A few questions about Pnach files.
#1
Hello everyone.

I am a bit of a rookie with the PCSX program. I have played quite a few games successfully now and have begun experimenting with patches/hacks.

Currently I am playing Socom: Combined Assault. The game plays perfectly with no patches/hacks. No graphical errors, runs at consist 55-60 fps.

Just today though I have introduced a list of pnach files, and now I am experiencing a long list of errors.

First of all, after enabling the hacks and booting the game, I was confronted by an in game message stating that the save data was corrupt. Lost all my game data.

Continued on and started a new game, upon which I found huge / unplayable amounts of graphical errors. Disappearing characters, and a flashing grey screen of doom.

Finally, some of the codes are recognised and load properly, but do not perform their task. the prime example being "Unlimited health" When I am shot in game my health bar does not decrease, but I am still killed.


So my questions are:

Why are the hacks causing graphical errors and is it possible to fix them ?

Why are the codes not performing their "programmed" duty (Why am I dying with infinite health?)
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#2
Pnach codes write to the memory of a game basically. Sometimes games have a certain CRC checker for Save Files, so when you Save a game or try to load a game while codes are being used, it might act as if it's all corrupt. Final Fantasy 12 is a good example. If you use certain codes there without a 'bypass' code you'll end up getting nothing but corrupt errors when trying to load any game.

Grandia 3 is the same as well. You need to turn off all codes in Grandia 3 before loading your game - THEN you can turn them on. Otherwise you'll just be greeted with corrupt Saves as well.


Besides that there are always bad codes on the web. Codes that don't work at all, or codes that only work partially. Sometimes an Infinite Health code requires multiple codes to work correctly, because the HP values might be stored in multiple addresses. So it might show the HP 'bar' as full, the actual number could still go down. You almost always deal with a 'current' and 'max' HP situation.
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#3
Interesting. So you are saying my best bet is to boot the game, and then enable cheats from the PCSX2 configuration menu ? That will prevent data corruption ? What about saving with cheats enabled ? Will that corrupt data ?



//Enable Code (Must Be On) (No need for it when cheating on the Emulator)
//patch=1,EE,FE129B51,extended,800813BF
//patch=1,EE,000FFFFE,extended,0000025E
//patch=1,EE,000FFFFF,extended,0000025E
//patch=1,EE,901A9C78,extended,0C074568



Above is a copy/paste script from the beginning of the file. Where it is highlighted confuses me. Is it saying that these codes serve no function on PCSX2 ? Would "enable codes" be essential for other codes to work properly ?
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#4
'Master' and 'Enable' codes were required on the actual devices back in the old days for codes to start functioning, but in PCSX2 that's not needed. So you can just completely remove that code from your file.


Saving with codes on is generally not advised, because sometimes it'll save stuff permanently that you might want to turn off later.
But there's honestly only a few games where this actually applies, so I wouldn't look into that too much.
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#5
I think I have really screwed things up now xD
I have been playing around with the codes / and I have somehow turned them off completely.

The codes were working before, but now it seems I have stuffed it completely. 0 cheats found no matter what I do. File is saved properly, Cheats are enabled, and "//" has been removed from the cheats I want.

I don't understand what I have done. Have I broken it ???
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#6
You probably modified them in such a way that they do not pass as cheat lines when the file is parsed.
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#7
I actually have now deleted everything I have modified myself, re-downloaded the pnach file from it's origin and started completely anew. It still is not responding to any of the codes, all of which were functioning normally earlier. It just keeps giving me "0 cheats loaded."

I am terribly confused. It was all working smoothly earlier.
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#8
The graphics issues in Combined Assault(Spiky Polygon Syndrome) aren't related to cheats in this case.
[Image: gmYzFII.png]
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#9
I'll get my hands on that game, then I'll see what the problem is.
I'll edit this post upon any discovery.

Edit:

Everything seems to be in order on my end.
I have enabled every single code at the same time and they all worked no problem.
(Naturally, I only enabled 1 jump, and 1 No reload code (For obvious reasons)).

To fix the Graphical Issues with the game please set the VU0 / VU1 Advanced Recompiler Options to:
Round Mode - Nearest
Clamping Mode - None
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