leonardoliveira & Idc's clean decrypted roms

[dbstallman]

your son's a new school gamer then, right?
Lucky one!

I would have to classify my 12 year old as an "all school gamer".

He probably spends equal time on the Wii U, SNES, Dreamcast and playing games in my two candy cabs. Right now, he's playing on the PS3 with his little sister (spring break) but earlier this morning the two of us played through a few levels of a Lethal Enforcers II board I just repaired for a friend.

He has skill at almost all eras of gaming, he can kick my but at Robotron and I have seen him play Raiden Fighters Jet like some kind of savant.... But strangely (or maybe thankfully, depending on your view) he can't pull off a fireball motion consistently yet. He just doesn't spend that much time playing fighting games.

My favorite comment he made to me was a few years ago. Upon hearing we were going to my parent's house for the weekend, he said "But they don't have any arcade games in their basement!"

Brian.

[leonardoliveira]

Some are and some are not. There is a flaw in the way you are making the fixes from how you describe that explains many of the errors also.

You pointing that out makes me want to improve further the method I am using. Sadly human inspection is far from infallible.

You probably have automated methods developed for proof checking the games after all those years studying them. It's really a honor be able to talk about this stuff with someone who knows so much as you. I really mean it.

Misunderstandings solved, I feel a lot better about this stuff. The only thing we disagree now is about the "nag screen"/"labeling as bootleg" topic, right ?

[Razoola]

I have no problem with you personally or your fixes.

What I have a problem with is this belief being spread that somehow the phoenix fixes don't work properly and have errors. This is 100% false and as you can tell from how quickly I can point to errors in other fixes I take this matter quite seriously as I pride myself on the fact that phoenix fixes are 100% good in relation to decryption of encrypted data. I have no issue if someone wants your fix because it does not have the logo screen but it needs to be made clear that presently your fixes do have issues so people will not be getting a 100% working game.

[Rossyra]

What I have a problem with is this belief being spread that somehow the phoenix fixes don't work properly.

I can see how that would be a problem for you. Personally I haven't seen any such belief being spread nor have I been given that impression from idc or Leo when speaking to them directly.

My interpretation of the use of the word 'clean' in the context is that there is no boot menu or any other features introduced in these fixes, just a straightforward (for want of a better word) decryption/de-suicide of the game itself.

[Spectre]

What I have a problem with is this belief being spread that somehow the phoenix fixes don't work properly and have errors.

I don't think anyone is actually saying that Raz. What people are saying is they want something that works as flawlessly as your phoenix edition, but without the boot menu, the region changing feature, the removal of timed unlocks and the other improvements yours have. Personally I'd like to see the fixes remain as faithful to the original code as possible, warts and all (unless any real bugs could be removed or broken features fixed).

[Shou]

I have no problem with you personally or your fixes.

What I have a problem with is this belief being spread that somehow the phoenix fixes don't work properly and have errors. This is 100% false and as you can tell from how quickly I can point to errors in other fixes I take this matter quite seriously as I pride myself on the fact that phoenix fixes are 100% good in relation to decryption of encrypted data. I have no issue if someone wants your fix because it does not have the logo screen but it needs to be made clear that presently your fixes do have issues so people will not be getting a 100% working game.

Raz,

Do you offer a fix for Powered Gear or the JP releases of text heavy games like D&D? I and others in Japan have been waiting for them for a long time...

[Svovl]

What I have a problem with is this belief being spread that somehow the phoenix fixes don't work properly and have errors.

I don't think anyone is actually saying that Raz. What people are saying is they want something that works as flawlessly as your phoenix edition, but without the boot menu, the region changing feature, the removal of timed unlocks and the other improvements yours have. Personally I'd like to see the fixes remain as faithful to the original code as possible, warts and all (unless any real bugs could be removed or broken features fixed).

I must admit every time I boot up my Progear and it says 'Phoenix Edition' it makes me warm inside thinking about the time and dedication that has gone into saving this game from a draconian anti-piracy scheme that would render a cultural pearl unplayable over time.

[leonardoliveira]

After a small exchange through instant messenger where I shared some tricks with him,MottZilla joined the project with a bang and within hours he was able to come up with the following fixes:

Alien vs Predator USA 940520
Dimahou 000121 USA/EURO/JAPAN
Marvel vs Capcom USA 980123

I uploaded myself
Marvel vs Capcom USA 980112

Fixes for:
Nanairo Dreams: Small glitches on background animations at certain areas (most notably the park area) due to unencrypted data being accidentally put through decryption algorythm
Mighty Pang: small "trap" code to break the game if decryption is attempted, placed in middle of a large data section. Mistake pointed by Razoola.

