The internet lies: cheat code edition

There's a prototype of Mega Drive Striker - it's a bit of a mess and is missing many of the teams, but it does have:

World XI.

I'd hesitate to call this build "useful" though - it's quite early and doesn't really shed light on anything.

 

Honestly you couldn't make this stuff up.

I was curious to know whether the manual or box made a reference to the CIS not using its "correct" flag. It doesn't - it just raises further questions.

Specifically, the PAL box:




Geography test: spot the two mistakes.


Brazil isn't in this game. And Taiwan is not China. But hey, wrong flags, who cares - it's a game about how great the USA is, so you can expect some of the finer details to slip (the red dot in the middle of the Atlantic is the special all-world team, before someone points that out). Except...



Yeah uh, Taiwan is in the game as well as China. And while Brazil is absent... Cuba is here. That's new.

Two missing teams.

 

X months ago I put myself through NBA 2K and NFL 2K... but not NHL 2K. Now the punishment is complete: NHL 2K/Hidden content.


Not that the two cheat codes are particularly exciting, but there were no screenshots online, now there are.

There is one feature that I'm less keen to play with though, on the grounds that I don't know (and don't want to know) enough about the sport to test it properly:



You can make custom players, and if the name is recognised by the game, it'll assign a suitable portrait. Wayne Gretzky gets this one, but GameFAQs makes it sound like the game recognises others - I think if you name your man after anyone already in the game, it gets their portrait, but I don't know who (if anyone) doesn't show up in normal circumstances. And I can't find Gretzky with a hex editor so no clues on that front.

Also the UI is horrible. It took me ages to work out how to add custom players to a team, because the manual doesn't bother to explain it (you have to "trade" with the custom group, even though the editor makes it look like you're changing the currently selected team).


Seriously why are these interfaces so consistently bad. There's some truly hopeless ones on the Mega Drive, but the Dreamcast had standards and they still mess it up!

 

Not quite the best use of a weekend: NFL Blitz 2000/Hidden content.

Sort-of inspired by those recent finds in NBA Jam, I thought I'd tackle the American football variant, NFL Blitz (2000). Can we find something new? Ehh.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/dreamcast/198144-nfl-blitz-2000/cheats

The good news is all the player codes work, although when only the heads change and the camera is behind you, it's not quite as fun as in NBA Jam. The problem is the versus codes, aka "we copy-pasted from other versions and didn't test on Dreamcast. Again".

As I post this right now, I've left GameFAQs' broken codes on our page (they're the ones without screenshots). However, all of these might still exist in-game, as the messages are stored in plain text:

Code (Text):

1. BLITZ GRASS FIELD
2. ASTRO TURF FIELD
3. ICE FIELD
4. SNOW FIELD
5. DIRT FIELD
6. ALT. DIRT FIELD
7. GRASS FIELD
8. NO STADIUM
9. SKY DAY STADIUM
10. SKY NIGHT STADIUM
11. SKY SNOW STADIUM
12. FUTURE DAY STADIUM
13. FUTURE NIGHT STADIUM
14. FUTURE SNOW STADIUM
15. BLITZ DAY STADIUM
16. BLITZ NIGHT STADIUM
17. BLITZ SNOW STADIUM
18. CITY STADIUM
19. CITY NIGHT STADIUM
20. CITY SNOW STADIUM
21. ROMAN STADIUM
22. ROMAN NIGHT STADIUM
23. ROMAN SNOW STADIUM
24. SECRET PLAYS
25. TEAM BIG PLAYERS
26. TEAM TINY PLAYERS
27. SHOW HANGTIME METER
28. STERLING MY HERO!
29. TURN OFF STADIUM
30. INVISIBLE RECVR (AGREE IF 2 PLAYERS)

(these are all the ones I don't know how to enable)

You will notice GameFAQs' descriptions also differ from reality in some cases. This is also the "hot new" US revision which might have a bearing on things (I didn't use a newer build intentionally, it's just what archive.org served me and I didn't think to check).

