In this tutorial we will be searching for RAM values, like the ones used to identify how the CPU pulls the goalie. The Home and Away team goalies are stored in the emulators RAM, we will learn how to find those values in RAM by doing a simple search in the emulator.

Tools that you need:

1. SNES debug emulator MESEN2
2. NHL 94' rom in .sfc or .smc format

Setup emulator and launch the game:

• Launch the emulator and load the rom ==>File ==>Open
• (Optional, keyboard works fine) Setup your joystick under settings ==> Input ==> SNES ==> Port 1 Setup
• Setup a Regular Season game and navigate to the Start Game screen

Launch the Memory Search:

Now were going to do a simple Memory Search to find the starting Home Goalie Ram value

• Click Debug ==> Memory Search

• #1 in the screen shot (Compare To) needs to be set to Previous Search Value
• #2 in the screen shot (Operator) needs to be set to Equal
• #3 in the screen shot will apply the Search filters to all the Work RAM memory, Go ahead and click the Apply Filter button.
• Results: You can't tell right now, but the results have filtered out some of the RAM values that have changed, this is good.

Now we are going to change the Goalie to Racicot and perform another search, because we increased the goalie from the first Goalie - Roy to the second Goalie - Racicot, we want to search for RAM values that have increased (Greater than).

• #4 in the screen shot (Compare To) needs to be set to Previous Search Value
• #5 in the screen shot (Operator) needs to be set to Greater than
• #6 in the screen shot will apply the Search filters to all the Work RAM memory, Go ahead and click the Apply Filter button.
• #7 in the screen shot shows the results, we have filtered down a lot of values, this is good.

Now we are going to change the Goalie back to Roy and perform another search, because we decreased the goalie from the second Goalie - Racicot back to the first Goalie - Roy, we want to search for RAM values that have decreased (Less than).

• #8 in the screen shot (Compare To) needs to be set to Previous Search Value
• #9 in the screen shot (Operator) needs to be set to Less than
• #10 in the screen shot will apply the Search filters to all the Work RAM memory, Go ahead and click the Apply Filter button.
• #11 in the screen shot shows the results; wow, we have filtered down to 2 values. One of these is our Home teams Goalie RAM value. $126D or $17AA

One last trick here is to leave Roy as the starting goalie, making sure you haven't changed it from the last search, and start the game. We can apply another filter during game play for RAM values that haven't changed (Equal).

• #12 in the screen shot (Compare To) needs to be set to Previous Search Value
• #13 in the screen shot (Operator) needs to be set to Equal. 
• #14 in the screen shot will apply the Search filters to the remaining Work RAM memory, Go ahead and click the Apply Filter button.
• #15 in the screen shot shows the results. Only one value left $17AA, this is our Home teams Goalie RAM value.

Now you can see the value for $17AA change from 00 (Roy) to 01 (Racicot) or FF (No Goalie)

Homework:

• Using the same steps above, see if you can find the Away teams RAM value. Just make sure you set your controller to the away team for this exercise.

Problem:
Request to disable Interference penalties as certain individuals despise it, and feel it is called too often in SNES.

Solution:
This hack allows you to disable the Interference Penalty while still keeping all other penalties ON.

Technical Details:

This one was simple, we just have to prevent the check to assess goalie interference by skipping.

Old Code:

Modified Code: Change the BMI (Branch If Minus) to BRA (Branch Always)

Download the patch tool to create your own ROM or patch an existing ROM

https://github.com/Mhopkinsinc/NHL94SNESVault/releases

Hex Version:

1) Replace old hex value with new hex value.

Headerless ROM (.SFC)
ROM Offsets: (hex) F3AA8
Old: 30 
New: 80

Headered ROM (.SMC)
ROM Offsets: (hex) F3CA8
Old: 30 
New: 80

Center ice logos are located at E03B7 - E0496 offsets, find it with "Goto" option.

The center ice logos offset stars with 7B B4 9A 00 3C E5 9A 00 A1 BF etc etc and ends with 88 00 B6 D4 9A 00 C6 FF 88 00.

You can also find beginning of the offset with "Find" option, search for 7B B4 9A 00 in Hex-values datatypes.

The complete offsets values for center ice logos look like this in HxD:

7B B4 9A 00 3C E5 9A 00 A1

BF 9A 00 F8 E7 9A 00 96 CA 9A 00 6C E7 9A 00 3D

FF 8D 00 E0 E6 9A 00 2E AC 9A 00 F6 E4 9A 00 38

FF 84 00 98 E3 9A 00 80 C8 9A 00 F4 E1 9A 00 15

C3 9A 00 26 E7 9A 00 57 C5 9A 00 54 E6 9A 00 A9

FE 82 00 B0 E4 9A 00 9C D7 9A 00 C6 E2 9A 00 4A

DA 9A 00 3E E8 9A 00 F5 BB 9A 00 9A E6 9A 00 CB

FE 98 00 82 E5 9A 00 A0 CB 9A 00 C8 E5 9A 00 C0

FE 99 00 0E E6 9A 00 36 C4 9A 00 B2 E7 9A 00 47

FF 83 00 68 E1 9A 00 AF D5 9A 00 AE E1 9A 00 67

C6 9A 00 3A E2 9A 00 74 C7 9A 00 80 E2 9A 00 85

FE 97 00 0C E3 9A 00 72 D9 9A 00 52 E3 9A 00 78

FE 86 00 DE E3 9A 00 33 DD 9A 00 24 E4 9A 00 73

BE 9A 00 6A E4 9A 00 B6 D4 9A 00 C6 FF 88 00 B6

D4 9A 00 C6 FF 88 00

It's a mess, after formatting and adding team names it makes much more sense:

7B B4 9A 00 3C E5 9A 00 Anaheim

A1 BF 9A 00 F8 E7 9A 00 Boston
96 CA 9A 00 6C E7 9A 00 Buffalo

3D FF 8D 00 E0 E6 9A 00 Calgary

2E AC 9A 00 F6 E4 9A 00 Chicago

38 FF 84 00 98 E3 9A 00 Dallas

80 C8 9A 00 F4 E1 9A 00 Detroit

15 C3 9A 00 26 E7 9A 00 Edmonton

57 C5 9A 00 54 E6 9A 00 Florida

A9 FE 82 00 B0 E4 9A 00 Hartford

9C D7 9A 00 C6 E2 9A 00 Los Angeles

4A DA 9A 00 3E E8 9A 00 Montreal

F5 BB 9A 00 9A E6 9A 00 New Jersey

CB FE 98 00 82 E5 9A 00 NY Islanders

A0 CB 9A 00 C8 E5 9A 00 NY Rangers

C0 FE 99 00 0E E6 9A 00 Ottawa

36 C4 9A 00 B2 E7 9A 00 Philadelphia

47 FF 83 00 68 E1 9A 00 Pittsburgh

AF D5 9A 00 AE E1 9A 00 Quebec

67 C6 9A 00 3A E2 9A 00 San Jose

74 C7 9A 00 80 E2 9A 00 St. Louis

85 FE 97 00 0C E3 9A 00 Tampa Bay

72 D9 9A 00 52 E3 9A 00 Toronto

78 FE 86 00 DE E3 9A 00 Vancouver

33 DD 9A 00 24 E4 9A 00 Washington

73 BE 9A 00 6A E4 9A 00 Winnipeg

B6 D4 9A 00 C6 FF 88 00 East

B6 D4 9A 00 C6 FF 88 00 West

Yes, it's that simple, every line represents one center ice logo. For instance, if you want to change Quebec ice cener logo in your custom NHL 99 rom with generic NHL logo, just rewrite the values on the Quebec line (AF D5 9A 00 AE E1 9A 00) with the values from East or West line (B6 D4 9A 00 C6 FF 88 00).

I bolded values which differ to frequent 9A value.

Do not edit just part of the line, the game freezes after that. If you edit only first two values, the game works but the logo looks ugly.

Due to compressed graphics in SNES rom there won't be probably possible to edit logos like it can be done in Genesis version but this way offers more possibilities when editing roms. Post NHL 94 teams do not need to use Jets, Whalers or Nordiques logos in modern NHL roms but generic NHL logo now. For international tournaments or non-NHL leagues roms you can choose the same logo for all teams.

If someone can find where the values/pointers for ice graphics are located, I am sure more progress can be done then.

Solution:
This patch will show the true attribute value (100) in Edit Lines when the bug happens.

Patch:

Download the patch tool to create your own ROM or patch an existing ROM.

In this tutorial we will be taking the RAM values we found in the finding RAM values tutorial , and tracing where the code in the ROM, is writing to that RAM value. Confused?
Basically we are tracing whenever the Away teams goalie (CPU) is being pulled because of a powerplay, or in the 3rd period when the CPU is losing by 1 or 2 goals.

Setup emulator and launch the game:

• This builds on the first tutorial, so I assume you already have the MESEN2 emulator installed and know how to launch the rom.
• Get the game to a position where you are winning by 1 or 2 goals in the third period with close to 1:20 minutes left. Then make a save state and pause the game.
• File ==>Save State ==>Select an empty slot

Launch the Trace Logger:

Now were going to add a trace condition to Log writes for the Away Goalies Ram Address $17AC

• Click Debug ==> Trace Logger

This looks confusing, but the only thing you really need to understand here is the trace condition.

• #1 in the screen shot (Condtion) needs to copied from here and pasted in. IsWrite && MemAddress >= $017AC && MemAddress  <=$017AD
  • What this is doing is anytime a write (IsWrite) is happening to RAM (MemAddress) greater than or equal to (>=) $017AC and (&&) less than (<=) $017AD; log it to the trace window. $017AC + $017AB contains the Away teams goalie.
• #2 in the screen shot (Clear log) needs to be pressed to clear the log before you start the game again.
• #3 allows you to save the log file to your computer if you want. (Not required for this example)

Now we are going to play the game again and make sure the CPU has the puck and is over the center ice line with less than 1 minute left. This will cause the CPU to pull its goalie and we should see a trace in the log appear.

If everything goes according to plan, you should see some traces show in the Trace log window when the goalie gets pulled.

• #1 in the screen shot is the RAM value for the away goalie we were talking about $17AC
• #2 in the screen shot is the new value it was set to FF 00; this means Pulled goalie in the game.
• #3 in the screen shot is the location in the ROM .sfc file that code executed to set the RAM value.
  • This one is a little tricker to understand. We can now look at the decompiled rom and see exactly what game code was running that sets this value. We will cover this in a more advanced topic.
    

