[Smaller Goal mod]

2 hours ago, The Sauce said:

Glove Left and Glove Right attribute rating appears to only affect your goalie if he catches left or right.  Obviously, one cannot catch left and right with only one glove.

So can you speak to how turning every goalie in the game to Glove Left and Glove Right equal to 0 would affect them? Would zeroing those out cause the goalies to stop catching left or right, or would it cause them to still attempt to catch left or right but instead of catching it, it bouncing off their gloves?

And for Stick Left and Stick Right, would zeroing those out cause Goalies to stop attempting stick saves or would it just cause stick save attempts to become less successful? Would it cause stick saves to hit the stick but then go through the stick more into the goal or something?

I'm really not too concerned with how lowering Goalie ratings affects the Goalie Overall ratings, because I'm making these changes across the board to all goalies in the game evenly. Lowering the size of the goal as I have makes it that much harder to score just by that alone, so I am perfectly OK with Goalie's Overall ratings lowering quite a bit since it will still be quite difficult to score goals on lower rated Goalies with the smaller goal.

[Smaller Goal mod]

3 hours ago, seamor said:

When you finish the large goal, let me know!

Will do, I will be releasing the smallest goal rom first. Then I'll see what I can do with the bigger size goals.

The smallest goal rom is pretty much ready to go, I'm just editing goalie ratings at this point trying to see how lowering certain goalie attributes affects them as it relates to the smaller goal. With the smaller goal you can really lower a lot of the goalie attributes and it's still hard to score due to the size of the goal. One thing I'm trying to get is a lot more deflections and rebounds, instead of the goalies just catching shots. I've heard that lowering "Puck Control" creates more rebounds, but it appears that lowering Glove Left and Glove Right may also create more rebounds as well. And I'm still not quite sure what Stick Left and Stick Right does.

So I've lowered every goalie's Glove Left and Glove Right to 0, and I'm reducing Goalie's Agility and Defensive Awareness ratings. Off and Def Awareness are usually equal but I kept Offensive Awareness of goalie's as is, as I'm guessing that relates to the CPU accuracy of goalies passing the puck out to teammates when they have the puck. So I've lowered Def Awareness by 1, lowered Agility by 2, I think these lower goalie ratings should work better with the smaller goal, as they have less area to defend so they don't need to be as agile or as Aware to still be effective at keeping pucks out of the net. But I don't want to lower them too far so they let easy goals in. That's why I hesitate to lower Puck Control too much because I heard that lowering that too low I heard may cause them to make errors and possibly let routine shots get past them.

I am hoping to release this rom after Thanksgiving like by Saturday or Sunday. I just want to get these goalie ratings all set before release.

[Smaller Goal mod]

I've been doing a lot of goalie ratings adjustments to make this rom more playable with the smallest goal, like turning down goalie's Glove Left and Glove Right ratings to 0. It seems that there's a big difference between setting both Glove Left and Glove Right to 0 vs setting only one of them to 0 and the other to 1.

With both Glove Left and Glove Right at 0, a lot about the game changes : Goalies will not be able to able to catch too many pucks, occasionally they will but not shots with power on them, even some passes deflect off the goalie. This adds an important gameplay element to NHL 94 that I really had never experienced up until now. With both Glove Left and Glove Right set to 0 it appears to affect the entire team not just the goalie, as this causes there to be a lot more deflections on passes and just in general even when the goalie isn't involved. I am considering setting all the goalies in the game to 0 for Glove Left and Glove Right as it works well with the smaller mod as it's still hard to score even with the goalie deflections when the goal is this small. I don't want to make it too easy to score but I must say that playing against a goalie rated 0 for Glove Left and Glove Right is really fun especially with the small goals. With bigger goals turning these to 0 would make it too easy to score but with smaller goals it gives you more opportunities for deflections and opportunities sometimes to aim at open goals when the goalie is out of position after a deflection. I have found that even when I free up space from a deflection to get a shot on an open net I will miss the open net since with the smaller barriers the shot accuracy has been reduced. So I find myself in battles with just trying to aim the puck into the goal, it's a very cool experience that I think you will like when i release this rom.

[Smaller Goal mod]

Good news ! I found the code in the rom by searching for the default value of the RAM code. So now both the top and bottom goal have aligned puck / post collision. The only issue with it is when going into Instant Replay and selecting Reverse Angle. Doing all this creates a lot of issues with the Reverse Angle of instant replay. (In the Reverse Angle, the bottom goal ends up 3 pixels higher than where it should be, because it's really the top goal just in reverse, which has been moved 3 pixels closer to the other goal, but with the normal bottom goal artwork. And the reverse angle top goal has issues, it's 3 pixels too higher and is missing side posts)

So the Reverse Angle of Instant Replay has issues with this, so aside from that I think I've finally got the puck / post collision where I needs it to be! Just some additional testing is needed to make sure this is working properly and a couple more minor art edits and this rom should be ready for release.

[Smaller Goal mod]

56 minutes ago, jer_33 said:

How does the smaller goal affect a players ability to "aim the shot"? Will it still go top corner, or will some of those shots now miss to the outside?