The N64 and PlayStation versions list some of these on their respective pages, but from the few codes I tried, none were accepted on Dreamcast. Then again, several of the codes that are accepted don't seem to actually do anything, though someone more invested in the sport can confirm or deny that.

It would also be remiss of me not to point out the bazillion debug strings that are stored after the code messages above:

Code (Text):

1. change_anim to %x
2. change_anim1 to %x
3. change_anim2 to %x
4. TICK %d
5. vy: %9f y: %9f
6. legs:
7. torso:
8. advance to seq:frame %s:%d (%x)
9. anchor XZ bit applied & cleared
10. done interpolating
11. interpolation frame %d, t=%f, (from %s:%d to %s:%d)
12. streaming tick %d of %d, seq:frame %s:%f
13. (no interpolation)
14. ANI_NOP
15. ANI_END
16. ANI_NEWSEQ: %s
17. ANI_SKIPFRAMES(%d+randrng(%d) = %d)
18. ANI_SKIPFRAMES(%d)
19. ANI_SETMODE +%x = %x
20. ANI_GOTO(%x)
21. ANI_CODE: %x(%d,%d,%d)
22. ANI_ZEROVELS
23. ANI_INTTOSEQ: %d ticks to frame %d
24. ANI_RNDWAIT: %d of a possible %d ticks
25. ANI_RUNTOEND: %d ticks (%d frames)
26. ANI_WAITHITGND
27. ANI_WAITTMINUS:%d (%d,%f)
28. ANI_INTSTREAM: %d frames in %d ticks, inc: %9f
29. ANI_ZEROXZVELS
30. ANI_SETVELS(%9f,%9f,%9f)
31. ANI_SETYVEL(%9f)
32. ANI_RUNTOFRAME: %d
33. ANI_SET_FACE_REL_VEL(%9f,%9f)
34. ANI_SETFRICTION(%9f)
35. ANI_STREAMTOEND: ignored, already at end
36. ANI_STREAMTOEND: %9f (%d frames in %d ticks, inc: %9f)
37. ANI_BZ:
38. branching to %x
39. no branch.
40. ANI_BNZ:
41. ANI_JIFSEQ: branch %s
42. taken
43. not taken
44. ANI_JIFNSEQ: branch %s
45. ANI_JIFMODE: %x:%x,
46. branch taken
47. branch not taken
48. ANI_PREP_XITION: %d ticks to frame %d
49. ANI_ATTACK_ON: mode %d, %d to %d, exts %f,%f, radius %f, for %d ticks
50. ANI_ATTACK_OFF
51. ANI_TURNHACK(%d)
52. ANI_SHAKER: level %d for %d ticks
53. ANI_RUNTOFRAME16: %d
54. NO OBJECT
55. %p:%s
56. FREEPRC
57. Process name %s, start address %x
58. NO TEXTURE
59. create_texture(): guLoadTextureDirect(%s, ...) - id: %d
60. Attempt to delete non-existant texture node
61. CreateTextureSurface(PINK)
62. kmLoadTexture(PINK)
63. kmSetSystemConfiguration
64. kmFlipFrameBuffer
65. kmRender
66. kmProcessVertexRenderState
67. kmSetBackGroundRenderState
68. kmSetBackGroundPlane
69. Opaque Buffer Overflow %d
70. Translucent Buffer Overflow %d
71. PunchThru Buffer Overflow %d
72. kmGarbageCollect
73. PVR
74. WMS
75. kmCreateTextureSurface(RGB)
76. kmLoadTexture(ARGB)
77. kmFreeTexture
78. kmProcessVertexRenderState(Init)
79. .kat
80. .inf
81. Could not read INF file: %s
82. manatee.drv
83. stream.mlt
84. midway.sfd
85. flyby.sfd
86. bltzlogo.sfd
87. attrgrls.sfd
88. payoff1.sfd
89. payoff2.sfd
90. intro.sfd
91. outro.sfd
92. credits.sfd
93. syRtc Ver 1.02 Build:Mar 02 1999 19:03:33
94. 2d animatable obj %x, id %d
95. MyFileLoad - fileName of buffer is NULL
96. MyFileRewind - fd is NULL
97. MyFileRewind - gdFsSeek fail
98. MyFileRead - fd is NULL
99. MyFileRead - buffer is NULL
100. MyFileRead - buffer is not 32 byte aligned
101. MyFileRead - size is 0
