Gradius 2 enhancement patch | MSX Resource Center

The MSX-version of Gradius-2 (a.k.a. Nemesis 2) is a spin-off story of the Gradius series, developed specifically for the MSX and later ported to X68000 and PSP under the title "Nemesis 90 Kai". As with many other Konami megarom titles for MSX, it suffered from the bug in the timing routine that lets it run at twice its normal speed if the processor is fast enough. Also, the game is far too CPU-intensive for a standard 3.57MHz Z80A to sustain a full frame rate. As a result, the game drops frames constantly, running noticeably slower than its predecessor: Gradius (a.k.a. Nemesis).

This new patch is not just the same as previous ones. It will not only implement the DynamicVsync (for MSX1 & MSX2), many speed optimizations and some tricks: it also includes a much-desired feature: SmoothScroll for MSX2+ and MSX Turbo-R!

In addition, sd_snatcher released a new version of the Salamander DynamicVsync patch, that includes some new optimizations to get even better speed improvements on slower machines.

Relevant link: Gradius 2 enhancement patch

Comments (83)

By Huey

Paragon (1435)

24-03-2009, 22:13

Nice!

By Yukio

Paragon (1234)

24-03-2009, 22:23

Nice.
Now, I need to find a legal copy of the cartridge. I think that there is a tools for copy the cartridge somewhere on MSX.ORG. It should work with Konami cartridge too ...

Does anyone know if this game works with the Slot expander and the megaram + SCC cartridge? Maybe I should need the Ademir Slot Expander too!

By hap

Paragon (1095)

24-03-2009, 22:29

Thumbs up to the smooth scroll! and suddenly I suck at the game due to the higher speed.

(tried it on a tR with mpazos megaflashromscc)

By Huey

Paragon (1435)

24-03-2009, 22:30

Ah shoot

Was going to try. But too much of a hassle with this XPC.....Sorry.

Why not provide an IPS file?????

By hap

Paragon (1095)

24-03-2009, 22:42

Maybe because it appends data to the ROM, I think IPS v2 supports that tough.

(you should be on IRC

)

By ARTRAG

Prophet (3020)

24-03-2009, 23:15

xpc??
O_o
maybe i'm too dumb to make it work
release an ips, please!!!

By Gilneas2

Master (192)

24-03-2009, 23:43

I got it to work in openmsx, it plays reaaally well, thanks a lot!

What I did: You need MSX-DOS, execrom.com, gradius2.xpc, and nemesis2.rom on the same disk (directory).
The trick is, nemesis2.rom must have the right md5sum. The ones on msx archive have the wrong one! You can find the right nemesis 2 rom with google on page 4 or 5.
Then in openmsx you enable extension megaram. Boot up in msx dos, and run execrom /Pgradius2.xpm /S /B nemesis2.rom

By spl

Paladin (855)

24-03-2009, 23:49

Yes, please, ips

By Manuel

Enlighted (5652)

25-03-2009, 00:12

Feature request: if you have an MSX2 with a V9958, it doesn't do smooth scroll, please detect the VDP instead of relying on address 0x2D.

Otherwise, this ROCKS!

By Yukio

Paragon (1234)

25-03-2009, 00:24

"address 0x2D".
Is this the MSX generation "id"? The one that should tell if it is a MSX, MSX2, MSX2+ or a MSX Turbo R system?

By ARTRAG

Prophet (3020)

25-03-2009, 00:31

on bluemsx v2.8 it has glitches!
once each 8 frames the x offset is wrong....

By sd_snatcher

Hero (538)

25-03-2009, 01:34

There are two easy ways to use the XPC patch:

1) Easier: ExecROM. Just put the ROM and the XPC patch on the same directory (of a disk containing MSX-DOS, off course) with the same filename (ie: GRADIUS2.ROM and GRADIUS2.XPC). ExecROM will detect this and will autoload the patch. You'll need a MegaRAM. (OpenMSX do emulate the MegaRAM). To run the game just type ExecROM GRADIUS2 at the MSX-DOS prompt.

2) Apply the patch to the ROM. Goto ExecROM SourceForge page and download XPCtools. You can apply the patch just as you do with an IPS patcher.

The problem is: Most emulators require the game to have an exact size (multiple of the page size of the megarom in question) to execute a ROM. Otherwise it will not run the ROM correctly. You can fool such emulators by attaching an 8KB dummy file to the end of original ROM before patching.