Shots miss the net to the outside a lot more, including more shots that go over the goal and over the goalie hitting the boards higher up on the boards behind the goal. It seems that the aiming of shots is greatly affected by lowering the barriers, making shots go wider and more off-target.

[Smaller Goal mod]

40 minutes ago, CoachMac said:

Solitaire Play with the human player having the smaller goal and the CPU still having the regular goal would be amazing.

Haha I'm not sure this one is possible because the code that makes the goals smaller or bigger (and adjust the boards barrier at the same time) affects both the top goal and the bottom goal equally. Interestingly though, playing with the RAM code that moves the top goal up/down seems to have an affect on how easy it is to score on the top goal with your team playing going up vs scoring on the bottom goal with your team going down. This is why I'm hoping to get this RAM code converted to a ROM code to eliminate any such imbalance between playing going up vs going down. I'm wondering if this is simply a result of having a RAM code Active that's altering the top goal's position or if it's somehow affecting the A.I. with having less pixels for the defense to defend since it essentially moves the goal-line in code.

[Smaller Goal mod]

8 hours ago, kingraph said:

A lot of people use Gens, but we have recently started using Retroarch, which uses Genesis Plus GX.  

Having said that, even though you are manipulating RAM addresses there is most likely  a way to alter the actual ROM that loads those RAM addresses.  I know I've worked with you on that with you on some of your previous RAM finds.

For example, let's say you have a RAM address such as FF1234 that has a value of "0001".  You go and change the RAM address to "0002" and recognize the change in the game.  

Now, in the ROM, there must be some instruction or set of instructions that say something like "load value 0001 to RAM address FF1234".  If we find that part of the game code, you can change the ROM to say 0002 instead of 0001.  That way the game will work with your hack on any emulator or hardware.

Thank you for this response kingraph. You've been a big help in the past and perhaps you can help me with this one as well. This is one area that I have had difficulty with. I have tried to use the trace code feature in Gens, I have gone step by step through Tony H's guide several times but for some reason attempting to trace anything through this feature just doesn't seem to "work" for me whatsoever. I've gone through all the steps but it doesn't output any rom addresses as it's supposed to do.

I really could use some assistance with trying to get this particular RAM code (the one that moves the top goal 3 pixels down in-game) to a ROM code, before releasing this ROM so you guys won't need to keep the RAM code active all game to get this to work.

Some RAM codes can be found in the rom just by searching its default value. This is not one of them. This RAM address that moves the top goal up/down in-game starts out at 00 when you start a rom and it becomes 0C when the game hits the main menu, and stays at 0C when you enter a game. I change it to 09 to move the goal down 3 pixels. I'll send you the RAM address OK and if you can find its location so a ROM edit can change the top goal's default position you'd be a real hero here. Then I can just share the rom without any need for a RAM code to be active all game!

Edit : Turns out that was one of them, that could be found in the ROM by its default value. I found it in the ROM by searching the default value of the RAM address through the ROM by using Find / Replace in a hex editor and then testing the rom until i found it. I still have not been able to use the Gens trace feature successfully but I have been able to find several RAM codes in the ROM just by using Find / Replace in a hex editor, and searching the value of the RAM's default value in the rom.

[Smaller Goal mod]

There is a RAM code that I found that greatly improves the accuracy of the collision between the puck and the goal posts by solving an NHL 94 bug that some of you may have noticed. This is a very exciting development which I want to share with you when I release the smallest goal rom. In addition to the main barriers rom code that I shared in the other topic, there are also RAM codes for each goal (top and bottom) that allow you to move each goal around so you can fine tune the location of the goal in-game pixel by pixel. Unlike the other rom code, these RAM codes physically move the goal itself (goal artwork and all) and in essence it allows you to alter the actual location of the goal-line as it relates to the goal-line artwork. Well I've found that these goal-moving RAM codes work brilliantly with this mod. Since the area that I used to make the narrower side posts are not editable in the goal art tiles, to get this to work the art I used for the top goal's narrower side posts are stationary artwork that do not move with the goal when you use these goal-moving RAM codes. So this means that when you use these RAM codes to fine-tune the location of the smaller top goal, it only moves the top part of the goal visually with the side posts staying in place.

Why these RAM codes are needed for this mod is because of a problem that exists in NHL 94 that you may have noticed. The problem is that the top goal's goal-line is not quite aligned with the goal-line of the bottom goal. This is something that you may have noticed if you slow-motion a goal in replay and then go to the Reverse Angle right when the puck is about to cross the goal-line, if you look at when the puck appears to cross the goal-line and you freeze frame it right as the puck is crossing the goal line and warping into the net and you reverse angle it, you may have noticed that on the reverse angle the puck may already appear to be in the back of the net while it's not in the back of the net yet on the other angle.

How this relates to accurate puck / goal-post collision is important, because without using this RAM code, no matter what you do from an artwork perspective, the collision will always be a couple of pixels off in regard to the cross bar and the goal-line. This was a source of frustration for me because, well, I was about to release this mod right but the collision between the puck and the crossbar on the top goal was still a little off.