Homework:

• You now have the general knowledge to find RAM values in the emulator and then trace them to find the exact location in the ROM where that logic is.
• Use what you have learned to try and find other RAM values that you may be interested in. Maybe try and find the game clock ticking down in RAM.
• If this didn't work for you, just restore the save state and try again.

Technical Details:
When a Body Check is recorded in the game, also record who performed the check and the player that was checked, similar to the other Player Stats (G, A, Sh) 
This can now be extracted from the save state with all the other stats. Plus you can also choose to show the Checks For, in the Player Stats Screen.

Patch:
Download the patch tool to patch an existing ROM, or create a new one.

Hex Version:

Replace old hex values with new hex values. (Just use the patch tool, its easier)

Technical Details:
The SNES code was performing very specific checks to prevent Forwards and Defense from swapping positions. I wrote new code that displays all forwards and defense in Edit Lines. I combined this code with the Missing Extra Attacker Bug Fix, to allow the swapping of forwards and defense.

Patch:

Download the patch tool to patch an existing ROM, or create a new one.

Hex Version:

1) Replace old hex values with new hex values. (Just use the patch tool, its easier)

===========================
Headerless ROM (.SFC)
===========================
  ROM Offsets: (hex) D8C96
  Old: C9 01 00
  New: 20 78 CE

  ROM Offsets: (hex) D8E1A
  Old: 10 21 22 00 93 9B
  New: EA EA EA 4C BA CE

  ROM Offsets: (hex) DCE78
  Old: FF 
  New: 48 A5 A5 18 6D 9F 1D 85 95 AE 9F 1D E8 A5 95 20 72 
       8D CF 8F 1D 9F F0 07 C6 95 CA D0 F0 80 1E CA A5 A5
       18 6D 9F 1D ED 8B 1D 85 95 20 72 8D 48 A5 A5 86 AF 
       18 6D AF 00 85 95 68 20 7C 8D 68 C9 01 00 60 22 00 
       93 9B 8D A3 1D 22 00 D3 9E A5 A5 8D AB 1D 22 DC 92 
       9B 18 6D A3 1D 8D A3 1D AD AB 1D 4C 3B 8E

===========================
Headered ROM (.SMC)
===========================
  ROM Offsets: (hex) D8E96
  Old: C9 01 00 
  New: 20 78 CE

  ROM Offsets: (hex) D901A
  Old: 10 21 22 00 93 9B
  New: EA EA EA 4C BA CE

  ROM Offsets: (hex) DD078
  Old: FF
  New: 48 A5 A5 18 6D 9F 1D 85 95 AE 9F 1D E8 A5 95 20 72 
       8D CF 8F 1D 9F F0 07 C6 95 CA D0 F0 80 1E CA A5 A5
       18 6D 9F 1D ED 8B 1D 85 95 20 72 8D 48 A5 A5 86 AF 
       18 6D AF 00 85 95 68 20 7C 8D 68 C9 01 00 60 22 00 
       93 9B 8D A3 1D 22 00 D3 9E A5 A5 8D AB 1D 22 DC 92 
       9B 18 6D A3 1D 8D A3 1D AD AB 1D 4C 3B 8E

Example: Carson is the extra attacker for L.A. If you replace Robitaille with Carson and pull the goalie, you are left with 5 skaters and no Goalie.

Solution:
On the GENS side, when editing lines, if you insert the extra attacker into your lineup, the replaced player will automatically become the new extra attacker.

Example: Carson is the extra attacker for L.A. If you replace Robitaille with Carson, Robitaille now becomes the Extra Attacker.

Technical Details:
The SNES code was performing very specific checks to prevent Forwards and Defense from swapping positions. The GENS code didn't care, so I ported a version of the GENS code to SNES.

New Code:

See uploaded image at the end of the post, if interested.

Patch:

Download the patch tool to patch an existing ROM, or create a new one.

Hex Version:

1) Replace old hex values with new hex values.

===========================
Headerless ROM (.SFC)
===========================
  ROM Offsets: (hex) D8C96
  Old: C9 01 00
  New: 20 78 CE

  ROM Offsets: (hex) DCE78
  Old: FF 
  New: 48 A5 A5 18 6D 9F 1D 85 95 AE 9F 1D E8 A5 95 20 72 
       8D CF 8F 1D 9F F0 07 C6 95 CA D0 F0 80 1E CA A5 A5 
       18 6D 9F 1D ED 8B 1D 85 95 20 72 8D 48 A5 A5 86 AF 
       18 6D AF 00 85 95 68 20 7C 8D 68 C9 01 00 60

===========================
Headered ROM (.SMC)
===========================
  ROM Offsets: (hex) D8E96
  Old: C9 01 00 
  New: 20 78 CE

  ROM Offsets: (hex) DD078
  Old: FF
  New: 48 A5 A5 18 6D 9F 1D 85 95 AE 9F 1D E8 A5 95 20 72
  8D CF 8F 1D 9F F0 07 C6 95 CA D0 F0 80 1E CA A5 A5
  18 6D 9F 1D ED 8B 1D 85 95 20 72 8D 48 A5 A5 86 AF
  18 6D AF 00 85 95 68 20 7C 8D 68 C9 01 00 60

Problem:
There is a bug in the SNES code responsible for calculating the Hot/Cold Bonus for every player attribute (Speed, Agility, etc.).
As a result, no attribute receives a negative bonus; instead, the attribute is consistently given the maximum boost (15) if the bonus was negative.
An unsigned division error caused the bug, the details can be found here.

