| paleface [sys=PS2; cat=Platformer; reg=UC] |
| | | Can set widescreen (16:9) in Options. : )
Game runs at 30 fps--but can "cheat" (aka patch--but in PCSX2 user-made ones are "cheats" or something?) it to 60! I made a 60 fps cheat/code/whatever for the game. : DDD
It causes the in-game movies to stutter--flashing black every other frame--but the actual gameplay runs at 60 fps, and not sped up or anything weird. Can't really believe it works! = oo At least, so far...
These "cheats" are done with a ".pnach" file in [pcsx2 base dir]\cheats. To get started writing one, you load up the game for which you want to make a cheat, then go to the PCSX2 menu: "Tools - Edit Cheats..."--this opens a new .pnach text file, named with the product ID of the current game, and its CRC code, in the program of your choice (I use Notepad++ as my text editor so I picked that).
My sources for making the cheat:
https://gamehacking.org/game/105097
https://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-How-to-use-60-fps-patches
https://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-60-fps-codes
https://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-How-PNACH-files-work-2-0
What I've got in my SLUS-20918_43B1CD7F.pnach (attaching to this zipped up):
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gametitle=Super Monkey Ball Deluxe NTSC-U SLUS-20918 43B1CD7F
[60 FPS]
author=smbhax
description=Causes videos to stutter. Game @ 60fps rather than usual 30.
patch=1,EE,20146D04,extended,24020001
patch=1,EE,004C318C,extended,00000001
~~~~~
It DOES pretty much make the game's story mode videos (I've read they were in-engine in the original GameCube SMB games or something? I had 'em but don't remember. Here they're awfully compressed and washed out) unwatchable, but hey the gameplay is smooth!
Might screw up the physics slightly? No idea really. I guess I'll do a play session or two before I submit it to the 6-fps-codes PCSX2 forum thread. All I've tested so far is being able to complete one of the early stages with it.
I got this version because the "Banana Mania" Steam version has glare/strobing on the monkey balls, and eh well no insta-save-state support to help me inch through the tricky stages rather than having to do each one in a single go, which is frustrating! ; D ^_ ^ |
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| | | | The heart of that 60 fps cheat are the memory addresses and values--I got those from the 60 fps cheat by Josh_7774 at the gamehacking.org address above. How people actually come up with those I have no idea, so it was lucky for me Josh_7774 had done the hard work! (I used his "GameShark v3-4 / Xploder v4" "Decrypted" values--those seem to be the equivalent of "raw" or "standard unencrypted" values mentioned in the "how" forum threads; and, as those posts explain, PCSX2 doesn't need the additional "Master" codes, which are also listed on gamehacking.org.) |
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| | | | https://fileinfo.com/extension/pnach says 'NOTE: The term "pnach" is pronounced "patch."' It doesn't say if it stands for anything...so maybe it's just a sound-alike and not an acronym? The "how work" threads don't say if it stands for anything...but they render it in all caps...as does the rest of that fileinfo page. : PP |
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| | | Updated just the description in the 60 fps PCSX2 cheat .pnach:
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description=Game @ 60fps. Breaks in-game movies, Golf, & Tennis.
~~~~~ |
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| | | Updated just the credit line in the 60 fps PCSX2 cheat .pnach:
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author=smbhax; codes by Josh_7774 from gamehacking.org
~~~~~ |
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| | | | I'm setting PCSX2's Saturation setting for the game to 100 from the default 50 to combat the default washed-out look. I'd do less Saturation and more Brightness/Contrast but those make the glare on the ball worse--by default it's quite mellow, especially in comparison with Banana Mania. |
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| | | | ^ That Saturation setting isn't in effect in the first video, which I've already recorded. |
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Showing how I made a PCSX2 emulator 60 FPS "cheat" .pnach file for the normally 30 FPS PS2 game "Super Monkey Ball Deluxe" (NTSC-U version), and doing some testing of it in the game's various modes.
0:00 - start
2:42 - standard 30 fps
5:37 - making .pnach cheat file
12:34 - 60 fps
15:51 - 16:9 widescreen & controls
23:54 - Main Game modes
35:17 - Monkey Race DX 4-player split-screen
40:45 - Monkey Fight DX
42:05 - Monkey Target DX
43:31 - Monkey Billiards DX crushed! eheh slightly
47:04 - Monkey Bowling DX
48:34 - Monkey Golf DX doesn't work in 60 fps
59:46 - Monkey Boat
1:01:45 - Monkey Shot
1:02:37 - Monkey Dogfight
1:03:34 - Monkey Soccer
1:04:37 - Monkey Baseball
1:05:47 - Monkey Tennis too fast in 60 fps
1:12:52 - more Story Mode
1:26:16 - wrap!
Oh, Story Mode advances to the next world after you complete 10 stages in a world--but they may have more than that! So I guess I gotta go to Practice mode to play the other 10 stages in World 1, for instance.
