Rockman 4 Minus Infinity [hack]

Started by jpx72, April 15, 2012, 01:32:20 pm

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jpx72

April 15, 2012, 01:32:20 pm Last Edit: September 18, 2012, 10:59:13 pm by jpx72
Some time ago was released an interesting Rockman 4 (J) hack. Just recently it was also published on romhacking.net (but only the MMC5 version). I have downloaded the original patcher from authors website and made both IPS patches (MMC3 and MMC5) here for download:
http://jpx72.detailne.sk/rockman4_mi_MMC3.ips
http://jpx72.detailne.sk/rockman4_mi_MMC5.ips
(all rights and copyright for this hack goes to the author, not sure of his name, check the web link provided).

Anyway his hack doesn't want to run in Nestopia (use FCEU), and I am wondering about real hardware compatibility. Unfortunatelly I cannot test it, because it's programmed to have only PRG and in 1024kB size. ExROM board does have the ability to support this PRG size, but all produced ExROM boards have both PRG and CHR.
Okay so first I wanted to ask for a PowerPak test, by somebody who has it, and post the gameplay results.
I think this hack would be very nice to be reproduced, check it out yourself.

Hint: the IPS on romhacking is exactly the same as the MMC5 version uploaded on my site (build using the author's patcher and separated from the hacked rom by LunarIPS), I compared the files in hexeditor.

punkpolitical

I tried both patches MMC3 & MMC5 on the powerpak and neither would work.
I used Lunar ips to patch the rom.The powerpak would load the game but it was just a black screen.
Anyone else want to give it a try????

jpx72

Quote from: punkpolitical on April 15, 2012, 05:10:24 pm
I tried both patches MMC3 & MMC5 on the powerpak and neither would work.

Thank you so much for the test, I expected this behavior, because Nestopia behaves very close to the real thing. So it's not worth trying to repro it just yet. Now I have to find somebody or contact the author to get help with the game programming itself...

satoshi_matrix

The reason it doesn't work on the powerpak is because the PRG is a friggin megabyte. The Powerpak can only handle up to 512 KB of either PRG or CHR.

It's too bad, but its understandable -  This rom hack is INSANE.The hacker took advantage of all the empty space in the Rockman 4 source code and expanded the game with elements from as as I've observed so far: NES 1, 2, 3, GB 3, GB 4 and tons of original stuff too. The game is also nearly impossible - the recovery time after you get hit is half of what it normally is, so you can be hit multiple times in a row from the same enemy if you make contact with them or a projectile. The enemies are much tougher, as are the stages, and the bosses are just from hell.. Fight Pharaoh Man to see what I mean.

i'm all for extremely high caliber Megaman ROM hacks that push the envelope, but this one is WAY too hard for its own good.

Drakon

is it me or are all the good rockman / megaman hacks too hard to be bothered with?  atleast the ones I tried...

satoshi_matrix

Most ROM hacks are made to increase the difficulty of the original game and give off different challenges. It's nothing unique to the Megaman games - just look at Super Mario hacks both for the NES and SNES. The majority of all Super Mario World rom hacks I've ever played have made the original game look like child's play.

This is likely because the kind of person who would make a rom hack to begin with is an expert at the given game they choose, and probably don't have much experience in game design so balance in the favor of beginner players isn't even considered.

I'm planning on writing an article on my blog about Megaman rom hacks as there certainly are a lot of them.

jpx72

Dug out this topic because there is a final release out!
http://www4.atpages.jp/borokobo/neo/download.html
As far as i translated correctly, it's recommended to use MMC5 version and it's not recommended to make IPS patches from the patched file afterwards.

how to: you have to get a dump of rockman4, rename it rockman4.nes and run the do.bat

jpx72

September 12, 2012, 04:07:27 am #7 Last Edit: September 12, 2012, 04:14:20 am by jpx72

I was finaly able to reproduce the famous Rockman 4 Minus Infinity hack on a cartridge and I have a problem. It's nothing hardware related I'm afraid, but the hack itself is flawed.

Although it is not occuring very often, the "weapons menu" which is usually activated by pressing Start button, is popping up from time to time.
I'd say it's a random occurence when pressing other buttons, but as 3gengames from NA said "it's probably corrupting controller writes from some DPCM samples" .

So my question is simple - can this be repaired? By someone here?
Author of this hack is puresabe, he's japanese, and it might be worth a shot to contact him directly (in his mother-tongue)  and let him know about this effort and compatibility issues. If I have translated his readme.txt correctly, he knows about issues in Nestopia emulator, because primarily he used FCEUX. And since Nestopia is closer to the real hardware, the issues occur on the real thing too.
(you can reproduce this flaw when you play the hack in Nestopia)

Author's website: http://borokobo.web.fc2.com   http://www4.atpages.jp/borokobo

Any ideas and help-out is appreciated!
I want this hack to get more attention since it's the best bloody Rockman hack out there!

PS: Thank you RainLink for the awesome label!

Algo Fonix


manuel

Looks great, only the wrong/weird "Japanese" irks me somehow.  :-[

80sFREAK

Which ROM IC went for PRG and CHR? Complete part number, please.
I don't buy, sell or trade at moment.
But my question is how hackers at that time were able to hack those games?(c)krzy

jpx72

September 12, 2012, 05:17:49 am #11 Last Edit: September 12, 2012, 05:24:56 am by jpx72
PRG: ST M27C801
CHR ROM was replaced by 8KB SRAM: GM76C88AL-15
Notice the same glitch occurs both in Nestopia and real hardware.

L___E___T

September 12, 2012, 05:23:42 am #12 Last Edit: September 12, 2012, 06:29:02 am by L___E___T
Quote from: manuel on September 12, 2012, 05:03:39 am
Looks great, only the wrong/weird "Japanese" irks me somehow.  :-[


How is it weird?  mistranslated katakana or something?  I expect there is a kanji solution to "minus infinity", right?

[EDIT] - stupid me not even seeing that there is kanji in there...
My for Sale / Trade thread
http://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=9423.msg133828#msg133828
大事なのは、オチに至るまでの積み重ねなのです。

manuel

I just looked it up and it is actually a mathematical term.
"Negative infinity"...

So I guess it's correct after all. It just looks so weird to me... Can't explain it.  :-[
Maybe it's because personally I'd have gone with a katakana transcription.

80sFREAK

Quote from: jpx72 on September 12, 2012, 05:17:49 am
PRG: ST M27C801
CHR ROM was replaced by 8KB SRAM: GM76C88AL-15
Notice the same glitch occurs both in Nestopia and real hardware.
What about timing of PRG chip?

I'm with manuel - usually foreign words written in katakana.
I don't buy, sell or trade at moment.
But my question is how hackers at that time were able to hack those games?(c)krzy