[MathUser]

Turns out Gens Hacking Version can create Sega CD PAR codes. But it can't use them. When using them no effect takes place. But, Genesis GX on the Wii has Sega CD PAR code support. You can actually make codes using Gens Hacking Version, then use them on the wii. I don't know if any other emulators support sega cd PAR codes yet but I don't think so. Here's some codes I created for The Terminator (Sega CD):

FFFE1D:0006 Infinite Energy
FFFE41:0009 Infinite Lives
FFFE40:003F Infinite Grenades

Later, I might try making some codes for Sonic CD.

Edit: I found out that Gens/GS also supports using Sega CD PAR codes. But it don't accept odd addressed codes so these would need conversion.

FFFE1D:28 Infinite Energy (turn off at score tally)
FFFE41:09 Infinite Lives
FFFE40:3F Infinite Grenades

Edit 2: Here's more codes I found. I'm probably done hacking the game cause all the basic codes are covered.

FFFE42:03 Max Gun
FFF28E:FFFF Enable Debug/Level Select/Invincibility Cheats
FFF290:FFFF Enable Debug/Level Select/Invincibility Cheats
FFF2B5:00 Enemy 1 dies fast
FFF2E9:00 Enemy 2 dies fast
FFF31D:00 Enemy 3 dies fast
FFF351:00 Enemy 4 dies fast
FFF385:00 Enemy 5 dies fast
FFF455:00 Enemy 6 dies fast

I started having trouble finding the other enemy dies fast codes so there's some enemies who won't die fast. But with the ones provided it should make getting through the game a little easier at least.

This post has been edited by MathUser: 19 March 2013 - 11:06 AM

[Shadow Hog]

Is it possible to use a PAR on a Sega CD game normally (ie: actual hardware), out of curiosity?

This post has been edited by Shadow Hog: 19 March 2013 - 02:30 PM

[MathUser]

Nope, they never made a PAR for Sega CD that could use cheat codes.

[sonicblur]

MathUser, on 19 March 2013 - 02:40 AM, said:

Edit: I found out that Gens/GS also supports using Sega CD PAR codes. But it doesn't accept odd addressed codes so these would need conversion.

A real cheat device should not accept those codes either, they're not valid. You have the same restrictions with codes that you would have if you were writing to memory in 68k assembly. Writes of 16-bit values must be aligned on 16-bit boundaries, 32-bit values would need to be aligned on a 32-bit boundary. (But the PAR only supported 16-bit writes anyway.) Even more modern cheat devices like the Action Replay on Dreamcast, or even Nintendo DS has the same restrictions. You must align addresses to a proper location based on their size. This is why when you cut your values to 8-bit, Gens accepts them. (Which is probably wrong, since the real device always took 16-bit values as far as I know...)

I'm not sure how the real PAR would treat a code like that though, I've never used one. If it allowed you to enter the code, it would either do nothing, or it would round the address down since that's what most CPU's do with misaligned addresses.

Edit: I feel like I've had this discussion once before, with regards to how Gens/GS handles these...

This post has been edited by sonicblur: 19 March 2013 - 08:02 PM

[Andlabs]

Yes, this is exactly the situation being made.

For the record, there is nothing inherently special about these codes that make them Sega CD-specific; Sega CD games load code to RAM, and Gens/GS and Genesis Plus GX are capable of editing RAM. Some games do load code to the word RAM area ($2xxxxx), and those should also work as expected on Gens/GS (not sure about others). One thing you cannot do, however, is edit the sub 68000...

This post has been edited by Andlabs: 19 March 2013 - 08:54 PM

[Glisp]

Can't you also use art money or Cheat engine for a similar effect on an emulator though? I know I was screwing around with EC CD a year or two ago and I managed to get Dark Eternal Champion's second set of forms playable in duel mode. However, the animation information didn't set properly. I do have a video of it though:



What I did was look at the values in the second part of the boss fight with artmoney and basically copied them over to player 2's. The result was the correct attack FX but the wrong DEC animations. The only attack I couldn't seem to do was the Tsunami form's water projectile. Trying to do it crashes the game. I'm assuming because since it's using Dark EC 1's animation pointers it's pointing to one that doesn't exist or something.