Solution:
Fix the division error if the Boost is negative, preventing the Max Boost from being applied. This limits the Boost from (-3 to +3) per attribute as intended.

Technical Details:
We convert the negative number to positive for the division, then revert it to negative and apply the bonus. If the number was already positive, no changes are required.

New Code:


Special thanks to @chaos for helping with the assembly and providing GENS documentation on player attributes, bonuses etc.

Patch:

Download the patch tool to create your own ROM or patch an existing ROM.

Hex Version:

1) Replace old hex value with new hex value.

===========================
Headerless ROM (.SFC)
===========================
  ROM Offsets: (hex) FD224
  Old: B9 12 1A 4A 4A
  New: 20 32 FB EA EA

  ROM Offsets: (hex) FFB32
  Old: FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
  New: B9 12 1A 10 09 49 FF 1A 4A 4A 49 FF 1A 60 4A 4A 60

===========================
Headered ROM (.SMC)
===========================
  ROM Offsets: (hex) FD434
  Old: B9 12 1A 4A 4A
  New: 20 32 FB EA EA

  ROM Offsets: (hex) FFD32
  Old: FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
  New: B9 12 1A 10 09 49 FF 1A 4A 4A 49 FF 1A 60 4A 4A 60

NHL '94 (USA)_Hot_Cold_Patched.zip

Problem:
It takes forever [24 Seconds] before you get to the "Game Setup" screen on the SNES version of 94. We would like to speed this up similar to the GENS version [4 Seconds].

Solution:

Simply skip the code that loads the EA Sports Screen, and the Flying Pucks Screen. This now takes less than 4 seconds to get to the "Game Setup" Screen

Technical Details:

The code below is executed when the ROM starts up.

Code:

1. Change the JSL (Jump Sub-Routine) to NOP (No Operation) to skip the EA Intro
2. Change the JSL (Jump Sub-Routine) to NOP (No Operation) to skip the Flying Pucks Intro

New Code:

Download the patch tool to create your own ROM or patch an existing ROM.

Hex Version:

1) Replace old hex value with new hex value.

Headerless ROM (.SFC)
  ROM Offsets: (hex) F8289
  Old: 22 36 F4 9F
  New: EA EA EA EA

  ROM Offsets: (hex) F82C0
  Old: 22 18 B1 9D
  New: EA EA EA EA

Headered ROM (.SMC)
  ROM Offsets: (hex) F8489
  Old: 22 36 F4 9F
  New: EA EA EA EA

  ROM Offsets: (hex) F84C0
  Old: 22 18 B1 9D
  New: EA EA EA EA

Problem:
When a player is knocked down, pressing the Y button causes them to get up instantly. This behavior doesn't occur on GENS or the previous version, NHLPA 93.

The knocked down player should stay down for 3 seconds as intended.

Solution:

The Y button performs a 'Hook / Hold' animation when you don't have the puck. The existing code already prevents "Hook/Hold" if your player is "Speed Boosting"

• To improve this, we add an additional check when the Y button is pressed to determine if the controlled player's animation is in the 'Knocked Down' position.
• If the player is knocked down, exit the routine without performing the "Hook / Hold" animation similar to "Speed Boosting" code.

Technical Details:

The code below is executed when the Y button is pressed without the puck. 

Code:

1. Load the selected player animation/action, 0 = Standing, 1 = Knocked Down or Passing, 8 = Slapshot, F342 = Speed Boost
2. Check if the player is knocked down
3. If the player is knocked down then branch to RTL (Exit).
4. If the Player is NOT knocked down then continue back to the original code.

New Code:

Download the patch tool to create your own ROM or patch an existing ROM.

Hex Version:

1) Replace old hex value with new hex value.

Headerless ROM (.SFC)
  ROM Offsets: (hex) F2251
  Old: BD E3 14
  New: 4C C5 FB

  ROM Offsets: (hex) F7BC5
  Old: FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
  New: BD E3 14 C9 01 00 F0 03 4C 56 A2 6B

Headered ROM (.SMC)
  ROM Offsets: (hex) F2451
  Old: BD E3 14
  New: 4C C5 FB

  ROM Offsets: (hex) F7DC5
  Old: FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
  New: BD E3 14 C9 01 00 F0 03 4C 56 A2 6B

Problem:
Reduce the Insane amount of times the puck hits the post in SNES.

Solution:
There are a few things you can do:

• Remove the check to see if the puck hits the cross bar or post, this results in a goal when it normally would hit the post.
• Keep the check but make the cross bar height higher and or the side posts further out.
• Keep the Crossbar check but skip the posts check. This would probably be the best balance if you still want some posts in the game.

Technical Details:

The code below is executed when the puck is about to go into the net. As mentioned above there are a few hacks you can apply.

Code:

1. Hijacking the code at this location; we can jump to the goal logic (jmpToGoalLogic) and skip all the post checks. (Always a goal, no post)
2. Changing this value from #$000D to a larger hex value (000F) will make the crossbar height higher (Not visually just in code)
3. Changing this value from #$0012 to a larger hex value (0014) should make one side of the net wider (Not visually just in code)
4. Changing this value from #$FFEF to a smaller hex value (FFEB) should make the other side of the net wider (Not visually just in code)

New Code:

I simply chose option 1; to skip all the logic that checks if the post was hit, and always jump to the Goal Logic.

