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

[Maidentree]

not sure if this has ever been said before; but like, a set of optional patches for EarthBound Beginnings/Zero (that aren't just graphical or text-wise) that aims to recreate the Japanese version in the English version as another option or translating the Japanese version from scratch (which would also be nice too, but probably very difficult)

Patches would be offered separately, or as an all-in-one excluding changes that undo convenience. And an all-in-one including changes that undo convenience.
- Original Japanese versions of the maps that were modified for the English prototype
- Original PSI learning order
- Original item shops (e.g. the Time Machine being able to be bought at Twinkle Elementary School and other stuff)
- Map item being available; START/SELECT/B no longer functioning as the Map button
- B button functioning only as a quick Stats button
- Checking in battle only displays the enemy's stats, if applicable
- Removal of rolling background effect upon learning a melody
- Forgotten Man warps you back to the beginning of Magicant
- Original ending
- No enemy encounters in train tunnels
- Bread crumbs and Flea bag bug fix regressions.
- Friendship Ring.

And several others that I might've forgotten or haven't found info on.

sources:
- https://tcrf.net/EarthBound_Beginnings/Regional_Differences
- https://earthboundcentral.com/category/mother-1/

[bradzx]

Rudra no Hihou is pretty good rpg game.   Everything is good but one minor problem.   Every time text box appear, everything move to right by one frame.   If you set Simple X4, then you will notice it easily.   So it will be nice to fix this for every text box appear.

[Bonesy]

it's an emulator issue in all likelihood, not a game issue.

[MysteryMan3D]

Random arcade towers in Mortal Kombat Trilogy for PS1 and/or PC.

The team behind the arcade ROM hack "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Plus" were able to do it:
https://mortalkombatplus.com/games/ultimate-mk3
Specifically:
"Randomizer Option makes all 4 towers random at choose your destiny screen, where default action is to pull from several arrays of static tower opponents. Greatly increases replay value!!"
I really want that feature for Trilogy, and they already stated they have no plans to touch Trilogy anytime soon. Could someone here please pull it off? Or at least show me how to do it if it's not as hard as it sounds?

EDIT:
Oh and could you throw in random stage order as well while you're at it?

[boxxsan]

Calling any PSX/PS1 modders to help with this request, (Need for speed High stakes) mod in question car engine sound change i would like to change McLaren F1 engine sound to the AI's, it has a better sound (it sounds better to me)  so i was hoping to have that sound copied over the player version sound or even make the ai version playable if that is easier tbh what ever it takes lmk if this is just  100% impossible to do.

some notes i came up with this the ai engine sounds should be in the opponent viv files  but i cant open them to poke around i probably don't know what i'm saying but i have had little help from others looking for hope/guidance

[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.

Just wanted to update this post of mine.  Looks like ArcadeGamer1929 fulfilled my wish.  And, as I thought, it wasn't exactly easy, nor is it perfect.  However, it does work!  Which is fantastic!

Thanks, ArcadeGamer1929!!

[nanashi89]

An Easy Mode for Final Fantasy Origins would be nice. Give it the same difficulty as Final Fantasy I & II - Dawn of Souls on GBA.

[KingMike]

FFO already has an Easy Mode. That is precisely what people compared FF:DoS to upon release.

[N.Dpendent]

I'm planing to create a romhack for Super Metroid but i don't have the skills to do this on my own.
The player controls one of the Etecoons (gremlinlike animals) and starts somewhere deep in the map.
You only be able to jump and walljump and need to reach samus' spaceship to complete the game.
Maybe the morphball will be swaped with a crouch animation and is available right from the start.
You got 1 HP, so you will need to avoid every single hit or you die instantly.
Maybe the other 2 Etecoons follow you all the time and also are not allowed to take a hit and die.
I'm not shure if it is possible to randomise the start position or if there will be a time limit to reach the ship.
Please contact me, if you want to join this project. I will try to swap the player sprites and disable the fire button, but
i can't do the whole thing without help...

greetings
N.Dpendent

[KingMike]

That is sounding like an "idea" post more than one you can you can reasonably do a substantial amount of the work requested.

