Ninja Gaiden II (working version please)

[dlfrsilver]

yes, the game sold on ebay, and the price was 500$.

[Retroplay]

500$
I suppose that's a drop in the ocean compared to the boxed Giana Sisters Amiga version that's for sale for £5000.

[clenched]

GfxRip (a nice utility) is showing page 6 on bottom. Page 6 looks like a total loss to me. The tiles unpacked from page 5 & 6 are posted anyway for professional examination. I think $500 is just pocket change for the Captain.

[prowler]

Originally Posted by clenched

GfxRip (a nice utility) is showing page 6 on bottom. Page 6 looks like a total loss to me.

Yep, I would agree with that assessment!

Originally Posted by clenched

The tiles unpacked from page 5 & 6 are posted anyway for professional examination.

So they were compressed!

I didn't get around to installing xfdmaster on my emulator hard drive image because - wait for it - the installer couldn't find my tool 'Installer'. I actually didn't even have a copy of the Installer archive on that machine, despite uploading it as an attachment to one of my posts here nearly four years ago! I'd better fix that and install it tomorrow.

So, instead, I spent my time playing Act 7 using the [cr][h Dawks] disk set with the Act 3 files copied to Disk 1. I chose this set because it lacks the 'NinjaGaidenII' executable file; instead, the game is loaded by running the much smaller '1' executable from the startup-sequence.

The graphics corruption is no different in this version, which confirms that the corruption is confined to the tiles archive.

I managed to get to the end of the game, using the TAB and ESC keys to advance through the level and skip the cut scenes, respectivley, and I'll post my screenshots here, for what they are worth:













The tiles are corrupted right through the level, but the game is still playable, so it seems like that's the only problem with the game.

Hmm... I wonder how the tiles are stored in the DOS version...

[clenched]

Here is a partially working savestate of Act 7 on our champion emulator. These tiles are from DOS version and saved back as raw bitplane data and loaded by hand. Don't leave Act 7 because the tiles will be overwritten if the disk is in. Some tiles are misplaced and missing for now.

I would say there is a fair chance to repair this level if someone could discover how to pack Page6.raw.

EDIT: Savestate and picture replaced with corrected tiles. Act 7 looks OK with these tiles.

[Retro1234]

I take it no one had a good Xmas then..........

Originally Posted by clenched

I think $500 is just pocket change for the Captain.

Yes indeed

When I used xfdmaster on the RAW files it just tells me not packed?
I am missing a XFD library? if so maybe determine what packer is used.

Well done dude you work like a super fast Ninja

What Format were the PC graphics? how many colours?

Packer - ruff notes - Page 5

00 00 00 00 = FD 00 25

00 00 00 00 00 00 = FB 00 23

00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 = F9 00 1C

[mai]

I hope, that all this efforts have success in the end.

[Codetapper]

You don't necessarily need the original packer anyway. The game could be patched so that the faulty level loads the data and uses a different depacker (FImp, Propack etc).

[clenched]

Originally Posted by Boo Boo

When I used xfdmaster on the RAW files it just tells me not packed?
I am missing a XFD library? if so maybe determine what packer is used.

Used the games own unpacker to do it then just save that block of memory.

Well done dude you work like a super fast Ninja

Actually you first identified the bad file a year ago. Just think, If everybody went right to work, it might be fixed by now.

What Format were the PC graphics? how many colours?

I don't know. The way it was done was to make a memory dump in DosBox then search for bytes that match the map on Amiga. When that is done edit the map like this, 00 01 02 03 ...FF skipping a row after 21 tiles to match Amiga dimensions. This redraws the screen with a series of tiles. Unfortunately with a 320x200 screen and the score panel all the tiles can't be visible at once. Anyway take a screen shot of what is there, load in PPaint, reduce to 32 colors and resize (without stretching) to 336x200 and save back in RAW format. Also a correct palette from Amiga version should have already been loaded.

[Codetapper]

I have worked out the storage format for the files so repacking the file should be easy as it's a very simple format. The easiest way to describe how the data is stored is with pseudo-code:

Read a byte. If the high bit is set, it's a repeat-run of characters. Negate the value and add 1, then copy the next byte that many times.

If the high bit is NOT set, it's a sequence of characters to copy, so add 1 and copy the next number of bytes directly.

eg. If the file was the following words: $8100 $0234 $5678

$81 has high bit set, negate it and add 1 = $80 bytes to copy. Next byte is $00 so file wants the value $00 repeated $80 times in a row. The next byte is $02, high bit is not set, add 1 = $03. Copy the next $03 bytes, so $34 then $56 then $78.