So the steps to patch the file for an emulator would be:

1) Google for "dummy file creator", get one tool for that.
2) Create an 8KB filled dummy file filled with FFh
3) Open a shell on Windows, type: copy /b NEMESIS2.ROM + dummy8KB.rom GRAD2ENH.ROM
4) type: xpcapply GRAD2ENH.ROM GRADIUS2.XPC

Piece of cake.

Please don't blame "the process is hard" on the XPC file. It would be exactly the same if it was an IPS file.

And I can assure you that it was much much harder to create this patch than the minimal work someone needs to apply it.

Also, contact your preferred MSX emulator developer to add support for autoloading XPCs the same way ExecROM does. Because the IPS file is too clumsy for many MSX rom hacking needs, like:

1) Extending ROMs beyond their original size
2) Containing multiple different patches inside one file
3) Having patches that can be asked for the user if they're to be applied

By sd_snatcher

Hero (538)

25-03-2009, 01:54

Feature request: if you have an MSX2 with a V9958, it doesn't do smooth scroll, please detect the VDP instead of relying on address 0x2D.
Hi Manuel!

Unfortunately this is not possible, because those machines don't have the VDP wait-signal circuitry, which is mandatory for a MSX2+ and is required by the smooth scroll routines because I'm using the high speed VRAM transfer by enabling the WTE bit of the register #25.

By nikodr

Hero (634)

25-03-2009, 04:49

Can you tell us in what place of the rom is the scroll routine?
As i have been trying to dissasemble konami roms it would be good to know specific places of the rom where various routines are located,that way we could learn a lot from the original routines of the game.

By Randam

Master (254)

25-03-2009, 07:08

A great enhancement for a konami game yet again. Would it mean much work to make this patch (or a seperate one) work for the so-called nemesis 2 beta?

By Metalion

Guardian (479)

25-03-2009, 09:27

Could someone explain to me the principle of dynamic vsync ?

I suppose that static vsync forces to update the frame on a given vsync interruption, while dynamic vsync waits for a certain event before updating the frame at the next vsync interruption, but I would like to know more ...

By ARTRAG

Prophet (3020)

25-03-2009, 11:50

As Metaion, I would like to have details on dynamic vsync
The answers I had are largely unsatisfactory
Please!

By konamiman

Champion (396)

25-03-2009, 13:17

I can't make it work on BlueMSX. I am emulating a Turbo-R with a MegaRAM on slot 1. I have a DSK with MSX-DOS 2, ExecROM, gradius2.rom (the MD5 sum matches), and gradius2.xpc. ExecROM runs and detects the emulated MegaRAM, but after that, it says:

Loading file GRADIUS2.ROM:
- Cartridge type: 128k, MegaROM
File not found

So what could I do? Please help me, i need to see this, in the same sense as in "I need to breathe".

Aside note: yes, "the process is hard", both for IPS and for XPC patches. I can't wait for the day in which we finally abandon that political correctness and start distributing directly the patched ROMs. Piracy? Uh, yeah, we will send Konami to bankrupcy by distributing ROMs for a system abandoned 15 years ago.

By konamiman

Champion (396)

25-03-2009, 14:01

Sorry for my previous somewhat agressive reaction. Of course I value the work done, even more considering that Nemesis 2 is my favourite MSX game. Maybe I should follow the advise of counting up to ten before sending something to Internet.

I finally managed to make it work by directly patching the ROM file. However it does not work quite well in BlueMSX. The scroll is smooth, but every time it is supposed to show a new tile column, the screen horribly glitches, making it impossible to play.

I guess it is simply too much for an emulator, so I will try it later on my real Turbo-R. Anyway if someone manages to run it correctly un BlueMSX, please tell.

By ARTRAG

Prophet (3020)

25-03-2009, 14:09

I already reported the very same problem few posts before
have you v2.8 of bluemsx?

By konamiman

Champion (396)

25-03-2009, 14:25

Yes, I use BlueMSX 2.8, the latest version available.

By ARTRAG

Prophet (3020)

25-03-2009, 15:05

same as me, it has to be an emulation problem in bluemsx....

By hap

Paragon (1095)

25-03-2009, 15:29

http://samor.nl/hap/crap/gra2m_ips.zip
This is an ips version of the scroll+turbo patch, works with BiFi's ips4msx too. Patch goodmsx "Gradius 2 (1987) (Konami) (J) [a1].rom" and it'll create a 256KB file with the end filled with $FF.

