Bootleg Games Central Forum
Pirate Discussion => Hacker Center => Topic started by: KlondikeFops on August 19, 2024, 01:57:34 PM
-
Hey there! I've recently started to explore Hummer Team's catalog of games, and I learned that Space Shuttle Exploration had a broken Rinco copyright screen hidden in the code, with it being similar to the one seen in that "The Dragon" Bruce Lee game. While the palettes, animations, and sound all work properly, the graphics bank for it seem to have been written over with leftover graphics from Finger DDR. So, I decided to take it upon myself to restore it to its original form. To see it, use the Cheats on FCEUX to edit the value at 0003 to 06 (TCRF seems to have been 1 number off in the former address). If you disable it, it'll fade into the title screen after everything plays out, so it's actually fully functional. Have fun!
And in case you're wondering, those X markers are tiles I couldn't figure out the purpose of. There is Arabic text in the ROM, so maybe it's for that, but I don't know the language.
-
This is really cool! I remember coming across the unused graphics when I was poking around in the ROM with YY-CHR, so it's cool to see it actually properly given a use.
I think my only criticism of this hack is that there is a crudely implemented hack signature in the PPU data, but you have to poke around in the PPU graphics data to see that. Otherwise the hack is fine.
-
There appears to be leftover code for a Ramar copyright on the title screen as well; a section of blanked-out code is a perfect fit for its notation (including having the "99" in 1996 share one code-bit). Download attached.
-
Interesting find! Also, sorry about the hack signature, I felt I needed to put that there as I think there should be some sort of credit so it's not a complete mystery regarding where the hack originated, as I can see how constantly having to attach a README file could get really annoying.
One more thing: How were you able to edit the nametables for the title screen?
-
Here's an odd sidenote: the Racing Challenge 8-in-1 plug & play features a hack of Space Shuttle Exploration labeled "Space Car" in the menu. The title screen is both blanked out and disabled entirely; though data related to the two-player selection is intact, revealing what is almost certainly a Power Joy Ltd. string. I'm assuming this is how the game appeared on the Power Joy Turbo Racer console, though there isn't much I can find to reference it currently. Note that the logo and font here are entirely guesswork (based on similar Power Joy titles), though both are in the correct mapped size.
The files are labeled as "redump needed" to indicate the PRG string not being 100% confirmed as accurate (though the string itself is verifiably present). It could theoretically be like, one or two bytes off in spacing, though it's unlikely. I found the blanked out area by just searching "PLAYER" in the mapped sprite HEX (thus finding the title screen data), then searching for blank areas below it.
-
Here's an updated version I put together that now includes the copyright text on the title screen.
-
Does anyone know if it's possible to edit the ROM to have the copyrights appear on bootup rather than having to use cheats?