[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

ProDOS filecracking



I used a few different methods when I filecracked Qix, Pick-A-Dilly Pair and Rocky's Boots for ProDOS, and these are probably the most viable methods.

For Galaxian and Ms. Pac-Man (not ProDOS-cracked but they'll work on ProDOS) I simply did a memory dump and saved it. This is the most basic method and works well with files that do not need a lot of memory to load.

For Qix, I did a memory dump, but it was too big to hold in one file, so I wrote a multistage loader around the memory dump. This method works best for stuff that loads all at once, but will not fit in one file.

For Rocky's Boots, which was already separate files and mostly vectored through DOS 3.3, I replaced its weird "load-through-reboot" mechanism with a more normal one, but the in-game reload strategy was just to replace the function that reloaded the menu, in 0800-08FF, with a ProDOS equivalent.

For Pick-A-Dilly Pair, I took a function that did sector reads, and replaced it with one that read the corresponding files.

Generally I only need 512 bytes free at *all* times, with an additional 1-1.5K free when doing loads.

With Donkey Kong, I have found the functions, but not the code to set their parameters. This is an RWTS program; I have plenty of room (up to 1K) for my loader code.

With Karateka and Arkanoid, I haven't found anything yet.

With Mr. Do!, there just isn't enough memory to use this technique.

I haven't tried anything else yet.

I'd like to find as many games as possible and adapt them to ProDOS, so that they aren't tied to floppy disks.

-uso.