I found a way to enable strafing on the right D-Pad as well. I also added it to the Level-Editor. I hope everyone is happy now!!!!!!! I added a screenshot as a proof.
There were several request about how exactly I hack the controls so here is a brief explanation:
The game copies the low and high byte of the input controls to 0x500926d. Note that the ‘Always 1’ will be set to 0 during the copy process. It took a while for me to figure this out but in the end you can see it if you add a read-breakpoint at 0x02000014 (Game Pad Input High) and look what happens with the loaded value.
If you want to change the input controls you can simply add a read-breakpoint to 0x500926d and check what happens when playing a level. There is a piece of code for every input control and the value is loaded every time. So you can just go ahead and jump from breakpoint to breakpoint to see the code for the respective input controls.
The game usually loads the value to r10. After that it performs an “andi” with some value on r10. This is done to exclude certain buttons from the following check. After that there will be a “movea” which loads the compare value to r1. To find a specific control you can just look at this. The button combination for the debug menu is for example 0x303C. After that there will be a “cmp” that compares r1 and r10. The compare condition then jumps to the respective code if the correct buttons had been pressed or otherwise to the next check for input controls.
I hacked the controls by manipulating these jumps. Meaning if left on left d-pad (0x200) is detected I don’t jump to the original code but to the code that is executed if left on both D-Pads (0x4200) is detected.
Finally, here are the positions where the code for the controversial movement controls can be found:
Strafe Left (0x4200): 0xfff0d888
Strafe Right (0x180): 0xfff0d958
Left D-Pad Left (0x200): 0xfff0d8b8
Left D-Pad Right (0x100): 0xfff0d988
Right D-Pad Left (0x4000): 0xfff0d8d0
Right D-Pad Right (0x80): 0xfff0d9a0
I didn’t check if there is another hidden button-combination that triggers anything. But know that everyone knows how to check I also don’t have to.
Attachments:
I made my final changes to the level-editor. Unless I find some Bug this will be the final version. There are some nice-to-have features left I could implement but I will make a cut here. (Wait for applause to stop)
Furthermore, I made my final changes to the ROM (just missing the new levels). I never liked how my Faceball Logo looked like. I didn’t want to change it though because converting a bitmap, copy it to the ROM, make sure everything is loaded correct and fine-tune the window parameters is allot boring work.
However, Morintari contacted me and told me that he could provide my with the original logo. Apparently, he already had a 3D model which he could use to generate a pretty cool looking Faceball logo. Honorable mention goes to RunnerPack who fine-tuned the result. Obviously, I have already put you guys in the credits.
Just as a side-note between us: Usually you have to pay for artwork like this or agree on a restrictive license. Morintari gave away his work for free without any restrictions though. It is really great to see people supporting a project like this just because they like what is happening.
With this awesome new logo image in my hands I had no chance but to code it into the ROM (I was faster then I thought).
I attached a screenshot of the result. I think it looks a 1000 times better then my initial try. A video will follow soon.
