Messages

1

EverDrive 64 / Re: Trying to find MM (U) [f1]

« on: February 27, 2021, 10:26 PM »

You picked a bad time to look for Nintendo roms! Nintendo has been doing all it can to fight the rom sites recently, meaning that  many such rom sites have now either stopped hosting all Nintendo roms, or have closed down alogether.

I've sent you a PM.

2

EverDrive 64 / Re: Here are the known fixes for games/hacks/etc to save and load correctly

« on: February 27, 2021, 04:30 PM »

Unfortunately ED64 v1 last update is OS v1.29 and ALT64 doesnt support save changing

plus save_db.txt was introduced in OS v2.05 for ED64 v2/3

I would have expected Krikzz to have included a way to change the save type for a game, in the official OS for the version 1 Everdrive, even if the save type itself wasn't saved and so the user would have to remember to change to that save type every time he wanted to play the game.

3

EverDrive 64 / Re: Here are the known fixes for games/hacks/etc to save and load correctly

« on: February 26, 2021, 07:32 PM »

I have the first version of the Everdrive released for the N64 it's running ALT64: v0.1.8.22

I realize I neglected to update it to ALT64: v0.1.8.23, and that this is unofficial firmware so something like this was likely to happen sooner or later

I see, thanks. I don't know anything about the v1 model, but I would have thought that using the official OS, then it would probably run the Dinosaur Planet rom OK, if you set the Everdrive to simulate Flash RAM (I don't know how to do that on the v1, sorry).

4

EverDrive 64 / Re: Request: A Banjo-Kazooie patch to utilise the expansion pak and save notes

« on: February 26, 2021, 04:48 PM »

Remember in the 8 bit days, where you mostly only had three lives to play through most games? Now that took dedication in a player!

I remember Ghosts 'n' Goblins (which I'm pretty sure is a game I only progressed to the second level, I never made it to the third level) being extremely hard, and I heard it (a) gets much harder later on, and (b) when you complete it, you then have to play through the entire level again, to make the game recognise that you'd beaten it.

I mean, playing Goldeneye and Perfect Dark on the hardest official difficulties is often very hard*, but at least the levels are short enough that if you die then you've only lost at most a few minutes progress. Imagine being so good at something like Ghost's 'n' Goblins that you're nearing the end of the game, and you die after about four hours of play!



* I have beaten both PD and GE like this, though that is just as much a testament to how much I played them (I got to know the locations and actions of every enemy, good places to hide, peep out, and shoot, etc) as anything. And I've never beaten a single level, as far as I can recall, on any of the user made difficulty challenges, though. That's when you play something like Licence to Kill mode (https://speedrunwiki.com/License_To_Kill), Dark Licence to Kill mode (https://speedrunwiki.com/Dark_License_To_Kill), or using the Enemy Rockets cheat.

5

EverDrive 64 / Re: Here are the known fixes for games/hacks/etc to save and load correctly

« on: February 26, 2021, 04:32 PM »

Yes, I think it's probably best to stick with:

0x906C3F77=5

as it references only one possible rom, and if any other hacks or prototypes of Dinosaur Planet emerge, then we can easily add their CRC values to a '=5' setting in the save_db.txt file.

6

EverDrive 64 / Re: Here are the known fixes for games/hacks/etc to save and load correctly

« on: February 26, 2021, 02:08 PM »

I have the first version of the Everdrive released for the N64 it's running ALT64: v0.1.8.22

I realize I neglected to update it to ALT64: v0.1.8.23, and that this is unofficial firmware so something like this was likely to happen sooner or later

I've been searching around for the solution to this same issue. The rom_crack on my everdrive was also getting stuck at a black screen with the soundtrack playing after the Nintendo64/Rareware screen.
I have an everdrive v2.5 that I bought months before they krikzz announced the X5 -_-'' running OS-v3.05
I read a couple people in different forums mentioning adding DP=50 in the save_db.txt but wasn't quite sure exactly how to implement that. The text file is in the ED64 folder that should be in the root of you everdrive's SD card.
I found a place I thought it matched the criteria of the other lines within each of the 3 lists in the text file. I'm glad to say I got it working! Here's a couple of screen shots that may be useful to others like me who know nothing about altering code. The last line at the bottom should be written: "DP=50[tab][tab]Dinosaur Planet" that is assuming you rom file has been renamed to "Dinosaur Planet"