Well just this morning I wanted to see if I could do something about this, and I went in and re-edited the top goal art to move the cross bar 3 pixels higher right, and then after I did that, I then went into the game and used a single-byte goal-moving RAM code for the top goal to move the top part of the goal 3 pixels down to align the goal artwork that way. What this does is that it aligns the top goal with the bottom goal as it relates to the puck crossing the goal-line. So now when you slow-mo a goal replay of the puck crossing the goal-line, the puck now crosses the goal-line into the goal at the same exact frame in both the top and bottom goal!! This was a huge breakthrough for me, because until now the top goal was still 3 pixels off vertically from where the puck intersected the top goal's boundaries despite the top and bottom goals being the same height. Without this gem of a RAM code that I stumbled across a while back that I finally applied today, you had no way to make both goals have accurate collision barriers with the puck. The only thing you could do is make the top goal's cross bar 3 pixels higher than it should be which didn't look right. Now that I've figured all this out, and put it all together, all I gotta say is WOW is this cool.

More testing is needed to make sure it's all working properly, that means me playing a couple of long games trying to hit the cross bar and seeing how accurate everything is. What this will mean though is that for this mod to be accurate for both the top and bottom goal, you will need to run a single-byte RAM code as you are running the rom or else the top portion of the top goal will be separated from the posts visually and the goal-lines won't be aligned.

So my question to you guys is how do you run roms : Do you use Gens or do you use another method? The good news is I tested the rom in Gens with the RAM code and as long as you keep the RAM / Game Genie code Active it works. However depending on what emulator you use, using RAM codes may not be possible, and even some that do run Game Genie RAM codes, the code may not stay on while you're playing the game. (the code may return to its original value when there is a face-off for example)

Before I release the rom I just wanted to know how ya'll run your roms. Do you use Gens or do you use a different emulator? If your emulator does not run RAM codes properly like Gens does or if you run just the rom without the RAM code then the top goal will be separated from the side-posts visually. What I plan on doing when I release this rom is to accompany it with a .pat file with the RAM code to move the goal and two other codes. By running the .pat and turning on the RAM code ON, it may work initially but then may get reset every time there's a face-off. (even with the code set to ON) Gens doesn't have this problem but some emulators might, while other emulators might not run Game Genie RAM codes at all. Do any of you use .pat files to run Game Genie RAM codes??

I could have just released the rom by itself but it's important that you use the RAM code as well so you can align the top goal's goal-line with the bottom goal's goal-line and so you can experience the best puck / post accuracy possible. Otherwise you would still have pucks appearing to go through the top goal cross bar and scoring goals when in actuality it's just an NHL 94 bug that has the top goal a couple of pixels off compared to the bottom goal.

When you're as deep into this as I am you start to notice things on a pixel by pixel level. When playing on bigger goals, the puck / goal collision is so inaccurate that you may not notice what alls going on. But you may have noticed that the bottom goal is more aligned with the puck than the top goal is. This NHL 94 bug is what this goal-moving RAM code solves (on any goal size) but it's particularly noticeable on the smaller goals.

After I release this puppy, I plan on posting in some other topics on here which have helped me make this rom what it is today. I really want you guys to experience this mod fully and truly with the best puck / goalpost accuracy possible so this is why I will be releasing the ROM along with this goal-moving Game Genie RAM code included. Hopefully you have a way to run Game Genie RAM codes or just regular RAM codes so that you can use experience this fully!!

[Smaller Goal mod]

2 hours ago, clockwise said:

I'll take your word for it. A shinny style game wouldn't have any goalies on the ice either. If the goals are smaller it'd kind of end up being like a game of power ball from American Gladiators - if anyone remembers that - which I think would be really cool.

Also, please post the values / offsets when you have time in the How-To, subforum. Thanks!

Ha I love the American Gladiators analogy, The event you're talking about was Powerball right, where players would try to dunk soccer balls into those tiny goals while getting tackled. Playing on the smallest goal I've made here doesn't quite feel that small though you could make the goal literally tiny like a square if you wanted to.

The values / offsets can be found in this topic :

 

It turns out that the same code that controls the boards barrier also controls the barrier of the goal posts / goal. (as it relates to the puck, not players necessarily) When I created that topic at first I didn't realize that the code also controls the size of the goal. I did all the heavy lifting for you here, by editing the goal artwork to match these smaller goal barriers by changing the code.

The smallest goal rom is almost ready for release, the rom I will be releasing not only contains the smaller goal mod but it's also packed full of a ton of my other mods to give you a complete smaller goal gameplay experience. I lowered goalies "Glove left" and "Glove right" ratings in NOSE down to 0 or 1 values so shots deflect more off goalies instead of being caught. Even with this it's still very hard to score. You'll see, you're about to have a lot of fun. I can't wait for you guys to test this smaller goal rom!

[Smaller Goal mod]

4 hours ago, clockwise said:

Nice work!

