dwane413 Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 I can't edit my last upload of the ASM and it has a mistake I just noticed. I changed byte $FE41 to $1E for testing and forgot to change it back to $00. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwane413 Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 As far as I can tell, I got all the colors converted. If you notice any I missed, let me know. The scanlines are not right. This is not a proper NTSC hack. It may not really be considered NTSC50 either, but I called it that because it isn't correct for NTSC. This is the ASM and BIN with 291 scanlines line Zoo Fun. That's all I plan to do on it for tonight. Panda_NTSC50_hack.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwane413 Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Here is my latest ASM file. It doesn't change the binary any from what I posted before, but has more comments. Panda.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwane413 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 I've tried to convert Zoo Fun's colors to NTSC. This is like the Panda_NTSC50 file above, but I did this more hurriedly. Let me know if there are any problems. This is the ASM and BIN with 291 scanlines. Zoo_Fun_NTSC50_hack.zip What I said above is also true for this: The scanlines are not right. This is not a proper NTSC hack. It may not really be considered NTSC50 either, but I called it that because it isn't correct for NTSC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thegoldenband Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Excellent, dwane413! I'm in the middle of a project right now but will check these out and report back (and this time will do so before 6+ months have passed!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omegamatrix Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 I worked more on the assembly. Many pointers are now labeled, and lots of things have been shuffled around. I used the colors Dwane posted, and converted them a bit more with guidance from a post by Michael (SeaGtGruff). Current rom runs at 262 lines, but does move up and down still do to some re-positioning. I'm looking for a manual on what the object is. I still don't know! There seems to be pigs that fly, and if the Panda touches them he dies. Isn't a Panda tougher then a pig? They have claws, right? Then there is a dancing stick which seems to be what you want to get to, but you have to be careful when jumping up the ledges. Land on top and you are okay, land left or right and you'll drop. The original game is full of glitches. I'm not sure what the purpose is of the game select, etc... A manual would be helpful! Panda Chase (NTSC).zip 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thegoldenband Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Do Rom Hunter's posts in this thread help at all? It's not a manual, but he gives what would appear to be a workable synopsis of gameplay (in both games). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwane413 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Omegamatrix, I've tried to combine my newest comments with your new ASM file. If I change anything you don't like, feel welcome to undo it. I'm new at this. I added three new variables Timer ($80), Lives ($A7) & CurrentScreen ($C4). I wasn't sure if I should delete the times used after them or not. I thought I probably should have, but left them in case. Panda Chase (NTSC) 2011y06m17d_16h29m.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwane413 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 LF4CD: ldy #$00 ; 2 bne LF4D3 ; 3 never branch! might be a bad bug... I agree this is a bug. I'm replacing it with this: LF4CD: ldy #$00 ; 2 beq LF4D3; was bne LF4D3 ; 3 always branch The purpose of the code from $F4BF to $F4F8 is to put the right info in the RAM that points to the correct sprite according to which screen you are on. It looks this up from the table at $FC06 to $FC17. I think screens 1, 2 & 3 are supposed to each give Y a different value so each screen has a different set of sprites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwane413 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 (edited) In Panda Chase, I don't find anywhere that $CE & $CF are read. They are written to by the routine at $F4E3, which copies the pointers from $FC06,Y (every third byte starting at $FC08). I don't think the data that those pointer point to is ever used. Attached