[Archived] Hack ideas: for those without the skill but with all the ideas.

[TheArbiter]

Construction Kit version of Marble Madness (NES). Our community has been salivating over this idea for quite some time. Speaking only personally I'd be willing to recompense someone for their time in making such a thing, and the same for a Super Hang-On (GEN) construction kit.

[jimstrom]

Recently watached a let's play of Snakes revenge, and though this game is not canon, it is a quite solid game, with some weird decisions.

Here is some sugestions to make it a bit more interesting.

1. Change the palette of red sprites to green like in the original Metal Gear.
2. Revwrite Tranciever calls to actually be a bit more useful.
3. I don't know if it was something lost in translation, but i assume that John Turner was a traitor all along, rewrite the dialogue to make it a bit more clear that John defected.

4. change the sprite of Snake to something  that resemble his later appearance a bit more.
5. change Nicks sprite's skin color to make it clear tha he is afro american.

Just some sugestions. 

[Megatronformayor]

I have some ideas for improving Mega Man X4.

-Give X and Zero the ability to duck.

-Have a black armor capsule for Zero in Magma Dragoon's stage and allow it to enhance his strength and defense like in the sequels.

-Allow Zero's Shippuga to be performed in the air and be able to cancel out of his Ryuenjin.

-Have X's weapons do a little more damage.

-Maybe add the ability to switch characters during gameplay.

[Josephine Lithius]

Me, again.  Hi.

So, in the Game Boy Color game, Mega Man Xtreme, the player is able to select a control scheme which allows for a dedicated Dash button, not unlike the Super NES Mega Man X games.  In the sequel, Mega Man Xtreme 2, this was removed in favor of an option that allows the player to either quickly change weapons, or quickly change between X and Zero (when the option is available).

I find this rather frustrating because I prefer one-button dashing.  I was kind of wondering if the functionality is buried in the code, somewhere, or if there was some way to bring that function to Xtreme 2.  I can't imagine it would be a quick or easy thing to do, but it sure would be nice to have, again.

Cheers.

[spicynoodle666]

Hello all, new to this site. I've been playing romhacks for a while and ran into a game I would like to update myself; Megaman Legends 1 (and 2/Tronbonne if possible). I am programmer by trade/education just don't know where you start for this kind of stuff. Read the starter guides but they seem focused on translations/new levels which is cool but I want to do something different.

These games have very archaic control schemes, classic PSX tank controls but with... truly terrible aiming controls. I want to instead map true analog movement to the left stick, and camera control to the right stick. Where would I start with this type of romhack?

[Retrolife]

We desperately need a PS III rom hack for 2021(30 years of this game) The hack should be a massive overhaul of the game,music,graphics,NPCs,storyline,battle system,4x exp and mesta

[FAST6191]

Hello all, new to this site. I've been playing romhacks for a while and ran into a game I would like to update myself; Megaman Legends 1 (and 2/Tronbonne if possible). I am programmer by trade/education just don't know where you start for this kind of stuff. Read the starter guides but they seem focused on translations/new levels which is cool but I want to do something different.

These games have very archaic control schemes, classic PSX tank controls but with... truly terrible aiming controls. I want to instead map true analog movement to the left stick, and camera control to the right stick. Where would I start with this type of romhack?

Be prepared to brush up on those assembly skills as you are going to be needing some for this, PS1 using a nice MIPS R3000A processor with MIPS I instructions which if your schooling was not a hot moment in the late 90s/early 2000s is unlikely to be something you met and in some ways a bit different to other things. Very little scope for any way to dodge it here.

