Stage Select Screen Swap Secrets (N64 Gameshark Pro)

[novakain]

They have arrived.

First off, I'd like to dedicate these codes (except for the stage modifiers obviously, those have been around for ages) to my grandma, who unexpectedly passed away a week ago (1/20/14). Although I don't think Grandma would have much cared about these codes, and would definitely say I have been wasting my time, this has been my distraction this past week. There's always a silver lining.

On a far more uplifting note, I have developed simple codes that enable anyone with a SSB64 cartridge and a compatible Gameshark to customize the Stage Select Screen. This includes logos, names, and even the stage preview in bottom left corner. The background textures at the top of the screen, the stage preview camera zoom, and also the logo positions, are a work in progress and I will update when I have those. So without further ado (Sorry for using a linked file, but apparently tab delimiting isn't a thing here):

Stage Select Customization Codes.txt

Some explanation is needed. I mentioned in my previous thread that the address (It might not be the actual address, but for our purposes it might as well be) of every texture that game loads passes through 043BC2 (4 bytes). Turns out these addresses are composed of two parts, a type identifier, which represents the type of texture being loaded, and an offset to specify what actual texture should be selected. For example, the name identifier on the stage select screen is 0x8015B930, and the offset for the "Congo Jungle" name image, as you can see from the text file, is 0x00000678. Adding these two values provides you with the absolute address of the "Congo Jungle" text image, 0x8015BFA8. Why is this useful? Because it allows you swap any image with any image. I could replace the Triforce with the "Mushroom Kingdom" name image if I wanted to. Just take the absolute address of the "Mushroom Kingdom" name image (0x8015B930+0x13F8=0x8015CD28), and subtract the logo identifier, 0x801574E0. 0x8015CD28-0x801574E0=0x00005848, so 5848 is what you should enter in for LLLL in the code. If the number is larger than 2 bytes, you have to tweak the code, because it only modifies the two least significant bytes.

I mentioned that I'm working on codes for the stage background textures at the top of the screen, as well as the positions for the logos, but what I'd really like to be able to do is use the SSB logo (which is also the Fighting Polygon character logo) on Battlefield, and the Metal Mario character logo on Metal Cavern. If someone could find the absolute addresses of those two images that would be cool.

That pretty much wraps it up. Keep in mind this is a work in progress, so if you're not quite satisfied just stay tuned.

 

[tehz]

I played with these codes all last night, and I have to say you've done an amazing job! I always thought that it'd be practically impossible to replace textures in 64, but you did it in two lines of GS code. I can't wait until you find addresses/codes for the other remaining parameters on the stage select screen! Seeing a tiny Metal Cavern when replacing Mushroom Kingdom or a giant Hyrule when replacing Dreamland is kinda funny, though.

I noticed a couple of things were off when I was testing the codes yesterday (like Mushroom Kingdom's preview address is 0x2 off of what it should be, and that address is really Hyrule's preview, and no names with a value >= Hyrule Castle show up on Peach's Castle). I want to test everything first on PJ64kve, PJ64 1.6, and GS (3.2) before saying anything definite, though.

I tried to find the Metal Mario and Polygon logos, but I had no luck (also, I'm not particularly skilled at game hacking). I did run into Captain Falcon's logo and Ness' logo, both of which seem to work fine on the stage select screen (centering aside).

 

[SSJ Kirby]

These work perfectly. I've been looking for something like this for quite awhile. Now if only instead of swapping we could add the stages individual from the others.

 

[rpotts]

Would it be possible to get enough codes together at the same time to have a stage select screen that has Battlefield, Final Destination and Metal Cavern replace Zebes, Sector Z and MK and have no Tornados on Hyrule, no wind on DL, no Pokemon on Saffron and no clouds on Yoshi's Island? Cause that would basically be the perfect stagelist and you could actually use Random.

 

[Cobrevolution]

**** all 3 special stages. especially FD. some matchups would become 450:-27.

 

[Annex]

Yoshi's is cloudless in single player. That'd probably make it easier to code for, yeah?
Also Samus/DK BtT looks fun as hell for multiplayer (but not tourney legal obv.)

 

[MattNF]

no Tornados on Hyrule, no wind on DL, no Pokemon on Saffron and no clouds on Yoshi's Island? Cause that would basically be the perfect stagelist and you could actually use Random.