I've always toyed with the idea of doing a, 'shinny,' ROM. I believe there is a way to get the puck to stay close to the ice on shots that @Tony H figured out, or at least someone did.

If you could make the crossbar closer to the ice, it might actually work with a 3on3 or 2on2. Then, use the titles (just copy the hex code) for the outdoor style game from the ball hockey hack and update the tiles to look like it's a pond.

Wish I had more time because I'd like to take a crack at it.

By getting the puck to stay closer to the ice on shots are you talking about like a shot modifier that keeps shots going on a lower trajectory? That's relevant to the smaller goal because there's an adjustment of both the horizontal and the vertical barriers to make the smaller goal mod, anotherwords the location of the crossbar barrier in code, the position where shots no longer become a goal and either hit the cross bar or go over the goal. You can adjust this further the problem is if you lower it farther than the setting I have it on you will lose the back of the net collision and the goal will not look as good visually. I've tested this extensively and have settled on barrier values for the smallest goal. I think in actuality the top goal of the smallest goal is how it looks in the screenshot with the higher crossbar. I tried to get it so pucks hit the crossbar in both the top goal and the bottom goal which is challenging because you can't get it perfect, there is always that 1 pixel difference of where the puck is when comparing the top goal to the bottom goal. I got it pretty close though. 

I had to lower the cross bar pixel by pixel so it matches better with the value of the barrier code. When working on a smaller goal  I started to notice differences between the bottom goal and the top goal and discovered they aren't perfectly aligned in reference to the puck. For example if you're watching a replay then you reverse the camera angle if you pay close attention the puck will be 1 pixel off in terms of where it crosses the goal line (top goal vs bottom goal) and it's distance from the goal line visually. So I had to fine tune this a lot I wanted to make sure the goal looks relatively normal, you know side posts length vs cross bar length. As far as adjusting the trajectory of shots I'd be interested to see what Tony H did with that. Because since I lowered the cross bar and the barrier of it you will see more shots flying over the goal now. But I didn't lower it as much as I could have. If you want the cross bar lowered more than what I have it in the rom you can edit it but you will lose the accurate back of the net collision with players and the puck that I have with this artwork.

[Smaller Goal mod]

7 hours ago, segathon said:

probably smallest just to see the effect it has.

Good news : I am almost finished with the smallest goal rom, so I will release that one first so you can start testing this. The cross bar has been lowered a pixel from what you see in the first screenshot, I just need to make some final edits to the rom like adding a couple of codes via hex edits. This is a mod where the full rom really needs to be shared since there are a lot of art edits and ratings balanced needed to make this playable. I am making some final edits to this rom tonight so you will be able to test the smallest goal shortly. Stay tuned!

[Smaller Goal mod]

I have a couple different versions of the medium sized goal. I just updated the first post with another version of it. That one may look better with the grey pixels. The smallest goal is pretty much ready to go, that's the one I've been testing the most. I could curve out the back of the bottom goal on the smallest goal like I did the medium goal, or leave it straight.

I think what I'm gonna do is update the latest medium goal rom so it's got the alternate style top goal with the grey pixels combined with the curved back of the regular medium bottom goal. The alternate medium goal looks more square which one looks better do you think? The smallest goal I could probably leave the bottom goal square shaped.

[Smaller Goal mod]

58 minutes ago, segathon said:

Great work and very interesting.  

Looking forward to trying out.  After 94 EA shrunk the goals/widened the goalies hit box in 95.   Never really noticed until recently playing some 94 manual goalie and realized how much more ground you have to cover to prevent goals going in.

Right, 94 has tight collision between the puck and the goalie compared to the later games. But to compensate for that the goalies move really fast. Even if you lower the goalie attributes to 0 they still cover a lot of ground quickly like by tracking the puck horizontal position and moving from one side of the net to the other. When you lower the size of the goal the goalies still move left to right to the same position but now this position they stop is beyond the post so you get new angles. Combine that with the lowered accuracy of one-timers causes a lot of one-timer attempts to miss the goal completely and slam into the boards behind the goal. This is a whole new gameplay element. Smaller goals also reduce the puck warping to the center area of the net effect when you score goals. With smaller goals this looks better since the puck no longer warps very far from where it went in and crossed the goal-line. So really the goal target areas will be super small compared to what you're used to, because in addition to making the goals smaller I also matched it so no longer will pucks become goals by warping through the posts. This process of matching smaller goal artwork to the barriers code also changes a lot of collision around the goal. For example when skating from certain angles players will avoid bumping into the goal and will skate right through the edge of the back of the goal.

Which goal size do you think you will try first? Will you start to work your way down from the biggest size to the medium to the smallest or would you just jump right down to the smallest goal size and try the smallest first?

[How do faceoffs work in this game?]

On 11/13/2019 at 4:21 PM, DominikJagr said:

Check SegaVisions, doubleissue (October, November) from 1993, Hot hints. According to that its all about timing.