102. MyFileRead - gdFsRead failed
103. MyFileOpen - fileName is NULL
104. MyFileOpen - fd is NULL
105. %s
106. MyFileOpen() Internal error, no more free file handles...
107. MyFileOpen - file not found
108. MyFileClose - fd is 0
109. MyFileGetSize - size is NULL
110. MyFileGetSize - fileName is NULL
111. MyFileGetSize - gdFsOpen fail (file not found)
112. MyFileGetSize - gdFsGetFileSize fail
113. _amVoiceIssueCallback - voiceChannel is out of range
114. kmProcessVertexRenderState(Set)
115.  
116. syCbl Ver 1.10 Build:Mar 02 1999 18:43:53
117. acDigiGetCurrentReadPosition - Driver not installed
118. acDigiGetCurrentReadPosition - port is out of range
119. acDigiPlay - port is out of range
120. acDigiPlay - Warning: aicaLoopFlag is out of range, has been set to AC_LOOP_OFF
121. acDigiPlay - can't send driver command
122. acSystemRequestArmInterrupt - port is out of range
123. acSetMultiPlayMask - upperMask or lowerMask is NULL
124. acSetMultiPlayMask - port is out of range
125. acDigiMultiPlay - Warning: aicaLoopFlag is out of range, set to AC_LOOP_OFF
126. acDigiMultiPlay- masks are 0
127. acDigiMultiStop - masks are 0
128. acDigiOpen - port is out of range
129. acDigiOpen - address is NULL
130. acDigiOpen - sizeInBytes is 0
131. acDigiOpen - audioType is out of range
132. acDigiSetSampleRate - sampleRate is out of range
133. acDigiSetSampleRate - port is out of range
134. acDigiSetQSoundAngle - port is out of range
135. acDigiSetQSoundAngle - Warning: angle is out of range, has been set to 127
136. acDspLoadPrograms - address is NULL
137. acDspLoadPrograms - sizeInBytes is 0
138. acDspLoadOutputMixer - address is NULL
139. acDspLoadOutputMixer - sizeInBytes is 0
140. acDspSetMixerChannel - port is out of range
141. acDigiClose - port is out of range
142. acDigiSetPitch - port is out of range
143. acDigiSetVolume - port is out of range
144. acDigiSetVolume - Warning: aicaVolume is out of range, has been truncated to AC_MAX_VOLUME
145. acDigiSetPan - port is out of range
146. acDigiSetPan - Warning: aicaPan is out of range, has been truncated to AC_MAX_VOLUME
147. acDigiRequestEvent - port is out of range
148. acDigiStop - port is out of range
149. acMidiOpen - port is out of range
150. acMidiOpen - Warning: gmMode is out of range, set to AC_GM_OFF
151. acMidiOpen - address is NULL
152. acMidiOpen - sizeInBytes is 0
153. acMidiSetTonebank - toneBank is out of range
154. acMidiSetTonebank - bankType is out of range
155. acMidiSetTonebank - address is NULL
156. acMidiSetTonebank - sizeInBytes is 0
157. acMidiClose - port is out of range
158. acMidiPlay - port is out of range
159. acMidiPlay - Warning: aicaLoopFlag is out of range, set to AC_LOOP_OFF
160. acMidiStop - port is out of range
161. acMidiRequestEvent - port is out of range
162. acMidiPause - port is out of range
163. acMidiResume - port is out of range
164. acMidiSetVolume - port is out of range
165. acMidiSetVolume - Warning: portMasterVolume is out of range, set to AC_MAX_VOLUME
166. acMidiReset - port is out of range
