can't really assist you in that area (I don't have any examples). There are a few PSX and PS2 hackers on this site that could probably show you some examples.

[jin299]

Hey all I found the address that controls the disabling of whether or not a player preforms his/her character animation intro's the before the fight starts for both players in Street Fighter Alpha 3, here it is. player 1 80198C86 000? player 2 80198C85 000?

Value FF is for allowing the players to perform there character animation intro, and value 0 is for disabling both characters animation intro's sequences before the fight, and will allow both players to fight immediately as soon as the fight starts, without any countdown

[Helder]

Great to see you finally getting things done on your own. Tell me how did you go about finding it?