NHL '94: Wide Display Mode (“widescreen”) Hack v2.0

[bcrt2000]

I love to see the work and dedication you are putting into your mods. A lot of people have contributed to the community over the years but I have to say, you are probably #1 with a bullet keeping the spirit of NHL94 alive right now.

 

One thing I wanted to ask is how feasible do you think it would be to make the widescreen mode an option you can turn on/off on the main menu? I’m guessing it would be pretty difficult.

[AdamCatalyst]

That's very kind of you to say. I don't personally think it is true, but I'll accept the compliment on behalf of so many.

As for the feasibility, I'm not sure. A persistent flag would have to be set (or an existing one commandeered) to indicate the desired display mode. The flag would then need to be checked in a couple of places. That actually sounds do-able. The problem would then be that MANY elements would display incorrectly. Changing modes is the easy part. Repositioning graphics and resizing elements is the real big work. I'n not sure how to practically handle that many changes, including absolute address jumps, etc. It sounds possible in my mind, but not a path that I think would be worth the ripple effect of other edits.

I am curious about adding to the Main Menu though. Something I will experiment with this summer.

[JamaL]

This is great work!  I am impressed by what you've accomplished and happy to see Rhombus in action here.  It has motivated me to continue development.

[AdamCatalyst]

Thanks @JamaL! Truth be told, I've only scratched the surface of what Rhombus can do. Do you have any documentation or tips on it?

p.s. just saw the new version!

Edited July 1 by AdamCatalyst

[JamaL]

In the new version, I've added documentation accessible through the program's help menu which goes over most topics and nuances of the program.  I've also added quite a few new features like Z80 support and a 68000 opcode dictionary to the hex editor to simplify making patches.  Please also feel free to tag/message me if you have any questions or feedback, as I'm generally happy to help and enjoy seeing Rhombus put to good use.  Cheers.

[AdamCatalyst]

FYI, to anyone who finds this thread, consider it outdated & abandoned. I completely re-wrote the methods of hacking the game to wide display mode, and you can get the patches as well as the detailed technical instructions here.