Glad you got it working. The reason that a fix is needed for Dinosaur Planet is that the game saves to Flash RAM (the type of save circuitry on the development cartridge that the DP came on), and when the game is booted, it checks to see if Flash RAM is present, and if it isn't then the game locks up. The Everdrive 64 can simulate all known types of N64 game save circuitry, but it has to know which type to simulate for each game, and so the Everdrive has a built in database telling it what game needs what type of game save, but of course this database can only contain data for known games. So to make it possible for people to add fixes for later games, or games that might have the incorrect database in the Everdrive, we can add the information directly into the save_db.txt file.


And there are a few fixes required for N64 roms, so to get them all in your save_db.txt, go to:

http://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=6126.0

and follow the instructions in the first post, and you will then have all of the currently known fixes for N64 games. That list includes:

0x906C3F77=5

(anything after the spaces or tabs doesn't matter in the  save_db.txt  file, and is ignored by the N64, so you can write comments or information on the rest of the line, if you like), so you don't need

DP=50

(or DP=5, since if the second digit is 0 then it can be omitted if you like), since any of these three values (DP=50, DP=5, and 0x906C3F77=5) all apply the same fix; they tell the Everdrive 64 to use the flash RAM save if the ROM's CRC matches 0x906C3F77, or if the ROM's ID is DP.

7

EverDrive 64 / Re: Here are the known fixes for games/hacks/etc to save and load correctly

« on: February 25, 2021, 06:01 PM »

Yep, I have an expansion pak. The everdrive screen says it's loading no save file found then it goes to black and the game never starts. I'm unsure what else I can do. I suppose I'll finally have to upgrade when I can

What version Everdrive do you have? A version 1, v2, v2.5, v3, X5 or X7? And what version OS are you using? Always include this information when posting about a problem, as it can help to narrow down the causes of the problem.

8

EverDrive 64 / Re: Request: A Banjo-Kazooie patch to utilise the expansion pak and save notes

« on: February 25, 2021, 04:42 PM »

There is absolutely no need to change the save type for this reason. Notes are already permanently saved in the original game, so changing so that they are saved even when dying doesn't increase the amount of data that needs to be saved. It only changes when it's saved.
This was never an EEPROM cost problem. It's just that Rare thought that dying should punish the player by not saving the note and Jinjo scores.

If the case is that BK currently saves the number of items that have been picked up, but not specifically which items have been picked up, then if BK is modded to save the picked up or not picked up status of every item, then that will certainly mean an increase in the size of the game save, as each individual item will need to be referenced in the game save file.

Well, unless the existing game save files currently consist of mainly unused data, which would have been pretty wasteful on Rare's part.

9

EverDrive 64 / How is the project to port Another World to the N64 going?

« on: February 24, 2021, 06:21 PM »

Does anyone know what is happening with the Another World N64 project?





https://github.com/jnmartin84/aw64?fbclid=IwAR2ARgYKFFilV7GTKosBbkCMxKkDlzv5_pC_E7EaKXPx3LFq0kN2uLox8o8





Jnmartin84, the same bloke who made the brilliant PC Doom ports for the N64, is responsible for this new project, so when it's finished we should be in for a real treat.

Is the game currently playable, and if so, has anyone compiled it and made it available for download?


(The screenshots in this post are from the 'net, not from the N64 port of the game).

10

EverDrive 64 / Re: Request: A Banjo-Kazooie patch to utilise the expansion pak and save notes

« on: February 24, 2021, 03:16 PM »

I think the only way it could have been classed as a technical limitation would have been if, at the time, the amount of game save EEPROM required would have been larger than the amount Rare wanted to include in the cartridge. Back in 1998, EEPROM memory was very expensive, and so the more used, the higher the cost to Rare, who then would either have had to accept less profit for every copy of the game sold, or else Rare would have to have raised the price of the game, which would have resulted in less copies of the game being sold, so again less profit being made.

