Flashback Portable: Needed Controller Hacks

[doctorclu]

Does that same happen for the Kool Aid Man Hack that fixed the glitch when Stella was a young'un?

 

That controls work with that hack. Don't know what is going on but the character moves all directions.

 

(Adding that to the compatibility list.) OH YEAH!!

[Nukey Shay]

It was one of the tougher issues for Stella to emulate. Not surprising the portable has problems with it.

 

BTW how does the Star Raiders prototype fare in the production model? Pushed downward as well?

 

http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/starraiders/strr.htm

StarRaiders(Prototype).zip

Edited January 4, 2017 by Nukey Shay

[doctorclu]

Just tried it out, the effect is the same. On the pre-production model you see about 2/3rd of the control bar on the bottom. On the production bar you don't see the control bar. (Just like the other version we've been playing.)

 

BTW, thanks for switching the controls over on the prototype model. Will make a good casual shooter without having to warp around.

[KevinMos3]

I tried both Kool Aid Man ROMs listed here at AA (NTSC & PAL) and both are not playable on my "Production" model. Yes, you have to hit the game reset button to start the game on real hardware, but if you hit the reset button on the portable, it goes to the Kool Aid Man crashing into the wall scene. Once the game starts, Kool Aid Man is stuck in the upper left hand corner and is not playable.

 

Kevin, is yours a "Pre-Production" model? Maybe that's why it works on yours?

 

No, mine is a production model, but with the screen swapped out from a Genesis portable. It looks to me like the same screen was used in the Genesis portable as in the pre-production Atari portables, and yes, the screens are interchangeable (as mine demonstrates). However, I have the same screen migration issues with the larger screen as with the smaller production screen. We need someone who has both models to compare the PCBs, as I suspect they were changed. It could be a software change, but I'm guessing there's a hardware change that if we can spot, perhaps we can modify to be like the pre-production models for better compatibility.

 

 

Does that same happen for the Kool Aid Man Hack that fixed the glitch when Stella was a young'un?

 

I just ran a compare of that hack with the ROM that was on my SD card, and they are the same. I may have unknowingly picked up that ROM in the past, but I could have sworn it was the one from the ROM pack uploaded by DoctorClu in the other Flashback Portable thread. Anyway, that ROM works.

[Nukey Shay]

BTW, thanks for switching the controls over on the prototype model.

The prototype ROM was not altered. It doesn't do multiple checks of SWCHA...so no gripes from the portable's Dpad. No clue why the programmer intentionally made the routine worse for the release version :-/

[Asaki]

Weird about the screen issues...I was playing yesterday and noticed some games are kind of bad. The title screens for Winter and Summer Games are really low, and they bounce around a bit...seems like they get better once the game starts, though.

 

Does that same happen for the Kool Aid Man Hack that fixed the glitch when Stella was a young'un?

Were there other hacks like that? Might come in handy.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Asaki

[Nukey Shay]

Before I go moving stuff around, maybe just replacing the sync with a more-generic version? Any change here?

StarRaiders(NoKeypad).bin

[doctorclu]

Amazing!

 

Pre-Production:

 

 

Production:

 

 

Nice work! What did you do?

[Nukey Shay]

Remembering what was said in early emulation...what works there doesn't necessarily work on real hardware (i.e. you must unlearn). BTW that one probably won't work on an actual console.

[Nukey Shay]

It's vblank. For whatever reason, the portable doesn't like it.

[KevinMos3]

That's awesome. Do you think the same/similar thing could help other games with that issue, like Tapper, Enduro, etc.?

[Nukey Shay]

Yup...if that's the only issue (there were two here).

[doctorclu]

Remembering what was said in early emulation...what works there doesn't necessarily work on real hardware (i.e. you must unlearn). BTW that one probably won't work on an actual console.

 

It's vblank. For whatever reason, the portable doesn't like it.

 

You were thinking it was the vblank I remember that from earlier. If you don't mind, did you have to adjust the vblank or just substitute other code to do what the vblank would do?

 

That's awesome. Do you think the same/similar thing could help other games with that issue, like Tapper, Enduro, etc.?

 

Yup...if that's the only issue (there were two here).

 

Poor Tapper, was playing that last night. You can see the heads of the people on the bottom bar but that's about it. I played the game anyway since Tapper is fun, but just hoped no one on the lower bar sent back a mug.

[Nukey Shay]

The hack is setting/clearing VSYNC in one go -without- VBLANK being used at all.

 

;original game:
;LF159:
;       ldx    INTIM ;4
;       bne    LF159 ;2
;LF15E:
;       dex          ;2
;       lda    #$38  ;2
;       sta    WSYNC ;3
;       stx    VBLANK;3
;       stx    VSYNC ;3
;       sta    TIM64T;4
;hack:
LF159:
       ldy    INTIM ;4
       bne    LF159 ;2
LF15E:
       ldx    #$02  ;2
       lda    #$38  ;2
       sta    WSYNC ;3
       stx    VSYNC ;3
       sta    WSYNC ;3
       sta    WSYNC ;3
       sta    WSYNC ;3
       sty    VSYNC ;3
       sta    TIM64T;4

LF1BB:
       ldx    #$00  ;2
;3 removed instructions...
;       sta    WSYNC ;3
;       stx    VBLANK;3
;       stx    VSYNC ;3

This put the scanline count at 265, so I bumped the timer value down a little to get back to 262.

[Nukey Shay]

try it

Tapper(NoVBLANK).bin

[doctorclu]

Much better. Definitely better than what it was. If I had to be critical I say the display could be lowered just a tad to show the 1/3rd portion of the score missing at the top.

 

[+LS650]

I'll have to check this out when I get home tonight...

[Nukey Shay]

Sho'nuf. Regular and Alex_79's beer versions. Might need to start labeling these as "portable" as skipping VBLANK will cause rolling problems on televisions.

Tapper(Portable).bin

BudTapper(Portable).bin

[doctorclu]

Bud-Tapper

 

Tapper

 

Looks like you nailed it. So was that just an adjustment of the scan-line?

[xybot67]

Thanks Nukey, I was so disappointed with the original rom not being playable.

[atarifan88]

Can anyone tell me if Defender 2 fixable?

[+LS650]

Just tried out 'Tapper' - it works great now on my AFP.

 

Thanks!

[Nukey Shay]

Can anyone tell me if Defender 2 fixable?

I don't know. Defender 2/Stargate has added RAM. If an original game is hacked, an emulator would not be able to identify it. Does the portable allow you to update a game profile to select the banking method used?

[iesposta]

What is incorrect with Stargate? I saw it boot and play, You wouldn't be able to use joystick 2 for its options without hacking to color, etc...

Bob DeCrecenzo's Stargate to Defender de-make doesn't boot at all..

[atarifan88]

I don't know. Defender 2/Stargate has added RAM. If an original game is hacked, an emulator would not be able to identify it. Does the portable allow you to update a game profile to select the banking method used?

I don't think so. The game itself works but I was just looking to see if there was a way you could remap the smart bomb button from the player two fire to a difficulty or b&w switch within the game code itself?

Edited January 7, 2017 by atarifan88