Those codes already exist, but they cause desync.

 

[tehz]

You can't put FD into VS mode, for whatever reason. People far more talented at this stuff than me have tried with no success. It might be easier just to remove the platforms from/make the ground solid in Kirby Beta 1. The stages' sizes actually feel pretty similar. (Also, I agree with cobr that FD sucks in 64. I don't know how you can be mad at BF, though)

Compiling all of those other codes wouldn't be too hard. I'd probably add a default to 5 stock/8 min/no items/team attack on code too. Right now, I don't think Random will pick changed stages, but it shouldn't be too hard to look into. I'd love to make a Random replace code that would add in all of the available VS mode stages (minus Race to the Finish ofc) to make it really fun.

 

[rpotts]

Those codes already exist, but they cause desync.

I'm talking about for use on console with a physical gameshark.

 

[SSJ Kirby]

You can't put FD into VS mode, for whatever reason. People far more talented at this stuff than me have tried with no success. It might be easier just to remove the platforms from/make the ground solid in Kirby Beta 1. The stages' sizes actually feel pretty similar. (Also, I agree with cobr that FD sucks in 64. I don't know how you can be mad at BF, though)

You can actually. It's just that the background is based off of Master Hand's HP. I'm sure things would work so long as a third player spectated as Master Hand or something. Then there's always the fact it works in single player when redirecting the CPU to a human of whatever character. Personally I find 64's FD to be the coolest of the three, with easily the best music.

 

[tehz]

If it's only something to do with Master Hand's HP, it should be pretty easy to test out, and if it works, nop out. Something to try when I get home! Thanks for the info.

Also, FD64 definitely has the coolest stage design by far.

 

[SSJ Kirby]

I think there's a few other variables that play into it (considering that test just failed miserably), but that's a big one. In fact it seems to be quite a number of things having to do with Master Hand, including some sort of a restriction based on 1P alone. Redirecting the VS stage select to 1P seems to be the best bet. Although that can't be done with simple GS codes, much as doing what Toad's Tool does to Super Mario 64 can't.

 

[Madao]

Would it be possible to get enough codes together at the same time to have a stage select screen that has Battlefield, Final Destination and Metal Cavern replace Zebes, Sector Z and MK and have no Tornados on Hyrule, no wind on DL, no Pokemon on Saffron and no clouds on Yoshi's Island? Cause that would basically be the perfect stagelist and you could actually use Random.

For no wind/ tornado the code is 80131410 0011 . I guess I forgot to add it to my thread so I just added it. Yoshi w/ no clouds is just a different stage, so that one's easy to do. Idk what you can do about FD though. I also don't know how to disable pokemon in Saffron.

 

[MattNF]

FD is a fully playable stage in versus, I've played people online before on it. I don't know the codes however. It's actually kind of a bad map to play on

 

[TheCreepyLink]

Am I seriously the only person that went as far as disassembling the game and adding assets of my own in this, am I really the only one that's fondled with MIPS architecture? That's sad and pathetic, that after all these years I'm the only one that's ever ported Melee's characters and stages to N64. Maybe I'll dig up my old computer to get it the files and share it later on. I just can't fathom why people are so incompetent.

 

[SSJ Kirby]

Well I made some progress... :\

Edit: I added Bowser in the Dark World and Thwomp as a beta stage/character.

 

[Madao]

Am I seriously the only person that went as far as disassembling the game and adding assets of my own in this, am I really the only one that's fondled with MIPS architecture? That's sad and pathetic, that after all these years I'm the only one that's ever ported Melee's characters and stages to N64. Maybe I'll dig up my old computer to get it the files and share it later on. I just can't fathom why people are so incompetent.

I'm mirin your accomplishments!

[collapse=]LOL Obvious troll is obvious![/collapse]

 

[TheCreepyLink]

I'm mirin your accomplishments!

[collapse=]LOL Obvious troll is obvious![/collapse]

You won't get anywhere patronizing people that have achieved such feats.
[collapse=]Congratz, I''m no longer willing to release any of my work.[/collapse]

 

[tehz]

Well I made some progress... :\

Good work! Did you find that FD preview in the game, or is it a glide texture replace?

 

[SSJ Kirby]

I actually replaced the model itself, not so much the same as just swapping it.