167. acMidiSetTempo - port is out of range
168. acMidiSendMessage - channel is out of range
169. acMidiSendMessage - value1 is out of range
170. acMidiSendMessage - value2 is out of range
171. acCdSetVolume - volume is out of range
172. acCdSetPan - pan is out of range
173. _acSetHostCommand - can't send driver command
174. Internal Error: The Error Message Is NULL
175. Internal Error: The Error Message Is Too Long
176. No Errors
177. acIntInit - failed to add the ARM interrupt handler to the chain
178. acSystemGetIntArrayStartOffset - Driver not installed
179. acSystemGetIntArrayStartOffset - interruptArrayStartOffset is NULL
180. acSystemGetIntArrayStartOffset - *intArrayStartPointer is NULL
181. acSystemGetIntArrayStartOffset - baseOfSoundMemory is NULL
182. acSystemGetIntArrayStartOffset - *interruptArray is NULL
183. acSystemGetIntArrayStartOffset - interruptArrayLength is NULL
184. acSystemCheckDriverRevision - driver is NULL
185. acSystemGetDriverRevision - driver is NULL
186. acSystemInit - Driver already installed
187. acSystemGetFirstFreeSoundMemory - Driver not installed
188. acSystemGetCommandFlag - Driver not installed
189. acSystemResetArmInterrupt - Driver not installed
190. acSystemInstallDriver - driverImage is NULL
191. acSystemInstallDriver - driverSize is 0
192. acSystemInstallDriver - int array length must be 32 or 64
193. acSystemInstallDriver - driver and lib revisions are not in sync.
194. amBankAssetTypeIs - theBank is NULL
195. amBankAssetTypeIs - Bank does not contain this many assets
196. amBankTransfer - target or source is NULL
197. amBankTransfer - target is not a 32 byte aligned address
198. amBankTransfer - source is not a 32 byte aligned address
199. amBankTransfer - target buffer must be in sound memory
200. amBankGetSize - bankSize or filename is NULL
201. amBankLoad - sh4buffer or filename is NULL
202. amBankLoad - sh4buffer is not a 32 byte aligned address
203. amBankLoad - can't read an asset into aica memory using gdfs
204. amBankFetchMidiPpqn - Null pointer passed as argument
205. amBankFetchMidiPpqn - Bank does not contain this many assets
206. amBankFetchMidiPpqn - not a midi type asset
207. amBankFetchMidiVolume - theBank or masterVolume is NULL
208. amBankFetchMidiVolume - assetNumber out of range
209. amBankFetchMidiVolume - not a midi type asset
210. amBankFetchMidiGmModeFlag - theBank is NULL
211. amBankFetchMidiGmModeFlag - assetNumber out of range
212. amBankFetchMidiGmModeFlag - not a MIDI type asset
213. amBankFetchAssetParameters - theBank or parameters is NULL
214. amBankFetchAssetParameters - assetNumber out of range
215. amBankFetchWaveLoopFlag - theBank or loopFlag is NULL
216. amBankFetchWaveLoopFlag - assetNumber out of range
217. amBankFetchWaveLoopFlag - not a WAVE type asset
218. amBankFetchWaveRandomPitch - theBank or randomPitchAmount is NULL
219. amBankFetchWaveRandomPitch - assetNumber out of range
220. amBankFetchWaveRandomPitch - not a WAVE type asset
221. amBankFetchWaveSampleRate - theBank or sampleRate is NULL