Controls usually get sent to a fixed location in memory. Serial, parallel, streaming or packets of data matter fairly little here but all are options depending upon the device. For whatever device you are hacking then see about finding some kind of info (homebrew programming wiki, emulator source code, SDK, hacking guide like the documents section on this site...) on it.
Sometimes the games will debounce this (copy it to another section so in the case of switch bounce you don't get one part of a frame doing one thing and another part seeing the switch as the opposite state because the mechanical underlying aspects of it have not quite settled -- a mouse that double clicks when you clicked once is this*) and operate from that. Can be quite nice for a basic button swap hack to attack this, though analogues will have to go further.
Something will then read this state (usually every vblank, though modern PC stuff might be interrupts or polling faster still as a separate thing) and decide to perform an action based upon it. Some hackers will follow the controls and see what goes, others will find some game change and latch onto that with a debugger. In the case of movement there will likely be a nice obvious tell on the screen which means a nice obvious tell in either the on screen handler or some kind of internal game location variable (graphics hardware is often read only, or at least slow to read, and the games have their own internal sense of where everything is. Marginally relevant at this point https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iNSQIyNpVGHeak6isbP6AHdHD50gs8MNXF1GCf08efg/pub?embedded=true ).
Anyway follow things in the relevant direction for your approach and eventually you will get to some kind of loop type arrangement (presumably IF or While types) concerning the buttons, if the game has some kind of control scheme switching (selection of bad ones or fully custom matters fairly little, though fully custom would presumably not be seeing this) then that is also a thing you might have to go through. You then want to change it to read the state of another button, which can be quite useful if you only want one action changed and not game wide like a hardware hack or some of the fiddling with debounced data might be. Anyway you want analogues as well which makes life a bit harder -- buttons tend to be binary where analogues... the clue is in the name and the are also a bit noisy so you can't do simple differences and might instead have to code in something (which means a jump and finding an area to inject your new code into before jumping back) to do a range (if greater than), or even something a bit more in the fuzzy logic world, if you also want analogues to correspond to movement speed then go find that screen and world thing and adjust accordingly (maybe do ranges rather than direct correlation).
Whether you also want to edit any in game help screens, menus or the like is up to you, though in that case we are back to the levels, text and graphics stuff you likely already found.

I would start with the basic remap of a button control (might even be able to release it if this is one of those Japanese using X and O differently for menus/platforming/whatever deals as there is always someone that wants the opposite) as several of those steps are notable in and of themselves. I don't know what we are suggesting for a PS1 debugger these days as there have been a few more made since I was last on top of things there.



*or if people want a game example. Press this button when falling to fly, let go to fall more, once let go no second flying, now what happens when the button is pressed by the mechanicals say no? This is bound to happen over the course of a game so you debounce, and maybe even operate from the same state for a couple of frames.

We desperately need a PS III rom hack for 2021(30 years of this game) The hack should be a massive overhaul of the game,music,graphics,NPCs,storyline,battle system,4x exp and mesta

I am of the opinion that phantasy star 3 can never be fixed. There were however some people looking into doing things with it so they might be aiming for such a thing.

[Megatronformayor]

Some improvements for the Sonic Advance trilogy.

Sonic Advance 1
-Allow players to use the spring again if they fail the special stage.

Sonic Advance 2
-Have chaos emeralds and stage progression shared between all characters.
-Have it so that players only need to collect one star coin for the special stage and they don't lose it when they die.
-Have it so that the Eggman boss refights only take 3 hits instead of 4.

Sonic Advance 3
-Allow players to unlock the secret characters with anyone besides Sonic.
-Have it so that the special stage spring is permanently unlocked when you use the key.
-Allow players to exit a stage and keep the special stage key when they collect it.

[julayla]

Sonic Rush & Rush Adventure, while they are quite enjoyable, felt less...well, despite the characters appearing, I felt that at least Tails, Knuckles, & Amy should've been playable in the former with Tails & Marine (even though I know many hate her) playable in the latter, but I know that's gonna take a lot of work considering the 3D models they use to make Blaze & Sonic playables (let alone change from Sonic riding on water bike to Blaze).

[Tsukiyomaru0]

For Sonic Colors DS I was wondering two things...

1. Is it possible to change it so getting the true end gives you infinite boost option and getting all red rings instead gives you 99 lives? Why's that? Normally you only get Infinite Boost if you get all the red rings, but by then you no longer need Infinite Boost at all and can't use it on any mode other than Story Mode. Infinite Boost would be more useful for the Red Ring Hunt instead.

2. Could Terminal Velocity have a perspective change? Either make it "running up" or but the camera from behind Sonic instead, since "running down" makes it too hard.

[SkyLizardGirl]

Somebody please make a Save and continue feature for Blaster Master NES
Just like with
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles NES Cowabunga edition.

In fact, many kinds of NES games you cannot save need this feature.

Such as like they did with Ninja Gaiden etc.

[Googie]

I was just playing the recent RCR hack again, and it gave me an idea, you know how is it when you press the left and right keys twice to dash, how's about pressing up and down twice to dash up and down? 

[Tsukiyomaru0]

Here's one Mega Man Xtreme 2 idea that just occurred me (maybe again?): Make it so both X and Zero gets the weapons and upgrades, regardless of who gets them.

[Googie]

A friend of mine made this as a concept, it'd be cool if that Sachen game Super Pang had a Super Buster Bros. title screen. He's a big fan of that series.    

