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The internet lies: cheat code edition

Discussion in 'General Sega Discussion' started by Black Squirrel, Jul 9, 2022.

  1. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    This is a bug that dates back to the first arcade release of Virtua Fighter 3.

    And you need two Taka-Arashis. And you don't have to jump, but you do have to be quick in the arcade version because time is limited.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    PHYSICS



    Here it is on the Dreamcast. You can mess with it more here because there's no time limit in training mode.
     
  2. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    This is a thing:
    [​IMG]
    It's awkward to see though. Shun Di has to be facing the sun for the camera to swing around and show it.



    I tried to replicate this in both the arcade version of VF3 and VF3tb but saw nothing. I think it's a Dreamcast exclusive feature(?)
     
  3. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    This is "blink and you'll miss it" stuff. I should know - I missed it.

    [​IMG]
    Jacky's stage has welding sparks(??) that fall from above every now and then (and maybe just at the start of a round??). Usually they don't hit anything - if you hold punch and evade (A+Y by default) before the round introduction, they'll land on your opponent. If both players hold these buttons... they usually land on player one.

    Characters don't get "burned" (I don't think there's even any collision) and it has no effect on gameplay. Again I don't think this is in the arcade version(s), but there's no guarantee Supermodel handles the button presses correctly.
     
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  4. Bobblen

    Bobblen

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  5. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    Oh wow

    This works, but it's the sort of thing I would expect to be displayed on an instruction card (so isn't "hidden content"). Problem is, there's no good scans or photographs.

    [​IMG]
    That's the best I can do.
     
  6. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    For the zero people who care - this appears to be a 3tb addition - this code doesn't work in the original Virtua Fighter 3.

    I've refrained from calling it "debug mode" on Sega Retro though - it only logs button inputs, (and actually shows less information than the training mode in the Dreamcast version). It would technically help with debugging but it seems more like a training aid than anything else.

    Also exclusive to 3tb is the view change:
    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
    The Dreamcast version of this is documented (and more obvious - it's controlled with the L and R triggers), but I don't think it's mentioned on the arcade cabinet (you just press start during a match).

    This isn't necessarily "new" information, but so little has been documented about VF3tb I might as well get it out there.


    And it's little things as well - in both VF3 and VF3tb, holding start before pressing a button will give you the alternative outfit. What nobody had pointed out is that it also forces the computer players to use theirs. In fact it may be more correct to call them "Virtua Fighter 2 outfits" (save for Aoi/Taka... and I guess Dural in the home versions).

    It's not mentioned in the manuals so is technically hidden content (unlike say, Street Fighter where you can have half a dozen palettes and the manual explains it all).
     
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  7. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    See, it doesn't take that long to become an expert!

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    More vanilla Virtua Fighter 3 things. Jacky and Kage have secret victory animations (hold Guard+Punch+Block+Down after winning). Why these two and not others... I have no idea. Unless there are more that haven't been documented.


    [​IMG]

    And if you perform this code with the alternative outfit... in Akira's stage... after just getting an excellent, a pan falls on your head.



    The chances of encountering this in real life are slim to zero.

    [​IMG]
    Pai also has a secret victory animation triggered in the same way. This time you have to beat Akira with an excellent, after which she blows a kiss and says something that I don't understand because I don't speak Japanese. I'm guessing it's a retort to "juunen hayainda yo!", a.k.a. the Akira catchphrase that's in every game (and recently talked about in Lost Judgement - the "you're ten years too early" thing).


    p.s. no guarantees I'll be bothered to check everything on that list. Trying to work out if there really is a 1/16 chance of getting Dural's stage sounds nightmarish, and I'm seeing potentially 78 different "standard" victory animations across all characters which can be triggered on demand.
     
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  8. Bobblen

    Bobblen

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    Yeah, I would not be trying to document every victory pose, that's for sure. The readers can just take our word for it. Although I see you've already got the table ready in hidden content, so good luck with that!

    Speaking of 3d fighters some great research here on a proper debug mode in vf2 fighting vipers and sonic fighters https://sudden-desu.net/entry/debug...fighting-vipers-and-sonic-the-fighters-part-2
    Turns out there was an in game code all along
     
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  9. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    More mythbusting:


    Most of Virtua Fighter 3tb's additions include the likes of like slow motion replays and changing views - features not actively advertised and which don't add much to the game. But if, for whatever reason, you couldn't see the title screen and the operator had turned off team battle mode, how would you know it's 3tb!?!