We also started to scrutinize all the sets on the page for mistakes which lead into some revisions (can be checked on the site under the name of the game when you pass the mouse cursor over the game picture).

Manual decryption for Powered Gear: Strategic Variable Armor Equipment is underway (approximately 30% done).
This game cannot be decrypted through automated attacks.

[Shou]

After a small exchange through instant messenger where I shared some tricks with him,MottZilla joined the project with a bang and within hours he was able to come up with the following fixes:

Alien vs Predator USA 940520
Dimahou 000121 USA/EURO/JAPAN
Marvel vs Capcom USA 980123

I uploaded myself
Marvel vs Capcom USA 980112

Fixes for:
Nanairo Dreams: Small glitches on background animations at certain areas (most notably the park area) due to unencrypted data being accidentally put through decryption algorythm
Mighty Pang: small "trap" code to break the game if decryption is attempted, placed in middle of a large data section. Mistake pointed by Razoola.

We also started to scrutinize all the sets on the page for mistakes which lead into some revisions (can be checked on the site under the name of the game when you pass the mouse cursor over the game picture).

Manual decryption for Powered Gear: Strategic Variable Armor Equipment is underway (approximately 30% done).
This game cannot be decrypted through automated attacks.

Thanks for the update, looking forward to these.

[idc]

Fast progress. There should be another update at some point today.

[Spectre]

Great work guys!

[idc]

Site updated:

• Cyberbots (USA 950424)
• Giga Wing (USA 990222)
• Marvel Super Heroes (Japan 951117)
• Marvel Super Heroes (USA 951117)
• Street Fighter Alpha (USA 950627)
• X-Men: Children of the Atom (Asia 941217)
• X-Men vs Street Fighter (USA 961023)

http://cps2.avalaunch.net/"

[leonardoliveira]

WIP: (This game had to be hand disassembled due to it being impervious to XOR attacks)





Currently the full assembly listing for the game is being scrutinized in search for forgotten/damaged bits of data that were mistakenly mangled by the code decryption.

There's no known mistakes on instructions nor on critical program related data(which can lead to crashes).
So it is on playable state but minor graphic glitches are being searched for and repaired as found.

[baddy]

great work guys!

Keep it up

[leonardoliveira]

Apparently I found a bug on Powered Gear (and the international version Armored Warriors) where the boss is supposed to eject sparks when it's exploding:


But it does not because the region with the motion data for the sparks is mistakenly encrypted while the game program expects it to not be encrypted.

On the original release the sparks stay at random spots at the screen, which obviously vary per version/region of the game (due to encryption variations)...

[Spectre]

Strange, can this data be decrypted for a permanent fix?

[leonardoliveira]

Strange, can this data be decrypted for a permanent fix?

The rom uploaded to IDC's site has this bug fixed. The boss has the sparks flying when it explodes.

I'd like to thank MottZilla for the special build of Final Burn which allowed me to confirm this was a original CAPCOM bug and not a mistake of my part. This stuff almost made me ....

And if you mean fix the mistake on a alive board, yes it's possible as well.

[Shou]

Strange, can this data be decrypted for a permanent fix?

The rom uploaded to IDC's site has this bug fixed. The boss has the sparks flying when it explodes.

I'd like to thank MottZilla for the special build of Final Burn which allowed me to confirm this was a original CAPCOM bug and not a mistake of my part. This stuff almost made me ....

And if you mean fix the mistake on a alive board, yes it's possible as well.

Thanks for this!

Will test it tonight. I noticed on the site, it lists Powered Gear as the US version when you do a mouse over???

Would be great if you could do the Japanese versions of both D&D games (latest revisions as a priority)!

[leonardoliveira]

Thanks for this!

Will test it tonight. I noticed on the site, it lists Powered Gear as the US version when you do a mouse over???

Would be great if you could do the Japanese versions of both D&D games (latest revisions as a priority)!

It's Japan, don't worry. idc was probably sleepy when he put that one up.

About the D&D games, no promises on how long it will take, but I'll put them on my list.

These games have to be manually disassembled as they're completely different inside (no regional variation has same code)...

[idc]

I noticed on the site, it lists Powered Gear as the US version when you do a mouse over???

It's Japan, don't worry. idc was probably sleepy when he put that one up.

I don't know what you guys are talking about, I've just had a look and it most certainly states Japan when mousing over.