I have included that patch in the tool and the Hex example below.

Download the patch tool to create your own ROM or patch an existing ROM.

https://github.com/Mhopkinsinc/NHL94SNESVault/releases

Hex Version:

1) Replace old hex value with new hex value.

Headerless ROM (.SFC)
ROM Offsets: (hex) F1230
Old: AD F9 0D
New: 4C 0F 92

Headered ROM (.SMC)
ROM Offsets: (hex) F1430
Old: AD F9 0D 
New: 4C 0F 92

Problem:
Request for the option to turn off Penalty Shots.

Solution:
This hack allows you to disable Penalty Shots regardless if Penalties are On or Off.

Technical Details:

The change is simple but finding it was tricky. We just have to branch to the code that signals no penalty shot.

Old Code:

1) Checks if the BreakAwayActive flag is set and if it is, Branches to 9EC068, this code sets up a flag to call a penalty shot.
2) The code at 9EC068 Sets a flag to call a penalty shot by setting the value to #$FFFF

New Code:

1) Still checks if the BreakAwayActive flag is set but now it Branches to 9EC06D instead of the 9EC068
2) The code at 9EC06D sets a flag to signal NO penalty shot by setting the value to #$0000

Download the patch tool to create your own ROM or patch an existing ROM

https://github.com/Mhopkinsinc/NHL94SNESVault/releases

Hex Version:

1) Replace old hex value with new hex value.

Headerless ROM (.SFC)
ROM Offsets: (hex) F4064
Old: 03 
New: 08

Headered ROM (.SMC)
ROM Offsets: (hex) F4264
Old: 03 
New: 08

Problem:
Pausing the game to pull the goalie kills game flow.

Solution:
This hack allows you to pull / insert the goalie by pressing L+R trigger buttons. Also plays the beep SFX to notify users of the action.

Technical Details:

Similar to the "Defense Ctrl" code injection method, we have to swap out some of the existing code and insert a jump to new code that we create. This new code will be placed in the free space at the end of the 9E bank.

Old Code:

Hijack Instruction LDY.B and LDA.W and JSR (Jump) to the new code we wrote.

Run new code that checks if the goalie is in net and if L+R are pressed for player 1 or 2.

I have included the rom to play around with or compare for differences if interested. Or you can download the tool and create your own ROM.

https://github.com/Mhopkinsinc/NHL94SNESVault/releases

nhl94.sfc

Hex Version:

1) Hijack old code and point to the new code

Headerless ROM (.SFC)
ROM Offsets: (hex) F50BF-F50C3
Old: A4 91 B9 AA 17 
New: 20 6E FB EA EA

Headered ROM (.SMC)
ROM Offsets: (hex) F52BF-F52C3
Old: A4 91 B9 AA 17 
New: 20 6E FB EA EA

2) Insert new code that allows you to pull goalie with L+R Trigger

Headerless ROM (.SFC)
ROM Offsets: (hex) F7B6E-F7BC4
OLD: FF's
NEW: A2 00 00 AC 91 00 B9 AA 17 C9 00 FF D0 01 60 B9 C1 FB DD 84 1C F0 09 E8 E8 E0 04 00 D0 F1 80 2D BD 76 07 29 FF 00 C9 30 00 D0 22 B9 AA 17 F0 07 C9 FF FF F0 02 80 16 49 FF FF 99 AA 17 22 07 D4 9F A9 00 70 85 64 A9 05 00 22 7D A1 80 A4 91 B9 AA 17 60 01 00 02 00

Headered ROM (.SMC)
ROM Offsets: (hex) F7D6E-F7DC4
OLD: FF's
NEW: A2 00 00 AC 91 00 B9 AA 17 C9 00 FF D0 01 60 B9 C1 FB DD 84 1C F0 09 E8 E8 E0 04 00 D0 F1 80 2D BD 76 07 29 FF 00 C9 30 00 D0 22 B9 AA 17 F0 07 C9 FF FF F0 02 80 16 49 FF FF 99 AA 17 22 07 D4 9F A9 00 70 85 64 A9 05 00 22 7D A1 80 A4 91 B9 AA 17 60 01 00 02 00

Limitations:

• This only works for Player 1 and Player 2, if both players are on the same team, Player 1 gets control of this option.
• Only works during game play, you can't pull / insert your goalie in between whistles.

Problem:
The SNES rom crashes when you try to modify penalties to be 1 minute, as the game developers never expected there to be 1 minute penalties.

Solution:
Modify the penalty length in the ROM and skip the problematic check for 0 or 1 if the penalty length is one minute.

Technical Details:

Similar to the "Defense Ctrl" code injection method, we have to swap out some of the existing code and insert a jump to new code that we create. This new code will be placed in the free space at the end of the 9E bank.

Problem Code:

Hijack Instruction before the problem code and run new code (One_Min_Pen)

Run new code to skip the compare if we know its a one minute penalty and continue like normal as if it was a 2 min penalty.

I have included the 1 min penalty rom to play around with or compare for differences if interested. Or you can download the tool and create your own ROM.

https://github.com/Mhopkinsinc/NHL94SNESVault/releases

nhl94.sfc

Hex Version:

1) Change all the penalties from 02 minutes to 01 minutes.