is an ASM where I've taken all that out and replaced it with either NOP or .byte $00. Could someone interested in this project check to see that I've done it right and haven't taken out anything useful. I've added *CHECK* in the comments where it needs checked. Thanks. Panda Chase (NTSC) 2011y06m17d_23h57m.zip Edited June 18, 2011 by dwane413 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 LF4CD: ldy #$00 ; 2 bne LF4D3 ; 3 never branch! might be a bad bug... I agree this is a bug. I'm replacing it with this: LF4CD: ldy #$00 ; 2 beq LF4D3; was bne LF4D3 ; 3 always branch Yes, that's definitely a bug. I suppose this is a left over from the debugging phase (testing the various screens), else the code could have jumped directly to LF4D3 instead of LF4CD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 (edited) Could someone interested in this project check to see that I've done it right and haven't taken out anything useful. I've added *CHECK* in the comments where it needs checked. Thanks. With the NOPs, you commented one INY which is definitely relevant for the 2nd iteration of the loop. Also the old initial values for Y (0,4, do not fit to the changes you did to the table. I suggest not to change the code here. Edited June 18, 2011 by Thomas Jentzsch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwane413 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 (edited) Thanks for looking at it Thomas. Here are the same changes I made last night, but with a little more commenting. I got rid of ram_CE: ram_CB ds 6 ; x9 ; Changed this from ds 3 to ds 6 because I removed CE *CHECK* ;ram_CE ds 3 ; x1 Removed the only place I could find that accessed this *CHECK* Also the old initial values for Y (0,4, do not fit to the changes you did to the table. Sorry I forgot to comment that I changed those values. 0,4,8 are the new values. They had been 0,6,C. I've added comments about it being changed. (By the way, last night before I discovered I needed to change them to 0,4,8, it did act weird.) LF4BF: ldy CurrentScreen ; 3 Get CurrentScreen to determine the enemy & plant sprites beq LF4F9 ; 2³ Branch if Screeen 0 ; has none, so skip this part dey ; 2 beq LF4CD ; 2³ Branch if Screeen 1 ; Bamboo Sticks (FE21) & Animal A (FE42) sprites dey ; 2 beq LF4D1 ; 2³ Branch if Screeen 2 ; Bamboo Sticks (FE21) & Animal B (FE59) sprites ldy #$08 ; 2 Was "ldy #$0C" - Changed after reducing number of pointers at LFC06,Y *CHECK* bne LF4D3 ; 3 always branch - Screeen 3 ; Animal C (FE6E) & Animal A (FE42) sprites LF4CD: ldy #$00 ; 2 Was "ldy #$00" - Change not needed after reducing number of pointers at LFC06,Y *CHECK* beq LF4D3; was bne LF4D3 ; 3 always branch LF4D1: ldy #$04 ; 2 Was "ldy #$06" - Changed after reducing number of pointers at LFC06,Y *CHECK* LF4D3: ldx #$00 ; 2 LF4D5: lda ram_DC ; 3 Check frame counter lsr ; 2 lsr ; 2 lsr ; 2 lsr ; 2 bcc LF4F1 ; 2³ If bit 3 is off branch to use the first frame of sprite iny ; 2 Skip first frame of sprite lda LFC06,Y ; 4 Load pointer to second frame of sprite sta ram_A0,X ; 4 Store in RAM With the NOPs, you commented one INY which is definitely relevant for the 2nd iteration of the loop. Although I might be wrong, I did this intentionally. The relevant INY for the 2nd part of the loop is still there. It's just before "bne LF4D5". The one I commented is for the pointer that I removed. LF4E3: ; iny ; 2 Removed because pointer was removed - It prepared for loading pointer to unknown data *CHECK* ; lda LFC06,Y ; 4 Removed because pointer was removed - Loads pointer to unknown data ; sta ram_CE,X ; 4 Removed because I don't see where $CE & $CF are used NOP ; Unused, moved from above *CHECK* NOP NOP NOP NOP NOP inx ; 2 cpx #$02 ; 2 Have you loaded the pointer to sprite 2 beq LF4F9 ; 2³ If yes, branch out of this iny ; 2 Prepare to load sprite 2 bne LF4D5 ; 2³ LF4F1: lda LFC06,Y ; 4 Load pointer to first frame of sprite sta ram_A0,X ; 4 Store in RAM iny ; 2 Skip second frame of sprite bne LF4E3 ; 2³ Here is where I got rid of the pointers. This info is loaded, but I can't find when it is ever used. The commented INY above was for $FC08, $FC0B, $FC0E, $FC11, $FC14 & $FC17. Since I got rid of those pointers, it needs less "INY"s in the loop above. LFC06: .byte <LFE21 ; $FC06 Bamboo Sticks sprite 1 .byte <LFE2C ; $FC07 Bamboo Sticks sprite 2 ; .byte <LFE37 ; $FC08 Although this pointer is loaded into RAM, that info is never used *CHECK* .byte <LFE42 ; $FC09 Animal A sprite 1 .byte <LFE4A ; $FC0A Animal A sprite 