Recca - Pure

Sliver X · Post by **Sliver X** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 11:21 am

I'm a ROM hacker (A person who edits/reverse engineers video games), and was recently poking around in Recca when I discovered the Hard and Zanki Attack modes.

At first I simply forced the game to load Hard by default, but I the method I used was severely lacking, mainly because I rendered the hidden stage select useless. So... I decided to make a proper hack of the game:

Recca - Pure

Features:

Hard/Standard game can be toggled on the title screen with Select.

Zanki Attack is now an option on the title screen (No more finger breaking, obscure code!)

Translated Sound Test (Thanks satsu and Gideon Zhi!)

New title screen (Whether this is better is up to debate).

You can download the hack here:
http://panicus.googlepages.com/recca-pure.zip

This is an IPS patch; you'll have to provide the original Recca ROM yourself, and apply the patch with an IPS patching utility.

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:05 pm

Cool.

Sliver X wrote: New title screen (Whether this is better is up to debate).

No it isn't. (better/up to debate)

PooshhMao · Post by **PooshhMao** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:17 pm

Thanks, much appreciated

Realtime IPS patching is a Good Thing

Kami68k · Post by **Kami68k** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:45 pm

hey thats nice, i'll try it out later

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 1:29 pm

Nice! I think the new titlescreen is cool, but I like the original one better.

Nullsleep · Post by **Nullsleep** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 9:36 pm

This is awesome.

Only requst is a switch back to the original titlescreen, with just some additional small text saying "pure" underneath the logo!

J-Manic · Post by **J-Manic** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 9:44 pm

Nice work Silver X.

I just want to say that RECCA is one of the most difficult shmups I've ever played.

Sliver X · Post by **Sliver X** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 11:45 pm

For those that prefer the original title screen, I've added an alternate patch into the same archive you can download above.

Preview:

Nullsleep · Post by **Nullsleep** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 4:44 am

Thanks Sliver X -- kickass work!

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 9:04 am

Just tried it out, nice work! This is a welcome addition to my PSP's Nester lineup.

edit: Hmm, I'm a little confused on how to get the patch to allow the alternate title screen to appear.

eretsua · Post by **eretsua** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 6:04 pm

thanks Silver X! had some fun with it this morning. i used the alt.skin version in Nestopia v1.32 and didn't get the soundtest to work (just some red wavering lines that looked like a spectograph) and the zanki attack mode looked even more glitchy than the actual game does.

still it looks like a very cool hack!

~eretsua.

Sliver X · Post by **Sliver X** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 10:12 pm

Dylan1CC wrote:Just tried it out, nice work! This is a welcome addition to my PSP's Nester lineup.

edit: Hmm, I'm a little confused on how to get the patch to allow the alternate title screen to appear.

Both are standalone patches; you will need to patch Recca with whichever one you prefer (Or you could take two copies of Recca and patch each with a seperate IPS). Don't apply one patch over the same ROM if the other has been applied: I have not tested this, and am not sure if anything... strange would happen because of it.

eretsua wrote: thanks Silver X! had some fun with it this morning. i used the alt.skin version in Nestopia v1.32 and didn't get the soundtest to work (just some red wavering lines that looked like a spectograph) and the zanki attack mode looked even more glitchy than the actual game does.

still it looks like a very cool hack!

You're hitting Select too soon. The "spectograph" you're seeing means you've toggled Hard Mode on (The game normally does this when it is beaten, then reset; I didn't add this). When you choose Normal Game, while the cursor is blinking, hold Select. You should access the sound test just fine.

As far as Zanki Attack being glitchy, what do you mean? Do sprites flicker? If this is what you're talking about, this would happen on a real NES, due to there being a limitation of 8 sprites per scanline.

The good news is that NEStopia is one of a handful of emulators that allows this to be overcome. On NEStopia's menu, go to "Machine", then "Options" and check "No Sprite Limit". (Or hit SHIFT+U to toggle it).

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:01 pm

^^^

Thanks for clarifying and again, nice work.

shiftace · Post by **shiftace** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 2:14 am

Hey, that's pretty handy. I'll take the "alternate" title version as well. Thanks for doing it.

