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I didn't mention you by name, but you responded as if I did. So is it then safe to assume that you are aware you sometimes come across as a bit of a dick? Maybe you're the greatest guy in the world. I have no idea. But when you, without a polite preamble, or appreciation or gratitude, proceed to point out all the things you don't like about something that took a considerable amount of time and effort by someone who is under zero obligation to freely share their creation with you...it makes you look like a dick. Do you not see that?

Thanks Naples!! Your work is greatly appreciated. It really bugs me that people can freely download this, and then proceed to b***h about it, or just jump into the middle of a critique without bothering to even express any gratitude beforehand. I think such people should be insta-perma-banned without warning or mercy.

Thanks Skip! You rom modders are the greatest! Looking forward to trying this out as always.

Awesome. Was wondering when you'd come out with this, Skip. I so appreciate everything you ROM hackers do.

Awesome. Looking forward to this. Thanks for all the work you put into these!

Thanks! I played your last version a lot, so really looking forward to spending some time with this.

By chance, I came across this... http://www.zophar.net/fileuploads/2/10614uauyw/Genesis_ROM_Format.txt Which talks about the info on a Genesis rom. For instance, in the "©T-50" from above, "50" is the company code for EA. As far as I can tell, a strict definition of the the date part, is that it is the date of the copyright.

For anyone following along, who like me, know nothing about programming, but who maybe/kinda/sorta want to get started, or make a game, you might find this helpful. It's both motivating and sobering: https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/wiki/getting_started

An interesting reddit thread in the ELI5 (explain like I'm five) subreddit, about AI in sports video games. https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1mjqeq/eli5_how_does_ai_in_sports_videogames_work/ From the top rated post: "Good sports AI needs to fool you. The goal is to convince the human player that what the AI opponent did is what would plausibly happen in the real world. You want the human player to say "geez, that was good" and even "I hate this game (because it's legitimately hard)"... but not "that was stupid" or "bullshit, I hate this game because that would never happen." If your goal is realism, I suppose that is true. In a remake of 94' though, one the initial goals, might be to have the AI play more like a human - playing 94'. Even just getting the computer to use the speed burst, would be a major improvement.

Neat coincidence: a youtube show about arcade games that I subscribe to, released a new video today, with, what must be the variant of Discs of Tron that you remember. "Environmental Discs of Tron". Relevant section starts @4:42. This guy gives a complete tour. Looks like he has a complete/deluxe After Burner too!? That's a game I've wanted to play ever since I saw it in Terminator 2. *edit* - Hmmm. Actually, maybe these are both the same as the one in the first video? I dunno.

Thanks, Tru.

When you load the genesis rom into IDA Pro, one of the things you see is: seg000:0100 0000008F C SEGA GENESIS ©T-50 1993.JULNHL Hockey '94 July 93? Is that what this is saying? If yes, that's when the game was maybe finalized and sent off to be manufactured? You're involved in the hacking side of things, Tru, yes? Can you shed light?

Is it alright if I just keep posting relevant/related s**t in this thread? Make it like a sort of one-stop-shop for this subject? If not, someone tell me. Moving on... Here's a recent thread, with someone working on a game? If you go to the github page that he links, there's a bunch of hockey sounding stuff on it. http://forum.nhl94.com/index.php/topic/16706-looking-for-a-sprite-sheet-for-a-nhl94-like-hockey-game

Really old thread, but trying to nail the 94 release date down is worthwhile. Here are some more old mag scans, with even more conflicting info. September 93 GamePro. A preview of NHL 94'. Says both gen and snes versions coming in November. And keeping in mind, the issue probably came out in the middle of July (as they did/do). http://i.imgur.com/UCPt0Xp.jpg Now, the next issue of GamePro. October 93 (probably came out in middle of August) A review of both versions. In the "score" window, the Genesis version is listed as being available in September. The snes version, November. http://i.imgur.com/F8e5YFR.jpg Interestingly, also in the October 93 GamePro, there is a preview of Madden 94. In the preview, an exact release date is given for it. November 19th. Is that what wound up happening I wonder? If it is, is it possible the NHL's were released on the same date? http://i.imgur.com/8YAplCA.jpg Here's a review in the November 93 issue of Game Players of the Genesis version. No dates given in it, but might be interesting to some: http://i.imgur.com/yaGU7uQ.jpg And here's the review (in the Sega Visions sense of the word) in the Oct/Nov 93' Sega Visions. Same deal. No mention of dates. http://i.imgur.com/BSRpRcI.jpg

Just for fun and to keep this thread rolling... Let's say the 94 engine was re-created, from scratch, perfectly. Do you stop there? Or, do you try to improve it? Maybe you do both. Why limit yourself? Maybe you have an "original mode", and "new mode". For the new mode, what would you try to do? One, probably simple thing, I would do, would be to make it slightly easier to score with a slap shot. Like, on a PP, with a slapper from the point. In 94', rarely, if ever, are there goals like these. In 93', this happens a little more frequently. Sometimes, it was because the goalie was way out of position (which happens a lot in 93'), but also, sometimes not. Sometimes, the goalie just doesn't make the save. This brings about a much deeper gameplay question/subject, which is: In the early EA games, there are a handful of sure-fire ways to score. We all know them. Once you know what they are, and how to execute them, they can be pulled off pretty much at will (provided you have the right player). Is this good or bad, do you think? On the one hand, it rewards skill, and that is crucial. If everything was random, and the likelihood of scoring was based on say...how many shots you had accumulated up until that point, I don't think that would be good. You'd wind up with too many lame-ass goals that required no skill on the part of the player - and too many skillful, adept attempts, being stopped. No good (imo). On the other hand, having certain moves/scoring techniques succeeding at, or near, a rate of 100%, has obvious drawbacks. Mainly, it makes playing the computer fairly predictable and boring. A simple solution I think, would be to just add a little more variation in the abilities of the AI goalies. Using the "forehand dunk" (video here) as an example: it's a move which is easy to learn and pull-off, dexterity wise (i.e. it's not like doing Zangief's spinning pile-driver in SF II), and it can be successfully executed even with in-game players of fairly low skill ratings. With a Roenick or Yzerman, it's beyond easy. You will always score. Conceptually, on paper, it would be very easy to eliminate the automatic success rate of this move, by making it so that the goalie, occasionally, "stands on his head". Say, have even the lowest rated goalie in the game, stop Roenick (as an example) 2 or 3 times out of ten (for example). Maybe even have this tied-in to the current game context/situation (near the end of a close game, OT, an early blowout, etc.) and maybe in turn, tie that in with a "clutch" rating, and a "choke" rating. At this point it occurs to me that newer 'NHL' games might have something like this? But, it would be important that this new increase in the unpredictability of the A.I., be kept visually and otherwise, in the "realm" of the AI. Like, if you did a forehand dunk, and the AI determined that in this instance, it was NOT going to be successful, the feedback to the player, both visually, and through the controller, would have to be same as on a goal. Like, it couldn't be that the puck comes off the stick differently, or the player (on-screen) moved differently, or wasn't as responsive, in those split seconds. It would have to be that the goalie just moved quicker. This all seems kind of obvious, but there are some fighting games where I think the AI cheats in this way. Like when you crank up the difficulty setting, and suddenly your character seems to not react as quickly. Though, there's a good chance I'm completely wrong about all this. I don't know anything about AI.