 

[THE_MAAFIA]

Well I made some progress... :\

Edit: I added Bowser in the Dark World and Thwomp as a beta stage/character.

Woah, great work!!! Can you possibly post a vid on thwomp? I'm really interested in your work!

 

[DoctorDalek]

These codes are awesome. Now I can finally enjoy some more stages. Me and friends have been playing pretty much nothing but Hyrule for two years. You might want to add the HTP stage. I only know the stage code is 000B. There's also Yoshi's Island with no clouds with 000C. Maybe some digging around can find the previews? Though I don't think the YI preview matters much.

Having a bit of an issue with the Metal Mario preview. I'll have to try it again but it hasn't worked in the past for me. Otherwise keep up the awesome work

Oh and if someone was looking for no Pokemon in Saffron it's
8113140C 0000
8113140E 0002

Also the code for no wind/tornado (80131410 0011) didn't work for me. I've seen other versions like 80131410 0001 and 80131410 0000 but only one of those can be activated, and if say wind is disabled, tornadoes in Hyrule are everywhere and glitch out.

Lastly I think we should look into Zebes a bit more. I've got the code 81131404 0000 enabled right now that keeps the Lava from rising. If we could get the lava to do something like 999% damage it could kinda be a fake death pit and it might actually make the stage worth something.

Hey look another edit. Found a couple more previews:
0100 - Kirby Beta 1 (which I just noticed is already in the doc. DOH. Though this is the lowest it will go before the emu crashes)
010E - Yoshi's Island (No Clouds)

YI's preview isn't much different. It's just a little bit zoomed out. Still can't find HTP or Beta 2 or any other stage. I tried all the way up to 0123, no luck.

 

[tehz]

Yeah I have a bunch of addresses dealing with the SSS that I need to type up nicely and share here. I don't think that there are anymore stage previews than what he had found originally (00FF - 010D) + Cloudless Yoshi (010E).[Oddly enough, the normal preview for Yoshi's Island is cloudless even though it uses the clouded address].

Beta 2 should be in his text file. I've used it before. I don't think HtP has a preview. Maybe ask SSJ Kirby about how he got an FD preview, although it sounded like he got it through non-gameshark means. He seems to be way more competent at this stuff than me.

Anyways, here's what I have so far

• Texture Replace for the 8 Stage Icons/Buttons/whatever they're called (but not for random... random is weird and doesn't work for most of these codes)
  • The buttons on the top half of the screen; whatever they're called lol. Thanks to @ N novakain 's amazing file replace insight, you can replace these with any other texture on the screen (except for the stage preview backgrounds. the sector Z training mode preview background would be top tier ): ): ): )
  • Can move stages around [although, there is odd cursor position when coming back to the SSS from CSS; UI problem only, though]
  • Can position and crop (useful for replacing a stage button with a character logo, for instance)
• Stage Logo and Name
  • Most of these codes were already found by novakin. I just cleaned them up and made sure that they were correct
  • You can put in the stage previews for the logo/name using novakin's texture replace method lololol.
  • Found and can change position (X and Y) for both logo and name on per stage basis
  • Can change scaling for logo
  • Found C.Falcon, Ness, ? [Random Logo], and Cursor Box [the red box on SSS] images
• Cursor
  • As mentioned, I found this texture, so you can replace it
  • Can change the color of the cursor [RRGGBB]
  • Pink Falcon logo = best cursor
  • Can change cursor's active X,Y position, but it resets on moving the cursor. Would have to look into the ASM to see if it's a function that's adding/substraction X,Y or if the X,Y for each stage icon is in memory and the function is reading that [probably the later]
• Stage Preview
  • I couldn't find anymore than Yoshi Story Cloudless ):
  • Found magnification for each stage preview. Makes replacing SectorZ or MK much much better
  • X,Y of each preview
  • Active Preview Function
    • These only affect the active preview. Their location (like any of the other things I've called "active") in memory moves based on the preview (some previews are bigger than others, I guess).
    • Camera X,Y,Z
    • Oscillation period and amplitude
    • Each individual polygon can be changed (size, location, etc..)
• Random
  • Can change random to select from any number of stages (by feeding RNG a different starting number and/or modifying the output of the RNG)
  • Random is really weird and to really replace this button you'd need someone who's way better at MIPS dissassembly than I am. Random has like its own separate loops and branches for every single SSS function I've looked into

Yeah, that's a lot. You can make a nice SSS with the codes, though the amount adds up quickly. I wish we could change things on the ROM (although I haven't looked too much into where on the ROM these memory values/ASM comes from). Eventually I want to make a website where you can just change what you want graphically and have JS output the proper Gameshark codes. One day (probably after I port them to the VC version where you can mess around with the ROM!)

