[Feature Request] Add Fantasy Zone 1 PS2 datafile romset as clone of Fantasy Zone II DX (fanzn2x)

[DrAzathoth]

Could you guys add support for the PS2 version of Fantasy Zone for the Sega System 16 as the romset "fantzps2"? I was digging through my Fantasy Zone Complete Collection disc to see if I could extract the improved version of Fantasy Zone S16 that was on there. To my surprise, I found out that Fantasy Zone Time Attack (fantznta) used the same roms as this version aside from the PRG rom; my proposed "fantzps2" romset uses fz1_s16b.p00 while "fantznta" uses "fz1_s16b_ta.p00". The CRC for fz1_s16b.p00 is 0xE8C4041A. The reason I feel this is an appropriate request is because Fantasy Zone Time Attack is a clone of Fantasy Zone II DX so I don't feel it would be out of place.

[barbudreadmon]

Your request is lacking instructions on extracting this romset.

[DrAzathoth]

Sorry! I definitely should have provided that documentation initially.

First you’ll need QuickBMS and this script.

Next you’ll need to get the BIN.PAK archive from the Fantasy Zone Complete Collection PS2 disc.

Lastly you’ll need to extract the files from the BIN.PAK archive using QuickBMS and the script provided.

The roms needed for the romset are as follows:

• fz1_s16b.p00 (prg rom)
• fz1_s16b.scr (tiles)
• fz1_s16b.obj (sprites)
• fz1_s16b.snd (Z80 rom)

That should be enough info to get you started. If you need anything to use as a base, refer to “fantznta” as the only difference is that it uses a modified prg for time attack mode while “fantzps2” uses the original one.

Edit: Thought I should clarify, but this romset is for the Sega System 16B. Didn’t specify which version of S16 this is for.

[barbudreadmon]

done : 2858d9d

[DrAzathoth]

Thanks!

[DrAzathoth]

Some objects don't render like the bases, coins, and bosses. Assessing whether this is a romset bug or an FB Neo bug.

Perhaps it was designed for the vanilla System 16B rather than "fantz2nx" and "fantznta" which have extra RAM?

[dinkc64]

You're 100% sure the roms (except the p00) are 100% the same as Fantznta? Can you double-check?
I tried several different things for an hour with no luck :(

best regards,

• dink

[DrAzathoth]

I suspect it uses "fantasyz.obj" and "fantasyz.scr" alongside the p00 and snd roms. Unfortunately, it appears to provide the same results. Admittedly, I am not an expert when it comes to this sort of thing. Most of what I've provided is guesswork. However, I know for certain that it uses that specific p00 rom.

For now, I'll continue investigating.

[dinkc64]

could you zip and attach these files to a message here, including bin.pak? I'll delete it after downloading

[barbudreadmon]

@dinkc64 check forum

[dinkc64]

Thanks :)

[DrAzathoth]

I’ll reiterate how to get the BIN.PAK then. Either insert your FZCC CD into your disc drive or mount an existing bin/cue dump of the disc. The BIN.PAK file is in the root directory so you can’t miss it.

[dinkc64]

Thanks guys!

So, I messed around a bit, got nowhere. Did some searching and found a post (in Japanese) which hooked the same set up in MAME and noticed problems with it as well.. Hmm
http://zarala.g2.xrea.com/soft/fzcc_unknown.txt

[dinkc64]

Some good news:
figured it out by dumping the sprite list and comparing it with the 'ta' version, so, the non-ta version is accessing spritebank 8 at spritebank 2, so, when it tries to draw anything at bank 2, its just emptyness - which is why the sprites were missing. After doing a swap, it works!
I played until this level, and things seem alright:

what do you think about renaming the romset to fantznps2?

best regards,

• dink

[dinkc64]

I just found out: there are actually sprites in bank2.
Would you care to play the entire game while recording the inputs w/fbneo standalone (windows) version?
This way I can set up logging and play your recording back and see where it tries to display bank 2's sprites, and make it work properly. Or at least, try :)

This is totally optional of course, but if you want to help: load the game, go to Game -> Replay -> Record Input, make sure "from power on" and "w/NVRAM" are checked! :)
Then play the entire game, use savestates or rewind if you want, then stop the recording and zip & post the file here - its saved under the recordings subdirectory
note: only load a savestate that was saved during the recording.. or else! :)

best regards,

• dink

[dinkc64]

From the "just a little renaming, hope this doesn't cause any trouble" department:

Because neither of them have any relation to Fantasy Zone 2:
I renamed fantzps2 to fantznps2, then put both fantznta and fantznps2 under the parent: fantzone,
(they were both using Fantasy Zone 2 as the parent for some reason)

best regards,

• dink

[DrAzathoth]

Sounds good. The only reason I called it “fantzps2” was to fit it within eight characters because I thought that would be cool.

[dinkc64]

Hi DrAzathoth,
Me and user tenpar did a bunch of playtesting, found and fixed some bugs :)
We came to the conclusion that this version of the game (fz1_s16b.p00) isn't even used/ability to play on the fzcc, maybe it's a prototype that got left behind by accident? (on the other hand, we could be completely wrong about this! Anyone know for sure?)

Oddity: In the end-boss battle, the "trails" left by the boss are the wrong color. I had to pull a few strings to make it even display the trails in the first place, but, unfortunately, the color is going to be wrong.

Some good news:
We added 2 other fantasyzone games from the fzcc disc:
New, US and New, Overseas version, from these p00's:
fz1_07536a.p00 -> NEW(OVERSEA), romset: fantasyzoneno.zip
fz1_7536a.p00 -> NEW(US rev. A), romset: fantasyzonenu.zip

best regards,

• dink

[DrAzathoth]

Wanna take a look at the System E games as well?

• Fantasy Zone 2
• Opa Opa (Fantasy Zone: The Maze)

Their roms match the romsets when split properly aside from the a lack of a decryption key and the prg rom being different. I assumed that it was due to the prg rom already being decrypted, but maybe there are some differences there as well?

[dinkc64]

Well, I need to take a break from fantasy zone, 3 days of fantasy zone is too much for me :)

Maybe @barbudreadmon will be interested in adding them, in the meantime?

best regards,

• dink

[barbudreadmon]

Well, adding versions which are seemingly the exact same as existing versions but splitted/crypted differently seems like a waste of space and time.

Tbh i'm not even entirely sure anymore that it was a good idea to add this "fantzps2" romset, since its specificities are unclear and it just ended being a bugged version which required quite a mess in our segas16 driver.

[dinkc64]

Well, we already have fantzn2xps2 :)

best regards,

• dink

[DrAzathoth]

I only brought up the System E games for the sake of completeness and to make sure you would never have to revisit the FZCC again. I think everything is done here aside from any minor bugs we may have missed for “fantznps2” or the new “fantasyzone” clones. Personally, I am satisfied with the results we have already.