    [​IMG]

    Because the backgrounds were changed. Or more specifically, stages are set at different times of day, similar to the Street Fighter II revisions. But what if you liked the original Virtua Fighter 3 stages better? Well there's no choice in single player, but in 2-player mode (with the cabinet set to let you pick stages), the challenger can hold start while picking a stage and get...

    [​IMG]
    The (regular) Virtua Fighter 3 background.


    There are also special "Dural" versions of every(?) stage, which are normally seen when fighting Dural. These also have their own soundtracks - can we fight in those?

    There are sources suggesting that there's a 1/16 chance of getting a Dural stage instead of a standard VF3 one if you use the method above. I don't think that's true in the arcade version at least - here, to get a Dural stage, you just have the challenger hold start until the timer runs out (aka highlight but don't press a button).
    [​IMG]

    This trick also works in vanilla VF3.



    The Dreamcast version is different. A normal versus battle defaults to VF3 backgrounds, while versus team battle defaults to 3tb. If the challenger holds start there, it uses the other background (i.e. normal uses 3tb and team battle uses VF3). I don't know how to pick Dural stages yet.
     
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  10. Bobblen

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    The 1/16 thing does seem to have been pulled out of thin air. Normally something like that comes from getting a code slightly wrong. Every so often you accidentally get it right, so you think it's random, then that info propogates...
     
  11. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    Things I can't do on a keyboard with emulation:

    Hitting the train (1:37 to skip the talking)

    I can't get there fast enough.

    The flying train:

    I can't reliably do quarter-circles, so I can't pull off this move.

    "Don't those videos prove these easter eggs exist?"
    Only on Dreamcast, and not necessarily for all regions.


    I also can't be bothered to play through three games just to see if you can skip the credits, and I can't get Sarah's earrings to change colour. Granted, it's difficult to see (especially on Model 3) but I think they're always gold or silver.

    The rest might be bugs, and while yes, we want to log those, I'll leave those to real fans who actually know how to play.


    Still, we've gone from "no information" to "the best resource" in the space of a few days which is pretty good.

    Next
     
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  12. BSonirachi

    BSonirachi

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    I had a little thought to myself whether this is worth posting in here or the general information thread or its own thread entirely, but seeing undocumented cheats were also brought up in here, I went with posting this in here.

    So we know that back in July 2021, Jon Burton had posted a video on YouTube about Puggsy's Sega logo being configurable by changing the "VER" values in the game's header. Just recently I had gotten myself a Mega Drive ROM dumper so I could dump my entire game collection, and when I got to dumping my copy of Wiz 'n' Liz, I had noticed it also has the same values from Puggsy's header:

    upload_2023-3-7_16-12-44.png

    After dumping the ROM, I went and edited the values in a hex editor in the same way I would do so for Puggsy, and it turns out Wiz 'n' Liz has the same configurable Sega logo system!

    WiznLiz_MD_Sega_0001.png WiznLiz_MD_Sega_0002.png WiznLiz_MD_Sega_0011.png WiznLiz_MD_Sega_0012.png WiznLiz_MD_Sega_0101.png WiznLiz_MD_Sega_0102.png WiznLiz_MD_Sega_0111.png WiznLiz_MD_Sega_0112.png

    The values used here are the same ones as in Puggsy, with "0112" being the default ("everything"). The first digit is unused, the second toggles the "licensed by Sega" text (1=on, 0=off), the third determines whether the logo should feature the Fatal Rewind cameo (1=on, 0=off), and the fourth controls the â„¢ symbol (2=on, 1=off, with "0" skipping the Sega screen entirely). Strangely, combinations that disable the text and cameo will make the Sega logo fade out immedately after appearing.

    We know from the video that the system was put in place as the rules regarding the introductory Sega logo were not known to Psygnosis at the time, hence Jon went for the "try everything" approach to avoid potential resumbits to Sega's quality control. Given both Puggsy and Wiz 'n' Liz were developed around the same time, I guess the same system was put in to Wiz 'n' Liz as a precaution.
     
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  13. Pirate Dragon

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    Yeah, Puggsy and Wiz 'n' Liz were both due out on the same date (93/11/19) in the UK, although it seems that Wiz 'n' Liz got pushed back a week to 93/11/26 at the last minute, so it makes sense that both games would have this feature. Puggsy Mega CD was also due out 93/11/26, so it's quite likely that also has this in the code.
     
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  14. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    Fighting Force 2 looked like low-hanging fruit (and it was), but 2/3rds of the cheat codes of GameFAQs are wrong:

    Can't do that - B will exit the options screen.

    This doesn't work either. Both of these codes are all over the net, and depending on where you go, there's more detail to the second one. "Left" is analogue left (I tried the d-pad too), (L and R being the triggers) and you're meant to see a white flash if entered correctly. Maybe it works in the PAL version (this is a UK-made game) but it's not here in the NTSC-U one.