[pepsigamer10]

I have brainstormed a bunch of ideas for a Persona 2: Innocent Sin overhaul (and even a name) for the PS1 version. I have a Google Doc with all the ideas, but unfortunately, I don't have the proper skills to actually make the hack. I could, however, beta-test it. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GycpWYnxiWM_RALPOLvK9xKBRTSZdQHGXB25Ea3TIdw/edit?usp=drivesdk

[90s comeback]

Hopefully you have basic tile editing down already.

Relocation. Should just be pointers. Find the pointers for your current sprites and then some free space and change accordingly.

"adding more sprites to it"
Do you mean extra steps of animation or more tiles to the whole sprite?
Both can be tricky and run into lack of memory issues, and on older systems (newer ones might have more software defined setups for images) then fiddling withfit the extra in the ROM, and get it in memory somehow as well then you can have more. As mentioned above the older systems might well have all this as code you have to edit, for some of the newer ones then occasionally some games have animation formats that say what to do when.

More tiles tends to fall under something called a map, though animations might also be troubled. Newer systems might also have a software defined map but most will have to fiddle with hardware. Depending upon the game you might also have to figure out what goes for hitboxes if you add or remove data from what the player sees.

October 09, 2021, 08:34:54 AM - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)

Hopefully you have basic tile editing down already.

Relocation. Should just be pointers. Find the pointers for your current sprites and then some free space and change accordingly.

"adding more sprites to it"
Do you mean extra steps of animation or more tiles to the whole sprite?
Both can be tricky and run into lack of memory issues, and on older systems (newer ones might have more software defined setups for images) then fiddling withfit the extra in the ROM, and get it in memory somehow as well then you can have more. As mentioned above the older systems might well have all this as code you have to edit, for some of the newer ones then occasionally some games have animation formats that

say what to do when.

More tiles tends to fall under something called a map, though animations might also be troubled. Newer systems might also have a software defined map but most will have to fiddle with hardware. Depending upon the game you might also have to figure out what goes for hitboxes if you add or remove data from what the player sees.

Thanks for answering, i don't handle myself very well in these forums and i saw your answer a couple of days ago. My intention is to do both things ("enlarging characters" and adding more frames of animation), and i didn't find any pedagogical info that could teach me that. Thanks again.
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[Brutapode89]

After Final Fantasy I (NES) Restored and Final Fantasy II (NES) Restored, Final Fantasy III (NES) Restored could be cool.

[haruhi]

Something I wonder about: if Gameboy and NES have pins for external audio or memory controllers, couldn't we have MSU-1 CD quality add-ons for either?

[KingMike]

The idea of MSU-1 was something the console could've physically supported back in the day, not to cheat the original technical limits by throwing on a modern micro-computing chip many times more powerful than the host console (which as I understand is how newer devices that allow to say, play NES, Genesis or GBA on a SNES.)

[FAST6191]

As above the MSU-1 would be something of a period correct hypothetical rather than with the power of modern technology look what I can have act as a battery and controller input for, though I have examples (maybe not 8-16 bit era) of that happening for then current tech -- the DS stuff with the DSTwo/iplayer/ismart MM being a major one.

If you are willing to do a wire mess (think 32x's various cables, though maybe some internal speakers to mix the output from the headphone jack) then you could do external audio quite happily -- I don't know offhand if the GB/GBC got a radio that was basically using the GB/GBC as a battery (similar things did exist for some other devices).
Then fairly easy to make a device that starts or stops certain tracks (maybe even has a nice loop function, could get crazy and have multiple channels as well) by commands sent from the device.
The question for me then becomes do the NES or GB/GBC have the option to take in/pass through wave audio and I am not sure that they do; a nice wave channel as opposed to general noise or sine/triangle/sawtooth efforts is generally noted as where the GBA steps in on the Nintendo handheld side of things there and what I have seen on the NES (NES audio is far from my forte) then equally limited but more possible (the FDS stuff is where I would probably look). I also don't see people talking about instrument libraries/sound fonts like they do on 16 bit and up systems, nor do I see what would be obvious results of real fun with wave type options in the various NES/GB composer/tracker type setups and homebrew audio programs. That however I will leave for you to go research -- pandocs is where most start for GB/GBC hardware discussions, and I hope enough of nesdev wiki and forums are archived somewhere.

