Are You A Bad Enough Dude To Rescue The President?

Spelunky

2011-03-09T23:11:00.000-08:00

Spelunky is an insanely hard, but awesome freeware game for the PC. Not only are the graphics in the old school vein, but the difficulty will definitely have you wanting to obliterate your controller in frustration, just like the old days. Each level is randomly generated though sticks to one of 4 level themes. So while you progress through to the next set of levels, every level is constantly different on each playthrough. The same items and the same route will not be present when you replay them. This adds a lot of replay factor to the game. You get addicted to trying to get further than you have the previous time, no matter how many times you die.

Spelunky was made by Derek Yu, who is now working on a Xbox Live version with enhanced graphics, and multiplayer modes.

Download
Spelunky World (Official Site)
Spelunky Forums
Spelunky Wiki
Spelunky Level Database
TIGSource

Mortal Kombat Hacks

2010-09-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

Wow. Haven't posted on here in awhile. I'm gonna be updating this more frequently, so expect a bunch of old school gaming goodness. Here's a couple of Mortal Kombat hacks that are pretty awesome.

The first one is a hack of MKII, done by a guy named Smoke.

Mortal Kombat II Unlimited is a hack of MKII for the Sega Genesis. Newly added features include:

New combo system
Secret fighters now fully playable
Bosses now fully playable
New sound effects
New stages and music from Mortal Kombat 1
New moves such as Brutality
New Game Modes such as Practice and Endurance

I already patched the rom, so it's good to go.

Download

The next hack is absolutely amazing. It's based on Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for Sega Genesis, but it practically might as well be a brand new game. Everything is tweaked and there are so many extras added to it. Credit goes to hacker extraordinaire Kabal_MK. Go to the official page for all the downloads and movelists. Here's some of the additions to the game:

Character versions from MK1-MK3
Bosses and secret characters fully playable
New fighting stages and sound effects
Updated Computer AI
Updated/Tweaked Combo system
Added special moves, fatalities and combos for every character
New Game Modes and additional options

Same as before, I already went through the trouble of patching the rom for you. There are a couple of extra steps needed if you intend to play this on your PC (if you're playing on NeoGenesis for an original Xbox modded, you don't need to do anything else but put the game in your roms folder). You're going to need to download an emulator that supports roms over 4MB. All of the standard Genesis emu's don't have this feature. Luckily, Kabal_MK provides hacked versions of emulators that will load roms larger than 4MB.

Download

Forgotten Classic: Bloody Wolf

2010-01-27T16:08:00.000-08:00

Take one part Ikari Warriors, one part Contra, one part Metal Slug and one part Commando, and you have the forgotten classic Bloody Wolf. From the multiple weapon pickups, the hostage rescues, the grenades mapped to it's own specific button, and the fact that you can knife enemies by walking up to them and attacking, it's obvious the Metal Slug creators played a lot of this game. You can even ride a motorcycle while taking out enemies. It also has a very Metal Gear-esque feel to it. You can enter buildings and trucks to obtain items and rescue hostages. I'm about half-way through this game and it's quite the forgotten gem.

Bloody Wolf
Developed by Data East
Published by Data East/NEC
Arcade (1988)
PC-Engine (1989)
TurboGrafx16 (1990)
Nintendo Wii Virtual Console (2007)

Download (TurboGrafx16)

Rom Editors

2010-01-20T05:03:00.000-08:00

Here's some rom editors for various games for anyone who wants to get their feet wet with hacking.

Rom Editors include:

Arkanoid
Bionic Commando
Castlevania
Kid Icarus
Legend Of Zelda
Mega Man
Metroid
Ms. Pac-Man
Super Mario Bros
Super Metroid

Plus many others.
If you end up making any hacks with these editors, leave a comment linking to it. I'd like to see what you came up with.

Download Rom Editors Pack

Sofmodding Your Xbox

2010-01-20T01:41:00.000-08:00

Do you have an original Xbox lying around, just gathering dust? Re-purpose that old hardware into a old-school gaming behemoth. Softmodding is the process of modding your system without actually changing anything hardware-wise. It's all software based. That means no opening up your Xbox, no soldering and it can be successfully reversed with a few clicks. With a stock Xbox hard drive, you'll have enough space for emulators for various systems and a good number of games. Later on, I'll post where to find Xbox emu's and how to install a bigger hard drive in your Xbox. If you're having trouble with this tutorial or wish to know more about the Xbox modding scene, please visit Xbox Scene and check the tutorials section.

Warning: Softmodding can permanently brick (meaning little to no chance of repair) your Xbox, if not done properly. Be careful to follow every step precisely or you'll end up with a paperweight. Whatever you do is at your own risk. Don't hold me responsible if you accidently mess something up.
If you are uneasy about this, or about the modding process, it's better to not mess it up. If this is the case, research other ways to get your Xbox modded, find someone who can mod it, or use a Dreamcast (no modding needed to run burned games/emulators). Obviously though, the Xbox has more advantages that a Dreamcast (like an internal hard drive, faster processor and smaller controller).

Disclaimer: I assume in the writing of this that you have basic to intermediate knowledge of computers and networking. You'll need it.