    It looks suspiciously like the PlayStation code (which I haven't tested): L1 + L2 + R1 + X + Triangle + Left. I think someones' assumed you can map PlayStation button layouts to a Dreamcast controller and everything will work fine. Spoilers: it doesn't.

    Also the one code that does work, the level select, spells out LUXARY which suggests they were specifically thinking about the Dreamcast when designing cheats.
     
  15. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    There are gaps in our Mega-CD coverage.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    Some more interesting than others.

    GameFAQs and others have most of Black Hole Assault's codes, but bringing out the old hex editor, I found two more.

    If you use the name EASY or HARD you get easier or harder opponents, respectively. It doesn't make the game any more fun, but hey.


    There's an instant win cheat activated by using BIGNET as a name. My expectation is this won't work in the Japanese version (since Bignet was the US publisher) but I still have to test that. More at 11.
     
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  16. Black Squirrel

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    (both versions share the same codes)


    Digital Pictures time. All four of the "Make My Video" games share the same code - go to the U-Direct screen, press A, B, C, Right, and you get a behind the scenes video (and while that's playing, press start to see another... which is shared across the three):
    [​IMG]
    Kris Kross

    [​IMG]
    INXS

    [​IMG]
    Power Factory Featuring C+C Music Factory

    [​IMG]
    Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Although this barely counts - twice-Oscar nominated Mark Wahlberg says something incomphensible and some girls laugh. Also I had to go hunting in the manual to find where they put U-direct mode in this one, because Digital Pictures weren't good with menus... or games (but the acting is amazing).


    But it didn't stop there. Future Digital Pictures games would implement a similar feature, except this time you have to hold A, then B, then C, then right (and you don't get the second video). They also display "B" with a number in the corner as you do this - not sure what that's about.

    [​IMG]
    Prize Fighter

    [​IMG]
    Slam City with Scottie Pippen. You get the same video with the Mega-CD 32X version (i.e. no extra colours).


    Ground Zero Texas also appears to do something with this code, but that's a two-disc game with some weird disc-swapping cheats and needs more investigation.


    Digital Pictures' other Mega-CD games include Night Trap, Sewer Shark, Double Switch, Kids on Site, Supreme Warrior and Corpse Killer, none of which seem to implement this code. And I can't speak of the 3DO, PC or Saturn releases.
     
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  17. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    GOLF INNIT

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    In Pebble Beach Golf Links (Saturn), holding X+Y+Right while the game boots brings you to a "demo menu" where you can watch all the pre-rendered videos. Many sites have this documented (although they suggest holding the buttons then pressing reset - it produces the same effect but you don't need to hold during the Saturn boot animation).

    There's also meant to be another code (down+B) which forces a crowd to appear around the player regardless of mode - I had no luck with that, but "start a game" is quite ambiguous.


    Anyway the internet is really bad at documenting the life and times of T&E Soft. Even the Japanese Wikipedia omits a good chunk of their history, but the basic idea was, this company made golf games almost continuously from 1983, and there are a small handful of major revisions to their core engine (called "Polysys"). An engine that was recycled across a ton of games for a ton of platforms.

    In short, that means T&E Soft released five golf games for the Sega Saturn, all of which were built very similarly. And that means...

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    The above code also works in Masters: Harukanaru Augusta 3...

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    ...and Valora Valley Golf...

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    ...and Waialae no Kiseki: Extra 36 Holes...

    [​IMG]
    ...and Jun Classic C.C. & Rope Club. This one doesn't have talking caddies. Boo.

    (Incidentally this last one is incorrectly named both in the game itself and most websites, being called "Junclassic" instead of "Jun Classic". It's a dodgy translation - the in-game logo is wrong and the box is inconsistent, however Jun Classic is a real thing, and at its creation in 1977, it was literally a "Classic" sponsored by a company called "Jun").


    How many non-Sega games have similar features? Who knows - Polysys was ported to the Virtual Boy of all things.


    And yes, anamorphic widescreen for some of those videos. Forward thinking!
     
  18. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    BASEBALL INNIT

    So even though only two of those five golf games implement anamorphic widescreen, their implementations are surprisingly good. Usually if a game of this vintage even bothers with a widescreen option, it's just the 3D geometry that's affected, but T&E Soft took the time to re-render FMVs, adjust the HUD and draw all the sprites properly for this new aspect ratio. It's really just the menus that are left untouched, and who cares about those.

    And while adding them to our list I noticed Pro Yakyuu Greatest Nine 98 Summer Action was listed. Does that meant earlier games had the option too? I went hunting, with the view of filling in any gaps along the way.