Was playing these stages in Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania (PC/Steam) but that version's fancied-up reflection/strobing off the ball surface was messing with my old eyeballs, and I'm bad enough at Monkey Balling that I just really missed being able to spam instant save states to claw my way through the game despite my crushing lack of skill. ^ D^ So I got the PS2 version!
But the PS2 version normally runs at just 30 fps, which feels really bad when you're trying to roll around tricky monkey mazes. Fortunately, there's a 60 fps cheat code by Josh_7774 on https://gamehacking.org/game/105097 . I was able to turn that double code into a .pnach text file that can be loaded into the PS2 emulator PCSX2.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS 60 FPS CHEAT BREAKS PARTS OF THE GAME. Specifically:
- In-game movies display a black screen every other frame, making them stutteringly unwatchable (you can press Start to skip past them)
- The Monkey Golf party game is effectively unplayable--power meter doesn't work
- The Monkey Tennis game is effectively unplayable--runs too fast
^ Of course, you can still run the game with the cheat disabled if you want to see those parts of it as they should be.
Gameplay in the Main Game and 10 other Party Games seems to be fine, but that's based only on my own limited testing you can see in this video--and as you can see, I'm no Monkey Ball expert, so there may be other things I've missed. If you find another problem caused by this 60 FPS cheat specifically, other than the three listed above, let me know--I don't think I'll be able to fix it, but I'll at least document the problem so people will know what to look out for. Hopefully it doesn't render any of the Main Game stages unbeatable but I don't know yet as it will probably take me forever to clear them all anyway!
To use the cheat:
Extract the .pnach file from the .zip download on this page, and put the .pnach in the "cheats" folder inside your case PCSX2 directory, wherever you have that installed. Right-click the icon for your Super Monkey Ball Deluxe rip (NTSC-U version only for this particular version of the cheat) in PCSX2's game selector window, select "Properties," click "Cheats" on the menu on the right side of the game's Properties window, click "Enable Cheats" until it has a check mark next to it, then click the "60 FPS" cheat until it has a check mark next to it. The cheat is now enabled and will be in operation the next time you run the game!
Monkey Billiards DX doesn't show a guide for the ball you shoot with the cue ball--Banana Mania did--but somehow I went 2 for 2 on shots when I was testing the 60 fps cheat on it! ^ _^ Probably the best I've ever done on any billiards ever. ; DD |
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| | | Updated 60 fps PCSX2 cheat in attached zip again, just the author line again to make code attribute maybe slightly clearer I dunno:
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author=smbhax; codes from gamehacking.org, by Josh_7774
~~~~~
Posted it on the PSCX2 forum 60 fps cheat code thread -- https://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-60-fps-codes?pid=643513#pid643513 -- still a previous author line version there though 'cause I can't find a way to edit my post, maybe don't have that privilege yet hm. |
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| | | Updated version (zip updated)--fix for the in-game video stuttering, from Gabominated on the PCSX2 forum! : D
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gametitle=Super Monkey Ball Deluxe NTSC-U SLUS-20918 43B1CD7F
[60 FPS]
author=smbhax; codes from gamehacking.org, by Josh_7774, & Gabominated, PCSX2 forum
description=Game @ 60fps. Breaks Golf & Tennis.
patch=1,EE,20146D04,extended,24020001
patch=1,EE,004C318C,extended,00000001
patch=1,EE,E0010001,extended,00473478
patch=1,EE,204C318C,extended,00000002
~~~ |
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| | | | Updated cheat and post location on PCSX2 forum: https://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-60-fps-codes?pid=643517#pid643517 . Gabominated there says he's added it to a list "for future debugging," so possibly at some point he and the other whizzes over there will be able to figure out fixes for Golf & Tennis, too. |
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| | | | Per https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Mickey_Mouse_Through_the_Years and https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PieEyed , the "pie eyed" cartoon eye style was a feature of the 20s and 30s; Mickey Mouse didn't have it in his Steamboat Willy and other 1928 appearances, but did in the next year--but it quickly went out in favor of uncut oval Mickey pupils. |
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| | | Ah so with Gabominated's fix to the video playback at 60 fps, the videos no longer flicker horribly, but the cartoon word balloon captions the game puts over them for the dialogue are out of sync. ; ) I've updated the description in the zipped cheat file to mention that--the code remains the same:
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description=Game @ 60fps. Breaks Golf & Tennis, puts FMV captions out of sync.
~~~~ |
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Improved version of the 60 FPS "cheat" now capable of viewing the in-game FMV movies without horrible flicker.
Although you can toggle the cheat off while running the game, you have to Reset the whole game before the toggle will take effect.
The "http://www.supermonkeyball.com" address on the giant pusher in stage 3-8 U.R.L. currently results in a "Server Not Found" error. : P
I cranked PCSX2's Saturation to max to try to offset the game's slightly faded-out graphics; normally I'd increase Brightness and Contrast first, but that increases the glare from the monkey ball, which is what I had problems with in Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania from Steam.