I have come to the conclusion that it involves using the hold down B button and press a direction method of passing. The trick is you can't starting holding down the B button too early. I think a lot of people get stuck on this part. If you start holding down B too early then wait for the ref to drop it before pressing a direction with B held down chances are you will lose the face-off. When you are holding down B too long you give your opponent the opportunity to press the B button themselves hold it down and press a direction and gain the advantage. The CPU team mimics this button sequence as well and it's random.

The key is to wait until the last possible second before the ref starts his drop puck animation to start holding B down. It's holding down B and pressing a direction in a fluid motion right before the ref drops the puck. This takes a lot of practice to get used to it, but I've determined that it's the best way to win face-offs and the most fun. This was a mystery to me and a source of frustration at not getting how you're supposed to win face-offs. I encourage you to try this method and see if you find success winning face-offs. I sure have.

[Smaller Goal mod]

My favorite is the smallest goal that I have been working on the most. I think it looks the best with the red post artwork. The medium one I couldn't get quite right because the left post intersects with the artwork a pixel off. It's because the goals are a pixel off, but it still plays great. One thing I did was improved the bottom net on the smaller one to be curved like the middle one.

If you like low scoring games the smallest goal is for you but for a more reasonable compromise is the medium goal. I have been working mostly on the smallest goal and the medium one. I have some final edits to do but once I have added all the codes that I use I will release the roms.

[Smaller Goal mod]

I have been working on a smaller goal mod for NHL 94 on Genesis. I have edited the artwork to work with the code that edits the barrier of the goal posts and of the boards. So this is complete with accurate collision of the goal posts with the puck with updated goal artwork.

There are several different sizes of goals.

Here are some photos of the smallest goal: (updated 11/16/19)

Playing roms with this goal size produces very low scoring games. One way I have made this goal size more playable is by lowering goalie glove ratings to create more shots that bounce off the goalie.

Smallest Goal v1.1 ROM : (released 12/28/19)

smallestgoalFBFF0000v11.bin

Version 1.1 Notes:

-Disabled the Auto Goalie Diving Save Angles code used in v1.0 due to it causing all players to be Lefties in-game. In version v1.1 the new Goalie Diving Save Angles are Off by default, though they can be enabled in this version without it causing all players to be Lefties by running 2 RAM codes during gameplay. (see ROM for details)

-Increased all Goalies Weight ratings by 4 in an effort to reduce cheap goals

-Made some minor corrections and graphical improvements

Smallest Goal v1.0 ROM :

smallestgoalFBFF0000v1.bin

 

Here are some photos of the medium size goal :

The medium version's posts are black while the smaller goal's posts are red because below the size editable in the goal artwork tile you have to choose from predetermined artwork by changing a single-byte vale.

 

Here is the larger version of the goal done from the goal art tiles :

This one is slightly smaller than the normal goals in NHL 94.

Each version works with a different value for the barriers code and each of these versions provide different challenges with different goal post and board collision values. I have roms for each goal size, and you could start by playing the larger version of the goal then try the smaller versions and see if you can score. You will be blown away by the goal post collisions and when goals miss the goal on shots compared to what you're used to. You can look at this as a way to adjust the accuracy of one-timers and shots. On the smaller goals hitting wide open nets with shots will no longer be automatic. You will now have to place your shots and pay more attention to angles since the goal post barrier code has been tailored to the artwork. If you play on the smallest goal you should expect a lot of 0 - 0 games and if you score it could end up being the winner. Playing on longer periods and real-time clock is essential to this mod since the smaller the goal the longer it will take you to score.

Are you interested in testing NHL 94 with smaller goals with all the goal artwork updated? Will it change your strategy on how you score? Playing with smaller goals will make one-timers more realistic because they no longer will be automatic scores. Now they will hit off the post more or miss the goal completely.

With different versions of goal sizes you can play on the goal size that you want, if the smallest version of the goal is too small and you are getting frustrated at not being able to score goals you can use the medium one. There really aren't too many other goal sizes that are possible than these due to the artwork limitation. Any smaller than the smallest one it's pretty much impossible to score. But be forewarned, after you experience playing NHL 94 with these smaller goals and adjusted collision you may not be able to go back to playing with regular sized goals again because you may find it too easy to score.

Playing on these roms will make your NHL 94 experience more advanced and strategic since scoring becomes more difficult with a smaller target to score.

 

Note : Some of you may want to know more about the Goalie Diving Saves codes that I have put into this mod. I have included this screenshot to illustrate what these codes do. I attempted to put this code into the rom as a ROM code in v1.0 but as you seen, it had the affect of making all players lefties regardless of their handedness rating. So in v1.1 I had to remove it from the rom and offer it as a RAM code that you have the option to use. I want to explain why it was so important that I included this in the rom one way or another, because of what it does. And to better understand what these codes do, I have provided this screenshot :

You see how the goalie is doing a feet first diving save attempt? These kinds of goalie diving saves don't occur too often if at all unless you have the two codes that I provided in the rom on. One code affects the human/p1 team's goalie the other code affects the cpu/p2 team's goalie. These codes don't seem to affect the goalie when manually controlled by a player, only when the goalie is under Auto-control. So this is in regards to C-button Goalie diving save attempts, but specifically when triggered by the CPU / Auto Goalie. That's what these codes affect and improve.

