This thread started in the 'Top 10 Japan N64 Titles requesting to be translated' thread (replies 160 - 188). To make this patch easier to find and to keep the translation thread from filling up with discussing one game, I'm moving the discussion over to this thread.Skip to the bottom of this message for the patches/GameShark codesI tend to write a lot.
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Space Station: Silicon Valley is a platform game developed by DMA Design and released by renowned publisher Take-Two Interactive. This is the name that published the legendary GTA series. Participating in the game, players will need to transform into a small robot named Evo. However, he was reduced to a microchip after a train accident.
So if you want a lot of details, they're just below this. If you just want the patches or Gameshark codes, skip down until you see blue links.Fat Bear Mountain Trophy Fix (FBM Fix): 100%Fat Bear Mountain, level 1-6, has a trophy that cannot be picked up.
The hit box is set to 0. Setting the hit box size to 15 (matching the baubles in game) allows the trophy to be collected. All of the rest of the programming is correct.The Expansion Pak Fix (Exp Fix) (NTSC 1.0 Only)The PAL version does not have this problem because it has a check to avoid it. Playing the official NTSC cart on an N64 with the Expansion Pak sometimes causes crashes during videos.
In PJ64, it is the opposite. Playing the NTSC version set to 4MB RAM (no expansion pak) causes the game to freeze every time it plays the DMA logo video in the beginning. The problem is a variable check that was removed for the NTSC version. The variable is pulled from a table where it is usually 0x00?? Is the value expected). Sometimes this value is 0X7FFF though. This causes a problem because that variable is multiplied and added to a variable that is 0x803E0000.
This variable in turn is used to load a value, so it was attempting to load a value above 0x80400000. Without an Expansion Pak, the N64 returns 00000000 which is actually the correct response. With the Expansion Pak, the N64 returns the value at that location.
Now SSSV does not check for an Expansion Pak and so never clears the old data on the Expansion Pak. The value returned is usually left over from previous games and most of the time is not an acceptable value. This causes crashes until either the user finds a way around that video, lucks out in clearing that spot some other way, or removes the Expansion Pak.
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My patch checks for the Expansion Pak, makes sure to clear the extra RAM, AND adds back the original check from the PAL version that looks specifically for the 0x7FFF to avoid the issue altogether.Language Select Patch (patched NTSC-U 1.0/1.1 only)Let me start off by saying that this patch must be applied to a ROM already patched with my NTSC-U FBM/Expansion Pak patch. By default, NTSC-U will only allow you to play in English. This patch ports the language select screen over from the PAL version. If you start a game with no save file, it will boot to a language select screen which will allow you to choose from Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish. Once you choose the language and start the game, that language will be set in the save file and will properly load every time you play the game. @Shellshocker18: That's really helpful - thanks!
I'll use the unicycle bear as another testing point. The Fat Bear Mountain Trophy's hit box was just set to 0. Looking at the code, I don't think it allows hit boxes to originate anywhere else. The game has two tables devoted to displaying objects and creatures along with all of their attributes. That part of the game at least is pretty neat.I'm hoping the Expansion Pak issue can be sorted out by clearing the RAM properly. Unlike the neatness of the objects, the RAM clearing seems to happen sporadically and not always in the correct places.
The NTSC roms seem to run past 0x80400000 (RAM without an Expansion Pak), though I can't pinpoint where yet. I'm guessing expanding from PAL timing to NTSC timing increased the RAM usage.@johnson: Thanks for testing it! Part 1: I finally got my system hooked up again and played some SSSV with the original cart and an Expansion Pak. When I first booted it without the Gameshark, the game got stuck at the DMA logo. I added in the Gameshark with the codes mentioned above, and it no longer stopped at the DMA logo screen. I then removed the Gameshark and I could no longer get the game to freeze. I started to play through SSSV without the Gameshark, and finished 1-1 and 1-2 completely (teleporter + trophy + all baubles).Part 2: Then I decided to track down the error down, and I lucked out.