Other than that, I don't see any potential problem at all in the game keeping track of what items had been collected. And the game could certainly be modified to keep a track of such things and so preserve the state of each world when you leave the world. The problem is that there are very few people with the knowledge and skills (and time) to hack N64 games; the N64 is notoriously hard to program, there's little accurate information about it's workings (though much more than there used to be), and disassembling an N64 game is made even more difficult by things like the near constant compression that's needed to get a game on to the limited storage space of a cartridge, and potentially unfamiliar or unknown (to the person trying to disassemble the game) op codes. The same with inverted aiming, though that would be a much simpler hack.

Unfortunately, with the N64 community being so fragmented across the 'net, there is no one central forum where you can request such a hack. But if you ask at RomHacking

http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?board=5.0

then you might get lucky and have it read by a good N64 hacker who is looking for another N64 game releated project.

If you do post there (or anywhere else) then if you get a reply then please post about it here.

I did also hear that someone was making a disassembly of Banjo Kazooie, If this ever comes to fruition, then perhaps, as is currently happening with Doom 64 (see http://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=10750.0) someone else will recompile the disassembly into a working N64 rom, with the improvements that you've mentioned.

11

EverDrive 64 / Re: Dinosaur Planet by Rare on N64 has been released

« on: February 22, 2021, 01:46 PM »

There are videos on Youtube that show off the game, such as:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG05g0o-TV8

or to see them all listed:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dinosaur+planet

12

EverDrive 64 / Re: Here are the known fixes for games/hacks/etc to save and load correctly

« on: February 22, 2021, 12:43 AM »

My original Everdrive just gives me a black screen even when I change the save type to flash and insert DP=5 in the text file

Do you have an expansion pak? You might need one for this release of Dinosaur Planet, I don't know.

13

EverDrive 64 / Re: Dinosaur Planet by Rare on N64 has been released

« on: February 20, 2021, 07:30 PM »

Wow! This will make *many* people happy.

It's amazing that such a big release has happened with so little fanfare!

Thanks for the notification.

14

EverDrive 64 / Re: Here are the known fixes for games/hacks/etc to save and load correctly

« on: February 20, 2021, 07:07 PM »

Due to Dinosaur Planet getting released to the public (hearing about the news made me lose my mind, but in a good way), I shall share this with ya here!!

0x906C3F77=5   (Dinosaur Planet Prototype Crack (2000-12-01) by Forest of Illusion)

I still can't believe my eyes, but it's finally happened!!

Thanks, I've just added it to the full list in the first post.

15

EverDrive 64 / Re: Doom 64 Playtesters Wanted (Merciless Edition II)

« on: February 17, 2021, 01:22 AM »

Thanks, mate. I have another suggestion (sorry!), if you will look at it when you have the time.

A few console first person shooters use the D-Pad as a quick weapon change system, such as Half-Life 2, and Doom 3, both on the original XBox, and they do make game-play a little better.


So in Doom 64, the D-Pad could be used to select the wanted weapon, in real time (i.e. when the game is running), like so:

D-Pad Up = Pistol, Chain Saw, Fist

D-Pad Right = Shotgun, Super Shotgun

D-Pad Down = Chain Gun, Plasma Rifle

D-Pad Left = Rocket Launcher, BFG, Laser gun

So that if the player presses D-Pad Up once, then the current weapon changes to the Pistol. If the D-Pad Up is quickly pressed twice then the Chain Saw is used, etc. The first press always selects the first weapon in the list (i.e. if the BFG is currently being used, then if the player presses D-Pad Left once, then the Rocket Launcher is selected, even though it's lower in the list than the BFG, two presses of the D-Pad Left wouldn't change anything, as that would change the BFG for the BFG, and three presses of the D-Pad Left selects the Laser Gun. It's important for the number and D-Pad direction to always be specific for one particular weapon, as that way players can memorize pressing say D-Pad down twice to switch to the Plasma Rifle, D-Pad Right once for the shotgun, D-Pad twice for the Super Shotgun, D-Pad Up twice to select the chainsaw, etc.

Of course, pressing the D-Pad Direction the number of times won't select that weapon if the player doesn't have that weapon. Instead the game just ignores those D-Pad presses.

This system won't be necessary if the player can use the weapon list method I mentioned in my last post. But it would be a really nice feature to have in the game, along with the weapon list so that the player can use either method to select a weapon, whichever he/she prefers. And the D-Pad method won't cause a break in the action, as a weapon list method does, so that might sway a few people.