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Sonic Fighters Hacking

Discussion in 'Engineering & Reverse Engineering' started by Andrew75, Dec 2, 2012.

  1. Pexs

    Pexs

    Otherwise known as Spex Member
    Well, I was gonna wait for someone else to post but since no one else seems to be having this problem...

    How do you get them working in m2Em in the first place?
     
  2. biggestsonicfan

    biggestsonicfan

    Model2wannaB Tech Member
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    Make sure you have the correct schamp.zip and sfight.zip in the ROM directory, then create two folders with the same names in the ROM directory "schamp" and "sfight". Put the new modified roms in their respective folders and that is how you can run modified roms, or in this case test the console roms, in the m2 emulator.
     
  3. biggestsonicfan

    biggestsonicfan

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    Nevermind, this is an invisible version of Game Assignments. I'm so pissed. Make any changes here, then go to Game Assignments, and you will see the changes reflected.

    EDIT: If anyone is in any way interested in giving this code execution hijack a try, here's some helpful hints:

    Use STF Util to combine rom files .15 and .16 and create a binary file for editing. Open up the binary file in a hex editor and search for any arrays of bytes starting with "00301880", which indicates executable code. When you find an address, go to offset "DC92C" and you should see 3 bytes: "2C BE 05", this actually points to offset 05BE2C, which is a pointer to the offset where the executable code for the Memory Test begins. Replace the address in reverse, and you can execute that code using the memory test.... granted, you can also do this in a memory editor, like Cheat Engine, but this is just a little faster for me.

    Ultimately, what I hope to find is some kind of pattern here to see what is executable code via menus or in sequential runtime, like the initializations. If the debug needs to be enabled at boot, well, we need to figure that out.
     
  4. biggestsonicfan

    biggestsonicfan

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    Could someone do me a favor and dump the memory of an X360 running Sonic the Fighters and upload it somewhere for me to hack apart? I'd like to see if after the patches are applied in memory I can recreate the ROM to be loaded in an emulator, and hope the post-patch version of the game holds some kind of special wonders I have yet to have discovered in the previous version of the game, say perhaps, a debug switch.

    There are several kinds of memory dumpers out there, but I do not own an X360 myself to do this, else I would be attempting to yield results right now.

    Lend an oldbie a hand, would ya? :v:/>

    EDIT:

    Has anyone ever heard of a ranking system for STF?

    [​IMG]
     
  5. biggestsonicfan

    biggestsonicfan

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    Yes, I know I'm quadposting, but I have a VERY big update here! I have unlocked both "Ranking Mode" and "Random Mode" for Sonic the Fighters. (Not Sonic Championship)

    The big announcement is that you can check them out for yourself in this very lovely cheat script both Link and I made, which also enables widescreen support as well.


    You can download it here! Just put it in the "scripts" folder of the Model 2 emulator v1.1a

    New Modes:
    = Random Mode =
    Tells you that you are using Random Mode at the character select screen. It makes every match you play vs Knuckles. This probably was meant to randomize the characters across the stages instead of the set order, but was never finished. Also, it does not record your time.

    = Ranking Mode =
    The game, apparently, keeps a score of how you play. No idea how much is worth what, but the ranking screen will appear after your game over. There are no continues in this mode.

    Bonus cheats:
    • Infinite health for Player 1.
    • Infinite time during matches.
    • Change around the character select screen to select any characters you want!
    • Change what stage you start at, skip the game entirely and fight Eggman after choosing your character!
    • Change how many rounds are required to win the match!
     
  6. Lanzer

    Lanzer

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    Wow dude, this is great! keep up the awesome work, I'd love to see if any of the console re-release improvements can be brought over to the old arcade version.

    Someone should probably add those infobits about Ranking and Random mode to the wiki.
     
  7. Felik

    Felik

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    Where can I get a STF arcade rom with all of the characters being selectable? I found one with hidden characters being selectable but it lacks mechless Eggman, Rocket Metal and UFO Eggman.
     
