Splatterhouse 2 Debug Modes --------------------------- It's Jonny from Streets of Rage Online here. I've just been looking inside the Splatterhouse 2 ROM and I've found some interesting things. Below is a nicely formatted dump of the standard text within the game: FOR SEGA GENESIS SEGA MEGADRIVE LICENSED BY SEGA ENTERPRISES APPLICABLE IN JAPAN ONLY PAUSE GAME OVER -- CONFIGURATION -- STAGE SELECT 2 FONT TEST 3 OBJ TEST 4 NO DEATH 5 KEY MODE 1 AREA SELECT 2 FONT TEST 3 OBJ TEST 4 NO DEATH 5 KEY MODE 1 1-2 2 2-2 2-3 3 3-2 4 4-2 4-3 4-4 5 5-2 5-3 5-4 5-5 5-6 6 7 7-2 8 8-2 8-3 END -- FONT ROM DUMP -- ROM BLOCK NO. = PALETTE NO. = PALETTE BLOCK NO. = ROM BLOCK NO. = PALETTE NO. = PALETTE BLOCK NO. = 0123456789ABCDEF OK OK A - ATTACK B - JUMP C - ATTACK A - JUMP B - ATTACK C - JUMP -- OBJ TEST -- PATTERN NO. = PATTERN NO. = TRANSFER NO. = TRANSFER NO. = START OPTIONS LEVEL SOUNDTEST CONTROL EXIT NORMAL DIFFICULT GAMEMASTER RETRY? YES NO CREDITS CREDIT ON OFF TM 1988 1992 NAMCO LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PUSH START BUTTON PRESS START BUTTON PASSWORD PASSWORD 1ST WORD 2ND WORD 3RD WORD 4TH WORD GAME START EDK ADE EFH IDO VEI XOE NAI GEM IAL WRA ZOL RAG LDL LKA ORD OME EDK NAI ZOL LDL IDO GEM IAL LDL ADE XOE ZOL OME EFH VEI RAG ORD ADE NAI WRA LKA EFH XOE IAL LDL EDK VEI IAL LDL Notice the Configuration Mode text?! By the looks of it the game has (or had in an earlier version) a debug mode. The options in this mode appear to be: - a stage/area select (notice the two texts for this option and the round/area numbers below) - a test for the font graphics (this appears to have had a submenu of its own for detailed testing) - a test for the objects within the game, presumerably the monsters & weapons (again this option has its own submenu) - an invincibility mode (No Death) - something called Key Mode; I've no idea what this may have been." Interesting stuff isn't it? I'm hoping this option is still hidden in the final version somewhere. *** If you open up the Splatterhouse 2 ROM you will find the text below which shows the existence of debug modes: -- CONFIGURATION -- STAGE SELECT 2 FONT TEST 3 OBJ TEST 4 NO DEATH 5 KEY MODE 1 AREA SELECT 2 FONT TEST 3 OBJ TEST 4 NO DEATH 5 KEY MODE 1 1-2 2 2-2 2-3 3 3-2 4 4-2 4-3 4-4 5 5-2 5-3 5-4 5-5 5-6 6 7 7-2 8 8-2 8-3 END -- FONT ROM DUMP -- ROM BLOCK NO. = PALETTE NO. = PALETTE BLOCK NO. = ROM BLOCK NO. = PALETTE NO. = PALETTE BLOCK NO. = 0123456789ABCDEF OK OK -- OBJ TEST -- PATTERN NO. = PATTERN NO. = TRANSFER NO. = TRANSFER NO. = By changing certain RAM values you can reactivate some but not all of these debug features. You can do this by one of two methods. 1. Using a hexeditor open your savestate file and change the value at 2479 to 04 and the value at 247A to one of the values given as XX below. 2. Enter the following PAR codes into Gens (these will probably not work on a real PAR cart) - FF0000:0004 and FF0002:XX00, where XX is a value given below. The changes will not take effect until the codes are deactivated in Gens. XX values for each debug mode: 02=Stage Select 07=Font ROM Dump 0F=Obj Test 14=No Death Example-- if you wanted to enable Font ROM Dump you would either: Change 2479 to 04 and 247A to 07 in your savestate and then reload the savestate. -or- Enter FF000:0004 and FF0002:0700 into Gens and then deactivate them. Stage Select ------------ A fairly standard level select screen. You can only pick your starting stage rather than any area in the game. Press Start to pick your stage - holding a button when doing so sometimes triggers a sound effect with the No Death mode enabled (ie you're invincible) but messes up the controls. Font ROM Dump ------------- This screen allows you to view the graphics stored inside the game ROM with any of the in-game palettes. Use the d-pad to navigate the menu. - ROM Block No is the position inside the ROM. - Palette Block No is the palette set to choose (each composed of 4 palettes). - Palette No is the individual palette you want to use. To change the graphics/palettes shown press A on the OK option. Be careful: sometimes the screen will appear to vanish as you've selected an all black palette. Press C to move to the stage select. Obj Test -------- This screen allows you to load any of the in-game objects and view their animations. Use the d-pad to navigate the menu. - Pattern No is the object and it's animation frame. You must use A and B to scroll through these not the d-pad. - Transfer No is the graphics to be used to form the object. - Palette Block No is the palette set. To change the graphics/palettes shown press A on the OK option. Be careful: sometimes the screen will appear to vanish as you've selected an all black palette. Press C to move to the stage select. No Death -------- This option is not like the others in that it does not have a screen of it's own. An ON/OFF options appears; when enabled is gives invincibility. Press C to move to the stage select.