[ceriux]

i recently acquired a copy of mechwarrior for the snes and the game is great! its fun! why has no one made any hacks or utilities to hack mechwarrior? or maybe there are hacks and i just wasnt able to find them? anyone?

[TimeCop]

Game is kinda slow, a bit ugly, and wasn't too popular.

[90s Retro Gamer]

Interesting game reminded me of Desert Strike with the isometric perspective.

i recently acquired a copy of mechwarrior for the snes and the game is great! its fun! why has no one made any hacks or utilities to hack mechwarrior? or maybe there are hacks and i just wasnt able to find them? anyone?

Perhaps you should become the first SNES Mechwarrior ROM-hacker.

[Avicalendriya]

TimeCop is referring to MechWarrior (1993) developed for the SNES by Beam Software.

90s Retro Gamer is referring to MechWarrior 3050 (1995) developed for the SNES by Tiburon Entertainment.

Which version was the OP referring to?

[SunGodPortal]

3050, I hope. I found the original to be a confusing and ugly mess.

[ceriux]

No I really really like the original. Kind of like need for speed meets mechs, you buy and upgrade mechs do missions. You can even demand to be paid more for the missions you're accepting. I do wish the missions lasted a bit longer but that's my main complaint. It runs really smooth on my retron 5. My only other complaint is that you can't side step and there's no vs mode.

I do wish I had the know how to make a hacking utility for it. But unfortunately I don't have that know how.

[Avicalendriya]

Implementing a Versus Mode would be an enormous overhaul, if possible at all. In either case it would require a hell of a lot of experience with SNES programming.

As a beginner, you want to start with something small, meaning you either hack a very simple game, or you make some minor changes to a game that you like. As you are poking around and making these small changes, you will stumble into deeper areas and learn a bit more than you need to know at the time.

Continue this process, taking on a bit more work for each iteration, and you'll find yourself making slow but steady progress. This approach is broad and applies to many things, but a major point here is that giving up gets you nowhere, while continued effort gets you somewhere.

For starters, make some visual changes, since this is as simple as it gets. Improve some fonts, refine some shoddy graphics, that kind of thing. After that, try finding text in the ROM so that you can change it. If you find yourself losing motivation at this point, then it's time to stop and question how passionate you are about your project, because this is just the tip of the iceberg.

I'll take a look at the ROM later and let you know if anything is compressed, because if it is, then this is not a starter project.

[Avicalendriya]

The results are in:

MechWarrior's text and graphics are compressed. So even a simple visual or text improvement won't be possible, unless you find someone to work with or learn how to do some SNES programming.

On the other hand, MechWarrior 3050's text and graphics are uncompressed, so there's a potential starter project if you dig it.

[SunGodPortal]

On the other hand, MechWarrior 3050's text and graphics are uncompressed, so there's a potential starter project if you dig it.

I find this to be the superior game of the two. Has anyone here ever played this one two-player? If I remember correctly, one player drives and the other controls the weapons. It was super fun.

EDIT: Sorry if it seems like I'm trying to hijack your thread ceriux. It's just that nobody ever talks about either of these two games and I thought 3050 was pretty cool.

[PresidentLeever]

I've played the MD/GEN game (Battletech) with both players' controls merged into one PS2 controller via emulation, makes it feel pretty modern actually.

[SunGodPortal]

I've played the MD/GEN game (Battletech) with both players' controls merged into one PS2 controller via emulation, makes it feel pretty modern actually.

That's a really cool idea. I always wondered what it would be like playing Super Metroid with a PS2 controller and mapping things in a manner that's a little less awkward. SM almost has more functions than it has controllers. I always have to hold the right side a little funny to be able to run, jump, shoot and aim at the same time.

[icemann]

I wouldn't even compare the 2 as they are COMPLETELY different styles of games.

The first is a action game with FPS and RPG elements (along the same vein as Earthsiege, Heavy Gear etc), and the other is a straight up action game very similar to Desert Strike.

Be like trying to compare Super Mario World to Super Mario RPG. Completely different.

And for the record, my votes for the original game (which coincidentally was a partial port of the original Mechwarrior for the PC, though the levels and story are quite different).

[ceriux]

I probably will check out 3050 because I did like desert strike for the genesis. But I do really really like the original. I agree with icemann comments as well .

[SunGodPortal]

I wouldn't even compare the 2 as they are COMPLETELY different styles of games.

Maybe you are focusing too much on my wording or something. I don't like the first one, but do like the second one. Does that make more sense?

EDIT: So much space in forums is wasted by stuff like this.

[Avicalendriya]

I'm glad to hear that ceriux, because making changes will be very straightforward, and you'll be able to realize your improvement hack without too many headaches. There's plenty enough to do when creating your first hack, so headaches should be reserved for your second project and beyond.

Anyway, I'll put together what I've learned about the game so that you can dive right in when you're ready.

[Gi Nattak]

Because no one has made one yet.