  8. biggestsonicfan

    biggestsonicfan

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    Just use my cheat script on the regular STF rom, it allows you to replace anyone on the character select with mechless Eggman, Rocket Metal, and UFO Eggman!
     
  9. biggestsonicfan

    biggestsonicfan

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    Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to bring you what I've wanted for so very long. I present to you, debug mode, in it's rough stage.

    [​IMG]

    It crashes after it finishes loading, presumably because it's not running during a match, but yes, there is debug mode and a whole lot more still inside the rom!
     
  10. Lanzer

    Lanzer

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    Debug huh? so what can we do with it once its fully utilized?
     
  11. biggestsonicfan

    biggestsonicfan

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    That's just it, I have no idea, but I'm hoping we can look at unused moves and other such nonsense cut from the final game.

    [​IMG]

    I managed to get debug running during a match, but it still crashes the game. I wish I knew why.

    EDIT1:

    For some reason, enabling Texture Mode during a match enables a combo hit-counter for Player 1 and stops timers, so you can't advance in the game.

    [​IMG]
     
  12. Pexs

    Pexs

    Otherwise known as Spex Member
    Whoa, progress in this thread again. That's some super interesting stuff! You said you were looking to extract a way to get the X360 port running in the emulator?
     
  13. biggestsonicfan

    biggestsonicfan

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    Yes. The 360 patches Sonic the Fighters in memory, with bugfixes and Honey over Amy in character select. I assume all of this anyway, because the actual hard files are an unaltered romset.
     
  14. biggestsonicfan

    biggestsonicfan

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    Hidden away within the "Game Assignment"s menu is a mini-menu used for "debugging" I guess. I assume it's straightforward and lets you individually control how hard the CPU is on a per-match basis. Each one of these has their own, separate, valid flags that the game keeps track of, even when the menu isn't enabled.

    [​IMG]

    Updated script is right here folks! I've also left in a method to try debug mode for yourselves. Remove the dashes -- before debug mode and activate. Turn on debug mode, then turn activate mode on to execute it. By default it's on a camera test address, because it does not crash the game.
     
  15. biggestsonicfan

    biggestsonicfan

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    I'm coming across a rather large number of menus as I've been trying to find an actual debug mode menu that works, and I can't really document it all due to the sheer scale of menus there are and what they do. I've written down the execution offsets of some of the more interesting ones but at this point I'm afraid there's no remnant of any accessible debug menu, at least not with this emulator. I want to try this stuff on the real game with burned EEPROMs or the Xbox 360 emulator but I have no access to either one of those...
     
  16. biggestsonicfan

    biggestsonicfan

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    I'm getting the itch to explore this game futther, yet again, but I still don't have access to a modded 360 for accurate debugging.... I have, however, made an interesting discovery, an oversight in one of ElSemi's emulator builds, which may allow me to access more information than intended for a release....


    However, all of this may not matter, as my 10 years of notes on how the game's engine works was lost in a data crash. The data is recoverable, but I can not currently afford the space, like purchasing external drives, to recover and rebuild the files.

    I also have located specifically a Japanese magazine which contains prototype images, which if scanned with my very high resolution scanner obtained about a year ago, might be able to clear up some information or theories I've had over the years. This too, however, I can not afford.

    I do not know the stance on the community's willingness to throw money around for research purposes, especially for such a sleeper and obscure Sonic game, but something was similarly done for Sonic Mars back in the day. Would anyone be willing to shell a few dollars for at least the magazine?
     
  17. redhotsonic

    redhotsonic

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    How much is needed? After the Christmas period, I could send over a tenner :)
     
  18. Cooljerk

    Cooljerk

    NotEqual Tech, Inc - VR & Game Dev Oldbie
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    How much space do you need? I have several extra drives, I wouldn't mind sending you one.
     
  19. biggestsonicfan

    biggestsonicfan

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    The magazine is roughly $30 for shipping with tracking.

    If you have a storage array of 10TB or larger which can preferably be connected via USB 3.1 ver 2 (a pretty penny I assure you) to spare, I will gladly take it off your hands :v:
     
  20. Lanzer

    Lanzer

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