222. amBankFetchWaveSampleRate - assetNumber out of range
223. amBankFetchWaveSampleRate - not a WAVE type asset
224. amBankFetchWaveBitDepth - theBank or bitDepth is NULL
225. amBankFetchWaveBitDepth - assetNumber out of range
226. amBankFetchWaveBitDepth - not a WAVE type asset
227. amBankFetchUnknownParameters - theBank or parameterValue is NULL
228. amBankFetchUnknownParameters - parameterNumber out of range
229. amBankFetchUnknownParameters - assetNumber out of range
230. amBankFetchUnknownParameters - not a UNKNOWN type asset
231. amBankFetchAsset - theBank, parameterValue, *theAsset or assetSize is NULL
232. amBankFetchAsset - assetNumber out of range
233. amBankGetAssetSize - theBank or assetSize is NULL
234. amBankGetAssetSize - assetNumber out of range
235. amBankGetNumberOfAssets - numberOfAssets is NULL
236. amBankGetNumberOfAssets - theBank is NULL
237. amBankGetHeaderSize - headerSize is NULL
238. amBankGetHeaderSize - theBank is NULL
239. amHeapGetInfo - freeSoundMemory is NULL
240. amHeapGetInfo - size is NULL
241. amHeapGetInfo - the sound driver has not been installed
242. amHeapGetFree - audio heap not initialized
243. amHeapGetFree - freeMemory is NULL
244. amHeapAlloc - audio heap not initialized
245. amHeapAlloc - buffer is NULL
246. amHeapAlloc - size is 0
247. amHeapAlloc - alignment must be 4 or 32
248. amHeapAlloc - memory type must be AM_FIXED_MEMORY or AM_PURGABLE_MEMORY
249. amHeapGetMaxPurgable - maxPurgable is NULL
250. amHeapGetMaxPurgable - audio heap not initialized
251. amHeapPurge - Heap is not initialized
252. amHeapPurge - sizeNeeded is 0
253. amHeapPurge - insufficient purgable memory to fill request
254. amHeapFree - buffer is NULL
255. amHeapFree - you must free the blocks in reverse order from their allocation
256. amHeapFree - a block with that start address was not found
257. RCTT
258. _amHeapAllocFromTop - Heap is not initialized
259. _amHeapAllocFromTop - Warning: Insufficient memory to fill request
260. _amHeapAllocFromTop - alignment must be 4 or 32
261. _amHeapAllocFromTop - size is 0
262. _amHeapAllocFromBottom - Internal Error: fingerprint address not dword aligned
263. _amHeapAllocFromBottom - out of memory control blocks
264. _amHeapAllocFromBottom - Heap is not initialized
265. _amHeapAllocFromBottom - Warning: Insufficient memory to fill request
266. _amHeapAllocFromBottom - alignment must be 4 or 32
267. _amHeapAllocFromBottom - size is 0
268. amHeapInit - memoryPool is NULL
269. amHeapInit - size is 0
270. amHeapInit - heap is already initialized
271. amHeapClear - the heap has not been initialized
272. amHeapClear - memoryType must be AM_FIXED_MEMORY or AM_PURGABLE_MEMORY
273. amHeapCheck - the heap has not been initialized
274. amHeapCheck - the bottom heap zone (PURGABLE) is corrupt
275. amHeapCheck - the top heap zone (FIXED) is corrupt
276. amSelectDriver - Driver already installed, can't select driver
277. audio64.drv
278. MidiDa.drv
279. amShutdown - Driver not installed
280. amInit - Driver already installed