SFKhoa · Post by **SFKhoa** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 1:27 am

I just tried it. Amazing work. Stage 3 made me cry on Hard Mode.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 7:12 am

Just dug out the ol' ROM version (cough), got to 982,833 in normal mode, and this is my second serious play of the game ever (i.e. I cleared out all my lives the first play a few minutes ago). This one's a keeper, and this ROM patch should be really helpful too.

druuna · Post by **druuna** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 5:53 pm

Amazing...thanks for the great job Sliver X, Gideon Zhi, satsu and Disch!!!
Zanki Attack it's really insane

What a game....after 16 years Recca is still kicking hard!

Tidegear · Post by **Tidegear** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 4:05 am

This is great, thank you!

(EDIT!: I've revised this reply thanks to some help from ubersaurus. Among other things, I removed the bit about the 3rd set of numbers in the sound test as I realized I was probably accidentally doing the stage select code.)

I have some questions...
1. Would it be possible to make a title screen menu option for the sound test?
2. Would it be possible to make the stage select number in the sound test alterable with left and right and have it marked "Stage" or something? (Or at least have it increment by pressing select only and have a note at the bottom saying "Select: Increase stage"?)
3. Would it be possible to change the font of the translated sound test to be bigger or at least taller? It might look more like the original Japanese text then, which might be nice.
4. Could you change the text at the bottom of the title screen from "SELECT: HARD/EASY" to "SELECT: HARD/NORMAL"?

Anyway, thanks again!

ubersaurus · Post by **ubersaurus** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 9:37 pm

Tidegear wrote:This is great, thank you!

I have some questions...
1. What is the method of unlocking or button code for Zanki Attack in the unhacked Recca?
2. Is there a button code for the hard difficulty in the unhacked Recca or is it only attainable after beating the game?
3. Where did you get the name Zanki Attack for the menu? Is it from the "ZANKI ATTACK" that appears with the score at the end of play or did you add that too?
4. Would it be possible to make a menu option for the sound test?
5. Would it be possible to change the font of the translated sound test to be bigger or at least taller? It might look more like the original Japanese text then which might be nice.
Anyway, thanks again!

Some of these are answered in the strategy forum.

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... ight=recca

lgb · Post by **lgb** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 9:51 pm

Sliver X wrote:
Dylan1CC wrote:As far as Zanki Attack being glitchy, what do you mean? Do sprites flicker? If this is what you're talking about, this would happen on a real NES, due to there being a limitation of 8 sprites per scanline.

The good news is that NEStopia is one of a handful of emulators that allows this to be overcome. On NEStopia's menu, go to "Machine", then "Options" and check "No Sprite Limit". (Or hit SHIFT+U to toggle it).

So Recca is *not* a problem game? Wow, that's something useful. Thanks.

Tidegear · Post by **Tidegear** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:08 am

Thanks ubersaurus! Very helpful. I revised my above reply. Hopefully Sliver X will show up at some point and answer the rest of my questions.

Sliver X · Post by **Sliver X** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 4:44 pm

1. Would it be possible to make a title screen menu option for the sound test?

Yes, but it would require several hacks (PPU and CPU related). Not that big of a hack, though?

2. Would it be possible to make the stage select number in the sound test alterable with left and right and have it marked "Stage" or something? (Or at least have it increment by pressing select only and have a note at the bottom saying "Select: Increase stage"?)

The latter would be very easy to do.

3. Would it be possible to change the font of the translated sound test to be bigger or at least taller? It might look more like the original Japanese text then, which might be nice.

Again, extremely easy.

4. Could you change the text at the bottom of the title screen from "SELECT: HARD/EASY" to "SELECT: HARD/NORMAL"?

Simple, yes.

The only one that would require serious thought would be 1. However, it recently came to my attention that somebody is selling the hack on carts, so I'm not very motivated to bother working on it just so some guy can hawk it for money, and potentially open me up to a world of litigation.

Post by **undamned** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:18 pm

Sliver X wrote:it recently came to my attention that somebody is selling the hack on carts

Dirtbags. Sorry to hear of that man. Thanks for the work you've done for the fans, though!

Not to make the interface look like crap, but I suppose you could put a watermark of sorts (8-bit style) on each of the menus to denote "Do NOT pay for this hack! Please download it for free from ###.com"
-ud

Tidegear · Post by **Tidegear** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 1:40 am

Well, that site is actually how I found out about your hack. I did think that was kinda messed up. It's a cool concept to have it on a cart and all but not when you're making a profit like I bet he is. That said, I know I'd appreciate it if you implemented my requests and I imagine others would as well! I doubt legal action would be placed on you since I don't think you even did anything illegal. He's the one breaking the law. I'll understand whatever you decide. Have you tried asking that guy to stop selling your hack?