By spl

Paladin (855)

25-03-2009, 18:55

After using the XPC patch, rom has 129 KB, so I am not able to load it with MGLOAD and it doesn't run from the MEGAFLASHROM.

IPS version works like a charm.

Regards,

By karloch

Scribe (490)

25-03-2009, 21:32

Would the smooth scroll be possible with Salamander?

By msd

Paladin (744)

25-03-2009, 21:32

Can you do that scrolling fix for all bad scrolling msx games

By muffie

Hero (636)

25-03-2009, 23:21

"Aside note: yes, "the process is hard", both for IPS and for XPC patches. I can't wait for the day in which we finally abandon that political correctness and start distributing directly the patched ROMs. Piracy? Uh, yeah, we will send Konami to bankrupcy by distributing ROMs for a system abandoned 15 years ago."

The minute you do that, Konami will post on MRC one of those "Lack Of Respect" angry texts saying that they will abandon the MSX scene forever...

By wolf_

Ambassador (5671)

25-03-2009, 23:36

*yawn*

are you for real?

By sd_snatcher

Hero (538)

25-03-2009, 23:47

People, calm down. What kind of attitude is that?

I'm improving/bugfixing the games because I like a lot to play them, and decided to share those with the (I believed so) friends I made in the MSX community.

I was hoping to made the MSX community happy (just as it happened here), but the kind of reactions shown here is making me think if I did the right thing...

I decided not to use an ips patch because I feared the critics would raise their voices and shout "What?!? A 128KB patch just for that?!?!? The game doubled its size!!! Don't you know how to code properly?!? And it even don't work on my xyz ips 1.0 patcher! Make it work now!"

And fear is not quite the right thing to have in mind when developing this kind of project, or is it?

Also I do not post ROMs because MRC itself has a anti-warez policy in place. I'm not questioning this decision, but the case is: It would not be such a great news to have like "google somewhere in the Internet for the download link". Also, lawyers don't mind if a game or a mouse has a copyright of more than 50 years, right? So I want to avoid troubles with them. Both lawyers and mouses.

Changing the subject: My free time is falling like a rock, as RealLife (TM) is calling. I'll take some time to answer the good questions raised here, but some can require quite a lot of time if I was to answer it with deep details. Please have some patience until I can answer.

By sd_snatcher

Hero (538)

26-03-2009, 00:28

Ok, 1st the batch of the easier questions:

By Randam on March 25 2009, 03:08
A great enhancement for a konami game yet again. Would it mean much work to make this patch (or a seperate one) work for the so-called nemesis 2 beta?
Thanks for the compliment! This can be done in some days, if enough people really want it. My plan was (if people really liked this enhancement) to proceed to Gofer no YabÅ Episode II (aka Nemesis-3), that will require more time, off course. On a limited-time scenario, which one would you prefer?

konamiman
I finally managed to make it work by directly patching the ROM file. However it does not work quite well in BlueMSX. The scroll is smooth, but every time it is supposed to show a new tile column, the screen horribly glitches, making it impossible to play.
Do the blueMSX team have something against my projects? It's the second time in a row their emulator refuses my releases!!!
There must be some kind of routine like that inside blueMSX:

if (FRS' code detected) then refuse_to_work

(blueMSX team: Just kidding, just kidding!)

By spl on March 25 2009, 14:55
After using the XPC patch, rom has 129 KB, so I am not able to load it with MGLOAD and it doesn't run from the MEGAFLASHROM.
That's why I said you have to use a dummy file to enlarge the file to 256KB.

By karloch on March 25 2009, 17:32
Would the smooth scroll be possible with Salamander?
*Theoretically*, yes. But the main problem would be the vertical scroll. A lot of work would be necessary to adjust the sprite routines, which are already somewhat sensitive and prone to collateral effects.

By hap

Paragon (1095)

26-03-2009, 00:43

My plan was (if people really liked this enhancement) to proceed to Gofer no YabÅ Episode II (aka Nemesis-3), that will require more time, of course. On a limited-time scenario, which one would you prefer?parodius in my case =p

By wolf_

Ambassador (5671)

26-03-2009, 01:25

sd_snatcher: I'd say that (obviously) tile-enemies or other moving tile-objects can cause a problem when their scroll speed isn't the same as the level.

You mentioned Salamander above, but how about ripple lasers (which iirc move non-sync with the level) ? You'd get very odd movements I bet!