    The first game in the series is Kanzen Chuukei Pro Yakyuu Greatest Nine. GameFAQs lists one cheat for this game which it calls "big head mode". Hold L+R+Y between when the match is announced and when it begins, and uh...
    [​IMG]

    Yeah kinda. I think what this is doing is replacing the heads of players with their real life counterparts, except the heads are always the same size and only face one direction. So big heads unless the camera is positioned in such a way that they're small heads. Or something. There's probably more details in Japanese mags, so I went searching and found a result! A... completely different code that's undocumented online:

    [​IMG]
    Two special teams, "Perfects" and "Ultimates", which have all the best players apparently. I didn't find an answer to my original question, and there is no widescreen mode here, so next: Greatest Nine '96. Except wait, no, I have to do World Series Baseball (Saturn) because that's built off the Greatest Nine engine and arghdsggsgfdafas.

    Neither of the above codes work in WSB, which means we still don't have any documented cheats for that game. Which is fine, and suggests Sega weren't as lazy as T&E Soft and didn't just keep recycling the same button combinations. But as the two games are so similar, I'd be surprised if no codes existed.


    Greatest Nine 96 though, and the extra teams code doesn't work. The other code though?

    [​IMG]
    It's been reassigned. Welcome to Camera Mode, get ready.

    Unfortunately I have no idea if this is actually a cheat because we don't have a Greatest Nine 96 manual. It's not documented anywhere though, and limited in its movement, probably because the game is still sprite-based and probably isn't rendering the back of the stadium.

    [​IMG]
    Exactly the same code works in World Series Baseball II. This one is definitely hidden, at least outside of Japan.


    None of these codes work in Pro Yakyuu Greatest Nine 97, but that is the first game to include anamorphic widescreen support so I guess I found what I was looking for. Ditto for Pro Yakyuu Greatest Nine 97 Make Miracle.

    Despite being based on Greatest Nine 97, World Series Baseball 98 (Saturn) drops widescreen support for some reason. I wonder if the programming still exists.


    The cheat codes also don't work in Pro Yakyuu Greatest Nine 98 but that game has a different story to tell:

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    It has a NiGHTS team. This isn't hidden - anyone can play as the NiGHTS team from the get go. But there's a NiGHTS team. Pro Yakyuu Greatest Nine 98 Summer Action also has the NiGHTS team. Why is there a NiGHTS team.
     
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  19. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    Steep Slope Sliders probably has more hidden content than "normal" content, and this time I can trace the mistakes back to 1998.

    https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=File:SaturnFan_JP_1997-23_19971212.pdf&page=208
    Japanese magazine Saturn Fan printed a load of cheat codes for Steep Slope Sliders back in December 1997.

    https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=File:SSM_UK_37.pdf&page=81
    The UK's Sega Saturn magazine then printed these codes in English... but their translation is iffy.

    https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/arcade/568856-steep-slope-sliders/cheats
    GameFAQs copied it all without testing.

    Because there's one very important caveat to most of these codes - they don't work unless you've played at least one course with every character in the game. That's the four "normal" characters and the four unlockable ones - if you don't do this, nothing works, and there's no obvious indication that you've met all the requirements. IGN worked this out but half the world didn't, so we've all been misled for 25 years.

    Which is a shame because there's some properly weird stuff here:
    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    And of course "Steep Slope Shooters" a 2D snowboarding minigame with guns.

    (good job I have a keyboard with N-key rollover, because you need to press eight buttons at once to trigger this).

    I count 4 normal characters, 4 unlockable ones, and a further 7 secret characters. And each have alternative outfits.
     
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  20. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    Ooops.

    [​IMG]
    Hold A+Y+C in NHL All-Star Hockey 98 to get extra teams. The Virgin Blasters and Rad Army All-Stars, named after the publisher and developer, respectively.

    [​IMG]
    Look it's Julian Rignall of Mean Machines fame! Because he joined Virgin Interactive, the publisher that... didn't publish this game wait what


    NHL All-Star Hockey 98 is a rebrand of the PlayStation game NHL Powerplay 98 (published by Virgin). There's a similar cheat over there:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    and it's all good.

    On the Saturn though, attempting to play as either team crashes the game. Seems they were only partially removed, so there are Virgin staff members in a Sega game. But it's alright, nobody would guess the code and spot this error... except it's the same code as in NHL Powerplay '96, so yeah, somebody would probably try it. Especially when magazines and the internet publish the code and tell you it works.


    Honestly I'm not actively looking for broken cheats, they just keep showing up.
     
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