Headerless ROM (.SFC)
ROM Offsets: (hex) 54C7,54E9,550B,552B,554B,556B,558C,55B1,55C9
Change:02 to 01

Headered ROM (.SMC)
ROM Offsets: (hex) 56C7,56E9,570B,572B,574B,576B,578C,57B1,57C9
Change:02 to 01

2) Hijack old code and point to the new code

Headerless ROM (.SFC)
ROM Offsets: (hex) F3417-F3419
Change:29 FF 00 to 4C 5B FB

Headered ROM (.SMC)
ROM Offsets: (hex) F3617-F3619
Change:29 FF 00 to 4C 5B FB

3) Insert new code that fixes the bug

Headerless ROM (.SFC)
ROM Offsets: (hex) F7B5B-F7B6D
Change: FF's to C9 01 04 F0 05 C9 01 0A D0 03 4C 21 B4 29 FF 00 4C 1A B4

Headered ROM (.SMC)
ROM Offsets: (hex) F7D5B-F7D6D
Change: FF's to C9 01 04 F0 05 C9 01 0A D0 03 4C 21 B4 29 FF 00 4C 1A B4

As a tribute to @Tony H and his ROM hacking tutorial on the GENS side, I have created a version of his tutorials for SNES.

SNES Tutorials

• Finding RAM values like the ones used to identify how the CPU pulls the goalie.
• Trace Logging RAM values to see what code is being run

Tools that you need

1. SNES debug emulator MESEN2
2. NHL 94' rom in .sfc or .smc format

Note:
Full credit to @Brodeur30 & @kingraph for the original GENS hack.

Problem:
Request for the Real Time Clock feature to be implemented on the SNES. This enables period and penalty durations to correspond with actual real-world time, meaning a 5-minute period is equivalent to 5 real minutes.

Modify The Time Clock To Be Real Time:
Want to make the time clock use real time instead of 2.5x speed?

ROM Offset: (hex)F85B6-F85B7
Change: AA 0A to 44 04

The above change will slow the clock down to real time.

Modify The Penalty Clock To Be Real Time:
Want to make the penalty clock real time?

ROM Offset: (hex)F3F66-F3F67
Change: 18 00 to 3C 00

ROM Offset: (hex)F8668-F8669
Change: 18 00 to 3C 00

The above 2 changes will make the penalty clock real time.

BONUS INFO:
This is all setup already on the SNES GitHub repo along with other Hacks. Check it out!

Problem:
Would like the CPU to pull its goalie earlier in the 3rd period when losing by 1 or more goals.

Pull CPU Goalie earlier in the 3rd:
Want to change how early the CPU pulls its goalie when losing?

ROM Offset: (hex)00F5150-00F5151
Change: 3D 00 to 96 00

The above change will pull the goalie with 2:30 remaining in the 3rd period.

Pull CPU Goalie when losing by more than 2 goals:
You can also modify how many goals the CPU is losing by when the goalie gets pulled.

ROM Offset: (hex)000F5148
Change: 03 to 04

The above change will pull the goalie when losing by 1, 2 or 3 goals.

BONUS INFO:
This is all setup already on the SNES GitHub repo along with other Hacks. Check it out!

I think this hack was originally found in the GENS version but may not have been fully documented. Here is the link to my GENS post, its slightly different.

Guess what? Buried deep in the ROM, like a pirate's treasure, there's a sneaky '30 Second' period option playing hide-and-seek! If you're up for a bit of digital treasure hunting and want to unlock this secret in your ROM, just tweak these Hex values

Headerless Rom
ROM Offset: (hex) 000EACD7 
Change: 03 to 04

It's like whispering a secret code to open a hidden chamber! But beware, once you activate it, your game time could disappear faster than a fart in the wind – one minute you're playing, the next, poof! It's all over!

nhl94.sfc

This post contains information about the SNES version of NHL 94'. Similar to the thread created on the GENS side, I thought I would try and get this going on the SNES side as well. I have also created a GITHUB repository (NHL 94' SNESVault), that contains a disassembled version of NHL 94' for SNES. The goal is to have the GITHUB repository contain all the documentation and code for the SNES version of NHL 94'

Last update

• Last Update 03.07.2025

SNES 94' Editors

• SNES 94' Editor [Team / Player editor] @statto
• nhl94e [NHL 94' Player name & stats editor / Import new Player profile images] @haydenkale

SNES 94' Tools

• SNES 94' Hacks Tool [Apply all available hacks to an existing ROM] @McMarkis
• SNES 94' Roster Tool [Export/Import Rosters to/from csv files ] @chaos
• SNES 94 Player Card Updater (PCU) [Updates all player profiles in a SNES '94 ROM] @chaos

SNES 94' Bug Fixes

• Y Button Bug Fix [Prevents knocked-down player from instantly standing up when the Y button is pressed.] @McMarkis
• Hot Cold Bug Fix [Applies proper Hot/Cold Bonus of (-3 to +3) instead of Max 15 when bonus was negative] @McMarkis
• Missing Extra Attacker Bug Fix [Properly swaps extra attacker like GENS in Edit Lines.] @McMarkis