By Salamander2

Expert (112)

26-03-2009, 01:41

best msx news of the year.

By Huey

Paragon (1435)

26-03-2009, 07:37

I've played the patched version of Gradius 2. It plays like a breeze (on Meisei).

So incredibly cool that a great game has been made even greater. Respect.

By konamiman

Champion (396)

26-03-2009, 09:08

I finally could made it to work, by using the IPS patch (I'll try the XPC patch + file enlargement, anyway). What can I say? It rocks to the point where nobody has rocked before (TM). You took a perfect game and made it even more perfect. I'm sooo happy! ^___^

As a collateral effect, as the game goes now faster (at least in Turbo-R), it is also noticeably harder. For example, in the original game I had no problem beating the stage 2 boss fast enough to get two additional weapons. In this version, I have a hard time just trying to survive! I love that!

Aiming now for Nemesis 3 is a great idea IMHO. And simply to bother you a little more, could it be possible to implement smooth scroll on MSX2, by using the "set adjust" technique as in Space Manbow?

By spl

Paladin (855)

26-03-2009, 09:25

sd_snatcher: I think your work is great and I am enjoying it a lot. Don't worry

By st1mpy

Scribe (167)

26-03-2009, 09:55

This was exactly what I was hoping someone would do. Thank you!
I too had problems with xps (probably because I didn't pad it), but ips works and the patched game is simply amazing. I always thought why Konami didn't do it themselves.
I am sure it is possible to contact Konami/D4E and get this distributed in some digital distribution form or as a new ROM if they want to, and you should be able to negotiate a deal to recoupe the patch dev cost. As long as the patched game is tested.

By Latok

msx guru (2045)

26-03-2009, 10:30

It was a real pain in the ass to download the IPS-patch, to find and download the ROM, to find and download an IPS-patcher, to transfer the data to my turboR, to patch the ROM, to load the ROM into MEGAFLASH, but..............It works and it's simply AMAZING

Thank you!!

By Imanok

Champion (435)

26-03-2009, 12:13

Great work, man!

Aiming now for Nemesis 3 is a great idea IMHO. And simply to bother you a little more, could it be possible to implement smooth scroll on MSX2, by using the "set adjust" technique as in Space Manbow?
I suppose the main problem about trying that is the same as Salamander's vertical stages... all sprites should be relocated everytime the screen scrolls.

I am sure it is possible to contact Konami/D4E and get this distributed in some digital distribution form or as a new ROM if they want to, and you should be able to negotiate a deal to recoupe the patch dev cost. As long as the patched game is tested.
It's already done... do you know MSX Gradius 2 for the PSP (included at the Salamander collection)??

By Yukio

Paragon (1234)

26-03-2009, 12:18

Actually the mouse is only 40 years old. But some stuff would cause controversial trouble for over 50 or 75 years ...

And some MSX compatible mouses are able to emulated the joystick to play games!!!

By Huey

Paragon (1435)

26-03-2009, 12:44

So? ????

By st1mpy

Scribe (167)

26-03-2009, 13:24

Oh, are you saying Gradius (MSX ver) for PSP scrolls smoothly? I was thinking of getting that...

By Sander

Ambassador (504)

26-03-2009, 13:58

Amazing work! I'm impressed Thank you! Next step would be screen 4 and adjusted MSX2 graphics, maybe even with SM style scroll. Maybe we could make some contest, with some gfx guys and programmers? I'll contribute. Heck, i'll even consider starting up Polka then ;P
On a side note: I'll understand that explaining how you did all this with example code would mean considerable work. Still, this would allow the rest of us to help do some more games like Parodius and Nemesis 2 Beta. Please consider this, also considering your RL duties.

By Imanok

Champion (435)

26-03-2009, 14:16

Oh, are you saying Gradius (MSX ver) for PSP scrolls smoothly? I was thinking of getting that...

That's it (I'm talking about 'Gradius 2')

By wolf_

Ambassador (5671)

26-03-2009, 14:36

How about this for a next step in uplifting old games:

- Find out where the music/sfx player is, and where the tunes are
- hack 'em out
- insert a new player, new tunes, for new chips, and create a new ROM!

For instance, think about having SCCPSG music in Usas, Penguin Adventure, Vampire killer etc.!

By Sander

Ambassador (504)

26-03-2009, 14:42

we have a long road before us..

