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Making PAL MegaDrive games 60Hz-friendly

Discussion in 'General Sega Discussion' started by ICEknight, Dec 8, 2007.

  1. ICEknight

    ICEknight

    Researcher Researcher
    (Mirrored from 'Cult)


    Out of boredom, I decided to take all 44 games already available on the Wii's Virtual console and see how many of them wouldn't work if SEGA just pulled an easy fix to their MegaDrive emulator's inability to display the games in 60Hz (except for Shining Force, which I can't find the PAL ROM of).


    This is the positive stuff I found out:

    -29 of them would work perfectly by just setting the emulator to US (or to Japanese in case of Streets of Rage 3* and Golden Axe 3). There's absolutrely no excuse for these not being run in 60Hz already when desired.
    -3 of them (Ecco 2, Light Crusader and Sonic 3) would work even with their own region-specific sound and screen settings by just editing the header's country code to either JUE or F.


    And then, there's the problematic ones:

    -3 of them (namely, Comix Zone, Sonic Spinball and Panic on Funkotron) would work by changing the country code, but then the music plays too fast or they have screen placement issues. I don't think anything can be done about these, other than using the US ROMs.
    -As you may know, Sonic 3D shows a different title in any non-PAL mode. I wonder if it would be possible to put "Flickies' Island" back with a simple byte change in the ROM...
    -Streets of Rage 2 can be run in Japanese mode, but then it reads "Bare Knuckle 2" in the title screen. It might not be possible to play it in US mode without it hanging after the SEGA logo, or would it?
    -I can't get the PAL versions of Alien Soldier, Mean Bean Machine, Gunstar Heroes, Landstalker, Shinobi 3 or The Story of Thor to work in any 60Hz mode, as they keep giving the region lockout message whatever I put in the header.


    Does anybody know of any other ways to make these locked out games work properly in both modes? I don't know much about how this stuff works, so there might be a lot of stuff I'm missing.



    I was thinking that, perhaps, if somebody told the right people at SEGA how to do their work, we'd have 60Hz MegaDrive games in the Wii's Virtual Console. I'd better not talk about their current emulator's terrible sound inaccuracies and sound buffer bugs, how I wish Steve Snake had been involved in this...



    *By the way, what's with SoR3's music in PAL mode? Was the speed as inconsistent in a real PAL system or is Kega doing something wierd with it?
     
  2. Sik

    Sik

    Sik is pronounced as "seek", not as "sick". Tech Member
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    You can get SoR2 playing after the Sega logo, just you must make sure that when the Sega screen quits the country must be the same as ROM region. Then you can change it to whatever region you want (I even think there was something funny with "Sammy" and "Skate" that only could be triggered this way).

    And about SoR3 music... Never tried it (odd o_o'), but I'll check. I don't see why would it mess up...
     
  3. ICEknight

    ICEknight

    Researcher Researcher
    Well, yeah... I know that you can trick the console by changing the region settings on-the-fly, but it will keep giving the same error as soon as the SEGA logo shows up again. =\
    From what I've listened to, the character select music plays slower than it should, then the 1st level seems to play ok, but a bit slow at times...
     
  4. Sik

    Sik

    Sik is pronounced as "seek", not as "sick". Tech Member
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    Mmmmmmh, later I'll check in my house about the SoR3 music issue. By the way, about the SoR2 thing, the only thing you can do is patching (either editing the ROM or using some Game Genie or Action Replay code). I don't think it's possible to fool the game otherwise.
     
  5. ICEknight

    ICEknight

    Researcher Researcher
    By the way, if somebody owns a PAL MD and can put ROMs into a flash cartridge, can you please try Dashin' Desperadoes in PAL 50Hz mode? I've just noticed it gives some wierd screen problems that don't occur in 60Hz, but it might be Kega's fault.
     