As you can see from the screenshot, I was controlling the Devils skating right to left then attempted a shot. Normally this action would cause the CPU/Auto goalie to dive left or make the wrong decision and dive right which caused a glitch when the shot is taken : the shot would hit off an invisible wall where the game thinks the goalie is, but the goalie is seen diving to the opposite side. Instead of this situation, with the codes on, in situations like this, the goalie will often dive feet first instead of left or right. And unlike before, the puck now won't hit off an invisible wall when you take a shot, to the open net, or the side that the game thinks that the goalie has dived to, when the goalie is seen diving to the other side. With the codes on, sometimes goalies will still do C-button diving saves to the left or right in situations like this, but in those instances they'll be to the correct side more often and won't have this glitch. It's not that I've 100% solved the glitch from happening, it's that in general through the two codes, I've made auto goalie diving saves look cooler with these new angles and I've increased the accuracy of auto goalies diving to the correct side when they dive left or right which avoids the wrong sided goalie diving save glitch.

[How do faceoffs work in this game?]

Has anyone had any success holding the B button down and pressing a D-pad direction on face-offs? I wrote a blurb about it in this topic earlier this year : 

 

Was this just my imagination that you have more success on face-offs by holding down the B button and timing the d-pad direction with the B button held down rather than just tapping B, or was I on to something?

[Glitches, Fixes and Hacks that would make NHL94 God Level]

1 hour ago, clockwise said:

The fake shot is something Kaneda and I figured out. I just stopped working on ROM updates after NHL15, or whatever one has Brodeur on the cover. Basically, we found the, 'whiff shot'. The one where you try to shoot and the animation for shooting the puck is shown, but nothing happens and the 'whiff' sound effect it played.

We planned on mapping this to the Z button - Y was already set to goalie control and X was going to be used for line changes - IIRC the goalie bites every time, making it really easy to score. Would have liked to see how players would have used this, especially on breakaways against manually controlled goalies. 

Wow that's impressive. And the goalie bites every time? That's very interesting. With the way I implemented a fake shot through holding this stop loose puck code I found as a hotkey while pressing shoot, the goalie doesn't seem to bite. This stop puck code I found when held also allows me to make line changes on the fly without having to go behind my team's goal or without clearing it, with the puck just staying with the player as you press A. Could you provide any insight on how you found that whiff shot? That would be a fun thing to test if possible.

I'm happy to share my stop loose puck code if you're interested, I guess I would just share it as a RAM code, but you'd need some way to map it to a hotkey. I'm really interested in testing your whiff shot code because it sounds like a true hidden control and may be specific to 1P or 2P rather than just a loose puck stop code like I am using. And if you found a true whiff shot code, maybe there are other controls nearby that memory address that are other hidden controls. For example, I'm looking for a code / button that causes a player to wobble / lose his balance, you know that animation that sometimes happens when you run into a player, I have a theory that if I could trigger that I could use before running into the goalie to avoid getting knocked down by the goalie.

[Glitches, Fixes and Hacks that would make NHL94 God Level]

3 hours ago, JesterKing said:

Would love to have drop passes and fake shots. 

Crossing my fingers that a mod genius figures it out. 

I've figured out a way to do them, but it's not tied to a specific controller. It's basically a code that when pressed simply stops the puck from moving at it's current position on the ice, but what makes it work so well as a drop puck or fake shot is that it doesn't take affect until the puck is loose. Anotherwords when a player has possession of the the puck, pressing this stop puck code won't do anything. But if the code is being held down when you do a shot or a pass it will perform a drop puck or fake shot naturally depending on whether you press pass or shoot. It works great for 1P vs CPU games but it's not something that would work that well in a 1P vs 2P game since it's just a code that stops a loose puck that either player could press at any time. I've been recording some highlights I can upload a video to show you drop passes and fake shots in action.

[HOW TO : Play a non-Sudden Death OT (How to change periods)]

I have completed the longest match in NHL 94 history. A 120 minute match with 20 minute periods and a 60 minute non-sudden death OT period with the real-time clock mod and the real-time power play clock mod. The game stats are hilarious but it was truly epic. Crazy things can happen in a 60 minute non-sudden death OT period with real-time clock and real-time 2 minute power plays. This became a battle of attrition. The Penalty Summary is very very long, there were 19 penalties in the 60 minute OT itself, 6 of them due to Injuries. In such a long period I noticed some players started to slow down.

I managed to play out this super long match over a period of time by using save states throughout the match and picking up where I left off. When you get into a 60 minute real-time OT it gives you an opportunity to test the statistical engine of NHL 94.

Through my testing of this code, I was able to observe a cool scene never seen before in NHL 94 : The Ultimate Celebration : both teams celebrating at the same time at the end of a match : this will happen if a team losing by more than 1 goal scores a goal in OT and then you put back on the sudden death code after the goal is scored. The game will end with the losing team celebrating their goal and then the winning team will start celebrating win so both teams will be celebrating at the same time. I did that but then I went back to my save state and played till the end of the period.

