Game Hacks

[Debug Mode]

Uh yeah, first thread, and not really sure where to put it, it counts as retro gaming, but not tied just to Nintendo consoles, and the description for 'Other Consoles' would suggest I maybe put it there, but here it goes..

 

Game Hacks

 

I've always been into hacked games, games you already own, personalised for fans with extra content, new story lines, new methods of play etc. I remember back when just after the original Pokemon games were released, I used to be with a group as a hex editor (tough task when your just 10 years old, but I understood what to do ), editing the text for our version of Pokemon Black.

 

After the group gave up through boredom, never really bothered, and havent hacked any games since, but I still have an interest in playing them.

 

Before I go any further, probably best to point out that I'm not endorsing the download of rom's etc, legality differs country to country, UK laws (presumably still) suggest that you must own the original copy if you download anything, though I will provide no method of downloading any roms, patches etc.

 

So yeah, I've played quite alot of Shiny Gold X, the harder version of Shiny Gold, a hack for Pokemon Fire Red which remakes the Gold and Silver games made by a guy at pokecommunity I think? The sheer effort put into it is immense, but of course interest in it has been pushed aside once the Gold and Silver remakes were announced.

 

And lately I've been playing hacks of the Sonic the Hedgehog games from the megadrive and megacd. Notable games I've played include Sonic Megamix, pretty much the majority of the sonic game features into one game, with levels based on Sonic 1, although infuriating bugs exist that could freeze the game, I've played through quite a few times. Another is Robotnik's Revenge, a Sonic 2 hack that includes all 17 boss battles from the first 2 games, rolled out in a time attack fashion across one zone.

 

So, any one else a fan?

[Emasher]

They're normally called mods, not hacks.

[Debug Mode]

They're normally called mods, not hacks.

 

I believe these are hacks, but hey, both have loose definitions and are therefore subjective. A mod to me is a modification to textures and already existent in game data which may have been locked, unlocked. In my days of playing Blue Burst, I always deemed it a mod to change character and field skins. However, when it comes to meddling with the games data and not just external objects that are easily replaced by a new file, I call it a hack, although, this yet again boils down to the hack/mod loose definition, as Hot Coffee from GTA:SA was known as the 'Hot Coffee mod'.

 

These games are however known by the majority as hacks and stay close to the definition of hack: 'To gain access to (a computer file or network) illegally or without authorization'. By gaining access to the file, they are free to implement or remove data, seen in the Robotnik's Revenge, which the hacker took data from the game Sonic 1 but implemented it into Sonic 2, enabling all bosses to be battled in one stage, but also extending the stage which he chose to use, which was the Death Egg zone, which in reality is very short.

 

I'l consider renaming this thread, because determining if my definition is wrong was not contribution to the topic I wished to discuss.

 

edit: Another feat the hacker used in the Robotnik's Revenge is the disabling of the Time Out death which occurred at 9:59, allowing more time to defeat all 17 bosses from the original 2 Sonic games.

Edited February 25, 2010 by Debug Mode

[Patch]

Welcome to the boards. I'm guessing you might be at the forefront of hacking abilities as far as people here are concerned. Changing the text in a game sounds like good fun. Not that I have a dirty mind. Honest.

 

I won't be contributing much to this thread but here's my (very) limited experience in this area anyway:

 

The first computer we got was a Commodore 16. I was fairly young and I really enjoyed making games for it in BASIC. I was more interested in creating my own content from scratch rather than changing existing games. I wouldn't even know where to begin if I did!

 

Later on, as a Speccy owner, there were always lots of 'pokes' listed in the magazines. These were ways of changing a value in the game's machine code to alter the gameplay somehow. For example, increasing the number of lives to 99, or eliminating a time limit. I was a bit intrigued by them, but I didn't use any of them - I think you needed a specialised bit of equipment, but I can't remember the exact details. It's been a long time!

[Debug Mode]

Ay! Gotta love experimenting with values, I used to do the same (kinda) with my Game Genie for Mega drive, the most memorable was my first attempt in altering one of the codes that was successful was Sonic's moon jump in Sonic 2, set the thing so high he jumped and died in the air (my mind was blown as a kid to realise there was no ceiling and acted like a hole in the ground).

 

So envious of my younger self having all that free time..