Elusive Ys IV Debug Mode - Now Accessible with New Mednafen Cheat Code!!!!

[MotherGunner]

Nightwolve, you can include the debug mode in that super-translated Ys IV you are getting pressed!

[SkyeWelse]

Looks great, can't wait to mess around with this. : )

I have an end game save via emulator on my Xbox using MednafenX, I'll have to check this out. I've actually never been to the Developer's room before, only heard about it.

-Thomas

[esteban]

Looks great, can't wait to mess around with this. : )

I have an end game save via emulator on my Xbox using MednafenX, I'll have to check this out. I've actually never been to the Developer's room before, only heard about it.

-Thomas

Same here, I have never actually tried the Developer's Room.

I reckon there are a lot of people who don't even know about it.

We might have to create a PSA just to get the word out...

[dshadoff]

That Daigirin book really has a lot of easter eggs and whatnot.

Need to check any other games ?

[pulstar]

Thanks everyone, awesome stuff! And Sam, you should do the Staff Room trick, it's one of the things that makes Ys IV and Hudson so special. You basically get to talk to all the developers via Ys characters, they tell your their job, some jokes, etc. It was a rare touch you don't see much in games! I can't recall if I ever saw another game that had this, unless you count separate bonus discs or something that deal with behind-the-scenes.

Didn't Chrono Trigger have a similar (yet from the looks of it, more simplified thing) if you beat Lavos with Marle and Crono at the beginning of the game through New Game+?

It's amazing how all of these little things keep coming out about games that are decades old. Awesome

[esteban]

...

It's amazing how all of these little things keep coming out about games that are decades old. Awesome

Yes, it really is awesome that new life has been pulsating through these old games.

Even when I am late to the party, it doesn't detract from the fact that these things are "new to me" and therefore exhilarating.

Like, the hidden shootemup in Somer Assault...I think I tried it when I first got the game, but I don't actually remember what it was like.

[esteban]

サウンドテスト イースIV開発室にある
「サウンドルーム」へ行く。そして、ビ
アノの右横の壁の1歩手前にアドルを
移動させ、壁に向かってプラックポー
ションを使う。爆風がおさまったあと
に、黒こげの人が出てくるので、その
人に話しかければ、サウンドテストが
できる。

I have never seen this "Developer's Room" and I don't really know much other info, but here's what this says:

Sound Test: Go to the Sound Room that is in the Developers Room. Move Adol one step from the wall to the right of the piano. Then, facing the wall, use a Black Potion. When the explosion settles, a burnt up guy will appear, and if you talk to him, you can use the Sound Test.

A redundant post, but just in case some folks read this thread but ignore the other one (about Rondo of Blood):

This is an ABRIDGED version of the daigirin...dshadoff collected all of the PC-FX and PCE info into an OCR'ed .pdf:

http://www.tg-16.com/contributors/dshadoff/Daigirin/Daigirin_1997_06_NEC_Extract.pdf

[Mednafen]

I don't want to create a new topic for this because I'm not sure if it's already known, but the debug password for the USA version of "Ys Book I&II" is:

Code: [Select]

AAllffaaSSyySStteemm##

aaand a few other codes that do...something?

Code: [Select]

HASEGAWA


Code: [Select]

1WASAK1


[Lost Monkey]

I don't want to create a new topic for this because I'm not sure if it's already known, but the debug password for the USA version of "Ys Book I&II" is:

Code: [Select]

AAllffaaSSyySStteemm##

aaand a few other codes that do...something?

Code: [Select]

HASEGAWA


Code: [Select]

1WASAK1


Seems like this would be worth a new topic!

[Mednafen]

I took the time to look into Ys 4's code some more, and came up with this better, simpler cheat code to enable the game's own proper debug mode(though some debugging stuff still isn't enabled, as it requires a special ROM/RAM mapped at bank $FC).

To get into the debug menu, hold I while pressing II.