SNES 94' Hacks

• Enable Hidden "30 Second" Periods @McMarkis
• Enable 1 Minute Penalties @McMarkis
• Enable Defense Control [Slight modification to the Defense Control with some bonus content] @McMarkis original by @smozoma
• Pull CPU Goalie earlier when losing [Pull the goalie earlier and decide by how many goals] @McMarkis
• Real Time Clock [Enable period and penalty durations to correspond with actual real-world time.] @McMarkis original: @Brodeur30 @kingraph
• Manual Pull Goalie [Use the L+R Trigger to pull the goalie] @McMarkis
• Disable Interference Penalty [While keeping all other penalties ON] @McMarkis
• Disable Penalty Shots [While keeping all other penalties ON] @McMarkis
• Disable / Reduce puck hitting the post [Removes insane number of times the puck hits the post.] @McMarkis
• Skip EA + NHL Flying Pucks Intro [Now only takes ~4 seconds to load the game] @McMarkis
• Allow all players for every position [Edit Line Hack to allow Forwards & Defense to play any position] @McMarkis
• Save & Show Body Checks Per Player [Record Body Checks For/Against. Display Checks For in Player Stats] @McMarkis
• Display Hot/Cold Bonus Value in Edit Lines (Max Boost) [Show 100 in Edit Lines for Player Attributes that have the bug] @McMarkis

SNES 94' Graphics

• Decompress2 [Extract/Decompress Player Profile Images from SNES 94' rom]

SNES 94' Audio & Music

• [TO DO]

SNES 94' Important Forum Posts

• Player Attributes

Tutorials

• ROM Hacking School for SNES 94'

SNES 94' Roms

• Older [SNES ROMS]
• Xstioph's Corner [ROMS by the original HEX GOAT] @Xstioph

SNES Debug Emulators

• MESEN2 [SNES emulator with excellent debug tools]
• BSNES-Plus [SNES emulator with great debug tools]
• Geiger’s snes9x [SNES emulator with good debug tools]
• no$sns [SNES emulator with good debug tools]
• vSNES [Old tool used more for graphics save state debug]

SNES 65c816 (Assembly) Info

• 65c816 [Opcodes for Super Nintendo]

SNES 65c816 Tools

• ASAR [SNES assembler / ROM patcher]
• DiztinGUIsh [SNES disassembler & trace log capture tool.]
• LunarAddress [SNES Address Conversion from SNES to PC location]

Coding Tools

• VS Code [Multi OS tool used to edit the disassembled SNES NHL 94' ASM files] 
• HxD [Windows based Hex editor for editing a compiled SNES rom]
• Beyond Compare [Multi OS tool used to compare files for changes/differences]

F.A.Q

• What is GITHUB

Note:
Full credit to @smozoma for the original hack. This post details the process of incorporating it into the disassembled ROM, allowing it to be recompiled into the game with configurable options. Tutorials to follow in the future on how you can recompile the rom yourself.

Problem:
Defense Control is turned off as a default setting in the game, but the majority of SNES players favor having it enabled from the start.

Solution:
The same as the original hack, we have to swap out some of the existing code and insert a jump to new code we create. This new code will be placed in the free space at the end of the 9F bank.
[1] Hijack old code and have it jump to the new code we add at the bottom of the bank. Line 322

[2] New code to turn on Defense Control for Home and Away teams. Line 11391

[3] I've introduced a variable named !Defense_Control, which you have the option to enable or disable during the compilation of your ROM. The intention is to add more configurable variables for ROM building in the future. Currently, there are two additional variables available: one to adjust penalty duration and another to activate the hidden 30-second periods.

BONUS INFO:
The code we initially diverted from was actually responsible for determining the starting goalie in the game. This opens up potential for further modifications, such as automatically  starting the 2nd goalie, or even enabling on-the-fly pulling of the goalie without needing to pause the game.

nhl94.sfc

That said, the first thing we should do to streamline SNES hacking/editing is to compile all the information we have on the ROM in one location. The eventual goal is to have a complete ROM mapping of NHL '94 for SNES (which I know will be difficult, but it can be done). For now, I have started a Google Spreadsheet to compile information related to locations of palettes and pointer tables I have found on the forums (click on the link below to view it). If you have information about any other locations of pointer tables/palettes/etc. that is not on the document, post it on this topic and I can add it to the spreadsheet.

Spreadsheet (Note: offsets assume header on the ROM)

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArV1f1EnnLgZdElrZ3d0NUFWeGhSMndIQkpNSkRlMEE&hl=en_US&authkey=CMSFy4kC

https://skilldrick.github.io/easy6502/ (updated link, thanks @stewy)

A reminder: SNES uses Little Endian format. So any stat that uses 2 offsets (like Attack Zone for example), the most significant byte is the second one, and the least significant byte is the first one. Also, all values stored are in HEX, not Decimal.

Example: Attack Zone for Home is located at offsets 9061 and 9062. Lets say 9061 contains 15 (256 in decimal) and 9062 contains 01 (21 in decimal). Normally, in Big Endian (used in Genesis), this is read as 1501 (9061, then 9062), and you would calculate the attack zone by converting 1501 to decimal, but in Little Endian (used in SNES), it would be read 0115 (9062, then 9061). 0115 would then be converted into decimal and minutes and seconds could then be calculated.