Anyway, I apologize for derailing this topic if I did.

This post has been edited by Glisp: 19 March 2013 - 10:40 PM

[MathUser]

I can see how this isn't that exciting to some people. But as someone who was part of the cheat code creation scene years ago this is. It hadn't been possible to make PAR codes back then. Yes you can use external programs to do it, but that limits the audience. Not many people are willing to use seperate programs to cheat in emulators. Many will use built in emulator cheat functions however. Last I checked the two major cheat sites I went to don't have any Sega CD PAR codes so I could be one of the first to discover that Sega CD cheat code creation is possible.

[MathUser]

I think Sega CD has more RAM than Genesis does and Gens Hacking Version can't search outside the RAM range that Genesis had. So some games are probably unhackable with Gens Hacking Version. I tried to find codes for Lunar Eternal Blue and couldn't come up with any. I found a couple codes for Sonic CD though.

Sonic CD:
Infinite Rings FF1513:63
Infinite Lives FF1508:09

[Andlabs]

No. It's that Gens Hacking Version can't write to RAM for some stupid reason. I'm assuming it's using the original Game Genie code and not some updated code.... that will need to be fixed, because I'm sure the Action Replay can write to RAM... can it?

[MathUser]

Maybe unhackable was the wrong word. I just meant Gens Hacking Version isn't finding anything when doing a code search in Lunar EB. I did searchs for a item equipped modifier, Infinite Energy, and save currency modifier. Neither came up with anything.

[King]

Did these years ago for Sonic CD. They work fine in Genesis Plus GX and MD.emu for Android devices. Also works fine with ArtMoney + Kega Fusion.


FF151F:0001 Invincibility
FF1589:0001 Enable Debug Mode
FF1507:0009 Infinite Lives
FF1512:0032 Always Have 50 Rings
FF0F20:7F00 Have All 7 Time Stones/Good Futures
FF151E:0001 Always Have Shield

This post has been edited by King: 20 March 2013 - 04:20 PM

[MathUser]

Well, that should save me some hacking. I had no idea so many emulators supported Sega CD PAR codes. How did you hack them King?

This post has been edited by MathUser: 20 March 2013 - 06:57 PM

[sonicblur]

MathUser, on 20 March 2013 - 04:00 AM, said:

I could be one of the first to discover that Sega CD cheat code creation is possible.

Tony Hedstrom, who has made a LOT (and I really mean a lot) of codes for old consoles, was hacking Sega CD codes at least 10 years ago. But he was someone who did mostly Game Genie codes, so his Sega CD codes are modifications to the actual game binary. I don't know if any of his modify RAM. You can find those on his site, if it's of any interest at all.
He's usually the first person that comes to mind if I had to think of someone who hacked a lot of codes for older systems. He's also got some tutorials and such, but a lot of them are old.

This post has been edited by sonicblur: 20 March 2013 - 07:07 PM

[MathUser]

I probably should have said PAR codes for Sega CD. That's what I meant. And I guess I'm not the first one to make PAR codes for Sega CD. I found a couple on another site but there isn't many. I think they used Art Money to make the codes. But using Art Money to make PAR codes for Sega CD hasn't caught on yet.

[King]

MathUser, on 20 March 2013 - 06:57 PM, said:

How did you hack them King?

Well, years ago (at least 5 now) Steve Snake compiled me a custom Kega binary with the nags removed when trying to cheat at Sega CD games upon my request, thus "unlocking" cheats use and the cheat search feature, and that's how I did it. The only codes for Sonic CD I failed at creating was one to enable the stage select and one to enable the sound test.

This post has been edited by King: 21 March 2013 - 12:40 AM