NHL '98 - No more 2 line pass (updated & working)

[Bluerose]

NHL '98 Sega Genesis (USA) - No 2-Line Rule

EDIT - This is an updated post from the original that had some bugs. The code seems to be working now

So I asked my friend who is a Wizard at reverse engineering software to look at NHL '98 to see if he could remove the 'Two Line Pass' rule, and lo and behold, here it is 

I can't guarantee it will work on other ROMS as the addresses may be different, but users could look for the strings and see if they are present in other ROMs to test them out. Easiest way to know if this patch will work is to search for the strings below and if you find them you should be good to go. I haven't tested this out extensively, so there is a possibility for bugs. If you find any, please let me know!

Some notes from the Master:

"What I was trying to do before was just null the 'if' statements, but that didn't work because I discovered that there's a lot of 'if' statements that determine this rule violation. So instead, I went into the 2-line rule violation code itself and made it simply jump to the branch that occurs if no violation is detected".

Please feel free to test this out. I played one 30 min game, and two 15 min games with not one double line pass infraction. Keep an eye out for the computer making a two line pass. If you see one, and there is no infraction (or if there is an infraction), please post here and we can take another look at it. 

I have checked for the values shown above in some other ROMs but not many. The Widescreen version does have this string, so users of the Widescreen NHL '98 ROM should be able to patch their ROM should they wish to remove the 2 Line rule. 

Code to Activate Mod
Disables the 2-Line pass rule, allow you to pass more than 2 lines across the rink.
----------------------------------------------------------------

26 78 DE CA 30 3C 00 3A 4E B9 00 02 13

Change To:

60 0C DE CA 30 3C 00 3A 4E B9 00 02 13
 

NHL 98 (USA) (No 2 Line Pass) v3.md

Edited Saturday at 09:45 AM by Bluerose

[Deckard]

Wow!! This is great news, I love 98, hope your friend find a way for fixing those bugs

[Bluerose]

  

20 hours ago, Deckard said:

Wow!! This is great news, I love 98, hope your friend find a way for fixing those bugs

Thank you. I have updated the original post with the working ROM and code. Please test and let me know how it goes!

Edited Saturday at 09:44 AM by Bluerose

[von Ozbourne]

This is pretty cool.
And I like that it is timely for myself since I am coincidentally in the beginning stages of a '98 based mod that this would be perfect for.

Although, at first I couldn't be certain that this wasn't just a player AI hack, as for a ludicrous amount of time, every stretch pass I attempted would either be picked off by the opposing team or sail by the target and turn into a race to beat the icing call.

Used to be that I would forget about the rule and could easily get called for a 2-line pass at least twice a period.

[Bluerose]

10 hours ago, von Ozbourne said:

I am coincidentally in the beginning stages of a '98 based mod that this would be perfect for

Glad to hear this is right up your alley. I am curious to know what you are working towards with your 98' mod.

Presently I am also asking my friend to look into fixing the players despawning once outside of the vanilla camera view. If he can fix that issue then the wide mode on Genesis Plus GX Wide will make NHL '98 that much better!

Question about '98: I have only got into a fight once while playing for the last month or so (I play almost everyday). Why is it so hard to get into a fight ?(yes, fighting is turned on in the settings menu).