  6. Sik

    Sik

    Sik is pronounced as "seek", not as "sick". Tech Member
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    Why don't you first try several emulators, not just Kega? Kega tries to emulate a perfect console but it has a horrible interrupt timing (I know what I mean, even I had to deal with it and force delays until interrupts happened in some cases), in fact watch out because in several cases it fucks up writing to VRAM in Sonic games.

    Anyways, if I could write ROMs to Flash or something I would test. But I can't (it would be a nice present for my next birthday in February, through :(). I don't have a pure PAL console, but a modified one (model 2) where I can change the country whenever I want with two switches that are next to the connection for the Sega CD.
     
  7. ICEknight

    ICEknight

    Researcher Researcher
    For those interested, the final version of Dashin' Desperadoes just won't work on PAL systems. The only version that does, is the PAL prototype DRX dumped (which doesn't work in NTSC mode).

    It seems that whichever routines they wrote for each version, can't be used in both modes.
     
  8. Tom41

    Tom41

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    Toejam & Earl 2 (Panic on Funkotron) will NOT work on a 60hz MD system. It contains the standard region lockout, but that can easily be defeated by using a Game Genie code. However, running in 60hz mode the picture will roll violently and the music will be much too slow.

    The picture rolling occurs regardless of whether you start in 50hz mode and switch over, or start in 60hz mode (bypassing the region lock with Game Genie).

    Other games actually had optimized 50hz versions created by Sega, and they have picture/sound issues if you try to run them in 60hz. For example, Virtua Racing when you get past the region lockout, the polygons are completely screwed up in 60hz.

    Edit: Also tried Ristar. Interestingly, if you load up the game in 60hz mode and then switch to 50hz at the title screen, the game switches over with very little graphical corruption. On the other hand, if you load up the game in 50hz and then switch to 60hz, you get the violent picture rolling like on TJ&E2.
    Seems like Ristar has no lockout for region, but does optimize the code depending on what region it detects on startup.

    For most games, it would simply be a matter of flicking a switch on the console (or emulator) and getting the games running in 60hz. For the optimized games, some other method would need to be implemented - possibly have both 50hz and 60hz ROMs in the package that you download on the Wii.

    However, how do we know that the MD games on the Wii Virtual Console haven't had additional optimisation done so that they run better at 50hz?
     
  9. ICEknight

    ICEknight

    Researcher Researcher
    They run worse, so they're not optimised at all. =\

    The "picture rolling" you mention happens in a few of the "optimized" games that use the taller PAL resolution (which is thankfully supported in the VC), but there's others that just use this higher resolution without changing the HUDs or anything, such as Streets of Rage.
     
  10. ICEknight

    ICEknight

    Researcher Researcher
    Speaking of all this stuff, does anybody know how could one start looking for a possible "if region code equals whatever then set some screen mode, speed music and title screen" inside the ROMs? There might be some easy way to change at least some of the region-specific stuff, such as Sonic 3D's title.


    I remember finding a single byte inside Ristar's ROM that toggled the music speed despites the assigned region, so there could be some similar stuff in other games...




    EDIT: By the way, there's a supposed US version of Alien Soldier in the Virtual Console out now. If anybody knows how to extract it, we might end up with an unreleased dump (unless it's just the Japanese version).
     
  11. ICEknight

    ICEknight

    Researcher Researcher
    I've been doing some research on the different ways PAL games can be run in NTSC regions, and here's some lists:



    No changes needed
    Code (Text):
    1. Addams Family Values (E) (M3) [!].bin
    2. Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle (E) (MD Bundle) [!].bin
    3. Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle (E) [!].bin
    4. Andre Agassi Tennis (E) (REV01) [c][!].bin
    5. Another World (E) [!].bin
    6. Atomic Runner (E) [!].bin
    7. Batman (E).bin
    8. Beavis and Butt-head (E) [!].bin
    9. Blood Shot (E) (M4) [!].bin
    10. Bram Stoker's Dracula (E) [!].bin
    11. Brian Lara Cricket (E) [c][!].bin
    12. Brian Lara Cricket 96 (E) [a1][x].bin
    13. Brian Lara Cricket 96 (E) [c][!].bin
    14. Budokan - The Martial Spirit (E) [!].bin
    15. Burning Force (E).bin
    16. Cannon Fodder (E) [!].bin
    17. Capt'n Havoc (E) [!].bin
    18. Captain America and the Avengers (E).bin
    19. Captain Planet and the Planeteers (E) [!].bin
    20. Chuck II - Son of Chuck (E) [c][!].bin
    21. Chuck Rock (E) [c][!].bin
    22. Cliffhanger (E).bin
    23. Corporation (E) [c][!].bin
    24. Cosmic Spacehead (E) (M4) [c][!].bin
    25. Crack Down (E) [!].bin
    26. Daffy Duck in Hollywood (E) (M5) [!].bin
    27. Dino Dini's Soccer (E).bin
    28. Disney Collection - Castle of Illusion & Quack Shot (E) [!].bin
    29. DJ Boy (E) [!].bin
    30. Double Clutch (E) [c][!].bin
    31. EA Hockey (E) [!].bin
    32. EA Sports Double Header (E) [!].bin
    33. Escape From Mars Starring Taz (E) [!].bin
    34. F-15 Strike Eagle II (E) [!].bin
    35. F1 World Championship (E) [!].bin
    36. F1 World Championship Edition (E) [!].bin
    37. Fantasia (E) [!].bin
    38. Fatal Fury (E).bin
    39. Fever Pitch Soccer (E) (M5) [!].bin
    40. Fire Shark (E) [!].bin
    41. Flashback - The Quest for Identity (E) [!].bin
    42. Flintstones, The (E) [c][!].bin
    43. Flux for Mega-CD (E) [!].bin
    44. George Foreman's KO Boxing (E) [!].bin
    45. Gods (E) [!].bin
    46. Grand Slam Tennis (E) [!].bin
    47. Gunship (E) [c][!].bin
    48. Gynoug (E) [!].bin
    49. Hellfire (E).bin
    50. Hurricanes (E) [!].bin
    51. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (E) [c][!].bin
    52. International Rugby (E) [c][!].bin
    53. International Superstar Soccer Deluxe (E) [!].bin
    54. King of the Monsters (E) [!].bin
    55. Man Overboard! - S.S. Lucifer (E) [c][!].bin
    56. Marko's Magic Football (E) (M4) [!].bin
    57. Mega Games 2 (E) [!].bin
    58. Mega Games 3 (E) [!].bin
    59. Mega Games 6 (Vol 1) (E) [!].bin
    60. Mega Games 6 (Vol 2) (E) [!].bin
    61. Mega Games 6 (Vol 3) (E) [!].bin
    62. Mega Games I (E) [!].bin
    63. Mega Lo Mania (E) (REV01).bin
    64. Mickey Mania - Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse (E) [!].bin