[tc]

In theory, the one and only limit to NES expansion sound is the audio quality that can be transmitted over a single RCA connector.

[Sarah Shinespark]

Alright, I've been stewing on this awhile: improving Sword of Mana for GBA.
My main annoyance should be the easiest, it's the constant LV UP reminder when you haven't accepted a level up; I like to play low level games and it ruins screenshots. But, I can't find the text in a tile editor nor a trigger to disable displaying it.

Second, the AI is as useful as a wet bandaid. They don't go after enemies, and even when they do they just get hit out of their attacks.

Third, there's a ton of missables and Guide Dang It secrets. The game could do a better job explaining how days of the week affect things, or how to enter town at sundown/sunset.

Fourth, there's trade-exclusive content for 100% quests. I'd like to have an alternate way to finish the quest.

[Brutapode89]

By the way, as Game Boy games can be played into MSU-1 only via Super Game Boy like these:

Final Fantasy Adventure (Mystic Quest in Europe):
https://www.zeldix.net/t2049-adventures-of-mana-seiken-densetsu-i-final-fantasy-adventuremystic-quest-for-sgb

Pokémon Red & Blue:
https://www.zeldix.net/t2191-pokemon-red-blue

Pokémon Yellow:
https://www.zeldix.net/t2332-pokemon-yellow

Will be it possible to make sure these games can be played into MSU on other Game Boy and Game Boy Color emulators (BGB, VBA, etc...) without Super Game Boy, please?

[FAST6191]

I think GBA Mana game might be only marginally ahead of Phantasy Star 3 in the "no hope, don't bother" for me in the hacking possibilities to improve stakes.

Going after text might not do much, though I will have to look (if it is a nice graphical effect it could be blanked out, if plain transparent text then replace with spaces might be a thing). Assuming you don't care to force cheat the level counter down if doing the low level thing (don't know if this is some kind of save the level up for a quick heal ploy) then I would probably go with https://www.romhacking.net/documents/361/ (again an older emulator but should be easy enough to convert to something like no$gba debug) except rather than going back to the part of the ROM there will presumably be a check on experience or something (easy enough to find for a cheat search, might even be an existing cheat out there) that you can disable the call for. Alternatively whatever fiddles with the OAM or BG to display it on screen can probably be NOPed out instead.


If it is purely a screenshot thing then do check it is not left on another layer that you can disable. Not ideal but depending upon the emulator (assuming you are using one) then it is easy enough to disable layers for a second or two.

Improving AI is a tricky task at the best of times. There is a reason why it sucks in most games. Best you can usually reasonably go in for when hacking is make the AI faster/hit harder/have a greater lock on radius/have a greater number of invincibility frames or indeed go the other way and nerf the enemies a bit. Hacking in some more advanced AI is possible for an action RPG type deal but a lot of work to do well/create a more competent setup.

Not sure how in game explanations/guides/tutorials and questionable level design you can't maybe backtrack to later are related but both those are within reason.

Changing rewards for quests is within reason, as is maybe some kind of crazy grind to unlock (passive is easier than active display new text but new text is hardly out of reason either). If EXP/kill count/money = blah then insert item into inventory is a thing.
If the content is unlocked by a flag in memory (say it is an extra quest/building/whatever) then that is also easy enough.

Re: Super Gameboy stuff.

That will depend entirely what was done for the hacks -- the supergameboy in most commercial efforts was underutilised considerably

( https://blog.loveconquersallgames.com/post/2350461718/fuck-the-super-game-boy-introduction being my usual link of choice for SGB stuff, what was done and what the potential was)
If the hackers leant into it the clawing it out becomes much like backporting DSi to DS, game gear to master system, GBC to GB, FDS to NES...

Several of those games, and many others, do however have colour hacks (often using the DX naming scheme, though pokemon can be the exception) for which many are on
http://www.romhacking.net/?page=hacks&genre=&platform=8&game=&category=&perpage=200&order=&dir=&title=&author=&hacksearch=Go