Tidegear · Post by **Tidegear** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 4:38 am

Oh, and I have one more idea if I can talk you in to it, Sliver X...

It'd be cool if the hack could make hard mode (along with the fire effect and the "select:" text) deactivate/disappear whenever the cursor on the main menu is next to "Score Attack" or "Time Attack". In addition, not allowing them to be turned back on until the cursor moves to the other options would be good as well. Am I correct in my understanding that only the normal game and zanki attack are harder when hard mode is active? If so, the above hack could clear the confusion some may have thinking the score and time attacks can be made harder too.

...maybe I'm begging and choosing simultaneously.

Tidegear · Post by **Tidegear** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 9:15 am

I have a quick question for everyone in here. Which do you prefer for the ROM name via GoodNES (so I can suggest it to Cowering)?

These...
Recca - Pure (Recca Hack).nes
and
Recca - Pure (Alternate Title Screen) (Recca Hack).nes

or these...
Summer Carnival '92 - Recca - Pure (Recca Hack).nes
and
Summer Carnival '92 - Recca - Pure (Alternate Title Screen) (Recca Hack).nes

I suggested the first two but I'm having second thoughts as the ROM is not next to the unhacked ROM when they're in sorted alphabetical order.

What do y'all think?

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 9:52 am

Sliver better suggest the Summer Carnival '92 option ;)

Gonna try to make sure he sees this.

Tidegear · Post by **Tidegear** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:12 am

Ed Oscuro wrote:Sliver better suggest the Summer Carnival '92 option

Gonna try to make sure he sees this.

Unfortunately, I don't think he'll say. I think Sliver X is kinda over it. I tried politely but frankly emailing the site that was selling the hack on cartridges, trying to get them to stop, and it seems they ignored me. So I don't even have that to motivate him...

Luckily, the things I was asking to add aren't all that necessary. I think they would be very nice and kinda polish/finish up the whole hack a bit but that's all.

It's a shame he's letting that jerk ruin things for the people like us but it's his call and may not be the whole of it.

Tidegear · Post by **Tidegear** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:23 am

Very little help needed but Sliver X seems to have moved on from this hack!

I've made a very small addendum patch to Sliver X's Recca - Pure patches, thus raising the version up to v1.01…

Fixes: Changed the text from “SELECT: HARD/EASY” to “SELECT: HARD/NORMAL” on
the title screen, as it is more accurate, and added a missing space
after the “:” in the “Alternate Title Screen” version of the patch.

…Due to my hacking skills not being nearly as good as Sliver X, I was unable to shift the text “SELECT: HARD/NORMAL” as much to the left as I would like (in order to center the text more precisely) but it's not very noticeable. That said, if anyone can manage to hack the ROM to have the text better centered on both patches please contact me! Shifting the text space to the left should be about perfect but it will probably require ASM hacking. I already shifted the hex values for the characters to the left as far as I could. (I believe it'd be appropriate to call the patch version 1.02 once this is fixed.)

After that, if anyone is interested, there are some rather comparatively substantial things I'd like to see added but they're not at all vital. They are as follows...

1. Add a title screen menu option for the sound test (and make sure the button code for activating stage select can still work when selecting sound test via the menu.)
2. Make hard mode (along with the fire effect and the "select:" text) deactivate/disappear whenever the cursor on the main menu is next to "Score Attack" or "Time Attack". In addition, not allowing them to be turned back on until the cursor moves to the other options would be good as well. (Am I correct in my understanding that only the normal game and zanki attack are harder when hard mode is active? If so, the above hack could clear the confusion some may have thinking the score and time attacks can be made harder too.)

Lastly, thanks to all who even remotely consider helping!

Download link…
http://boxstr.com/files/1928437_w0a5g/Recca%20-%20Pure%20v1.01.zip

Sliver X's original v1.0 patch…
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/207/

w-ring · Post by **w-ring** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 1:16 pm

I have Recca Pure on cart, with the original style title graphic, but when I switch the title screen to 'Hard' mode, I get the flame effect, but the title graphic corrupts.

Anyone else had this problem?

I am playing it on a 'Retrocon' famiclone

Recca - Pure

Recca - Pure

Re: Recca - Pure