StanJr Posted August 28, 2003 Share Posted August 28, 2003 I've got this KILLER idea for hacking Tutankham, but when I hack it, it will not run on my emu (z26) The regular Tutankham bin runs fine, but if I so much as change a single dot, the new bin will not run. Is this a problem with Hack-o-matic, z26, Tutankham, or any combination of the three? Or am I just a moron? Help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inky Posted August 28, 2003 Share Posted August 28, 2003 Is this a problem with Hack-o-matic, z26, Tutankham, or any combination of the three? Or am I just a moron? You know my vote! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted August 28, 2003 Share Posted August 28, 2003 I tried it with Hack-O-Matic 2 and Stella and it seems like changing anything, even one pixel makes the game not work. Do you think the game actually checks its own code before running? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted August 28, 2003 Author Share Posted August 28, 2003 its gotta be something like that, because if you do ANYTHING the game just will not run! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Zumwalt Posted August 28, 2003 Share Posted August 28, 2003 hmmm, thought maybe it was anti-virus related, but after a hex edit even, I see the same thing. Curious. z26 and HOM2 are fine. A quick bit of research "hints" that a man named TOM GRINER created a very small yet effective ROM protection scheme first used by Vic20 games and later copied into several Coleco and Atari games. Suposedly, Pinball is protected too. Anyone know more about this? Time to get the source code... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted August 28, 2003 Share Posted August 28, 2003 It could be a simple CRC checksum algorithm that prevents this game from being hacked. If you disassemble it, it should be easy to spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted August 28, 2003 Share Posted August 28, 2003 It would be nice if one of you real code hackers would take these protected games and make it so that they can be messed with using Hack-O-Matic 2. Just rip out that protective code if you can and let us have some fun. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eckhard Stolberg Posted August 29, 2003 Share Posted August 29, 2003 The hack doesn't work because of a mean conspiracy among emulator authors to discourage hackers, so that we don't have to deal with countless binaries that only differ a little bit in the graphics. Tutankham is a Parker Brothers 8K game and therefore uses Parker's E0 type of bankswitching. The emulator doesn't have any information about the bankswitching when it loads a new binary. Therefore it assumes the most common form of bankswitching, which is Atari's F8 type for 8K games. We know the Tutankham binary, so we can autodetect it's bankswitching type with a checksum. If you change the binary, the checksum changes too and therefore the emulators won't recognize the game anymore. In z26 you have to use the -g3 command line switch to enforce Parker's E0 bankswitching for a game. In Stella you have to create a new enty in the STELLA.PRO file. The same thing will happen when you are hacking games that use a controller other than the normal joysticks, BTW. Games that use other controllers are detected by a checksum too, so that you'll have to enforce the controller with a command line switch for your hack as well. Ciao, Eckhard Stolberg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Zumwalt Posted August 29, 2003 Share Posted August 29, 2003 Ah ha! That makes sence. Thanks. Hmmm, perhaps some of the coding from Clone Spy should be implimented into z26??? If z26 can't find an exact match, try to run it in the mode of the roms closest relative, so to speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted August 29, 2003 Author Share Posted August 29, 2003 That explains it, thanks Eckhard, but one question: In z26 you have to use the -g3 command line switch to enforce Parker's E0 bankswitching for a game. Just how would one go about doing that???? Thanks for the info!!! Stan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted August 29, 2003 Share Posted August 29, 2003 That explains it, thanks Eckhard, but one question: In z26 you have to use the -g3 command line switch to enforce Parker's E0 bankswitching for a game. Just how would one go about doing that???? Thanks for the info!!! Stan Well to run a game in Z26 you have to go to a command prompt right (unless you use a front end). So.. instead of typing: Z26.EXE tutankham.bin, you just type Z26 tutankham.bin -g3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted August 29, 2003 Author Share Posted August 29, 2003 what if I use a front end? and can I go from using a front end to using a prompt? Thank NE146, if I can get this Tutankham hack going, it will RULE the day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted August 29, 2003 Share Posted August 29, 2003 To get to a prompt in Windows: 1. Press Start, go to "Run" 2. Type in "command" (or "cmd") and hit enter 3. Voila! a Dos prompt! Now you just gotta browse to the directory your z26.exe is in.. just remember your basic dos commands like DIR (list the files in a directory), and CD (Change Directory) and you should be off and running. ..I dunno if you need help with dos commands and how to browse directories in it. if so that's another cup of soup.. but lemme know if you do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted August 30, 2003 Share Posted August 30, 2003 You can also edit the file type and add the switch in Explorer's right-click dialog to use custom configurations...my computer ->new type -> (add the .bin extension file type) -> edit as many "opens" as you want for that type. Paul's menu example: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted August 30, 2003 Share Posted August 30, 2003 Time for my head to look up and see all of the things over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted August 30, 2003 Author Share Posted August 30, 2003 NE146, your advice works PERFECTLY and as such, I am well on my way to completing my Tutankham hack, and its looking good!!!! Thanks to everybody who responded!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted August 30, 2003 Share Posted August 30, 2003 Well, I got z26 and the x26 front end, then after starting x26, I clicked on the "Settings" menu, then selected the "Debugging" tab at the bottom, then chose "8k Parker Brothers" from the "Override Game Type" drop-down menu, then my ran my changed game and it worked. You can also do that -g3 thing under "Debugging" too if you want. Depends on which you think is faster I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted August 30, 2003 Share Posted August 30, 2003 For anyone else playing around with the graphics of this game, the images for the guy on level one are about half way down the code. The other images of him are for other levels. You could have a lot of fun changing his look from level to level. If you want him to look the same on all levels, remember that Hack-O-Matic 2 has copy and paste now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted September 2, 2003 Author Share Posted September 2, 2003 Oh, I'm working on what I hope will be an INCREDIBLE hack of Tutankham. I've gone nuts since I've learned how to hack. I'm just bursting with ideas!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariYoungin Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 dont you mean gone nuts...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted September 2, 2003 Author Share Posted September 2, 2003 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted January 31, 2004 Author Share Posted January 31, 2004 Ok, so let's suppose someone wanted to take a screenshot while running z26 through DOS, do the controls for doing that remain the same, and where might the picture end up on my computer (what file does it save to?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted January 31, 2004 Share Posted January 31, 2004 Ok, so let's suppose someone wanted to take a screenshot while running z26 through DOS, do the controls for doing that remain the same, and where might the picture end up on my computer (what file does it save to?) Controls are the same. The pictures should appear in your emulator directory or maybe the front end you are using. If that doesn't help, search your harddisk for z26*.pcx. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted January 31, 2004 Author Share Posted January 31, 2004 That's what I hoped. Thanks Thomas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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