Is there a Skies of Arcadia encounter rate mod?

[azoo]

I've loved Skies of Arcadia for a very long time. But trying to go back to it has been a pain, due to how ridiculously high the encounter rate is.

I know the Gamecube version of the game has an improved (but still high) encounter rate, as well as multiple other additions such as side-quests, etc. It seems like it'd be the definitive version of the game to play, but the OST on the GC takes a definitive hit! It's such a drastic difference at times, and Arcadia's OST is one of the best. I can't find it in my heart to replay it with the much dodgier soundtrack, nor can I confidently recommend it to others knowing what they're missing.

Is there any mod for the DC version that lowers the encounter rates (and tweaks the EXP gain to compensate)? And if not, can I request one? It seems there's mods that patch the game in PAL to 60hz, and others that fully retranslate/undub the game, so I imagine it shouldn't be too unfeasible, but idk. It'd go a long way in making a version of the game I'd be down with replaying, and recommending to others.

I'll even put a bounty of $50 on it if it doesn't exist, lol. Anything if it means the DC community can enjoy this game better.

[fafadou]

I really wish to reduce this rate, but I don't know where I have to start to look...
It seems @yzb has found it for his fabulous chinese translation. But I didn't find it in this release.

Do you have a link to your gamecube website for this game with additional content please ?
Else you can try the uncensored version with exclusive content in this forum

[Dakangel]

There is a hack for the GameCube version to skip random encounters entirely while you hold the B button.
If the game share some code with the Dreamcast version, maybe you can find a similar code to do that kind of patch too.

This is the place with the xdelta patch

And the author readme (for the gamecube version)

Off Topic

Skies of Arcadia Legends
Hold B to skip encounters

Description:
This is a no-frills hack that simply allows you to press the B button while traveling in encounter areas to avoid dealing with random fights. There is no menu hacking or other signals. Just hold B while walking, and if the player would like to have encounters, stop holding B and the regular encounter system will resume.

Patching:
Use a xdelta patcher to apply `patch.xdelta` directly to an uncompressed ISO of Skies of Arcadia Legends (US), filesize 1,459,978,240 bytes.

Usage:
When in game, when either walking around in areas with random encounters or when flying on the world map in areas with random encounters, hold B to reset the step threshold back to zero.

Technical:
$80346D2A holds 2 bytes of step counter information, which slowly accumulates while walking around until it randomly hits a breaking point and a fight is triggered. Keeping the value at 0x0001 ensures no encounters occur.

$800C1FC8 is where the game increments the step counter. This function was hooked into and modified to accomodate the hack, however free space was an issue.

An inefficient function at $80305a5c was identified, and was optimized via a loop to carve out free space for the custom function above.

Created by @cleartonic / https://twitch.tv/cleartonic

[fafadou]

There is a hack for the GameCube version to skip random encounters entirely while you hold the B button.

For me @azoo talks about a forum with addotional content too, never heard of that.
anay way thanks for the link I'll have a close look

[pomegd]

While pressing the B button, you will not be encumbered.
Only the first battleship and ship movements have been checked. Therefore, there may be imperfections.

Code: Select all

us ver.
track03.bin
find:
8d f3 06 d3 38 f2 34 f2 05 89 05 d1 12 62 01 72 22 21 07 a0 09 00 e8 a1 09 00 00 00 0c 0c 57 8c

replace:
06 d3 30 60 02 c8 09 00 05 8b 05 d1 12 62 01 72 22 21 07 a0 09 00 e8 a1 09 00 00 00 4c 42 56 8c


This work has many encounters, but what is interesting is that during the movement of the ship, the value of the encounters increased even when the ship was at a standstill.
I was mistaken.

[fafadou]

While pressing the B button, you will not be encumbered.
Only the first battleship and ship movements have been checked. Therefore, there may be imperfections.

Code: Select all

us ver.
track03.bin
find:
8d f3 06 d3 38 f2 34 f2 05 89 05 d1 12 62 01 72 22 21 07 a0 09 00 e8 a1 09 00 00 00 0c 0c 57 8c

replace:
06 d3 30 60 02 c8 09 00 05 8b 05 d1 12 62 01 72 22 21 07 a0 09 00 e8 a1 09 00 00 00 4c 42 56 8c


This work has many encounters, but what is interesting is that during the movement of the ship, the value of the encounters increased even when the ship was at a standstill.

Is it for gamecube ? Looks for dreamcast...

[megavolt85]

Is it for gamecube ?

everything points to the fact that this is for DC

[fafadou]

Is it for gamecube ?

everything points to the fact that this is for DC

Yeah ! Thank you, I'll try it.

While pressing the B button, you will not be encumbered.
Only the first battleship and ship movements have been checked. Therefore, there may be imperfections.

Code: Select all

us ver.
track03.bin
find:
8d f3 06 d3 38 f2 34 f2 05 89 05 d1 12 62 01 72 22 21 07 a0 09 00 e8 a1 09 00 00 00 0c 0c 57 8c

replace:
06 d3 30 60 02 c8 09 00 05 8b 05 d1 12 62 01 72 22 21 07 a0 09 00 e8 a1 09 00 00 00 4c 42 56 8c


@pomegd where did you find it ? Please.

[pomegd]

I analyzed it myself.
"05 8b" part might be better as "05 89".
In this case, it does not encounter during normal operation, but only while the B button is pressed.

[fafadou]

I'm trying it with the US version uncensored.

Is it possible to do it for the pal version too ? maybe it's the same.

Edit :
On the PAL version the pointer is not the same obviously :

Code: Select all

8d f3 06 d3 38 f2 34 f2 05 89 05 d1 12 62 01 72 22 21 07 a0 09 00 e8 a1 09 00 00 00  b0 d2 4d 8c