Conversion (use a calculator or do it like this):

1st position (farthest on the right): 5 x 1 = 5
                        2nd position: 1 x 16 = 16
                        3rd position: 1 x 256 = 256
                        4th position: 0 x 4096 = 0

256 + 16 + 5 =  277 seconds or 4 minutes 37 seconds

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Game Stats:

HOME

Offset (decimal)
9121: Score
9101: Shots
9173: Breakaways
9177: Breakaway goals
9193: One Timers
9197: One Timer Goals
9181: Penalty Shots
9185: Penalty Shot Goals
9125: Faceoffs Won
9161: Body Checks
9169: Passes
9165: Passes Recived
9061+9062: Attack Zone

-
9049: Power Play
9045: Power Play Goals
9069: Power Play Shots
9077: Shorthanded Goals
9053: Penalties
9057: Penalty time
9065+9066: Power Play Time

-
9085: Period 1 Shots
9089: Period 2 Shots
9093: Period 3 Shots
9097: Overtime Shots
-
9105: Period 1 Goals
9109: Period 2 Goals
9113: Period 3 Goals
9117: Overtime Goals


AWAY

9123: Score
9103: Shots
9175: Breakaways
9179: Breakaway goals
9195: One Timers
9199: One Timer Goals
9183: Penalty Shots
9187: Penalty Shot Goals
9127: Faceoffs Won
9163: Body Checks
9171: Passes
9167: Passes recived
9063+9064: Attack Zone

-
9051: Power Play
9047: Power Play Goals
9071: Power Play Shots
9079: Shorthanded Goals
9055: Penalties
9059: Penalty time
9067+9068: Power Play Time

-
9087: Period 1 Shots
9091: Period 2 Shots
9095: Period 3 Shots
9099: Overtime Shots

-
9107: Period 1 Goals
9111: Period 2 Goals
9115: Period 3 Goals
9119: Overtime Goals

---------------------------------------------------------------------

9525: xx : # of assists for the 1st player in the team roster (goalies too)
9526: xx : # of assists for the 2nd player in the team roster (goalies too)
9527: xx : # of assists for the 3rd player in the team roster (goalies too)
9528-9549: xx : # of assists for the 4-25th player in the team roster (each byte is for 1 player)

9629: xx : # of penalty minutes for the 1st player in the team roster (goalie cannot get penalty)
9630: xx : # of penalty minutes for the 2nd player in the team roster (goalie cannot get penalty)
9631: xx : # of penalty minutes for the 3rd player in the team roster (goalie cannot get penalty)
9632-9653: xx : # of penalty minutes for the 4-25th player in the team roster (each byte is for 1 player)

Away Team:

Goals
9499: xx : # of goals scored for the 1st player in the team roster (if player)
: xx : # of goals conceded for the 1st player in the team roster (if/when goalie)
9500: xx : # of goals scored for the 2nd player in the team roster (if player)
: xx : # of goals conceded for the 2nd player in the team roster (if/when goalie)
9501: xx : # of goals scored for the 3rd player in the team roster (if player)
: xx : # of goals conceded for the 3rd player in the team roster (if/when goalie)

9551: xx : # of assists for the 1st player in the team roster (goalies too)
9552: xx : # of assists for the 2nd player in the team roster (goalies too)
9553: xx : # of assists for the 3rd player in the team roster (goalies too)
9554-9575: xx : # of assists for the 4th player in the team roster (each byte is for 1 player)

Shots
9603: xx : # of shots on goal for the 1st player in the team roster (if player)
: xx : # of shots against for the 1st player in the team roster (if/when goalie)
9604: xx : # of shots on goal for the 2nd player in the team roster (if player)
: xx : # of shots against for the 2nd player in the team roster (if/when goalie)
9605: xx : # of shots on goal for the 3rd player in the team roster (if player)
: xx : # of shots against for the 3rd player in the team roster (if/when goalie)
9606-9627: xx : # of shots on goal for the 4th player in the team roster (each byte is for 1 player)

Penalties
9655: xx : # of penalty minutes for the 1st player in the team roster (goalie cannot get penalty)
9656: xx : # of penalty minutes for the 2nd player in the team roster (goalie cannot get penalty)
9657: xx : # of penalty minutes for the 3rd player in the team roster (goalie cannot get penalty)
9658-9679: xx : # of penalty minutes for the 4-25th player in the team roster (each byte is for 1 player)

First, here is a document on pointers in SNES. They are waaay more confusing than in the Genesis. http://www.romhacking.net/docs/%5B50%5Dxcalpointers.txt.

Here is an example:

• I thought that there must be a pointer to the start of the All Stars East team. I figured/guessed that the start was at offset 0E2857
  in the ROM, where there is a "U" character (value 55), since this character appeared right after all the rink names, except for the last team.
  
• So, my starting pointer is E2857.
  
• In SNES pointers, you only need the last 4 numbers in an address (don't ask why.. long story..), so you have 2857.
  
• Next, subtract the ROM header size, which is 0200. This gives you 2657.
  
• Next, you need the pointer's first digit to be between 8-F. So, if it's 0-7, add 8 to it. This gives you A657.
  
• Next, the SNES CPU is "little endian", so you reverse the bytes in the number, giving you 57A6.
  

It turns out that this value, 57A6, appears in the ROM twice, and the 2nd time is the 'team pointer.' The pointers to the other teams are also in this area. Team Pointers are each followed by the value "9C00" (I don't know why.. (EDIT: this is the "bank" number.. it's part of the pointer, though sometimes it is found separate from the other part))

The team pointer table is from E27E7-E2857 (ie, it ends right were the ASE team data starts)

As an excel sheet:snes94.zip

To be continued.. I need to figure out how it can find the rink name after a player's name length has been changed...