Shadow of the Colossus - Potential Debug

[Archive]

posted by AndrewFM on Feb 23, 2014:

The download for the prototype in question has already been posted quite a while ago here (Edit: The downloads in that topic no longer work, so here's a new one), but I'd like to revisit it, as I believe it contains a yet to be discovered debug menu. Considering how feature-rich the recently discovered ICO debug menu is, the prospect of cracking this is really tantalizing to me. The contents of the CD are:

[MODULES]
---DBCMAN.IRX
---DS1O_D.IRX
---LIBSD.IRX
---MC2_D.IRX
---PL2303.IRX
---SIO2D.IRX
---SOCKOND2.IRX
---USBD.IRX
---USBKB.IRX
[MODULES2]
---MCMAN.IRX
---MCSERV.IRX
---MCXMAN.IRX
---MCXSERV.IRX
[MODULES3]
---CDVDSTM.IRX
---USBMOUSE.IRX
[TOOLS]
---DBGCORE.XFF
---DBGMGR.XFF
---GRPTOOLS.XFF
---MAPTOOL.XFF
---MDLTOOL.XFF
---PATHTOOL.XFF
---PRTTOOL.XFF
GAMECORE.XFF
IOPRP300.IMG
KERNEL.XFF
MANAGER.XFF
NICO.DAT
SCPS_150.97
SG2IOPM1.IRX
STARTUP.XFF
SYSTEM.CNF

The TOOLS folder is what interests me, as all the files in it are clearly debug related. DBGCORE.XFF makes references to all of the TOOL files in the folder, as well as several other ones that are absent from the disk (SHTTOOL.XFF, SCRATOOL.XFF, COLTOOL.XFF, WINDTOOL.XFF, and CAMTOOL.XFF).

I took a look around to see if any of these were actually being loaded into the game. The initialize loader grabs SIO2MAN.IRX, DBCMAN.IRX, SIO2D.IRX, USBD.IRX, PL2303.IRX, and then boots up STARTUP.XFF. STARTUP then calls KERNEL.XFF, which loads LIBSD.IRX, SG2IOPM1.IRX, MC2_D.IRX, MANAGER.XFF, GAMECORE.XFF, and NICO.DAT. So as far as I can tell, none of those debug files are ever being loaded.

I made an attempt to mess around with things to try to force those files in. I modified KERNEL.XFF to load DBGCORE.XFF in place of GAMECORE.XFF, and then I modifed DBGCORE to load GAMECORE.XFF & DBGMGR.XFF in place of two of the absent files. However, this just caused the game to black screen right after the loader finished.

I tried the same thing again, this time replacing MANAGER.XFF with DBGCORE.XFF, and having DBGCORE load MANAGER. However, I got this:



Obviously MANAGER.XFF failed to load. So it looks like those modules in DBGCORE.XFF aren't actually being loaded. My theory is there's likely some trigger event that has to happen first before it invokes the procedure to load the modules (probably opening/initializing the debug menu or something). However, I'm not knowledgeable enough to be able to proceed beyond this point...
 

[Archive]

posted by DevHackr on Feb 23, 2014:

I did some picking with this prototype a while back. Try messing with the 2nd controller: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNxVkX7Fn_o
 

[Archive]

posted by SILENT_Pavel on Feb 24, 2014:

i saw this prototype/debug build was released on epforums, someone can reupload it, please?
on epforums links are down and uploader is not responding
 

[Archive]

posted by ZigZag on Feb 24, 2014:

I'll upload it, wait a few minutes.
upd:
https://mega.co.nz/#!k8tVXSYA!18XSKPdpqcWknpZlkm_6JKHUclmo5_seZGzmWTVLI8c
 

[Archive]

posted by unclejun on Feb 24, 2014:

Is that the version I released in 2009 or another one?
 

[Archive]

posted by NomadColossus on Feb 24, 2014:

All you need to know about this build can be found here:

http://nomads-sotc-blog.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/pre-release-preview-version.html
 

[Archive]

posted by NomadColossus on Feb 24, 2014:

Oh Unclejun,

Didn't realize it was you until I had already posted! I left a message for you on the Unseen64 forums a few months back... but I guess you have not been there in a while. Yeah, Einstein is talking about the Preview version you released.
 

[Archive]

posted by stranno on Feb 24, 2014:

Are you the Youtube guy? He have discovered the inverted controls (in 2014) and he is blaming about, what the fuck.

Worst video i've seen this week so far.
 

[Archive]

posted by good on Jul 12, 2016:

iso image is corrupted
 

[Archive]

posted by wisi on Jul 11, 2016:

Now, many years after the Shadow of the Colossus Preview version was first 'discovered' ... its debug capabilities are finally accessible.

Much of the debug code, present on the disk can now be used. There are some tools that don't work - they cause the game to crash.

It is best for one to see it for themselves:
Open the disk and rename "GAMECORE.XFF" to "GAMECOR.XFF", then place the "GAMECORE.XFF" from the attached archive in the same directory on the disk.
This file also works on the OPM, PSU and US versions of the game (all the files from the Preview version, not present in these versions need to be added).

Because most strings are in Japanese, in the attached archive there is a file containing their English translations. The translations are terrible - some are completely wrong, but for now I won't be fixing them. To apply them to an iso image of the disk, use the "modIso.exe" program from the attached file:
Place the iso file, SotC_Pv_str_patch.txt and modIso.exe in the same folder, them execute: ' modIso "nameOfTheIsoFile.iso" SotC_Pv_str_patch.txt '.

Once in-game, (or in the intro) hold left arrow on the D-pad and press Select.

To control the mouse cursor either connect a USB mouse to the PS2 or hold R1 on pad 1 and move the cursor with the left analog stick on pad 2. While the cursor it visible, on pad 1: circle = left mouse button, triangle = right, R3 = middle.
R1+R2+R1+R2 reloads the game.
If text is not visible (only when the game is loaded on a PS2), use the D-pad left arrow + Select combination while the game starts (before intro), to cause it to crash and reload. After that, text should be visible. (The "invisible text bug" proved very difficult to solve, so this workaround is necessary.)
For more button functions, see the attached file.


I don't take any responsibility for anything that may happen from using these programs. I can only guarantee that they run correctly in the conditions they were last tested and that they do not contain code intentionally meant to harm anything.

Although it may not look like that, it took a lot of time and effort to get things in the current state. Many tools were either not called, or had were missing entire functions, that had to be created.
The "Debug Root Menu", the "Player to camera" option, the address in "Memory Dump" and the text in "Debug Print" are not from the original game (the latter two are just examples).
 






Attached Files:







../../attachments/sotc_pv_dbg-zip.19156/sotc_pv_dbg.zip




SotC_Pv_dbg.zip

File size: 58.5 KB


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