By iamweasel2

Master (138)

26-03-2009, 17:14

Great work, man! I downloaded the IPS patch and it plays really nice, thanks for sharing it with us!

Would it be possible to do the same work with Nemesis 1?

By iamweasel2

Master (138)

26-03-2009, 17:44

Wolf: I think it is easier and it would have better results if you simply add cd audio songs to the game by replacing the music code. No need of new hardware or CPU time to unpack/play the song data.

By Randam

Master (254)

26-03-2009, 19:36

I just now tried the rom combination patches. I noticed that if I apply all rom combinations neither of them works. Is that the same as when you would play nemesis 2 with a slotexpander and MOG, Q-bert and Penguin Adventure in it? Never tried that before...

@sd-snatcher: I only asked about nemesis 2 beta because I thought that it would have mostly similar routines and would probably be easier than another game. If you intend to pursue another game in due time that would be very cool as well. Two thumbs up for the great work.

By sd_snatcher

Hero (538)

27-03-2009, 03:33

2nd batch of the easier questions:

By hap on March 26 2009, 00:43
parodius in my case =p
I had a look at Parodius, and it really seems a best candidate for the next patch. Probably Nemesis-3 will have to wait a little: That stage-9 will probably give me quite some headache in two main points:

1) The 2nd conveyor belt that transports the gun turrets on the opposite direction of the scroll
2) The big robot that is the boss of that stage

Except for that the rest of the game seems to support my current smooth scroll routines quite well, as there are no vertical scroll. I do have a draft idea on how to deal with the robot, but I would like to hear your suggestions on how to deal with the gun turrets of the 2nd conveyor belt.

By konamiman on March 26 2009, 09:08
Aiming now for Nemesis 3 is a great idea IMHO. And simply to bother you a little more, could it be possible to implement smooth scroll on MSX2, by using the "set adjust" technique as in Space Manbow?
Maybe one day, but currently the set-adjust has the same problem the vertical scroll has: it moves the sprites together with the scroll. The problem is: Konami sprite routines are quite sensitive and very prone to collateral effects... I don't know how to deal with this yet. Also, the sprite relocation will probably draw even more CPU power. Added to the fact that the routines that transfer data to the VRAM are slower for the V9938, it may result in a slower gaming for a 3.57MHz MSX2. Are you ok with this? I wonder: Does it worth the effort? There are so many MSXzers without an MSX2+ or Turbo-R nowadays? As time is a scarce resource, wouldn't be better to invest it to improve more games?

By Yukio on March 26 2009, 12:18
Actually the mouse is only 40 years old. But some stuff would cause controversial trouble for over 50 or 75 years ...
I was thinking of the other mouse. That one, with big round years, almost a hundred years old, and with an army of lawyers around him.

By iamweasel2 on March 26 2009, 17:14
Would it be possible to do the same work with Nemesis 1?
Yes, it is. I already did it about 4 years ago, but used a more simple technique that only worked on turbo machines. I was not satisfied with the results, so Gradius-2 uses much better routines to achieve the very smooth results you see now. I can assure you, it's not that easy to implement smooth scroll on a MSX1 game. They just were not designed with that in mind.

By ro

Prophet (2691)

27-03-2009, 08:35

Great stuff, to start with!

I've patched the grad2 ROM file on 2 desktops, both running BlueMSX2.8. On one it runs, on the other the emulator hangs.. huh?
It's exactly the same, patched, ROM file. weir. Oh well, I'd be using OpenMSX for this

By ARTRAG

Prophet (3020)

28-03-2009, 16:27

Thanks to xpctools i had my rom, I had also to install TR roms in open msx (buemsx fails to run this patch),
and, finally, I enjoied this true miracle!
The closest thing to Space Mambow I've ever seen, closer than MB2
Great work!

By sd_snatcher

Hero (538)

28-03-2009, 21:34

And finally, the batch of the most technical questions:

By nikodr on March 25 2009, 00:49
Can you tell us in what place of the rom is the scroll routine?
As i have been trying to dissasemble konami roms it would be good to know specific places of the rom where various routines are located,that way we could learn a lot from the original routines of the game.
There is no single "scroll routine". But I'll list below some of the routines that might interest you.

All offsets are relative to the file beginning.

4845h: Scrolls the background on RAM
497Ah: Starfield scroll
77F1h: Transfer the tiles (nametable) from RAM to the VRAM

By wolf_ on March 25 2009, 21:25
sd_snatcher: I'd say that (obviously) tile-enemies or other moving tile-objects can cause a problem when their scroll speed isn't the same as the level.