    65. Micro Machines - Turbo Tournament '96 (V1.1) (E) (J-Cart) [c][!].bin
    66. Micro Machines - Turbo Tournament '96 (V1.1) (E).bin
    67. Micro Machines 2 - Turbo Tournament (E) (J-Cart) [c][!].bin
    68. Micro Machines 2 - Turbo Tournament (E) [c][!].bin
    69. Micro Machines Military - It's a Blast! (E) (J-Cart) [c][!].bin
    70. Micro Machines Military - It's a Blast! (E) [x].bin
    71. Mig-29 Fighter Pilot (E) [!].bin
    72. Misadventures of Flink, The (E) [!].bin
    73. Mr. Nutz (E) [!].bin
    74. Muhammad Ali Heavyweight Boxing (E).bin
    75. Olympic Gold - Barcelona 92 (E) (M8) [c][!].bin
    76. Olympic Winter Games - Lillehammer 94 (E) [c][!].bin
    77. Pete Sampras Tennis (E) (REV03) (J-Cart) [!].bin
    78. Pete Sampras Tennis 96 (E) [c][!].bin
    79. Phelios (E) [c][!].bin
    80. Pitfall - The Mayan Adventure (E) [!].bin
    81. Populous (E) [!].bin
    82. Power Drive (E) (M5) [!].bin
    83. Premier Manager (E) [!].bin
    84. Psycho Pinball (E) (Oct 1994) (M5) [c][!].bin
    85. Psycho Pinball (E) (Sep 1994) (M5) [c][!].bin
    86. Puggsy (E) [!].bin
    87. Rise of the Robots (E) [!].bin
    88. Rolling Thunder 2 (E) [c][!].bin
    89. SeaQuest DSV (E).bin
    90. Second Samurai, The (E).bin
    91. Shane Warne Cricket (E) [c][!].bin
    92. Side Pocket (E) [!].bin
    93. Snake Rattle 'n' Roll (E) [c][!].bin
    94. Soleil (F) [!].bin
    95. Splatterhouse 2 (E) [c][!].bin
    96. Spot Goes to Hollywood (E) [!].bin
    97. Street Racer (E) [c][!].bin
    98. Strider II (E) [c][!].bin
    99. Super Fantasy Zone (E) [!].bin
    100. Super Hydlide (E) [!].bin
    101. Super Kick Off (E) [c][!].bin
    102. Super League (E).bin
    103. Super Real Basketball (E) [c][!].bin
    104. Super Skidmarks (E) (J-Cart) [!].bin
    105. Super Skidmarks (E) [a1].bin
    106. Talmit's Adventure (E) [!].bin
    107. Terminator, The (E) [c][!].bin
    108. Time Killers (E) [!].bin
    109. Two Crude Dudes (E).bin
    110. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego (E) (M5).bin
    111. Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits (E).bin
    112. Wiz 'n' Liz - The Frantic Wabbit Wescue (E) [!].bin
    113. World Class Leaderboard Golf (E) [x].bin
    114. World Cup Italia 90 (E) [!].bin
    115. World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck (E) [!].bin
    116. Yogi Bear's Cartoon Capers (E) [!].bin
    117. Zero Wing (E) [c][!].bin
    Music plays too fast:
    Code (Text):
    1. Earthworm Jim 2 (E) [!].bin
    Other issues:
    Code (Text):
    1. Alisia Dragoon (E) [!].bin (Very minor flickering in the topmost part of the screen, when the dragon's palette changes)
    2. Lemmings (E) [!].bin (game display flickers)