So far, Monkey Balling hasn't made me motion sick--I'm the type who gets motion sick reading while in a car--BUT it does make me feel a little funny after a while...so I can't really play it for hours and hours in one go. = o
I sure would like to though because having save states in PCSX2 has made getting through stages that were infuriatingly difficult in Banana Mania quite fun! ^ D^
Have to keep remembering to go to Practice Mode after clearing a World in Story Mode--because Story Mode advances to the next World after clearing just 10 out of each World's 20 total stages--so Practice Mode is where you can go to clear the other 10 stages per World.
Oh hm I suppose probably Challenge Mode's 210 stages are the 200(?) Story stages w/ 10 tiny ones tacked on the front--I've only seen the first. So by the time you get to ULTIMATE w/ access to all of 'em where it probably finally DOES track time clear or at least hm well probably has a tough time limit which I dunno that I'd like exactly, you've probably played through the first ones 4 times at least. ; D
It's real weird that Banana Mania, as far as I remember, didn't have the story movies you get in this PS2 version, replacing them with rather meaningless and generic monkey threat/celebration scenes--so while you went through I think more or less the same stages--maybe slightly rearranged--you didn't get any idea of WHY you were in a giant aquatic cavern with wrecked skyscrapers, for instance, which IS fully explained in the story videos you get here in Deluxe.
The out-of-sync issue with the video captions (they're real-time generated by the game OVER the FMV videos, which...is a funky way to go ; D) caused by the 60 FPS cheat make them rather amusingly abstract, even if you can more or less tell what's going on. ; D
The Monkey Ball hero characters are super-powered gods hovering over the mortal world in their impenetrable balls! That evil doctor bad guy seems woefully underpowered in the face of 'em.
The physics-exploit racer I was thinking of was Trackmania (see entry 1607). |
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Worlds 4 & 5
Got through with no motion queasiness, I guess I can keep going. ^ _^ Gotta watch out for the semi-screen-flashiness after clearing a stage; I suppose my compulsive mashing of PCSX2's fast-forwarding button doesn't help. ; D
And thanks once again for save states! = DD Dang I love emulators. ^ D^^^
Game sound still a tad loud here; maybe one more session of lowering its volume and I'll finally be close to having everything properly audible. ; D |
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6 through 7.10
Still a bit loud. ; D
Not keen on the "get across this narrow curved rail" stages. ; PPP ARE those much easier with analog control? On d-pad at least they feel like 30x harder than the other stages. = ooo (One non-PS2 FAQ I glanced at was saying "tap" directions--so you're still doing that on analog? And they advertised their patented method of tapping either up-forward in the direction of the curve, or forward--when you're drifting out of the curve--but never directly away from the curve--which is probably correct.)
ALSO wasn't exactly thrilled by the "1 of these 56 buttons enables the exit while the other 55 smash you off the stage" stage. Sheesh!
Did kinda like some of the other stages. Never know what you're gonna get monkey ballin! = ooo
I am still feeling rather obsessed with this and may just keep going sooner than I'd thought? Tried checking a FAQ to peek into what exactly Challenge mode is 'cause I can't stop thinking up hypotheses but there is no PS2 FAQ for it and the Xbox one seems like a different arrangement...but matching stage names ARE in their Beginner etc categories so hm Challenge MUST be the same stages over again, probably with tighter time limits...which I don't think I'll really want to do. I DO want to do all the levels once though.
Anyway I've gotta do another to take another stab at the audio balance. It's that darn constant ticking sound, so loud--makes it tricky! = P |
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Playing Story Mode from World 7.11 through to the end, World 10.20. After Story Mode I do BEGINNER Challenge Mode--40 stages--and unexpectedly the 20 (!!) EX stages I unlocked for completing it without continuing.
Also unlocked both credit sequence mini-game things: sequence 2 from beating Story Mode, and sequence 1 from beating BEGINNER Challenge Mode. 2's is kinda fun; 1's gets old REAL fast and dang that goes on forever. = P 2's is especially bad from the point of having anyone actually read the credits, sheesh. ; ) : P
5 hours flew by so I guess I was havin' fun. = ooo Except maybe in those spinning stages in the first half of world 8 that made me a little queasy. 8P
Don't think I'll do the rest of the Challenge Modes 'cause they're pretty much just the Story Mode stages over again. The EX stages are okay I guess--and mostly different stages--but eh yeah I don't wanna go through 70 regular stages over again right now just to get to some more of them!
In Challenge you start with limited lives, like 3 to begin with, and after beating BEGINNER I could raise it to 5; then you earn another life for each 100e bananas you collect--so at least the bananas have a purpose there. The game also mentioned "continues" when I unlocked the BEGINNER EX stages for clearing BEGINNER "without a continue," but I dunno how the continues work or how many you get. |
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