You mentioned Salamander above, but how about ripple lasers (which iirc move non-sync with the level) ? You'd get very odd movements I bet!

The effect is similar to the tile-objects of Space Manbow. The movement is fast enough to make it imperceptible. Gradius-2 has a temporary power-up similar to the ripple of the Salamander, which is the "Vector". Try playing Gradius-2 with the Vector on the 3rd stage and you'll see the movement is quite satisfactory.

By Metalion on March 25 2009, 05:27
Could someone explain to me the principle of dynamic vsync ?

The principle is: The vsync is automatically disabled if the game begins to get too slow and also automatically re-enabled when the game is running at the correct speed.

I believe you wanted to ask about the algorithm, which is this:

Repeat
   GameLoop();     /* runs 1 game interaction */
   If ( NOT ( Am_I_too_slow() )   wait_for_vsync();
While ( 1 );

"Am_I_too_slow()" is a routine that answers if the game is running slower than expected.

Quite simple, isn't it?

By KNM

Resident (57)

29-03-2009, 13:42

Can anybody upload or put some link for download the rom properly patched for those who are integral idiots,like me? I´m getting mad with the dummy file and XPC ( cannot know how to enlarge it for match sizes ) and can´t make it work on BlueMSX v2.8.Please!

By karloch

Scribe (490)

29-03-2009, 15:49

Last night I had a weird dream: I was about to patch the Gradius 2 ROM file when the XPC utility patched the Basic and Disk ROM instead... Since that my MSX showed at the BASIC bootup: "MSX International Basic 4.0" (the MSX was a NMS8245). I wonder what the dream could mean, maybe I should get a little rest from work

By hap

Paragon (1095)

29-03-2009, 15:58

KNM: No, linking to 'warez' is against MRC policies.

Here's what you can do:
- slap the laziness out of you: http://freespace.virgin.net/lovely.perfume/Slap.jpg
- get "Gradius 2 (1987) (Konami) (J) [a1].rom": http://www.google.com/
- get the gradius 2 enhancement IPS (easier to set up than the XPC): http://samor.nl/hap/crap/gra2m_ips.zip
- get Lunar IPS: http://fusoya.eludevisibility.org/lips/ or another patcher if you're not on Windows: http://www.cnet.com.au/i/g/240091101/sc001.jpg
- patch the rom file: http://www.denieuwepraktijk.nl/NR/rdonlyres/D1EC739F-7941-41D3-918E-671AA0A7A374/28224/pleister.jpg
- it's glitchy on bluemsx, so play it on openmsx: http://openmsx.sourceforge.net/ or on your real MSX2+/tR: http://shimizuhouse.net/msx/charactor/fs-a1st.html

By sd_snatcher

Hero (538)

29-03-2009, 17:25

I discovered that ExecROM has a bug that only manifests itself on MSX-DOS1. This bug causes the patch to be applied incorrectly.

So, the easier way to use the XPC patch is to boot a MSX Turbo-R with MSX-DOS2 and a megaram.

I´ll try to fix the ExecROM bug on the next weeks.

By Yukio

Paragon (1234)

29-03-2009, 18:08

I trough that ExecROM only worked in MSX Turbo R when using MSX-DOS2 ...

By karloch

Scribe (490)

29-03-2009, 19:48

Just tried the patch on my real TurboR, the results are awesome, not only the scroll, but the new palatte. Great work!

By KNM

Resident (57)

29-03-2009, 21:02

hap : Thanks for your usefull help! Now i get a working one on my ST and it ROCKS !!!!!

Sorry for "warez" request!It won´t happen again

By konamiman

Champion (396)

29-03-2009, 22:31

Confirmed: the XPC-patched version loads fine on a real MSX (I am using an ESE-SCC cartridge) when the patched file is expanded to 256K. By the way, here is how I expanded it by using Linux (assume GRA2.ROM is the original patched file and GRA2-P.ROM is the expanded file):

dd if=/dev/zero of=pad.dat bs=1 count=130385
cat GRA2.ROM pad.dat > GRA2-P.ROM
rm pad.dat

karloch: I want to have this kind of dreams!! How do you do it??