Code: [Select]

[6350e1c06f4d5be0a27eb0ae31c604fb] Ys IV - The Dawn of Ys {HCD3051-4-1108-R1F} (SCD)(JPN)
R A 1 L 0 000d1cba 01 Debug mode enable

[37e37a56eaae6eaa5f3550d995b6168a] Ys IV - The Dawn of Ys {HCD3051-5-1116-R1P} (SCD)(JPN)
R A 1 L 0 000d1cba 01 Debug mode enable



[shawnji]

Thanks everyone, awesome stuff! And Sam, you should do the Staff Room trick, it's one of the things that makes Ys IV and Hudson so special. You basically get to talk to all the developers via Ys characters, they tell your their job, some jokes, etc. It was a rare touch you don't see much in games! I can't recall if I ever saw another game that had this, unless you count separate bonus discs or something that deal with behind-the-scenes.

Didn't Chrono Trigger have a similar (yet from the looks of it, more simplified thing) if you beat Lavos with Marle and Crono at the beginning of the game through New Game+?

It's amazing how all of these little things keep coming out about games that are decades old. Awesome

Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, and Xenogears are all the ones I know of that have debug / dev rooms.  For most of them you had to have a Gameshark.

Funny thing is that Tetsuya Takahashi worked on all those games in some capacity, but he was actually employed at Nihon Falcom before he moved to Square.  Maybe there's some kind of a connection there?

[NightWolve]

That Daigirin book really has a lot of easter eggs and whatnot.

Need to check any other games ?

Sure! Check out Xak III - lots of Debug Mode menus were translated but I never knew how to access it. Also check for Emerald Dragon, see what you find. A Debug Mode would help with the project in progress.

I take it since there was nothing about a button sequence for Ys 4, it was compiled out ? They have a mystery boss fight so it can't be something only possible if you have Mednafen's emulator author on your side to hack the code... Maybe the cheat code was never published ?

[Mednafen]

The only method I know to activate the debug mode without hacking the game(or its RAM) requires that you have expansion ROM/RAM with specific values at bank $FC, and that you hold I+RUN during startup until you get this screen:



Here's a cheat code that very-partially simulates the presence of this (presumed) development device, if you're curious:

Code: [Select]

[6350e1c06f4d5be0a27eb0ae31c604fb] Ys IV - The Dawn of Ys {HCD3051-4-1108-R1F} (SCD)(JPN)
S A 8 L 0 001F9200 e7366d6f72204244 Simulate ROM necessary to allow for debug mode.


...though doing it this way seems to prevent you from accessing the dev/staff room from the menu under "Continue" like you can with the updated simple cheat code; if you try to select it, you'll be sent to the NPC debug village instead.


...but of course I can't ever rule out the possibility of there being a more player-friendly way to activate the debug mode, as I've only examined a tiny fraction of Ys 4's code.

[Lost Monkey]

I don't want to create a new topic for this because I'm not sure if it's already known, but the debug password for the USA version of "Ys Book I&II" is:

Code: [Select]

AAllffaaSSyySStteemm##

aaand a few other codes that do...something?

Code: [Select]

HASEGAWA


Code: [Select]

1WASAK1


Tried the AlfaSystem code last night.  Pretty damned cool!

I never saw this one before.  Enter the code at the password screen and press "end".

You will get an error stating that it is an invalid code.  Choose not to continue entering the password and at the selection screen choose start game.

During the game, press I and "select" to activate the debug menu. 

[NightWolve]

https://tcrf.net/Ys_IV:_The_Dawn_of_Ys

Looks like somebody added an Ys IV page to "The Cutting Room Floor" for the Ys IV Debug Menu findings. I just randomly came across it a moment ago. It reminded me of this old thread and I thought I should include it given all the details are presented well...

It's a nice page created on March 30, 2015, just after this thread finished off. Given the technical details, I suspect it was the Medanfen author herself - definitely somebody from this thread. So, you've got clear info on how to patch track 2 to burn a CD-R of Ys IV if you wanna try Debug Mode on real NEC hardware and what not.

To use the debug mode on a real system, or an emulator without cheat functionality, patch track 2 and track 32 at offset $218AB (assuming 2048-bytes-per-sector rip), replacing $9C with $8D.

Debug Area