PCSX2 - Widescreen Game Patches

[El_Patas]

Patches which i made:

Ben 10: Alien Force (PAL & NTSC-U)
The NTSC-U version is already available in the archive but i made
it more precise.

       

Ben 10: Alien Force Vilgax Attacks (PAL)

       

Ben 10: Protector of Earth (PAL)

       

Ben 10: Ultimate Alien Cosmic Destruction (NTSC-U)

       

Blade II (PAL)

       

Bratz Forever Diamondz (PAL)

       

Dragon Rage (PAL & NTSC-U)

       

Freekstyle (PAL)

       

Kingdom Hearts (PAL)
This is the PAL-Spain version, which have different CRC and
some different adresses.

       

Best regards.

[Vedita BR II]

I can't remember but did you try the SKIP VIDEOS option with L1 ?

Yes, but still didn't work, the game crashes at EA Sports logo, wich is a MPC Video format

[ssakash]

Thanks for the protector of earth patch.

[El_Patas]

You are welcome

Best regards.

[eadmaster]

Hi, thank you for all the patches!

I'd like to request patches for these 3 games:
- Star Wars Racer Revenge
- Sub Rebellion
- Sega Superstars

EDIT: also Stretch Panic needs some work to be usable...

[El_Patas]

From your requests i have the Star Wars Racer Revenge, which
i have made from long time ago like this others:

Lethal Skies Elite Pilot: Team SW (PAL)
Sidewinder F (NTSC-J)

       

Lethal Skies II (NTSC-U)
Sidewinder V (NTSC-J)

       

Sidewinder Max (NTSC-J)

       

Portal Runner (PAL)

       

Simple 2000 Series Ultimate Vol. 25: Chou-Saisoku!
Zokusha King BU no BU (NTSC-J)

       

Simple 2000 Series Vol. 113: The Tairyou Jigoku (NTSC-J)

       

Spider-Man: Friend or Foe (PAL)

       

Star Wars: Racer Revenge (PAL & NTSC-U)

       

Best regards.

[PsxFan107]

16:9 Request: Wheel of Fortune (NTSC-U)

[El_Patas]

PsxFan107, i tried to make the patch of Wheel of Fortune for several hours,
but i have not achieved anything, not even find a zoom usually found in all
games, also seems to have less values for search than usually have all the
other games, it seems a very difficult one, frustrating case, i'm sorry, i hope
that someone with more skill can make it.
Please check your pm.

Best regards.

[Aced14]

I've tried to patch the ISO of Smuggler's Run with ps2_patch_engine but it gives me error: Unable to embed engine. I also tried to convert PNACH file to HEX pattern with pnach_converter but it gives me another error: Address xxxxxxxx does not exist in ELF. So if someone could convert pnach to HEX ISO code so I can replace them with HEX editor. I want to patch it directly because I want to use GSM's 480p option and that's not possible in combination with ps2rd cheat engine.

The previous widescreen hacks for the NTSC-U version of Smuggler's Run were a mix of memory and ELF hacks. PS2 Patch Engine probably didn't like the memory hack and/or the way the pnach was written. The original hacks used a mix of "extended" and "word" syntax (starting with 0s).

Anyway, I've released updated widescreen hacks for all 3 regions' versions of this game !

Pnaches:

• Smuggler's Run (NTSC-U) [SLUS-20065] [0E7F91DA]
    0E7F91DA.pnach (Size: 1,98 KB / Downloads: 520)
  
• Smuggler's Run (PAL-Unk) [SLES-50055] [3F7F970B]
    3F7F970B.pnach (Size: 1,27 KB / Downloads: 362)
  
• Crazy Bump's: Kattobi Car Battle (NTSC-J) [SLPS-20067] [739EB266]
    739EB266.pnach (Size: 1,24 KB / Downloads: 465)
  

Changelog:

• Ported the ELF hacks Arapapa created for the NTSC-J version to the NTSC-U/PAL versions. They'll be referred to as the "new" hacks throughout the rest of this post.
  
• Commented-out the old NTSC-U hacks and placed them into an "Alternate hacks" section. They'll be referred to as the "alternate" hacks throughout the rest of this post.
  
• Improved the alternate hacks in various ways:
  • Changed Devina's active X FOV hack into an ELF hack (much more difficult than anticipated; see notes).
    
  • Revised sergx12's render fix values to prevent minor pop-in in certain scenarios.
    
  • Fixed "READY, SET, GO!" X text position (it's now centered instead of left-aligned).
    
  • Ported to PAL/NTSC-J versions.
    
• Here's an overview of the new hacks' advantages/disadvantages compared to the alternate ones:
  • Advantages:
    • Garage menu's transmission screen isn't affected by rendering issues. In the alternate hacks, a black bar partially appears on top of the rotating car's viewport.
      
    • Level select menu's level icons are centered. They're left-aligned in the alternate hacks.
      
    • Distant tree sprites are thinned-out.
      
  • Disadvantages:
    • Level select icons aren't thinned-out.
      
    • "Ready, Set, Go!" text isn't thinned-out.
      
    • Shadows aren't offset properly.
      
    • Speedometer HUD isn't thinned-out.
      
    • Radar HUD circle's "inner" FOV isn't thinned out.
      
  • The reason the new hacks are pre-enabled in the pnaches is because they don't mess up menu graphics.
    
  
  What's missing:
  • A comprehensive widescreen hack that combines the best aspects of the new and alternate ones.
    
  • Thinner radar HUD circle.
    
  • Thinner/repositioned 2D text.
    
  • FMV rescaling.
    
  • Higher-positioned 2D HUD text in the NTSC-J version.
    
  
  Notes:
  • The attached screenshots are organized in groups of 3 (normal -> new hacks -> alternate hacks). Had to use GSdx software mode this time around due to shadow/line issues in hardware mode.
    
  • The functions that control the new hack's FOV are substantially different between all 3 region's versions (especially NTSC-U vs PAL/NTSC-J). As soon as I realized the NTSC-J version's hack was ELF-based, I figured it'd be super straightforward to port over to the NTSC-U and PAL versions... but that went nowhere. Ended up spending tons of time figuring out how to replicate the NTSC-J hacks in the other versions. PAL wasn't too bad, but NTSC-U was a huge pain. Technically, the new hack is coded differently in all 3 regions, but produces the exact same output.
    
  • It was a nightmare remaking Devina's active X FOV hack into ELF hacks. It should've been relatively easy, but what I initially came up with only worked intermittently... Turns out there's a bug in PCSX2 that's causing games to start running before pnaches are loaded in (see GitHub issue #627). It only occurs the first time a game is fast booted after starting up PCSX2. With a great deal of effort, I managed to come up with a workaround by inserting my ELF hacks in a spot that runs later on.
    
  • A significantly-updated version of the alternate hacks will probably be the best bet to create the ultimate widescreen hacks for this game.
    
  • The NTSC-J version's 2D HUD text is offset to a lower Y axis position than NTSC-U... Maybe Angel Studios forgot to reposition it when they used the PAL version as a basis to create the NTSC-J version?
    

[El_Patas]

Goof job Aced14 with Smuggler's Run, thank you.

Best regards.