By ARTRAG

Prophet (3020)

30-03-2009, 00:22

hehe!
I have a better way to pad a 128Kb rom to 256Kb

in linux

cat gradius2.rom gradius2.rom > gradius2_padded.rom

and in dos

copy /B gradius2.rom+gradius2.rom gradius2_padded.rom

By karloch

Scribe (490)

30-03-2009, 01:35

@konamiman: Like I knew it... Futhermore, that's not the weirdest MSX-dream I have had, but I think it's better to stay quiet about the other ones... xD

By iamweasel2

Master (138)

30-03-2009, 02:36

Checking the huge amount of replies this post (and KnightLore, Alien 8, Knightmare gold's posts as well) already got, we can see how popular enhancements to classic games are. I hope we can see more and more work like the ones mentioned here in the future

By konamiman

Champion (396)

30-03-2009, 11:48

cat gradius2.rom gradius2.rom > gradius2_padded.rom
OK if the file is exactly 128K long, but the problem here is that we have a 129K file. So you end up with a 258K file.

Anyway, for sure there must be a simpler way for padding files than the one I used.

By ARTRAG

Prophet (3020)

30-03-2009, 12:02

No!
You have to use the original ROM that is 128Kb
The result is 256Kb
Than you have to patch that file with XPC

By ARTRAG

Prophet (3020)

30-03-2009, 12:06

A terrible blasphemy : sd_snatcher what about a port of Parodius or Nemesis 2 to the P1 mode of the gfx9000?

:-)

Really, having disassembled all the I/O VRAM, why not going further ?

You should patch mainly this routine
77F1h: Transfer the tiles (nametable) from RAM to the VRAM

Moreover you could disable the code for sprite multiplexing to gain CPU
(well, you could disable it even now when on msx>=2)

Supporter (0)

30-03-2009, 12:10

Great improvement! Congratulations for the uneasy task & Thanx for sharing!

To answer your questions above:

- I think priority should be given to patching MORE games (since time is scarce as you said)
- Still, I think a SetAdjust smooth scroll for MSX2 would fully make sense if time/motivation allows it, maybe when tackling the Salamander's upscroll issues? As for the time consuming question on MSX2s: true, but who cares when running Space Manbow?

I'm not that sure at last MSXers all invested in MSX2+/TR. Some even sticked to MSX1...
We are talking about thousands of users, no more, no less, judging from this site's numbers: MSX1s and plain MSX2s might remain, statistically speaking, commonly used compared to latest generations. It's indeed hard to figure out unless a poll clearly gives statistics on the actively used machines nowadays.

Whatever you do is good enough anyway!

Sin

By dvik

Paragon (1517)

30-03-2009, 19:49

Just an update to blueMSX users. I confirmed the bug and fixed it. If people are interested I can release a patch with the fix next couple of days or so.

By ARTRAG

Prophet (3020)

30-03-2009, 21:21

That would be nice!
have you seen also the bug in borders that appears in Space Mambow on msx=>2+ ?

By konamiman

Champion (396)

30-03-2009, 21:58

dvik: Please post the patch! We will devour it!

And just one more question about patching, this one could apply to all SCC games:

In Turbo-R, the SCC sounds a lot louder than PSG; actually PSG is almost silent, which results in (for example) drumless music.

Would it be possible to patch these games so, when pressing some key at boot time, the SCC volume is decreased (or the PSG volume increased)? I remember the "Masters SCC" by Martos doing something similar.

By dvik

Paragon (1517)

30-03-2009, 23:18

have you seen also the bug in borders that appears in Space Mambow on msx=>2+ ?
Yeah, thats fixed too. It was a bug introduced in 2.8 but I reverted back to 2.7.1.

By ro

Prophet (2691)

31-03-2009, 10:19

cool dvik!

By karloch

Scribe (490)

31-03-2009, 19:45

The Space Mambow MSX2+ bug in blueMSX was giving me some headache. Nice to know that it was a bug that is fixed

By dvik

Paragon (1517)

31-03-2009, 20:23

I'm looking at a couple of other minor bugs to see if I can fix them easily. Then I hope we can release 2.8.1 within a week or so. We've done other fixes too since last year that would be nice to finally release.

By hap

Paragon (1095)

31-03-2009, 21:42

Ohh, activity, I may do some minifixes too then.

By karloch

Scribe (490)

31-03-2009, 23:52

I made a direct capture of my MSX turboR, so you can see the patch in action here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a13QWpZ1Cao

By ARTRAG

Prophet (3020)

01-04-2009, 00:14

I finished the game in OpenMsx
but it is very nice to look at yor video.