    Editing the country code to either JUE or F
    Code (Text):
    1. Adventures of Batman and Robin, The (E) [!].bin
    2. Aero the Acro-Bat 2 (E) [!].bin
    3. Boogerman (E) [!].bin
    4. Brutal - Paws of Fury (E).bin
    5. Daze Before Christmas, The (E) [!].bin
    6. Donald in Maui Mallard (E) [!].bin
    7. Dragon - The Bruce Lee Story (E).bin
    8. ECCO - The Tides of Time (E) [!].bin
    9. European Club Soccer (E) [!].bin
    10. Fun-N-Games (E).bin
    11. Jurassic Park (E) [!].bin
    12. Lemmings 2 - The Tribes (E) [!].bin
    13. Light Crusader (E) (M4) [!].bin
    14. Lost Vikings, The (E).bin
    15. Marsupilami (E) (M5) [!].bin
    16. Mortal Kombat 3 (E) [!].bin
    17. OutRun 2019 (E) [!].bin
    18. Phantom 2040 (E) [!].bin
    19. Pinocchio (E).bin
    20. Radical Rex (E).bin
    21. Rock n' Roll Racing (E) [!].bin
    22. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 (E) [!].bin
    23. Star Trek - Deep Space 9 - Crossroads of Time (E).bin
    24. Sub-Terrania (E) [!].bin
    25. Superman (E) [!].bin
    26. Total Football (E) [!].bin
    27. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (E) [!].bin
    28. X-Men (E) [!].bin
    29. Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel (E) [!].bin
    30. Zoop (E) [!].bin
    Music plays too fast:
    Code (Text):
    1. Comix Zone (E) (M4) [!].bin
    2. Disney's Aladdin (E) [!].bin     
    3. Earthworm Jim (E) [!].bin      
    4. Eternal Champions (E) [!].bin  
    5. NBA Hang Time (E) [!].bin      
    6. Ooze, The (E) [!].bin
    7. Pocahontas (E) [!].bin
    8. Premier Manager 97 (E) [!].bin
    9. Prince of Persia (E).bin
    10. Sonic Spinball (E) [!].bin
    11. Zombies (E) [!].bin
    12. Dragon Ball Z - L'Appel du Destin (F) [!].bin
    Screen issues, due to using a special PAL screen mode:
    Code (Text):
    1. Ren and Stimpy Show, The - Stimpy's Invention (E) [!].bin
    2. Toejam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron (E) [!].bin
    Other issues:
    Code (Text):
    1. Cheese Cat-Astrophe Starring Speedy Gonzales (E) (M4) [!].bin (slowdown)