 

[rjgbadger]

Am I seriously the only person that went as far as disassembling the game and adding assets of my own in this, am I really the only one that's fondled with MIPS architecture? That's sad and pathetic, that after all these years I'm the only one that's ever ported Melee's characters and stages to N64. Maybe I'll dig up my old computer to get it the files and share it later on. I just can't fathom why people are so incompetent.

We can all be the coolest kid in the room. Please shine upon us some light and give us more characters and stages つ ◕_◕ ༽つ

 

[rawrimamonster]

We can all be the coolest kid in the room. Please shine upon us some light and give us more characters and stages つ ◕_◕ ༽つ

Dont reply to obvious bait. Just report and move on, damn.

 

[novakain]

Hey guys, long time no login.

Sorry for not updating at all; I've been pretty swamped with schoolwork since I uploaded these codes. Fortunately you guys have really picked up the slack, and I'm especially thrilled to see that @ tehz found the codes for stage magnification etc. (put em up!). SSJ's work also looks cool as well, although it seems like that is a ROM hack and not something that can be replicated on the actual game.

Part of the reason I stopped working on this for awhile is due to the difficulty in replacing the stage backgrounds at the top of the screen. My initial analysis of how textures work was only partially correct; the codes I uploaded work by switching around the temporary pointers to textures that have been loaded from what I suspect is read-only data. Basically this means that this method is mostly limited to on-screen textures, because the game doesn't load more textures than it needs to. So switching the Peach's Castle background with the Dream Land background is easy, because they've both been loaded, but if you want to replace it with the Battlefield background you will need a more advanced method. In other words, you need to change the texture that is loaded.

This is what I have focused my efforts on recently. The ability to change any texture that is loaded, which really equates to changing a pointer to the read-only data, depends on the exact method the game uses to load it. There are a couple possibilities, but from what I've seen it seems the game loads "texture packs". Basically it clumps textures that are used at the same time together in the read-only data, then follows a pointer to the beginning of that data and just rattles them off one by one. Actually I think it's a little more complicated because there is other data mixed in there (e.g. polygon location) but it seems this is the basic outline.

So in order to change one specific texture, you would have to change the pointer right before it accesses that texture, and then switch it back when it is done. A few other things would probably have to be adjusted as well, especially if the textures aren't the same size. What is unclear to me is whether the Gameshark is even capable of this (I really know very little about how the gameshark works and what it's limitations are). Any input on N64 GS structure or N64 cartridge structure (maybe @ SSJ Kirby knows something) would be highly appreciated.

If the GS is unable to do this, the other option is to hope that the texture data is in fact not read-only memory and try to rewrite the pixels individually. The advantage to this method would of course be needing the GS only once, and creating a permanent, physical mod.

Finally, to prove that I'm not just blowing smoke, I've included a text file that shows how the address 1344EE (Congo Jungle stage preview) affects the individual pixels of loaded textures. This was done by creating a trace beginning the moment this address was accessed with Cheat Engine, then analyzing the trace file with a C++ program I wrote. In this file, 1344EE equates to A1FF74, and anything beginning with AB is specific texture data, like a pixel. Low address are shifted up by 8EBA80. Also the text file is very large, so make sure whatever text editor/computer you are using can handle it (also 8-space tabs are required!). I use NotePad++ on Windows as NotePad doesn't get the job done. If anyone has any question about the file or wants the mediocre analysis program I wrote just ask.

Hopefully we can keep making progress, and sorry for TLDRness.

 

[Madao]

I've been pretty busy myself these days. Still I manage to spend some time on productive hobbies.

Anyway, idk if you already know this, but gameshark has activator codes. So you can make a code check a value in memory and activate a code based on whether that value you checked equals a value. Here's a good link for anyone who wants to learn more about gameshark http://www.bsfree.org/hack/hacking_n64.html#activators_other .

