Zool 2 and jump controls

[PFG 9000]

Zool 2 always seemed to me like an attractive Jaguar game, but one thing that's held me back from enjoying it is the jumping controls.  Pressing Up on the D-pad makes your character jump (and so does the B button).  No matter how much I try not to, I always find myself hitting Up by accident a few times each playthrough, resulting in accidental jumps and unnecessary damage during platforming segments...which is a significant portion of the game.

 

Would it be possible to patch the ROM to disable the D-pad Up input?  I don't recall Zool 2 ever requiring you to push Up other than for jumping, so I think disabling the Up input altogether would be sufficient.  I don't have the technical know-how to write a patch.  Does anybody else find this feature annoying?  If it's a common complaint, maybe it would be worth it to get it patched out, especially now that the JagGD is becoming easier to obtain.

 

Any thoughts?

[JagChris]

Yes

[Jagosaurus]

Unfortunately it's common with Euro platformers that were on Amiga because that control scheme fit KBM better. Didn't translate well to d pads. Pretty commonly agreed upon.

[doctorclu]

This is something to keep in mind for the controls.

 

Personally I've been trying to look into hacking the game so that is doesn't require 100% of the items to go to the next level (maybe say 30% or something).    I think Zool would be a great platform game to speedrun at that point.   Earlier Zool games did not have the 100% requirement, so something I want to see happen.

 

While I have been half a$$ hacking the game with no success so far, I have not tried the compression software, Pro-Pack, which I've attached, that Imagitec used on Bubsy, possibly Raiden.   If you run the rom through this it will break it down into separate files that you could at least look at.

 

I haven't tried making modifications one of the files and then recompressing the image.   Not sure if Pro-Pack would need you to rename the files to their original file names, or if it could just recompress the files in the order they were given the names Pro-Pack gives them.

 

 

 

PP.DOC PP.EXE

[Kirkman]

I would love to see such a patched version of Zool 2 someday.

[doctorclu]

On 5/6/2021 at 9:45 AM, PFG 9000 said:

Would it be possible to patch the ROM to disable the D-pad Up input?  I don't recall Zool 2 ever requiring you to push Up other than for jumping, so I think disabling the Up input altogether would be sufficient.

 

Could always make a special controller where up is disconnected. 

 

Seriously though, Zool does use up and down for climbing walls.   However, with some work you could track down where the jump action is and remove "up" as on option.

[PFG 9000]

4 hours ago, doctorclu said:

 

Could always make a special controller where up is disconnected. 

 

Seriously though, Zool does use up and down for climbing walls.   However, with some work you could track down where the jump action is and remove "up" as on option.

I was actually thinking about modding a controller like that.  I'm completely inept when it comes to electronics (well, and most other things), but if it's just a matter of finding the right wire and snipping it, I could probably handle that.

 

Thanks for pointing out the wall climbing thing though.  It's been awhile since I played Zool 2, and clearly I've forgotten that.  So I guess massacring my controller isn't an option.  ?

[Bratwurst]

2 minutes ago, PFG 9000 said:

I was actually thinking about modding a controller like that.  I'm completely inept when it comes to electronics (well, and most other things), but if it's just a matter of finding the right wire and snipping it, I could probably handle that.

 

Thanks for pointing out the wall climbing thing though.  It's been awhile since I played Zool 2, and clearly I've forgotten that.  So I guess massacring my controller isn't an option.  ?

Open up the controller, lift away the rubber membrane that goes under the d-pad, place a square piece of tape over the conductive spots for the 'up' direction. Temporary and easily reversed.

[doctorclu]

That actually is a great solution that made the dual action pro controller for the Intellivision possible.  Yep very familiar with that trick.

[Austin]

Yeah I don't know.. I've never had an issue with pressing up in this game accidentally. As in, it never happens for me. Ever. So I'm going to be the snarky one and say, "get gud!".

 

I like the idea of just masking off the contact on the controller itself. Though an issue with getting rid of "up" all together is climbing will be a pain, and if you ever want to navigate the option menu, that might be more cumbersome too.