[Clues from the NHL'94 Manual]

That View Master pic brings me back. The nostalgia just hit me when I saw that pic. I think I totally forgot about those View Masters. Has anyone tried using that holding B button then pressing a direction trick for passing on face-offs? Is it just me or is this method like the secret to winning face-offs that has been a mystery for decades? It seems to me that there's a real subtle timing mechanism involved in winning face-offs, involving holding down B right before the ref drops it then pressing a D-pad direction. But I can't be sure if it's just my imagination or not but doing it this way has resulted in me winning a lot more face-offs than I ever have before. I don't win every face-off but it seems that I can win more like 75% of face-offs if I really concentrate on the timing of that. When I just press B I seem to win a lot less.

[2 teammates mode, playoff bug]

On 1/31/2019 at 4:17 AM, mitch13 said:

Ok, will test that. Thanks a lot Marty 

No problem mitch. I'd love to know if you tested these codes and got Two Teammates to work in Continue Playoffs. If you need the RAM codes let me know, but hopefully the Game Genie codes were sufficient for you to get around this problem.

[HOW TO : Play a non-Sudden Death OT (How to change periods)]

That would be cool, I want to expand on this code and find a better way to play a full period of OT, without having to switch codes around during the OT period to avoid those black screen crashes I mentioned. I will do some more digging. Finding this switch period code though with this value of 8 that allows OT to continue after goals are scored may help me find a better code that turns off sudden death without having to worry about black screen crashes.

But as of now, this method is better than nothing, especially if you're playing the CPU on an emulator. it's just fun to play around with after a goal is scored in OT, if you want the match to continue, you have a way to do that. Hopefully I can find a better code, though and maybe there's a way to implement your own OT format like needing to have a 2 goal lead before it ends or something. Somewhere there's probably a RAM address that contains the number of goals scored by each team that maybe you can edit or freeze to trick the game to thinking it's still tied when it's not when you're in OT, so you can avoid having to switch the period value from 3 to 8 to play a full period of OT. I'll look into that, I'll do some changed value RAM searches when I'm in OT and switch the value from 3 to 8, perhaps I can find a better code, or something that allows you to determine what causes an OT period to end.

Some OT formats that could be fun are 1) First team to score 2 goals in the OT period wins or 2) First team to have a 2 goal lead in the OT period wins, and if those things don't happen then the match ends when the clock runs out. Another idea is 3) After a goal is scored in OT, the team who got scored on has a set amount of response time to equalize or else the match will end. These are just some ideas, I find it fun to have the ability to control when the OT period ends, and it would be cool to find other codes that allow us to implement different OT formats into NHL 94.

[HOW TO : Play a non-Sudden Death OT (How to change periods)]

For NHL 94 on Genesis I have found a RAM / Game Genie code that changes the period you are in during a match. And with this code there is a value that turns off Sudden Death so you can play a Full Period of OT if you want.

Here's how it works : the RAM Code to change the period you are in is FFC466. Here are the codes to change the period you are in. For example, if you are in the 1st period and want it to be the 3rd period, or if you are in the 3rd period but want it to be the 2nd period, etc. The normal periods are 0, 1 and 2 with 3 being regular OT. A value of 4 is the end of the match screen. Values of 5-7 are another set of periods 1, 2 and 3, however a value of 8 is OT but without sudden death.

Either the RAM or the Game-Genie code should work.

Normal 1st Period FFC466:0000 / Game Genie : ADCS-8ADG
Normal 2nd Period FFC466:0001 / Game Genie : AHCS-8ADG    
Normal 3rd Period FFC466:0002 / Game Genie : AMCS-8ADG
Normal Sudden Death OT FFC466:0003 / Game Genie : ASCS-8ADG 
Full Period of Overtime FFC466:0008 / Game Genie : BDCS-8ADG

To play a full period of overtime, there are some issues that you need to be aware of, but if you follow these instructions you can get around them. The best way to play a full period of overtime is to start Overtime as normal sudden death but when a goal is scored, right after the goal is scored and before the players start celebrating a sudden death OT win, you can to enable the Full Period of OT Code to make the OT continue instead of ending. (FFC466:0008 or BDCS-8ADG)

If you enable this code before the players start celebrating, the period will continue normally. When you are in this non-sudden death OT period with the code value of 8, there are some issues. For example, you cannot pause the game. If you attempt to pause the game on this setting the game will crash on a black screen. So you have to remember not to press START when playing your full period of OT. So if you want to pause the game in this OT format, you will need to temporarily disable that code (FFC466:0008 or BDCS-8ADG) then enable the Normal Sudden Death code (FFC466:0003 or ASCS-8ADG) which returns OT to sudden death. Then you can press START and access the pause menu. When switching back to Sudden Death OT with a match not tied, the match will not end until there is a whistle and a stoppage in play. (then players will celebrate and the match will end unless you disable the Sudden Death OT code and re-enable FFC466:0008 / BDCS-8ADG before that happens) So you can re-enable the Normal Sudden Death code whenever you want to pause the game, just make sure that you don't switch to this code during a stoppage of play or the game could end if it is not tied and you return to sudden death. Once the players start celebrating, the match is over and you will be unable to return to your full period of OT by switching to it. So keep that in mind.