The problem is an LW that tries to load from 0x8043FFF4. If it pulls a 0x00000000, then all is good. If it pulls the wrong thing, it gets stuck in a permanent loop. The PAL version has completely different code here that doesn't allow an LW to look beyond 0x803FFFFF, but it would not work based on the values loaded to the variables at the time of freezing.My NTSC patch should fix the problem since it zeros out 0x80400000 - 0x807FFFFF. I'm still going to do some research to see where the original NTSC code went wrong, but not tonight.EDIT: The PAL version includes a check for this very issue which they removed from the NTSC version for some reason. Now I need to make room for 4 extra commands. I believe it is final nowOK, this should be the final patch of Space Station Silicon Valley.
It would be good to have someone play through the NTSC-U or NTSC-J patch to verify that the Expansion Pak fix is perfect. I've tested as much as I can.
Unfortunately, the camera zooming around in most N64 games makes me motion sick.I tracked down the bug, compared the broken function to PAL, and imported the PAL fix to both NTSC versions. I then tested on PJ64 with the games set to no Expansion Pak. Previously, the NTSC version would freeze in PJ64 after the DMA logo was knocked down and before the chip could appear to bring it back to life. I tracked this down to a variable that should have been double digit (hexit? ), but was occasionally 0x7FFF. When this variable is multiplied and added to 0x803E0000, it tried to load a non-existant value stored above 0x803FFFFF.
I ported the check from the PAL version to the NTSC versions, and now the video plays 100% of the time in PJ64.EDIT: I'll throw this up on Romhacking in a week if we can't find any obvious issues with it. And it just got more interesting, check out the Gameshark codes above:The PAL version of Space Station Silicon Valley can also be played in Japanese.The NTSC version of SSSV can be played in Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish.Basically any version of the game can natively be played in any of these 8 languages:DutchEnglishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseSpanishWARNING: May erase existing save gamesNote: I haven't played through the whole game with any of these extra languages, but they have been tested on the Start screen and the level select screen. I just read the info on the romhacking site and i got a little confused and i'm worried that maybe i have not patched the rom properly.the issue is that the info states the target rom needs to be byteswapped but the rom iso information states that the target rom should be z64 format.according to tool64 byteswapped is v64 format and big endian is z64 format.i'm not sure which format the rom should be to be properly patched, is it big endian z64 or byteswapped v64? The info seems to suggest both.without playing the game through i wont know if the patching went well.any help would be great.
That is confusing. I didn't realize that v64 was also called byteswapped. Byteswapping in most instances just means changing between n64, v64, and z64.
For SSSV, you want to have it in Big Endian (z64) format before you apply the patch. I think it is listed as Byteswapped on the RomHacking site because most rom packages out there use the Little Endian (n64) format, and hackers all use Big Endian (z64) format.
Big Endian is a lot easier to read.By the way, last night I was testing the language Gameshark codes on my n64, and it erased my save games. I updated my notes above and would recommend not using the language Gameshark Codes for the time being until I find a more stable set of codes. The other Gameshark codes for FBM and Expansion Pak are completely safe still.
I just read the info on the romhacking site and i got a little confused and i'm worried that maybe i have not patched the rom properly.the issue is that the info states the target rom needs to be byteswapped but the rom iso information states that the target rom should be z64 format.according to tool64 byteswapped is v64 format and big endian is z64 format.i'm not sure which format the rom should be to be properly patched, is it big endian z64 or byteswapped v64? The info seems to suggest both.without playing the game through i wont know if the patching went well.any help would be great. Thnaks ozidual for clearing that upyes Kerr Avon your right. I forgot that beat bps reports an error if the rom is not right.
ROMs » Nintendo 64 » S » SpaceStation Silicon Valley (USA)Nintendo 64 / N64 ROMsHow to Play this Game ? Quick Navigation:Game Description & Reviews:OmegaSonic0 rates this game: 4/5
Space Station Silicon Valley. What a weird and quirky game. And so much fun. Published in 1998 by DMA, now known as Rockstar North, this game had so much going for it. TO fully explore the station, you have to go and possess the corpses of the dead robot animals, using their unique skills to travel the areas and complete all the objectives. Once you manage to rebuild your body, you then get to shoot the robotic animals to stop them from taking over the Earth! This game had challenging platforming, unique puzzles, and so many different animals. There are a few bugs and glitches, and sadly they prevent players from viewing the true ending, but that's no reason to not play anyway.
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March 2023
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