[marioxb]

A friend of mine made this as a concept, it'd be cool if that Sachen game Super Pang had a Super Buster Bros. title screen. He's a big fan of that series.

100% agree on this! I don't care which was first, but to me Pang is a stooooooooopid name. In my mind, there is no such thing as Pang or Pomping World. After Buster Buddies, the games are Mighty Buster Bros., Mighty Buster Bros.: Magical Michael, and Buster Bros. Adventures.

And as far as the NES "ports", the one you pictured is the first one, Super Pang, which as you have, should be Buster Bros. Then the other one, Super Pang II, should be Super Buster Bros.

[cargo]

I'd love to see an English translation patch for the Shindou (rumble) version of Waverace 64. I noticed here has been mentions before (i.e., link #1 and link 2), but not for translating.

[MetalGearfan1983]

I would really like to change the amount of random encounters as well possibly change the designs of the walls in the Shinjuku Mall in the original Shin Megami Tensei for the Super Famicom.

[Toothpick]

Sparkster on the Genesis could use a number of changes to make it even remotely on par with Rocket Knight Adventures. Here's a list of things I'd change if I knew how to mod the game.

- Change the rocket pack item that launches you in random directions into one that instantly refills your rocket pack, and also have it stay fully charged for roughly ten seconds. I never saw the point of them, especially with the random placement of some of them where it would never be useful.

- Replace the bombs in the roulette system with X's that simply give you nothing. The player shouldn't be penalized for the slot machine mechanic by having a random bomb drop on them.

- Checkpoints in the middle of the auto-scrolling sections. These sections are the worst aspect of the game, especially since losing a life in them restarts you all the way back to the beginning of them, even if you were close to the end.

- Replace the instant death pits in the pyramid level with spikes.

- If possible, have Sparkster's sword shoot flame projectiles like in RKA and SNES Sparkster. The flame item could grant Sparkster that ability.

- The option to play as Gold Sparkster through the entire game after unlocking him for the final boss fight.

[FAST6191]

I would really like to change the amount of random encounters as well possibly change the designs of the walls in the Shinjuku Mall in the original Shin Megami Tensei for the Super Famicom.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/snes/564896-shin-megami-tensei/faqs/58085 mentions "no random battle" codes (different for 3d and 2d "maps"), can be nicer if there is a half battles or quarter battles (or only high end or only low end) code but that usually depends on a potion/equip/consumable/timed pickup or maybe a story function (see invincibility frames or segments for similar idea).
Anyway those locations would form the basis of something I look into -- chances are it will be an if this flag is held as then don't do anything (or anything other than boss/mid boss battles) rather than anything interesting. That said usually immediately following (or maybe immediately before) that is checked will be the random number generator (whether it is random each step, or countdown made after leaving battle/town I don't know) but that is what you will want to look at and influence for your lessening or increasing encounter rate. Will involve some assembly hacking (as opposed to the cheat approach in those games that can do it*). Set a breakpoint for break on read (usually shortened to bpr) for the memory location mentioned in the cheat ( https://doc.kodewerx.org/hacking_snes.html if you need to know how cheats are encoded) and somewhere nearby will usually be the assembly equivalent of some kind of loop that determines when battle happens and it is usually a fairly basic either countdown or if random number above or below this value then which you can then insert different numbers into without having to understand word one of what instruction cycle count is or indeed be able to do the basic overview of loops as seen in any intro to programming course.
For the random forum searcher finding this in the future then should you not have any in game items or obvious no battle flags (cutscenes, story moments and escape sequences tending to be good candidates) then you want to find something in memory that is only that when in battle, whatever changes that might not related immediately to the random battles check but can be followed back to it eventually. Alternatively most things are based on movement rather than timers (if you stand idle will the game eventually get you to battle or battle on the next step? Timer if so), not that timers are particularly hard to search for, so you can search for things that change when moving (presumably back and forth in an otherwise secluded spot to minimise false positives). You could also do the code logging approach ( http://fceux.com/web/help/CodeDataLogger.html is for the NES but equivalents exist for many other systems and emulators) wherein the new code launched at the start of a new battle is probably the result of the loop hitting the "go to battle" bit.

*poor man's equivalent for less battles (sometimes also more if wearing off means battle soon) being you turn no battles on and off every so often with an external script (whether lua script in emulator that supports it or something like autohotkey autofiring the "turn cheats on, turn cheats off" f key or other key combo for your emulator matters little) -- in the basic scenario then it being on for half the time should mean approximately half the battles or double the distance between them, however it could be different there.