Another bug when using this Full Period of OT code that you need to be aware of is that when there is a penalty, the game will crash as it fades to black trying to load the penalty scene, unless you switch back to the Normal Sudden Death code before the screen switches to the referee. Then you will need to switch back to the Full Period of OT code before the player skates into the box. (otherwise the game will end with it back on Sudden Death OT unless it is tied) So when there's a penalty, you need to get used to switching back and forth between these 2 codes, so the value changes from 8 to 3 before the penalty scene loads, then you need to switch it back from 3 to 8 as the skater is skating into the box in the penalty scene, before the player reaches the penalty box. (otherwise the match will end with it back on Sudden Death OT unless it is tied)

So to make this Full OT code work, it involves some switching back and forth between the normal sudden death value of 3 and the full OT value of 8 when you want to access the pause menu or when there is a penalty, but once you get the hang of getting around this, you can avoid these crashes and will have a way to continue the OT period after a goal is scored.

Don't we all have those matches when an OT goal is scored but you wish the match could continue to the time limit? Well with these codes, you now have a way to control when that OT period ends. Just remember to use save states when following these instructions in case you forget or mis-time your code switches and run into a black screen crash.

[The misunderstood self pass, and to a lesser extent, flip pass]

11 hours ago, clockwise said:

Yeah, I didn't clarify that passing yourself the puck is done with (B).

I have tried this with SNES and it appears to be about the same. I haven't spent that much time to figure out if there are any subtle differences or not. 

Also, what "codes," are you referring to, exactly? Do you mean, like, Game Genie codes or something?

I've been studying A button passes in the attacking zone for some time. I found that in most cases their effectiveness is rather limited due to how short A button passes are in the attacking zone, compared to A button passes outside of the attacking zone which go much farther, and due to how their trajectory is tied to where you are on the ice. The exceptions though are what you described : 1) A button passes from behind the opponent's net, which can be very effective and can lead to goals, like when they bounce off the top of the goal, and also like you described : 2) self-passes which from certain spots in the attacking zone can be used to make defenders react and take them out of "defending" but require timing to launch an A button pass above the player and in stride with the player who had the puck, and needing to be in certain spots on the ice.

I wanted to find a code, for example, that would allow me to make a cross-ice A button pass in the attacking zone from one side of the rink to the other, so I could lob a pass laterally over defenders to a teammate on the other side of the attacking zone. The best way I can show you what I've accomplished is by sharing some of my saved replays (which I saved through emulator save states) which I plan on video recording at some point. It's still a WIP but I've managed to sort of accomplish this.

I've found a bunch of codes that when used as hotkeys in conjunction with A button or B button passes (or even C button shots) can alter the direction or trajectory of passes or shots. For example, there's two separate codes I found that allow you to turn off the X direction or the Y direction of the puck's movement at any given time by setting the code to 00, tying it to a hotkey then holding the hotkey button down during gameplay as you make a regular pass. (so like instead of just pressing A or B like usual, to do a horizontal pass I hold down my the L trigger while pressing A or B, get it?) So anotherwords, while the hotkey of the code that controls the Y direction of the puck's movement is set to 00 and pressed during a game, as you aim a B button pass, instead of passing the puck to a specific player, the puck will travel horizontally cross-ice to no particular player, instead of directly towards a teammate. However, the speed of the pass is still related to where the nearest player you are aiming at is located. So you will get slow or fast horizontal passes depending on how far away from your player the teammate you are aiming the pass to is, but when holding down this hotkey button, the pass will always be completely horizontal (left or right) and not in the direction of any teammate since you are zeroing out the Y direction of the pass while holding down the hotkey. It's been a dream of mine to find codes that give you the ability to have more control over your passes in NHL 94, by linking these codes to unused gamepad buttons. Horizontal B button passes are a great way to create loose pucks in the attacking zone and allow to avoid pucks being intercepted which happens a lot when passing directly to a teammate in the attacking zone.

I have also found codes that allow you to control the lift of the puck, which I showed some videos of in the past. So you can make the puck float in mid-air and when used with A button passes in the red zone you can make A button passes travel as far as you want in the attacking zone by this puck floating code.

I do want to share some of these codes that I'm talking about, but you really need a way to map these codes to your controller as hotkeys or else you won't really be able to use them on the fly as part of your controller. Gens for example lets you input Game Genie / RAM codes but doesn't let you map a code's value to a keyboard or controller hotkey. With these RAM / Game Genie codes I found I've essentially created a 12-button NHL 94 controller for the Genesis version that allows me to make directional passes from anywhere on the ice instead of being forced to pass directly to a teammate. It's still a WIP but I've created something really special for NHL 94 Genesis that I plan on demonstrating. I've already shared a bunch of codes that I have found and if there's interest I am happy to share more of my discoveries.