    Konami fix 1
    -Look for the first "00A1 0001" and replace it with "00A1 4E71"
    -Fix checksum.
    Code (Text):
    1. Castlevania - The New Generation (E) [!].bin
    2. Probotector (E) [!].bin
    3. Sparkster (E) [!].bin
    4.  
    With issues:
    Code (Text):
    1. Animaniacs (E) [!].bin (slowdown and screen issues)
    2. Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles - Tournament Fighters (E).bin (Sprite and voice sample issues, music plays too fast)

    Konami fix 2
    -Replace "60E6 4EB9" with "60E6 6004"
    -Fix checksum
    Code (Text):
    1. Sunset Riders (E) [!].bin
    Infogrames fixes
    Spirou (E) [!].bin
    -Replace "66" at 0x000E2688 with "67"

    Tintin Au Tibet (E) (M6) [!].bin
    -Replace "67" at 0x0014B7E6 with "66"


    Still unknown
    Code (Text):
    1. Adventures of Mighty Max, The (E).bin
    2. Alien Soldier (E) [!].bin
    3. Art of Fighting (E) [!].bin
    4. Asterix and the Great Rescue (E) (M5) [c][!].bin
    5. Asterix and the Power of The Gods (E) (M4) [!].bin
    6. ATP Tour Championship Tennis (E).bin
    7. Australian Rugby League (E) [!].bin
    8. Back to the Future Part III (E) [!].bin
    9. Body Count (E) (M5) [!].bin
    10. Bubba N Stix (E) [c][!].bin
    11. Chaos Engine, The (E) [!].bin
    12. Cool Spot (E) [!].bin
    13. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (E) [!].bin
    14. Dune - The Battle for Arrakis (E).bin
    15. FIFA Soccer 98 - Road to the World Cup (E) (M5) [!].bin
    16. Gunstar Heroes (E) [!].bin
    17. Hyper Dunk - The Playoff Edition (E) [!].bin
    18. Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker (E) [c][!].bin
    19. Jungle Book, The (E) [!].bin
    20. Kick Off 3 - European Challenge (E) [!].bin
    21. Landstalker - The Treasures of King Nole (E) [!].bin
    22. Lethal Enforcers (E) [!].bin
    23. Lethal Enforcers II - Gun Fighters (E) [!].bin
    24. Mazin Wars (E) [!].bin
    25. McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure (E).bin
    26. Mega Lo Mania (E) (REV00) [c][!].bin
    27. Mega SWIV (E).bin
    28. Mega Turrican (E) [!].bin
    29. Megaman - The Wily Wars (E).bin
    30. Mick & Mack as the Global Gladiators (E) [!].bin
    31. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (E) [!].bin
    32. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - The Movie (E) [!].bin
    33. NHL 95 Elitserien (E) [c][!].bin
    34. NHL 96 Elitserien (E).bin
    35. Nigel Mansell's World Championship (E).bin
    36. Ottifants, The (E) (M5) [!].bin
    37. Pac-Panic
    38. Pagemaster, The (E) [!].bin
    39. Pebble Beach Golf Links (E).bin
    40. Populous II - Two Tribes (E) [!].bin
    41. Punisher, The (E).bin
    42. Ranger-X (E) [!].bin
    43. Robocop Versus The Terminator (E).bin
    44. Rocket Knight Adventures (E) [!].bin
    45. Samurai Shodown (E) [c][!].bin
    46. Saturday Night Slam Masters (E).bin
    47. Sega Sports 1 (Wimbledon, Ult.Soccer, Super Monaco) (E) [!].bin
    48. Sensible Soccer (E) (M4) [!].bin
    49. Sensible Soccer - International Edition (E) (M4) [!].bin
    50. Shining Force II (E) [!].bin
    51. Shinobi III - Return of the Ninja Master (E) [c][!].bin
    52. Skeleton Krew (E).bin
    53. Smurfs 2, The (E) (M4) [!].bin
    54. Smurfs, The (E) (M5) [!].bin
    55. Soleil (E) [!].bin
    56. Sonic Classics (Compilation) (E) (REV00) [!].bin
    57. Speed Ball 2 - Brutal Deluxe (E) [!].bin
    58. Story of Thor, The - A Successor of The Light (E) [!].bin
    59. Street Fighter II' - Special Champion Edition (E) [!].bin
    60. Streets of Rage 3 (E) (Apr 1994) [!].bin
    61. Streets of Rage 3 (E) (May 1994) [!].bin
    62. Striker (E) (M5) [!].bin
    63. Super Street Fighter II - The New Challengers (E) [c][!].bin
    64. Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles - The Hyperstone Heist (E).bin
    65. Thunder Force IV (E) [c][!].bin
    66. Tiny Toon Adventures - Acme All-Stars (E).bin
    67. Tiny Toon Adventures - Buster's Hidden Treasure (E) [!].bin
    68. Toy Story (E) [!].bin
    69. Ultimate Soccer (E) [!].bin
    70. Virtua Racing (E) [!].bin
    71. Virtua Racing (E) [a1].bin
    72. Wimbledon Championship Tennis (E) [!].bin
    73. Worms (E) [!].bin
    74. Xenon 2 - Megablast (E) [c][!].bin
    75. Zool (E) [!].bin

    The last games have at the same time different groups of region locking methods (Konami, SEGA of America, etc), so "unlocking" each of them would fix many others at the same time.



    Also, I've just remembered that Golden Axe III seems to have an exclusive US version in the Virtual Console, just like Alien Soldier. Somebody please help extracting those ROMs...
     
  12. Dunno about other games, but Sonic 2 and 3K copy over the Z80 Version register ($A10001) to some RAM variable, and then test bits 7 and 6 of this variable. Bit 7 is the export bit (0 if Japanese, 1 if foreign) and Bit 6 is the video type bit (0 if NTSC, 1 if PAL) - the other bits of the register aren't used for these purposes. Additionally, they also set a byte inside the Z80 memory region to indicate if the system is NTSC or PAL, and I guess that byte is used to regulate sound timing.
     
  13. ICEknight

    ICEknight

    Researcher Researcher
    Do you know of any example of this code in hex? It might be as easy as changing one byte where it sets that value for PAL sound, and might be similar for at least some games.

    If we knew more about this, perhaps it would be possible to even make an option in the emulators themselves, to automatically make most PAL games run normally in 60Hz mode.
     
  14. Overlord

    Overlord

    Now playable in Smash Bros Ultimate Moderator
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    How many games is it vaible for though, really? I mean, don;t get me wrong, I approve this idea, it's just it's only of use for a small amount of games - the rest have (U) [!] versions.


    Unless you're doing this for the intention of running non-English games at 60Hz, in which case, fair point.
     