BTW

I was wandering what prevents to slow down the speed of the background starfield....
Now that the level has fine scroll, it should be possible to use the old code to scroll
the star field in parallax with the foreground.

It could add deepth to the general look of the levels

By dvik

Paragon (1517)

02-04-2009, 19:28

Ohh, activity, I may do some minifixes too then.

Yeah I've been doing some debugging last couple of nights. Lets coordinate and decide on a possible release date.

By karloch

Scribe (490)

05-04-2009, 01:18

It looks like the patch also gives invulnerability to the Metalion. How can I disable that?

By spl

Paladin (855)

14-05-2009, 04:30

Can somebody upload again the IPS patch?

By Manuel

Enlighted (5652)

10-12-2011, 15:51

http://crap.tsk-tsk.net/gra2_smoothscroll_frs.zip

By Sinful

Supporter (2)

14-12-2011, 16:03

I'm so very surprised that no one has yet mentioned that they'd want Nemesis 3 as the next MSX/Nemesis related game in line to have the smooth scroll patch applied!? Here are a few main reasons why it's the game that most deserves this in the Nemesis series;

- both MSX Gardius 2 and Parodius allready have smooth scrolling version via 2 PSP collection packs (and before that Gradius 2 had Nemesis '90 Kai & fan made Nemesis '9, both for Sharp X68000)
- Salamander is the least popular game with Gradius fans (it's main appeal is with for more casual shmup fans, like I was at one point and actually too at one point way prefered it over the Gradius series, lol. Definately not the case anymore) + it's the hardest to apply this patch to because of them vertical scrolling levels
- Nemesis 3 is sooooo under-rated it's should be a 10 year minimun sentence punishment. That, and with the smooth scroll patch, more people are likely to give this game the proper chance it so rightfully deserves
-I know at first I too was a little disappointed in this game, thus preffered Nemesis 2 more like everybody else. But now the other way couldn't be more true. I mean, look at it this way. This game has 4 ship selections Vs Gradius 2 & 1 only have 1; Parodius has 5 & Salamander has 2 but they all have the same weapons for both these games!? Nemesis 3 has 3 type of optiion select VS Nemesis 2; Nemesis 1; Parodius; and Salamander only one. Nemesis 3 has 2 shiled type select VS Nemesis 2; Nemesis 1; Parodius; and Salamader only one. These are very major points to consider as they greatly add to replay through a much greater variety between plays.
- Nemesis 3's has optional repeating levels if you know where to look for the missing maps on your first playthrough through said levels that have them. Gradius 2 makes you repeat most of the levels every single time, and this greatly hits the games replay value if you ask me because this series doesn't need this since it allready gives you the option to play same said levels at increasing difficulty with each loop you complete (I also, before I played Nemesis 2, thought that you'd do the repeating levels backwards since your going the other way around. Too bad it wasn't the case as it would of helped it greatly with this problem).
- All these games have great graphics in my opinion, though I can see how most people at first may believe that Nemesis 2 has greater graphics/level design than 3 (as I was one of them). Only difference is that Nemesis 2 uses a brighter colour palette + has s stronger fantasy VS 80's science fiction theme. While Nemesis 3 has darker colours to add more greatly to an 80's science fiction theme VS fanatsy. Both are really great in the end to me.
- if you go over to a Gradius dedicated forum like GameStone, you'll see people crying for the fact that Nemesis 3 sooo needs a remake. We'll I say screw Konami making a remake, as I'll be 100% more happier when this smooth scroll patch comes out for it just like I was for Nemesis 2 (what great news that was when I heard about it. As it was my gateway drug to the wonderfull world of MSX

).

Allright, sorry I went overboard a bit, but this game needed some much needed appreciation. And yeah, sd_snatcher, this smooth scroll patch is like the ultimate holy grail to Gradius and MSX users everywhere. You can't imagine how happy I and others are that you've done this to Gradius 2 and that you still want to do more Gradius and other MSX game that neeed it. So I think I speak for everybody when I say how great this work of yours towards MSX are and will always be.

Well, I personally can't wait to see Nemesis 3 and other MSX games get enhanced by your magic touch, sd_snatcher (though I understand yours busy and have a persobnal life too). Here is looking to a great start at being a new MSX fan thanks to you. (Oh, and is it possible to release an early build of Nemesis 3 without that troublesome levels 9 completed? lol I'm so eager to play this game with mooth scroll patch)