281. amInit - Unable to load audio64.drv
282. amInit - Unable to init ac system
283. amInit - Unable to install ARM driver
284. amInit - Unable add interrupt handler to chain
285. amInit - can't send acCdInit() command
286. amFileRewind - rewind fail, see gAcError for more info
287. amFileLoad - load fail, see gAcError for more info
288. amFileRead - read fail, see gAcError for more info
289. amFileOpen - open fail, see gAcError for more info
290. amFileClose - close fail, see gAcError for more info
291. amFileGetSize - get size fail (file not found usually), see gAcError for more info
292. _amStreamIoRewind - rewind fail, see gAcError for more details
293. _amStreamIoRead - read fail, see gAcError for more details
294. _amStreamIoOpen - open fail, see gAcError for more details
295. _amStreamIoClose - close fail, see gAcError for more details
296. _amStreamIoGetSize - get size fail (file not found), see gAcError for more details
297. _amVoiceClearChannel - voiceChannel is out of range
298. _amVoiceIssueOneShotSystemCallback - voiceChannel is out of range
299. _amVoiceIssueOneShotUserCallback - voiceChannel is out of range
300. _amVoiceIssueCallback - messageNumber is out of range
301. _amVoiceSetStreamIsr - voiceChannel is out of range
302. _amVoiceSetChannelFlag - voiceChannel is out of range
303. _amVoiceSetChannelFlag - trueOrFalse is out of range
304. amVoiceAllocate - voiceChannel is NULL
305. amVoiceAllocate - voiceType must be AM_STREAM_VOICE, AM_MIDI_VOICE or AM_ONESHOT_VOICE
306. amVoiceAllocate - TOTAL CACAPHONY&@*&@*&^@$ all voices are in use
307. _amVoiceDefaultSystemCallbackProc - voice channel is out of range
308. _amVoiceDefaultSystemCallbackProc - can't send driver command
309. _amVoiceGetType - voiceChannel is out of range
310. acPrintf - format is NULL
311.  
312. syG2 Ver 1.01.02 Build:Mar 03 1999 14:58:36
313. acG2FifoCheck - Warning: fifoType is out of range, FIFO mask set to read/write
314. acG2Fill - target is NULL
315. acG2Fill - sizeInBytes must be >= 4
316. acG2Fill - sizeInBytes must be divisable by 4
317. acG2Fill - sizeInLongs is 0 (this should never happen)
318. acG2Read - target or source is NULL
319. acG2Read - sizeInBytes must be >= 4
320. acG2Read - sizeInBytes must divisible by 4
321. acG2Read - source must divisible by 4
322. acG2Read - source address is not in sound memory
323. acG2ReadLong - address is NULL
324. acG2ReadLong - value is NULL
325. acG2ReadLong - address is not in sound memory
326. _acUtilMemCpy - target or source is NULL
327. _acUtilMemCpy - sizeInBytes must be >= 32
328. _acUtilMemCpy - sizeInBytes must divisible by 32
329. acG2Write - target address is not in sound memory
330. acDmaInstallAlternateTransferManager - DMA handler already installed
331. acDmaInit - DMA handler not installed
332. acDmaShutdown - DMA handler not installed
333. acDmaMemCpy - DMA handler not installed
334. acDmaIsBusy - DMA handler not installed
335. acDmaSuspend - DMA handler not installed
336. acDmaResume - DMA handler not installed