I'm actually quite curious about your analysis program. Also what emulator do you use for testing?

 

[novakain]

@ Madao I have heard of activator codes, and I think the codelist I put up uses them. I'm sure they'll be needed to get this to work. I've also read someting online about uncached memory codes (they begin with A0 instead of 80) but idk what uncached means. It seems promising at least.

As for the emulator, I mostly use Mupen RR because of the frame by frame input, but I use Project 64 if I want to test a cheat. Both emulators I use in conjunction with Cheat Engine, which is a really incredible piece of software. The analysis program I wrote only applies to Cheat Engine trace files so if you or anyone else wants to make use of it keep that in mind. I can post it if you'd like.

 

[tehz]

Here's my messy text file that has all of the minor positioning details for the little stage series icon and the stage preview x/y position and magnification. Eventually, I'll clean this up and add some actual instructions on how to use this info (and maybe even make that website), but for now if you have any questions, feel free to ask. All values are floats, so you'll need a float to hex converter. Some of the magnifications take up 8 bytes, so you'd need to put in two 81 codes (and I guess two activators since this GS code engine isn't very good).

My other codes are all hidden away in some unholy combination of cheat engine tables, nemu bookmarks, and misc text files all helpfully named working.txt haha. Maybe this weekend I'll do some clean up and post more then

 

[Madao]

Lol even I've never used nemu bookmarks. Can you explain what they do?

I should update my cheat engine table soon. I've deleted uncommon stuff and added a few variables like combo counter.

 

[KnitePhox]

Gameshark and ****, awe yeah. Tiem to test on CONSOLE. The ULTIMATE TEST

 

[tehz]

Most of them should work on console. Note that some of novakain's original info is slightly off. I've attached my edited version of his work. I think everything is correct? I know the stage preview change, name change, and logo change work on gs 3.2 (at least on mine).

Lol even I've never used nemu bookmarks. Can you explain what they do?

They just let you save a memory address with a short description. Then, you can select that bookmark to quickly go to that area in memory. Also, when you look at the debugger, your bookmarks' descriptions will be visible on the side (so you can easily remember what the hell "lwi t0 0x000009" is). The interface is a little weird, but that sums up nemu in general.

 

[novakain]

UPDATE

So it's been a little while, but I didn't want to bump this without some meaningful progress. Fortunately I have made lots of that. I've mostly switched to using Nemu, and I can write ASM routines now which really opens up the possibilities.

I have a lot more insight into how the whole image loading process works now. Textures, which are loaded from the cartridge ROM to console RAM, are in compressed format and are transferred to the RAM via DMA (direct memory access). DMA loads data very quickly, and is fairly simple to use now that I've got a handle on it, but the actual DMA routine in the RAM was a huge pain to track down. The main processor (CPU) can't actually do DMA, it can only instruct the other processor (RCP) to do it, and because of this the CPU is not aware of any memory being changed and will not trigger a breakpoint. Now that I found it, I can load any image from the ROM whenever I need to, but there are still some problems:

1. Finding the actual locations of specific textures in the RAM continues to be a difficult process. Up to this point, I've mostly relied on brute force and luck, but the other day I developed a nifty little tool to search for textures in the RAM. Large, high-color textures use the 16-bit RGBA color format, which basically means that there 16 bits used to represent each pixel: 0-4 is the intensity of the red component, 5-9 is green, 10-14 is blue, and bit 15 is the alpha bit. Normally alpha represents transparency, but with just 1 bit it's basically a visible/invisible trigger. Now, detailed images like the Planet Zebes background have all their pixels visible, which means the alpha bit for every pixel is 1. This has the effect of making every halfword in the texture data an odd number. So, I wrote a little ASM routine that searches for blocks of odd halfwords that within a specified range of lengths. Looking at the screen provides a rough estimate of the size of the image, so this method is pretty effective. However, it really only works on large images that use this color format. Most textures (e.g. the character logos) use a different color format and have transparent pixels, so this won't work for those.