  15. The problem with that is that there are loads of different ways to code it. For example, the code in Sonic 2:
    Code (ASM):
    1.     btst    #0,($C00005).l  ; check video mode
    2.     sne (Z80_RAM+zPalModeByte).l    ; set if PAL
    and the equivalent code in Sonic 3k:
    Code (ASM):
    1.     btst    #6,(Graphics_flags).w
    2.     beq.s   loc_1326
    3.     move.b  #1,(Z80_RAM+$1C02).l
    Anyway, the machine code for the S2 method:
    Code (Text):
    1. 08 39 00 00 00 C0 00 05 56 F9 (00 A0 00 07)
    and the machine code for the S3K method:
    Code (Text):
    1. 08 38 00 06 (FF D8) 67 08 13 FC 00 01 (00 A0 1C 02)
    (bytes in brackets are addresses which will probably differ from game to game)
     
  16. ICEknight

    ICEknight

    Researcher Researcher
    New ROMs!

    Taken from the Virtual Console: Alien Soldier USA

    Looks like they just changed both the region and the sound speed by modding the European ROM (the file is even called "AlienSoldier_Europe_USA.SGD"), but it's an official release anyway.


    Byte 0xCEC changes the music tempo, by the way (60 for NTSC, 65 for PAL)



    EDIT: Also, from the European VC: Mega Turrican

    This one's based on the US ROM, they removed the region lock, one of the splash screens and changed some text in the ending. Much stuff seems to have been moved inside the ROM, so they probably made a new build instead of hex-editing.


    EDIT 2: There's also a "patch" file inside the Alien Soldier directory, reflecting the changes made to the European ROM:
    Code (Text):
    1. #
    2. # $Id: patch-AlienSoldier,v 1.2 2007-10-09 13:31:00 m2 Exp $
    3.  
    4. >0x183  string      "MK-01186-00"
    5. 0x350:
    6.     beshort     0x4e71 x 0x8e
    7.  
    8. # >>0x1f0   string      "A"
    9. 0xf062:
    10.     beshort     0x4e71              # nop
    11.     beshort     0x4e71              # nop
    12. 0xf076:
    13.     beshort     0x4eb9,0x001f,0xff00        # jsr $1fff00.l
    14.     beshort     0x4e71              # nop
    15. 0x1fff00:
    16.     beshort     0x4eb9,0x0000,0xf65e        # jsr    $00f65e.l
    17.     beshort     0x5478,0xa950           # addq.w  #$02,$ffffa950.w
    18.     beshort     0x42b8,0x8240           # clr.l   $ffff8240.w
    19.     beshort     0x4e75              # rts
    It's also present in Mega Turrican's, but it's empty in that case.
     
  17. Sorry fur the bump, but since my banning I could not post what I wanted to post since years.

    Lemmings (E) does not play correctly on 60Hz (on the real console at least)... Menu and stuff works, but in-game has heavy flickering.
     
  18. ICEknight

    ICEknight

    Researcher Researcher
    Hey that's right, thanks.

    I've also noticed that EarthWorm Jim 2 doesn't need its header changed but gives faster music in 60Hz, and also Alisia Dragoon has some minor screen issues, so I've updated the list accordingly.
     
  19. ICEknight

    ICEknight

    Researcher Researcher
    For those interested, I've just been able to make Castlevania region free:

    -Look for the string "5279 00FF FB28" and replace it with "4E71 4E71 4E71".
    -Fix the checksum somehow.

    Works for all three versions, in case you want to play the heavily censored Generations in your American system. =P
    Not sure it this could help unlocking other Konami games, though.




    Also, just to keep things in the same topic, here's how to make Megaman: The Wily Wars region free:

    -Replace 0x036A with "Nq".
    -Replace country code to "U".
    -For some reason, replace 0x0188 with "958E".

    If anybody knows of a cleaner way to do it, please post away.
     
  20. Overlord

    Overlord

    Now playable in Smash Bros Ultimate Moderator
    19,214
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    Surely that's making it American, not region-free which would be JUE? =P

    Nice findings though, keep at it.