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From Artmoney table to MAME cheat (Read 18407 times)

Started by N., May 06, 2015, 08:00:37 am
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N.

From Artmoney table to MAME cheat
New #1  May 06, 2015, 08:00:37 am
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I don't know how helpful this'll be, but I figured it couldn't hurt to have a tutorial for turning your Artmoney findings into MAME cheats.

If there's any confusion with anything, let me know, and I'll update this post.

What you'll need:

  • Artmoney (obviously).  You'll also need to know how to apply an offset to your table anytime the emulator crashes for whatever reason.
  • MAME-RR (if you're going to use the RAM search method).  Otherwise, whatever version of MAME you prefer to use should suffice.  I say should, because there might be some issues with getting cheats to work with certain versions of MAME.
  • Notepad++  Unless your text editor can easily open large text files, you'll probably want to use this.  It's also got some functions that'll make things easier for you (like how to record a macro and play it back.  Makes doing huge lists of cheats easier).
  • Vim.  This is for if you make a dump of the game's memory, and it's too big for Notepad++ to open.

Spoiler: Some set up (click to see content)


Searching for addresses
Spoiler: Artmoney + RAM search (click to see content)
Spoiler: Artmoney + Debugger (value searching) (click to see content)
Spoiler: Artmoney + Debugger (memory dump) (click to see content)
Spoiler: Combing through address ranges (click to see content)
Spoiler: The Bizhawk Method? (click to see content)

A video showing me using the 4 methods.  Sorta.  For the 4th method, I just show an address range I'd go checking around (I made it before realizing I didn't have to use the map part of the command).  I don't use a cheat that affects a large address range to see what I'm affecting or use the memory window to edit the values around it.  There's also some jump cuts in the video, because redoing the video meant hard resetting MAME and having to find the offset to get the table working again. :p

Converting addresses to various types of MAME cheats
Spoiler: Here's a simple constant memory write I used, and a break down what you'd need to change for it: (click to see content)
Spoiler: This one lets you cycle through a custom range of values (I use it for X/Y position mods, so you can place the players wherever you want): (click to see content)
Spoiler: This one's for if you want to increase the value to multiple addresses in different ways (viewing tiles is one way, but I've mainly used it for sound modifiers): (click to see content)
Spoiler: This one gives you a list of choices with descriptions for them: (click to see content)
Spoiler: This one only triggers when a condition is met: (click to see content)
Spoiler: This one only triggers when 2 conditions are met to increase a value: (click to see content)


For more complicated cheats/further information on this, I suggest checking syndromtr's guide.  The 2 conditionals cheat I made came from there.

Hope this helps.

Edit: I added some notes on Bizhawk and how to try to get games running on it because they started trying to get MAME working on it.  TBH, I didn't know where to put this and I didn't want to make a new thread, but I felt it merited mentioning because it could make making cheats even easier in the future.
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Last Edit: April 21, 2023, 05:35:49 am by N.