2 ; .byte <LFE51 ; $FC0B Although this pointer is loaded into RAM, that info is never used *CHECK* .byte <LFE21 ; $FC0C Bamboo Sticks sprite 1 .byte <LFE2C ; $FC0D Bamboo Sticks sprite 2 ; .byte <LFE37 ; $FC0E Although this pointer is loaded into RAM, that info is never used *CHECK* .byte <LFE59 ; $FC0F Animal B (?Pig) sprite 1 .byte <LFE60 ; $FC10 Animal B (?Pig) sprite 2 ; .byte <LFE67 ; $FC11 Although this pointer is loaded into RAM, that info is never used *CHECK* .byte <LFE6E ; $FC12 Animal C (green animal) sprite 1 .byte <LFE77 ; $FC13 Animal C (green animal) sprite 2 ; .byte <LFE7F ; $FC14 Although this pointer is loaded into RAM, that info is never used *CHECK* .byte <LFE42 ; $FC15 Animal A sprite 1 .byte <LFE4A ; $FC16 Animal A sprite 2 ; .byte <LFE51 ; $FC17 Although this pointer is loaded into RAM, that info is never used *CHECK* .byte $00 ; Unused, moved from above *CHECK* .byte $00 .byte $00 .byte $00 .byte $00 .byte $00 This morning I added these comments to the part of the code where the data had been. What I posted last night just had the code in the new location with no explanation at the old spot. ;LFE37 to LFE41: Unused data - removed from here and added blank space below *CHECK* ... [code skipped in this post] ... ;LFE51 to LFE58: Unused data - removed from here and added blank space below *CHECK* ... [code skipped in this post] ... ;LFE67 to LFE6D: Unused data - removed from here and added blank space below *CHECK* Here I changed the data that had been after each animal/plant sprite into zeros. I moved all of this after byte $FE7E so they would be together (and so I could see if it caused any problems). What I posted last night had $FE7F to $FE87 (empty) at the bottom of this section, but I thought why move empty data below other empty data. LFE7F: .byte $00 ; Unused data - changed to blank space *CHECK* .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; LFE37: .byte $00 ; Unused - changed to blank space & moved from above *CHECK* .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; LFE51: .byte $00 ; Unused - changed to blank space & moved from above *CHECK* .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; LFE67: .byte $00 ; Unused - changed to blank space & moved from above *CHECK* .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; .byte $00 ; I suggest not to change the code here. If you still think so, I'll take your word on it. I feel privileged to have you looking at my work. Thanks. EDIT: Added current test ASM with the updated comments mentioned above. Nothing is changed but comments. Panda Chase (NTSC) 2011y06m18d_08h03m.zip EDIT2: The reason I found this was because I had been trying to find out what that unknown data was used for. The only reason I brought this up was because I concluded that it was unused. If there's a chance that it might break something, then it is fine to leave it like it was. Edited June 18, 2011 by dwane413 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Man Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 Omega, that works great! A few little problems, but definitely playable. Thanks so much for all your help everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwane413 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Omega, that works great! A few little problems, but definitely playable. I agree. I tried it on real hardware today and was impressed. It's the first version that would work on my tv without rolling. Thanks so much for all your help everyone! Glad I could help out a little. Of course Omegamatrix did the hard part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omegamatrix Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Omegamatrix, I've tried to combine my newest comments with your new ASM file. If I change anything you don't like, feel welcome to undo it. I'm new at this. I added three new variables Timer ($80), Lives ($A7) & CurrentScreen ($C4). I wasn't sure if I should delete the times used after them or not. I thought I probably should have, but left them in case. That's great! I changed the names slightly because the naming convention I like use to begins my variables with lower case so "CurrentScreen" became "currentScreen". I'll use your latest assembly for any further changes. Not too much time to work on it over the next few days though... but there are still a lot of things to fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 (edited) I am playing with the code myself. There is an obvious bug at