I don't know if there's a fancy pants error handler that can be triggered, or some hidden debug screen, but yeah. The fact we have March 1999 build dates all but confirms to me this Dreamcast port was built on the source of something else.


Another factor that might be confusing cheat sites is the existence of NFL Blitz 2001, which supposedly shares some codes. I've lost enough brain cells already today - I'll not be covering that one any time soon.

 

Had a quick look this morning to see if it's truly the internet at fault:

https://archive.org/details/dreamcast-strategies-01/page/n24/mode/1up
https://archive.org/details/dreamcast-solutions-09/page/n108/mode/1up
https://archive.org/details/code-vault-september-2001/page/107/mode/1up

it kinda is. While some of these printed codes don't work either, contemporary lists generally don't claim N64/PS1 codes are compatible with the Dreamcast (I was also able to take the above list of missing codes down from 34 to 31 - progress!).

There's a Dreamcast-specific strategy guide which I would hope gives some clues and a multi-platform BradyGames one. Neither have been scanned because nobody cares.

 

Today on "Dreamcast American football games ported from the N64 with features removed", NFL Quarterback Club 2000/Hidden content.

The latest development builds of Redream will run some Windows CE software, although it's a bit of a buggy experience. NFL QB Club 2000 works fine though, if by "fine" you mean "fine at not being very good". Put the computer up against itself and the players run into each other (as in, they collide, but running animations continue).


Anyway the cheats lie:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/dreamcast/198155-nfl-quarterback-club-2000/cheats

About half aren't recognised on Dreamcast. I couldn't get the alien stadiums and minefields to work, just boring "make things slightly fatter" cheats.


Unfortunately this isn't a game that stores its codes on the disc in plain text - it's too busy padding data with ACCLAIM ACCLAIM ACCLAIM



It seems to have stories to tell though.


Some Quarterback Club games have landmine modes with actual explosions. This is the second time I've been let down by a Sega version skimping on this - the Saturn version of NFL Quarterback Club '97 lacks them too!

 

Okay something people might actually care about: Sega Rally 2/Hidden content. How wrong is the internet this time?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/198572-sega-rally-championship-2/cheats
https://www.ign.com/wikis/dc-cheats/SEGA_Rally_2:_Sega_Rally_Championship_Cheats
https://www.consoledatabase.com/cheats/segadreamcast/segarally2/

kinda wrong. Though I can understand why.


Like Sonic Adventure, Blue Stinger and Virtua Fighter 3tb, Sega Rally 2's Japanese launch pre-dates the Dremcast console arriving in the West, and during its trip overseas, the game was refined and improved. Problem is, I'm not sure many people could tell you how - it ran sub-60FPS in Japan, and it still runs sub-60FPS in the West. It's still very much a wibbly wobbly port of the game, but there are some changes!


Look some blue psuedo-scanlines on the title screen to mask the colour banding. 10/10 GOTY.

It also seems they lost the Ford license. A couple of cars were swapped, and at some point we'll have to cross-reference the PC version(s) and sort out all this noise.

Another difference is that the "unlock all cars" and "unlock every year of the 10 year mode" codes are different between the Japanese and overseas versions. I'd hazard a guess the gaming media started collecting and printing cheat codes before the Western versions were released, and nobody bothered to verify they still worked. At any point during the last 24 years.


Sega Rally 2 also has a couple of "kind of crap" modes:

->

Here's how it works: by default, Sega Rally 2 has an uncapped frame rate that tries to hit 60FPS, but buckles whenever anything slightly interesting is on screen. There is a code that removes most of the scenery to try and hit the target more often, but while it does net you better performance... it still can't stick at 60. And now you're left with levels that arguably look worse than the first game on Sega Saturn.

Less well known is the 30FPS mode, which caps the frame rate at 30FPS. Great if you want consistency, but now it runs at half the frame rate in areas where it could manage 60 before. And there aren't any improvements in other areas as far as I can make out.


Another feature - holding the L trigger while selecting a car uses an alternative livery... sometimes. Only some cars seem to have one - there'll be a reason, but I'm not sure what it is.


It also does some curious things if you give yourself specific names. If you call yourself "SEX", it'll be turned into "SRC". "XXX" becames "AMB". I don't know if the new names mean something, or indeed the full extent of this "censorship".


obviously I went looking for sex but just found Windows API functions instead. Story of my life.

 

Filling in more blanks - according to the box, there are 32 players in IMG International Tour Tennis. It's not wrong.


... but the list continues~

16 possibly unused players. How do we know they're players? Because you can force the game to let you play as them with Action Replay code "FF6DE9:00XX" (where XX is the player ID). All the normal ones lie in the range 00-1F, but if I set it to 20...


Now I get "Kyle Miner". He's not a real tennis player as far as I can see, nor is he a member of the development team. He's just some guy.


They all have (fairly mundane) biographies too. Can you unlock them legitimately? The internet doesn't know.