You would end up with $80 $00's then $34 $56 $78.

Each file I've tested so far seems to be 336 x 200 x 5 planes with no palette stored.

[clenched]

Originally Posted by Codetapper

I have worked out the storage format for the files so repacking the file should be easy as it's a very simple format. The easiest way to describe how the data is stored is with pseudo-code:

Read a byte. If the high bit is set, it's a repeat-run of characters. Negate the value and add 1, then copy the next byte that many times.

If the high bit is NOT set, it's a sequence of characters to copy, so add 1 and copy the next number of bytes directly.

eg. If the file was the following words: $8100 $0234 $5678

$81 has high bit set, negate it and add 1 = $80 bytes to copy. Next byte is $00 so file wants the value $00 repeated $80 times in a row. The next byte is $02, high bit is not set, add 1 = $03. Copy the next $03 bytes, so $34 then $56 then $78.

You would end up with $80 $00's then $34 $56 $78.

Each file I've tested so far seems to be 336 x 200 x 5 planes with no palette stored.

I'll be doggone, that works! What a tremendous help. I just took the easy way out and put a 99 in front of every 100 bytes just to get something working. So the file could be smaller. I'm going to test a little while and if it doesn't guru on me, I will upload page6.raw. Thank you.

EDIT: Two files here - page6.raw ready to put on floppy and play. PlainP6Tiles for Codetapper perhaps to lessen the size a bit.

[Retro1234]

Well done guys
So if you have fifty zeros the packer would make this? Sorry I didn't grasp it x

To be honest I could kick myself for missing 336*200 in GFXRip

Happy New Year

[Amiga1992]

Great news. Full WHDLoad version any time soon, I guess?

[dlfrsilver]

would be nice

[prowler]

Tremendous work, guys! <- That's for you, Clenched, Codetapper and Boo Boo.

I'm really out of my depth with GfxRip. I've not been able to re-create anything you've done.

What I will be happy to do is create new sets of fixed disk images for TOSEC when the definitive replacement page6.raw file is ready.

[mai]

Originally Posted by prowler

What I will be happy to do is create new sets of fixed disk images for TOSEC when the definitive replacement page6.raw file is ready.

Is it not the final replacement in attached archive?

[prowler]

Originally Posted by mai

Is it not the final replacement in attached archive?

My understanding is that, although the page6.raw file uploaded by clenched will provide a playable game, Codetapper may still be able to lessen the file size a bit (it's rather larger than the original at the moment).

For now, I will work on a replacement Disk2 image to go with the Disk1 you uploaded. It should be ready tomorrow.

Before I work on all the disk images, I need to know that we have a final replacement for that file.

[prowler]

Hi guys,

Fixed Disks 1 and 2 are now in The Zone!

I can confirm that all Act 7 tiles are now fixed and what you should now experience looks like this:











Thanks again to everyone who contributed to this fix. You guys rock!

[Codetapper]

Yeah I can compress the file a bit more, it's probably not needed but just in case the game has a small buffer for the file and loading a bigger file than the destination may cause bugs it's best to compress it. I should be able to send the final file tonight.

One weird thing is the flowing slime wall - it really looks naff in that the animation sequence seems to be OK for a few frames then seems to speed up and go back on itself. Just wondering if the tiles could be adjusted slightly to prevent that. Probably not but just in case it's cycling other "slime" tiles that are current duplicates...

I guess if you changed the slime tiles in the RAW file to obvious numbers like 1,2,3,4,5 then watch the tiles animate to see which tiles are being used - you might be able to have the slime flow smoothly.

[prowler]

Originally Posted by Codetapper

Yeah I can compress the file a bit more, it's probably not needed but just in case the game has a small buffer for the file and loading a bigger file than the destination may cause bugs it's best to compress it. I should be able to send the final file tonight.

Thanks for posting. I'll stay online to grab it.

Originally Posted by Codetapper

One weird thing is the flowing slime wall - it really looks naff in that the animation sequence seems to be OK for a few frames then seems to speed up and go back on itself.

I noticed that, but I thought it was just caused by my slow emulation (on a P200MMX machine...).

Originally Posted by Codetapper

Just wondering if the tiles could be adjusted slightly to prevent that. Probably not but just in case it's cycling other "slime" tiles that are current duplicates...

I guess if you changed the slime tiles in the RAW file to obvious numbers like 1,2,3,4,5 then watch the tiles animate to see which tiles are being used - you might be able to have the slime flow smoothly.

Well, let's see what more magic clenched can conjure up.