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Mezase Master
Joined: 16 Sep 2008 Posts: 36 Location: Virginia, USA
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Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 9:06 pm Post subject: |
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Sardius wrote: | Did anyone ever find out what Earthbound Zero would do if it failed a copy protection checkpoint on a real cartridge? Would the cart really "no longer function," as it said?
If so, what happens? I'm guessing it messes up the SRAM or something. | No, the game functions properly on a real cart. I know this because somebody put an unmodified version of the real game on a cart for me, and not one of those crappy ROM dumps.
Sardius wrote: | (On topic: the first six chapters of Mother 3 make up what is probably the best game ever made. It kind of has a hard time ending itself after that, though.) | I've gotta disagree with you 100%. Chapter seven was when you got to explore a ton, it felt the most like an EarthBound game, and chapter eight was the best part by far in my opinion. I didn't really like the first six chapters that much. |
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Skrybe Staff
Joined: 28 Aug 2003 Posts: 1610
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Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:39 am Post subject: |
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Dot50Cal wrote: | Do any other games mess around with you in a similar way? I've only ever heard of Earthbound doing it to you. |
Yeah, Konami liked to put similar types of protection in their later NES/FC games. Kid Dracula will remove sprites, Gradius 2 automatically kills you at the start of the game, and both Yume Penguin Monogatari and Bucky O'Hare make the game super difficult. There's more details in this thread.
And, I think that Super Metroid has protection similar to Earthbound that will delete saved games. |
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Sardius Staff
Joined: 21 Sep 2003 Posts: 508 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 2:10 am Post subject: |
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Mezase Master wrote: | No, the game functions properly on a real cart. I know this because somebody put an unmodified version of the real game on a cart for me, and not one of those crappy ROM dumps. |
I mean, I'm asking what happens when the screen IS triggered. I know it only happens when hacks are detected, but I want to know what it does to make a hacked version stop working after that point.
I'm really curious if such a thing would even be possible, but given that Nintendo went to extremes to copy protect Earthbound on the SNES, I'm guessing something weird and awful happens with the NES version too. |
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Xkeeper
Joined: 04 Nov 2005 Posts: 327 Location: Henderson, NV
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Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 8:05 am Post subject: |
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Sardius wrote: | Mezase Master wrote: | No, the game functions properly on a real cart. I know this because somebody put an unmodified version of the real game on a cart for me, and not one of those crappy ROM dumps. |
I mean, I'm asking what happens when the screen IS triggered. I know it only happens when hacks are detected, but I want to know what it does to make a hacked version stop working after that point.
I'm really curious if such a thing would even be possible, but given that Nintendo went to extremes to copy protect Earthbound on the SNES, I'm guessing something weird and awful happens with the NES version too. |
All it would really take is writing a byte to SRAM that tells the game "I'm pirated! Yay!".
After that it'd just be checking the byte and doing really weird stuff, like perhaps writing strange phrases on the screen. "Why did you bootleg me? I am just a harmless video game, I never meant anybody harm" in varying shades of red and gray.
Or it could just turn your characters into one hit-point wonders, exploding on contact with anything. |
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Mezase Master
Joined: 16 Sep 2008 Posts: 36 Location: Virginia, USA
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Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:46 pm Post subject: |
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Xkeeper, that's basically what Mother is like, anyway.
It just freezes on the "This copy of EARTH BOUND will no longer function." screen. |
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drx
Joined: 15 Apr 2006 Posts: 150
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Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 3:10 pm Post subject: |
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Some old PC game turned swords into pigs or something like that when it detected it was being pirated. |
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Dais
Joined: 26 May 2004 Posts: 142
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Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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That'd be Settlers III (and maybe two).
When I get my laptop working again, I'll take some pictures of the Ultima VII copy protection (or was it VII Part Two?). If you failed to answer questions based on the lore written in the manual(s), you could keep playing, but everyone would speak absolute gibberish. I think it was even randomly generated.