2. So, let's say I want to replace the background image of Planet Zebes on the Stage Select Screen (the small one up at the top) with the Metal Cavern background. Unfortunately, the Metal Cavern background texture doesn't exist in that size. This wouldn't be a problem if I could scale the image, but so far I haven't been able to do so. I can scale the simpler logo and name textures by changing a couple floating point numbers, but adjusting those same numbers has no effect for the high-color textures. I don't know why this is, but it's frustrating, because images of this type definitely do change size at some points (play a match on any stage and the background will expand and shrink a bit as you play). I've had difficulty finding information about even the basics of how graphics work on the N64, so I don't even really know what to look for.

However, I could always just write my own scaling routine. There's more than enough space in the RAM to load the bigger image, and then scale it down to proper size and write it over the Planet Zebes texture. I'd be willing to do this, and could finish it quite soon, but it would result in about 100-200 gameshark codes after all's said and done, which is a lot to type in. Is this going to be an issue for people? It's possible to copy codes from the computer if you have the right cable, but I bet not many people have that (I sure don't). If anyone knows of other possibilities to scale images, I'd love to know, but otherwise I'll just go ahead and do it the hard way. The good news is this is the homestretch and a full SSS mod is not far off.

TLDR can't scale certain types of images because satan, WW2, the yankees, etc. Debating whether to write scaling code or keep looking for simpler way

 

[THE_MAAFIA]

Is it possible to create new spots to add stages? I'm very curious. If you can replace stages, any possible way to add stages to the stage select?

 

[novakain]

Is it possible to create new spots to add stages? I'm very curious. If you can replace stages, any possible way to add stages to the stage select?

Yeah definitely. I think's that probably where this is going to end up when all's said and done.

 

[THE_MAAFIA]

Yeah definitely. I think's that probably where this is going to end up when all's said and done.

That is just AWESOME!!! :D

 

[dpw]

Yeah definitely. I think's that probably where this is going to end up when all's said and done.

Any news on this?

 

[SSJ Kirby]

Woah, great work!!! Can you possibly post a vid on thwomp? I'm really interested in your work!

I forgot this forum existed. I might still have that project somewhere in the **** encrusted bowels of my harddrive. The model was swapped, but the physics pretty much acted the same. I think it was Mario I used as the dummy, so watching thwomp spit fireballs was pretty awkward, 'specially since I ****ed up the hitboxes, which somehow skewered the polygons at the time. Before I got frustrated and moved onto other financially beneficial things that weren't related to Smash, I recall at least tweaking the jump a bit, replacing Mario's weight with Metal Mario's, replacing the sounds with the only two thwomp sound files I had and really making a mess of his down b.

At least injecting stages was incredibly easy, albeit just as easy to corrupt the wrong thing, destroying your project forever unless you made a backup.

 

[Kahnu]

I forgot this forum existed. I might still have that project somewhere in the **** encrusted bowels of my harddrive. The model was swapped, but the physics pretty much acted the same. I think it was Mario I used as the dummy, so watching thwomp spit fireballs was pretty awkward, 'specially since I ****ed up the hitboxes, which somehow skewered the polygons at the time. Before I got frustrated and moved onto other financially beneficial things that weren't related to Smash, I recall at least tweaking the jump a bit, replacing Mario's weight with Metal Mario's, replacing the sounds with the only two thwomp sound files I had and really making a mess of his down b.

At least injecting stages was incredibly easy, albeit just as easy to corrupt the wrong thing, destroying your project forever unless you made a backup.

why are you trolling us

******

do you even know how hard it is to FIND a ****ing model in the ROM?
toads tool isn't even ****ing compatible with the game
You do realize SM64 AND SSB ARE COMPRESSED IN TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT FORMATS?
MY GOD HOW MANY PEOPLE FELL FOR YOUR BULL****.
Please stop trolling.
You'd have to go through so much work to change textures and hitboxes that its crazy.
HAVE YOU EVEN DECOMPRESSED THE ****ING GAME YET?
OR NAH, TOAD CRAP 64 DUS IT 4 U?
OH AND YOU REALLLYYYY CHANGED THE ****ING SOUNDS?
RIGHT.
gtfo.



-die

 

[SSJ Kirby]

I'm not trolling though. My understanding isn't limited to Toad's Tool is all.

You mean I'm a ****ing genius for overcoming the hardships of an F tier character. Are you mad that perhaps, I am the Kirbs? The one true incarnation that is meant to anger all Kirby detractors?

-Kirby is love, Kirby is life.