Lf4cd: ldy #$00 bne Lf4d3 The BNE should be a BEQ. EDIT: But I see you found that one already. Edited June 19, 2011 by Thomas Jentzsch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Man Posted June 22, 2011 Author Share Posted June 22, 2011 So Thomas was kind enough to work up a more stable conversion for Ski Hunt and Ski Run. Thanks again, Thomas! You're the best! Ski Hunt (NTSC by Thomas Jentzsch).bin Ski Run (NTSC by Thomas Jentzsch) V0.05.bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thegoldenband Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 Wonderful! I look forward to checking these out. I'm honored that my thread revive seems to have helped spark all this. At some point we should post a list of all the PAL-NTSC conversions with MD5 signatures, proper credit to the people responsible, and any other notes. One thing I don't know off the top of my head is which conversions made by Atariage members are superior (less screen rolling, better colors, etc.) to "official" NTSC releases, i.e. prototype, pirate cart and/or multicart versions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 At some point we should post a list of all the PAL-NTSC conversions with MD5 signatures, proper credit to the people responsible, and any other notes. Would be nice if that point comes as soon as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omegamatrix Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Bumping an old thread... here is an update to General Retreat, and a I've now made a Westward Ho (NTSC). The update to General Retreat has: - fixed the color of the flashing background. I missed this the first time, and it flashed red-green instead of red-blue - fixed the left side of the house so it was even with the rest of the house (bug from original game) - fixed the ground on the right side of the house so that it was even (bug from original game) General Retreat (rev2) NTSC.bin Westward Ho is essentially Custer's Revenge. So I hacked Custer's Revenge with: - disabled the checksum that prevents hacking in Custer's revenge - changed the logo to the Playaround logo - fixed a ground/mountain on the right hand side so that it was even - added four more scanlines so that it was a even 262 (important for NTSC games) Westward Ho (AKA Custers Revenge) NTSC.bin Have fun!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt_Woloch Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 So... could really every PAL game be converted to NTSC? Are there no PAL games that do game calculations between frames that are so intensive that they can't run on NTSC because there would be not enough time to do all calculations between two frames (NTSC having fewer scanlines)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 So... could really every PAL game be converted to NTSC? Are there no PAL games that do game calculations between frames that are so intensive that they can't run on NTSC because there would be not enough time to do all calculations between two frames (NTSC having fewer scanlines)? You are right, some games written for PAL only were not easy to convert to NTSC. But why worry? You only want to convert NTSC games to PAL. And then it always fits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thegoldenband Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Just throwing a guess out there, but: I'd imagine that classic-era games usually weren't programmed with maximum efficiency, especially the "off-brand" games, so maybe there's more room for people like Thomas to work their magic. However, I know there are a couple homebrews that are PAL-only, and certainly there are demoscene demos that are exclusive to PAL. It wouldn't surprise me if the demos, especially, were essentially impossible to convert without massive rewriting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Man Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 Mr. Jentzsch has come through once again with a completed conversion of Panda Chase! Here are 2 versions: The first is a standard conversion that looks the same as the original PAL version. The second cleans up the animation of the panda a bit. Panda Chase (NTSC by Thomas Jentzsch) V0.90.bin Panda Chase (NTSC by Thomas Jentzsch) V0.92.bin So I guess we're pretty much done with these unless someone can finish converting Words-Attack. Thanks again everyone for all of your help with these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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