Although

once upon a time this game lacked an official license and was going by the name "EA Sports Tennis". Most of the previews are dull shots of courts, but there is one of note:

https://archive.org/details/mean-machines-sega-magazine-22/page/n41/mode/2up?q="ea+sports+tennis"

(bottom left)

These are all EA Sports Tennis players, before they were replaced with actual tennis players!

Incidentally that preview also uses the name "S.Orr" which doesn't appear in this list. However, it's almost certainly "Scott Orr", the producer from EA. So maybe these portraits use developer likenesses, if not their actual names.

 

An oddity: Sno-Cross Championship Racing/Hidden content

There's some codes that change the artwork for a couple of tracks. GameFAQs calls them CARTOON TRACK and SUMMER TRACK (and gets one of the codes wrong) - a little misleading because they're not new tracks, just reskins of existing ones. Also there are other tracks in this game - do they have reskins too??

The "cartoon track" is bothering me though:



This seems a lot of work for a throwaway cheat code in a snowmobile racing game. My gut instinct is the assets come from another project - any ideas what it might be?

 

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/dreamcast/914204-4x4-evolution/cheats
4x4 Evolution is the worst one I've seen in a while. Not a single thing the internet is parroting seems to actually work, either because the codes aren't explained properly, or they're being lifted from other versions without sufficient testing.

Though I will concede that this development build of Redream might be at fault. Dreamcast games should be able to cope with controllers being changed when the system is turned on, but if you just have a keyboard in port D, 4x4 Evo gets confused. This means it's either not adhering to the mandated software guidelines, or the emulator isn't coping (or both).


Lists also talk of "hidden roads" and money but I'm not sure if this counts, as it's a feature of the map. I'm reminded of Sonic R - there are tokens scattered around each course, but while you won't see if you follow the racing line, it's a feature of the game. But maybe that does count as "hidden content" and we've been treating it wrong, idk.

 

Today on "they didn't test the codes"



There was a gap we hadn't filled - the Dreamcast version of The Typing of the Dead. The myriad of PC versions are going to need an expert, but there are mysteries with the Dreamcast version(s) as well.

There was a ten month gap between the Japanese and US releases of this game... and I can't for the life of me work out why. The text is translated into English, and you type real English words (as opposed to romanised Japanese), but they've not added any new modes or settings as far as I can see. They moved the intro around and the copyright details were changed, but's only in side-by-sides that I noticed the title screen got a bit lighter. It doesn't strike me as having five times as much content.

... but that's what the dumps say! 195.4MB in Japan vs. just shy of 1GB for the US, which is unlike any Dreamcast game out there. They haven't introduced hoards of audio and video (it's still very much PROTECT THE LIFECYCLE), and even the compressed CHD versions have an 800MB divide - weird, man.


One of the alternations made during its voyage over the Pacific was the cheat codes. The internet doesn't seem to be aware of this, and I've unearthed a bunch of codes that apparently nobody knew about... but because I don't know this game very well, I'm not sure what they all do. Why, for example, does each translation have three codes for the "VS CPU" mode? Only "TESSAIS" highlights the options menu to hint that free play is now available - the rest just kick you back to the main menu without explanation.


What I do know is that GameFAQs and friends are wrong:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/dreamcast/250638-the-typing-of-the-dead/cheats

"KIKMAHP", "DKRORCR" and "STKZJGH" are not recognised by either version of the game, which means they either came from a different system, or are made up. The PC listings seem to give clues for what the Dreamcast codes might do... but it assumes GameFAQs isn't wrong about those too, and I can't be bothered to put together a virtual machine ot test the theory. And of course there are multiple PC versions, and a later port to the PS2 as The Typing of the Dead: Zombie Panic (which seems kind-of the same but probably isn't). And who knows, maybe there are mysterious prototypes and an unfinished PAL release muddying the waters (though this seems unlikely).