On walls that would presumably fall under graphics hacking. I don't know what hacking notes might be out there (while not as big as some this franchise does have some fairly dedicated and skilled hackers caring for it). Unless you mean you want to change maze layout as it were and that is likely more level hacking.

[PresidentLeever]

Mega Man ZX (DS) Improvement:
-Make the very straightforward areas (amusement park, area L) a bit more fleshed out
-Save points and teleporters also refill energy/ammo
-Teleporter rooms replace the save rooms in areas J and H
-Can choose to restart at the last teleporter or save room after dying (either that or the lives are removed)
-Removed off screen enemy respawning since it's annoying when backtracking or sidetracking and can lead to cheap hits when jumping down. Mini-bosses also don't respawn anymore
-Mini-bosses drop some health
-Rebalanced energy-based attacks and overdrive so you can't kill a boss with a single attack or combo. On the other hand the bar drains slightly slower and isn't canceled from taking a hit besides from certain heavier boss attacks
-Faster crawling in human form and an option to turn off the mechanic where NPCs don't want to talk/get helped if you have a suit on (or they'll recognize you after seeing you in human form though that's harder to implement)
-Leviathan/model lx's spin attack and harpuia/model hx's ranged attack are made stronger and the latter's melee combo is faster
-Ice platforms don't disappear as quickly and the leviathan level 2 charge attack (dragon) is faster
-Cheaper repairs for damaged suits from bosses plus you can buy HP and weapon energy with money
-Enemy drops don't disappear as fast and don't disappear if they fall far enough below the screen
-Added rewards to the various detours with an added challenge that only lead to database entry items and make some of the easier life ups a bit harder to get to. Risking your life for a disk clearly isn't worth it
-Stronger and/or further reaching level 2 charge shot for model fx/fefnir
-Added reward for getting all disks - Could perhaps be an alternate weapon from previous games for the ZX suit. Or it could add an auto-charger for the sub weapon and let you dash while charging both weapons so it's more like the X suit. Or an overdrive feature?

Control/interface issues:
-Aborting a mission shouldn't put you back where you accepted the current one+you should be able to take on more than one mission at a time for more dynamic exploration and general gameplay
-Can't dash if charging your sub weapon (the weapon mapped to R) - have to actually let go of that button or you just attack with the sub weapon when pressing dash
-Confusing and uninformative map system (doesn't show area layouts - only if an area contains a teleporter or save room but not where they are, doesn't show where entrances to mission areas are - only roughly how areas connect, can't mark points of interest such as ability gated parts - see Ore ga Omae o Mamoru for example, can't see if an indoors room connects to a different area from outside of it, can't see which locked doors you've moved through on the map nor locked doors themselves, for some reason the corridor rooms connecting one sub area to another (B1-B2 for example) aren't marked in-game like the other transitional rooms are, the second screen could've been used for a general map screen for ZX, oddly some of the areas also aren't placed logically on the map - for example area E is to the left of area C on the map while it's to the right in-game (the maps using only letters and not area names also makes it harder to remember the areas), sometimes the progression order between sub areas in an area is jumbled up in terms of their numbering - for example you'll visit sub area 4 in the lab before sub area 3)
-Can't look down/up - a few leaps of faith
-Automatic hover jump when jumping down through platforms or off ladders as harpuia
-Can't keep dash jumping by holding down the button (like in MMX4) - holding it down actually stops you from firing your sub weapon here and triggers another dash
-Can't shoot with both fefnir cannons at the same time
-The mission select menu doesn't wrap around
-Bestiary doesn't show boss weak points or elemental weaknesses

Trial & error issues:
-Shots from off screen
-Mission briefings don't tell you about rewards (key cards, crystal amount)
-Some moves aren't explained as you gain them
-The mission briefings don't show you where an area you haven't been to yet is located
-The analysis tool doesn't show a boss's elemental weakness
-Getting the absorber chip (reduced knockback) and quick charge chip - have to talk to Leonardo near the fountain 4 times and Fleuve at HQ 3 times respectively

Other tedious aspects:
-Not enough teleporters sometimes leads to backtracking to get to a mission area when taking on a mission - there should've been one right before or near each mission area
-Generally no new enemies are encountered when backtracking and sometimes there are no new paths to take with gained suits either
-Some empty rooms (pointless detour for nothing in area F (underwater part)
-Some one-way paths which seem pointless (Area I mid for example)
-No teleporter at the end of areas J and H, plenty of backtracking during the optional nurse side quest for a sub tank, can't buy anything other than suit upgrades such as tanks or HP and ammo refills)
-Constant beeping sfx until you hand in a mission report