Dais wrote: | Mezase Master wrote: | and the best ending (at least the later versions) |
wait, what? |
Repeating this. What's this about a different ending in later versions? |
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mrdomino
Joined: 16 Aug 2005 Posts: 167
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Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 8:12 pm Post subject: |
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Dais wrote: |
Dais wrote: | Mezase Master wrote: | and the best ending (at least the later versions) |
wait, what? |
Repeating this. What's this about a different ending in later versions? |
the US proto version has a greatly expanded ending compared to the japanese original. the same ending also appears in the GBA port, in japanese. |
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Dais
Joined: 26 May 2004 Posts: 142
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Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 10:03 pm Post subject: |
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Really? I'd never heard that. Thanks. |
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Mezase Master
Joined: 16 Sep 2008 Posts: 36 Location: Virginia, USA
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Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 1:54 am Post subject: |
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The Japanese ending just has the characters look at you while the credits roll. The English prototype and Game Boy Advance endings tie up all the loose plotholes, and give you a glimpse of Ninten's dad.
Last edited by Mezase Master on Mon Nov 03, 2008 5:50 am; edited 1 time in total |
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sebmal
Joined: 30 Oct 2005 Posts: 152 Location: Somewhere!!
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 5:20 am Post subject: |
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Yeah, this is definitely one of my favorite games of all time. Absolutely worth the wait. |
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KingMike
Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 898
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 11:20 pm Post subject: |
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Skrybe wrote: | Dot50Cal wrote: | Do any other games mess around with you in a similar way? I've only ever heard of Earthbound doing it to you. |
Yeah, Konami liked to put similar types of protection in their later NES/FC games. Kid Dracula will remove sprites, Gradius 2 automatically kills you at the start of the game, and both Yume Penguin Monogatari and Bucky O'Hare make the game super difficult. There's more details in this thread.
And, I think that Super Metroid has protection similar to Earthbound that will delete saved games. |
Well, I've told Kitsune in a message on RHDN. Not sure if he got it. |
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FlowingMindspin
Joined: 18 Nov 2004 Posts: 57 Location: Lewistown, PA USA
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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 5:32 am Post subject: |
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I'm up to chapter 6 now... not bad for a day's work. :D
I'm having a really difficult time with the combos in battle, though. I can only recall one time where I got above 2 hits consistently, and I haven't been able to do it since then. Blargh. |
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B00daW BANNED
Joined: 24 Feb 2008 Posts: 135 Location: Gehenna
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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 7:37 am Post subject: |
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I'll be happily waiting for the fan translations of GiFTPiA and Captain Rainbow now!
g0g0g0 translators! |
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Mezase Master
Joined: 16 Sep 2008 Posts: 36 Location: Virginia, USA
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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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Oh god, Chapter 6... that was the hardest part of the game. I don't even wanna think about that. |
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FlowingMindspin
Joined: 18 Nov 2004 Posts: 57 Location: Lewistown, PA USA
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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 10:23 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, needless to say I'm partway through chapter 7 now. :P |
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Dais
Joined: 26 May 2004 Posts: 142
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Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 12:07 pm Post subject: |
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and here, because I said I would, and I always break my promises: the copy protection for Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle:
Ah, 1993.
I'd say that's a good number of cities for an island you can walk across in a few hours.
Oops. Maybe I can get a second chance?
This extends to all characters:
As you can imagine, this essentially disables the game from setting any flags through dialogue, which means you can't even enter the first city five minutes later. |
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Smeg Staff
Joined: 26 Aug 2003 Posts: 1600 Location: beneath enemy scrotum
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Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 1:01 pm Post subject: |
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And yet, somehow I imagine the game is almost certainly more entertaining this way. |
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TheRedEye The Internet's Frank Cifaldi
Joined: 26 Aug 2003 Posts: 4192 Location: Oakland, CA
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Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 3:57 pm Post subject: |
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Hi, I beat this game almost three months ago and I'm still infatuated. |
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I am Christina Aguilera
Joined: 25 Feb 2006 Posts: 159
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Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 5:01 am Post subject: |
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TheRedEye wrote: | Hi, I beat this game almost three months ago and I'm still infatuated. |
How about the SNES game having Little Rascals and Monty Python audio samples in it? Kind of makes the whole thing feel even more delightfully postmodern to know that Hip Tanaka was sitting around fiddling with such off the wall samples.
Oh, and Mother 3 is also excellent. |
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