MathOnNapkins' ASM Hacks

Jul 5, 2008 at 5:14 AM
Lurking in the Shadows
"No! Don't OPEN that DOOR!"
Join Date: May 19, 2008
Location: Indiana
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Age: 41
http://math.arc-nova.org/woot2.zip

diph.php
diph.php
diph.php


The bombs have been finished for all intents and purposes, and thus are ready for testing, if anyone's interested. How do you test? Simple, you play through the game normally and report any problems. Dicking around trying to break the hacks mentioned below would also be productive. (e-mail to MathOnNapkins -At- gmail.com or posting here is fine).

For convenience I'll reprint the readme here:

Quick Q&A

Q: What is this?

A: It's an IPS patch for The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past (U) for the Super Nintendo. It showcases a handful of programming changes to the original game's code

Q: What do I need to use it?

A: You need a Zelda rom in its plain form, not compressed. Typically this is a .smc, .sfc, or .fig, though there could be other extensions I'm unaware of. For patching problems see "Any Known Issues?"

Q: Okay, what might these hacks be?

A:

-The largest change is that Link's bombs (but not the super bomb or the enemies bombs) have been recoded from scratch to use far less CPU time and actually have more functionality now. More on that below.

-Animated (gradient) magic bar that can be toggled on and off via the L button. Some types of transitions automatically turn it off, though. To leave it on all the time, use the PAR cheat code 7E009BE0

-The R button now saves your currently equipped item (if any) to a hidden "slot". If there was previously an item stored in that slot it will bring it out. In this way you can toggle between two items on the fly during gameplay. This also works on the item select screen.

-Link's Magic restores on its own now, at a fairly slow rate.

-The Book of Mudora, when equipped, will restore your magic at a much faster rate, at the cost of having no otherwise useful item equipped.

-The text system has been modified significantly to provide faster output with less delays overall. No more waiting eons just to scroll through a message you've seen a million times already.

-There is no longer a text message that pops up when you try to use an item without enough Magic Points.

-Various other hacks designed to speed up the game's processing so it uses less CPU time

-Lastly, there is another graphical effect but for the time being it is hidden, though you can activate it with a PAR cheat code 7E009BF0 (this will also keep the flashing magic bar hack on at all times). Use it in the desert palace or the desert for optimum effect.

Q: What's with the bombs?

A: The bombs used to be very time intensive for the game engine. It's doubtful anyone will notice this aspect of the hack. (More speed hacks are on the way). The bombs have the following new and changed features:

-Can be thrown in 8 directions now. Throwing on a diagonal requires holding of the Directional pad, however.

-A button picks up a bomb and also puts it down. Note there is no animation for this yet, it will be added soon.

-B button throws the bomb a distance approximately the same as in the original version.

-Y button throws a bomb about 30% farther than with the B button.

-Note that since these are being demoed, you have an infinite number of bombs (as long as you have one to begin with). Bombs also do not damage Link, though they will make him fly back. This is also for the purpose of testing, so you won't die while testing.

Q: Any known issues?

A:
-In BSNES (and the actual console) the flashing magic bar and the item menu do not mix. This is something that will be fixed in the future (because I'm going to totally redo the menu system ;) ). If you're using BSNES just try to avoid leaving the flashing magic bar on.

-If the woot2.ips fails, try using woot2_noheader.ips. Some roms will have a header while others will not. I will not bore you with the gory details.

-Bombs will not sink when falling into water. They also have some issues in the outdoors regarding collision detection with hills. i.e. you cannot throw a bomb from up high down a hill. Easily verified from just outside Link's house. Bombs also do not deactivate when the item menu is down. That will be fixed soon. Pressing A and holding it after picking up a bomb causes Link to go kind of whacko and start running with a bomb in his hands. I'm not really sure how to address that just yet but rest assured it will be fixed.
 
Jul 5, 2008 at 7:46 AM
Lurking in the Shadows
"No! Don't OPEN that DOOR!"
Join Date: Jul 1, 2007
Location: colby KS
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Age: 31
so are these gonna be used in zelda3c?
 
Jul 5, 2008 at 9:15 AM
Lurking in the Shadows
"No! Don't OPEN that DOOR!"
Join Date: May 19, 2008
Location: Indiana
Posts: 0
Age: 41
I talk a lot to Reshaper, so we're usually somewhat aware of what the other is working on. I've got no problem with him using any of these, provided he wants to. These hacks in particular are supposed to be for Dark Prophecy, another hack that's been in development a long time. But they are by no means specific to that hack either. The hacks that are specific to that are not being released for public view.
 
Jul 27, 2008 at 10:36 PM
Lurking in the Shadows
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Join Date: Oct 1, 2006
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I found a bug, if you activate the L trigger's magic meter and save and quit to the title screen... the effect is still on, causing a black shadow in the title screen. probably just a working bug but i wanted to be sure to point it out.
 
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