Step 1:
First, before we get started softmodding, there's a few things you're going to need:

An original Xbox (obviously)
Xbox to PC Controller Converter (Or otherwise see this tutorial on how to splice one together)
Memory card
Copy of Splinter Cell 1 (must not be a Greatest Hits version, it has to be the original to work)
Pro Action Replay Xbox Software
XBCD Controller Driver for PC
FileZilla FTP Manager
Ethernet cable
Splinter Cell Save & Exploit

Step 2:
Double check and make sure you have everything you need, including BOTH the Splinter Cell game save and the Splinter Cell Linux exploit.

Install the XBCD Controller driver, Pro Action Replay Xbox and FileZilla programs onto your PC. Connect your controller to your PC's USB port. Wait for Windows to finish installing it. Insert your memory card into your controller and wait for Windows to finish installing that also. Next open a Windows Explorer window and browse to the folder that contains the Splinter Cell gamesaves. Start up Pro Action Replay and drag/drop the gamesaves into the Pro Action Replay panel "PC Database". Once that's done you can drag/drop the gamesaves from the "PC Database" panel to the "Memory Card" panel.

Step 3:
Boot to your Xbox's dashboard and copy the gamesaves from the memory card over to your Xbox hard drive. Boot up Splinter Cell. Once you get to the main menu, choose Start Game, then choose Checkpoints>Linux. This will reboot your Xbox into the UnleashX dashboard.

*Side note*
A Dashboard is sort of like the console's "operating system". There are many different dashboards out there, so once you're finished and comfortable with modding, experiment and find one you like. For the purposes of modding, only Evolution X and Unleash X are included in the exploit.

Step 3:
Now that you are at the Unleash X menu, you can begin the modding process.
First choose the option "Create MS (C partition) Backup". This will back up your Xbox system files in case anything goes wrong and you need to restore them ever. Choose to backup to the E partition of the hard drive. Next, choose "Install Softmod", this will install the mod to your C partition. After that's finished, choose "Install Dashboard". I recommend selecting UnleashX, as it's easier to use, has more options and can be skinned easily. You can install and run any other dashboards you might like, once the mod is complete.

Step 4:
Reboot your Xbox and remove the game disc, quickly close the tray and then power the Xbox off. Reboot your Xbox again, this time by hitting the Disc Tray Open button and leave the tray open until you see the Unleash X menu. (Note: This is not the default dashboard menu. This menu is accessed when booting the Xbox with the disc tray open. Changing settings on this menu or hitting any options here can brick your Xbox. Exercise extreme caution when in this menu. If you don't know what a certain option does, it's better to leave it alone.) Next select the option "Patch MS 5960". This will allow you to access the original Xbox dashboard still, as long as you map the shortcut to the path containing the backed up Xbox dashboard (usually C:\Backup\msdash.xbe or xboxdash.xbe). After that is finished, choose "Backup Mod" and this will create a backup of your modded dashboard in case anything ever goes wrong.

Step 5:
Close your disc tray and reboot your Xbox. You should be brought to the default UnleashX dashboard. Congratulations! You now have a fully functional softmodded Xbox. With it you can play homebrew games/software, burned copies of Xbox games and emulators.

Also, you'll probably be wanting to backup your Xbox hard drive key/password. This is used to lock and unlock hard drives in use on the Xbox. You'll want this key just in case your mod gets messed up and you need access to the files on the hard drive. Using the EvolutionX dashboard, go to "System Utilities" and choose "Backup". This will make a directory called "backup" in your EvolutionX folder. This directory will contain the file "hddinfo.txt". This text file will contain your hard drive key/password. The key/password will look like this:

01:23:45:67:89:AB:CD:EF
01:23:45:67:89:AB:CD:EF
01:23:45:67:00:00:00:00
00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00

Either save this text file to your PC, or write down the first 40 digits (the zeroes at the end are not needed and are not part of the key/password). After having a copy of your key/password, if you ever need to use it, you'll have to find the appropriate program to lock/unlock the hard drive.

I'll be posting some emulators for Xbox pretty soon, to save you the leg work of finding them yourself. Once again, go to Xbox Scene and Xbins to find more emulators and programs. You'll probably need to read a tutorial on how to download various files from the Xbins FTP server. Or you can download the Xbins Automated FTP Manager.

I also recommend using Xbox Media Center. It's a very stable home media center client which allows you to play music, watch movies, connect to the internet and many, many other functions. It's pretty much mandatory to have, as it expands and improves upon many features of other dashboards and includes many, many more features. Plus, it's highly customizable to fit anyone's needs.

Also, check around the Xbox Scene forums. It's a great place to get information about modding, get your questions answered and find tutorials.

Getting emulators

2010-01-20T00:51:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for emulators to play old-school video games on your computer, check out the emulator section on Zophar's Domain. There should be up-to-date emulators for just about every system.

Are You A Bad Enough Dude To Rescue The President?

2010-01-19T23:45:00.000-08:00

Props to you if you know what game the title of this blog is from. I'm gonna be posting various emulators, roms, hacked roms, xbox softmodding tips and any other awesome old-school video game goodness. Let's hope I don't get shut down for posting full roms.