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Ever since I upgraded to a new machine, Sonic R hasn't been working. It's been crashing with the error 004801d9. Sometimes it will run only once under special conditions, like a compatibility mode, or upon install, and not run again. If anyone knows x86 and could determine the cause of the crash, I've a Dr. Watson log.

Yes, I have seen the 'XP compatibility FAQ' (I'm running XP) and I've tried everything there. It doesn't work. Sonic R worked on my old XP machine. I'm using an AMD Athlon XP 3200+, 512 MB RAM.

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Reply if you like the idea and you subscribed, or want to help. Nayr Tnargh is helping me run this.

Since I'm bored, I thought I'd give you a guide to the intracisies of debug in Sonic 2 Beta. :P

DEBUG CODE
At the title screen, press C, C, Up, Down, Down, Down, Down, Up. There could be any amount of C's, but a minimum of 2, and they can be positioned anywhere, except at the end of the code.

DEBUG DISPLAY
SCORE - The top line shows your position on the screen (every 1 pixel). Every digit is a bit, two digits are a byte, four are a word, and eight are a Dword. The left most word on the top row gives your X axis (horizontal) position on the grid. The right most word gives you your Y axis (vertical) position on the grid. For the bottom row, the left most word acts as what TIME would act like in a normal game, upping the number every second, except it's in hexadecimal. The right most word is a timing clock, cycling from 0000 to 0080 and then from 0080 to 0000 and so on. This cycling clock is used for timing objects such as swaying platforms, water movement, and etc.
TIME - Displays how many sprites are on the screen at once. This number shouldn't surpass 80.
RINGS - Displays your ring count.

DEBUG FUNCTIONS

Normal Play
B - Toggle Debug On

Debug Toggled On
A - Move Forward in Object Cycle
B - Toggle Debug Off
C - Place Object on Screen
A + C - Move Backward in Object Cycle

TOGGLING

To toggle debug in a level, make sure the code is on, and hold A and press start to enter the level with debug. This carries over from level to level.

To toggle 2P interlaced mode, make sure the debug code is on, and hold B and press start to enter the level with 2P interlaced mode. Note: This will not work with levels where there is water (or "Mega-Mack") This doesn't carry over from level to level.

To toggle the Video Display Processor's shadowing and highlighting feature, which some call Night Mode, make sure the debug code is enabled and hold C and press start to enter the level. This doesn't carry over from level to level.

Note: When exiting a stage through egg container or end signpost, you may trigger debug if it's not triggered, 2P interlace, or "Night Mode" by holding their respective buttons after the results for the level are calculated.

Tell me what you think.

As you may know, the developers at Sonic Team had no SonED to edit their levels with, and if they did, it was much more primitive than ours. Knowing this, they programmed a debug mode in the Sonic games to get the information they needed to know from the game.

The "Night Mode" itself is actually pretty useful. It takes advantage of the VDP's shadowing and highlighting ability. For all tiles on the Plane A High and Plane B High graphic layers, the VDP highlights those tiles. For all tiles on the Plane A Low and Plane B Low graphic layers, the VDP shadows these tiles. Sonic Team could then see if they got the highs and lows in their proper spot.

A lot of you know this already, a lot may not. So this is here for the general informing of everyone.

For more codes like this, visit my doc, the Genesis Sonic Code Database, at http://www.angelfire.com/vi/zgamesoftware/...onic/index.html These do not have the beta codes.