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HOW TO: Change the weight scale


smozoma

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HOW TO DO THE HACK

Download and install a hex editor

Open a ROM in the hex editor

Make this change:

At Offset: 8e92
Old Value: 008C
New Value: 0090

This changes the base weight from 140 pounds to 144 pounds.

WHY CHANGE THE WEIGHT SCALE?

Mainly, players these days weigh more. Consequently, when people make their own ROMs using current player weights, the players tend to be more sluggish than they should be (this is because a player's weight affects his acceleration and turning).

This hack lets you get the original feel back.

THE NUMBERS

I went to hockey-reference.com and put all the players from last year who played 42 or more games into Excel and then crunched some numbers. I found that if I changed the base weight from 140 to 144, the distribution of Forward player weights (on the game's internal 0-15 scale) from last year matched the weights from NHL94 remarkably well. See the top graph in the image below:

post-253-052787300 1281584587_thumb.png

The graph makes it look like the defense don't match well, but on the average it's actually pretty close (however the peak of the distribution is in a different place).

Now when you make a ROM, set the weights like this:

2: 156-163 lbs

3: 164-171 lbs

4: 172-179 lbs

5: 180-187 lbs

6: 188-195 lbs

7: etc.. groups of 8 lbs

Sorry if this is a bit confusing -- I'll get this stuff in EARE eventually, and I'll also release some updated files for NOSE that will let NOSE set the weights appropriately, too.

Original Post data (where I recommended a base weight of 148, but have since changed to recommending 144):

I whipped out my 1993-94 NHL Score card set and checked out the player weights and heights and compared them to modern day players.

I took the top 10 goal scorers and top 10 points scorers for the seasons (removing duplicates) from http://www.hockey-reference.com/ (since it gave a lower average than hockeydb). It's a pretty small sample size, but might as well use the star players...

Here's what I found:

Average      | 1992-93  2009-10     dif
-------------|-------------------------
Height (in)  |   72.00    73.00   +1.00      ' 72in=6'0", 73in=6'1" 
Weight (lbs) |  195.15   203.76   +8.61
Lbs/In       |    2.72     2.81   +0.09

Players are an inch taller and over 8 pounds heavier.

In NHL'94 ratings terms, in 92-93, an average star player weighed a bit under "7" (like Mogilny, Gartner, Robitaille, Oates...). These players are still pretty quick in NHL'94.

These days, the average player is a smidge under "8" (MacInnis, Wesley, Bellows, Kamensky). I find that at this weight, players start to feel a bit sluggish.

So, I recommend changing the rating scale, offsetting it to show 8 pounds heavier. So a "7" is 196 lbs in NHL'94, but I think it should be changed to 204, since that's the new average weight.

Here is a sample of players, with their current real weight, the NHL'94 value it corresponds to, and what this hack will change it to.

I like that it changes tiny players like St. Louis and Kane from a 5 to a 4. Kovalchuk would be brutal at 11, slightly swifter at 10.

Player            	Wgt	NHL 94   	New
---------------------------------------------------------
Ilya Kovalchuk      	230	11 (11.3)	10 (10.3)
Joe Thornton        	230	11 (11.3)	10 (10.3)
Alexander Ovechkin  	223	10 (10.4)	 9  (9.4)
Patrick Marleau     	220	10 (10.0)	 9  (9.0)
Dany Heatley        	220	10 (10.0)	 9  (9.0)
Nicklas Backstrom   	210	 9  (8.8)	 8  (7.8)
Bobby Ryan          	208	 8  (8.5)	 7  (7.5)
Alexander Semin     	208	 8  (8.5)	 7  (7.5)
Sidney Crosby       	200	 7  (7.5)	 6  (6.5)
Marian Gaborik      	200	 7  (7.5)	 6  (6.5)
Brad Richards       	196	 7  (7.0)	 6  (6.0)
Steven Stamkos      	196	 7  (7.0)	 6  (6.0)
Zach Parise         	190	 6  (6.3)	 5  (5.3)
Alexandre Burrows   	190	 6  (6.3)	 5  (5.3)
Henrik Sedin        	188	 6  (6.0)	 5  (5.0)
Patrick Kane        	178	 5  (4.8)	 4  (3.8)
Martin St. Louis    	177	 5  (4.6)	 4  (3.6)
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This is a good idea.

Actually, while you are in a hacking mood. :D Is it possible to add a 4th line to any of these games? I know it’s going to be hard because there’s quite a bit to factor in. Is it actually possible? I think this was brought up before but nobody seemed sure.

Sorry for posting this here but thought you are probably the only one who could answer this after your SNES hacking exploits.

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What about guys like Zdeno Chara? By NHL standards he's pretty gargantuan. :lol:

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What about guys like Zdeno Chara? By NHL standards he's pretty gargantuan. :lol:

he's a giant :)

anyway, i grabbed all the guys from boston who played 42 or more games, and the team average is very close to what i showed above (once the goalies are taken out).

avg height: 73.3

avg weight: 203.5

with the old system, he's a 15 weight (260lbs). in the new one, he'll be 14.

Montreal, a team known for being really small:

Height: 72.56

Weight; 205.39

Even if I take off their two heaviest and two lightest 42+ GP players (Gill, O'Byrne, Cammalleri, Gionta):

Ht: 72.43

Wt: 204.79

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This is a good idea.

Actually, while you are in a hacking mood. :D Is it possible to add a 4th line to any of these games? I know it’s going to be hard because there’s quite a bit to factor in. Is it actually possible? I think this was brought up before but nobody seemed sure.

Sorry for posting this here but thought you are probably the only one who could answer this after your SNES hacking exploits.

for the sega, i don't think it's possible simply because there are only 3 buttons.

SNES... i think the biggest problem would be getting line selection to work (getting an extra line in the graphic after the whistles, and actually figuring out how to connect up a button press to making it switch lines)

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for the sega, i don't think it's possible simply because there are only 3 buttons.

SNES... i think the biggest problem would be getting line selection to work (getting an extra line in the graphic after the whistles, and actually figuring out how to connect up a button press to making it switch lines)

Thought it would be easy :D

Interesting that it may be possible (for SNES anyway). I wonder why they never created the original games with 4 lines – a real shame. Would be cool to roll 4 lines especially on 93 where all the tough guys/fighters could be put on the fourth line.

I’m guessing you wouldn’t need the graphic (although it would look better) as long as you know the hack is there?

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I’m guessing you wouldn’t need the graphic (although it would look better) as long as you know the hack is there?

Yeah, true, that's a good point..

The hack is probably doable on SNES, just a lot of work

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I did a bit more looking at the numbers and found a weight formula that creates a very similar weight distribution between 94 and modern day players.

NHL'94 formula: pounds = 140 + 8x(wgt)

Modern formula: pounds = 140 + 8.5x(wgt) (or maybe even 138+ or 139+...)

where (wgt) is the 0-15 weight in the ROM (fleury=3, etc..)

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  • 2 years later...

Hey yall, I made a bit of discovery. Not sure if you knew about it.

At offset 8E92 the bytes before 008C are E740 0640

My assumption is that it is taking the square root of 64 (hex 40) and multiplying it by 7

Accordingly I took the E740 value and and changed it to E719 (decimal 25)

This changed the players' weight values from what I observed to 140 + 5*wgt value.

You can play with it more to maybe come up with other discoveries.

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