Bug Fixes

If you are stuck in the Dunan Unification Wars; or wish for more details on the gameplay systems, this is the place.
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Takehaniyasubiko
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Re: Bug Fixes

Post by Takehaniyasubiko »

Pyriel wrote: Thu Apr 25, 2019 2:36 pmThe patcher only reads and only produces ISO files, but for PSX disc images the distinction between BIN and ISO is pretty blurry. So you should be able to just rename it to match your CUE file's expectations and go from there.
I've found this:
The file extension BIN stands for "binary." A BIN disc image file contains the data from a disc stored in binary format. A BIN file does not usually contain information about the disc's contents, like an ISO file does. Instead, it saves this information in a separate file with the same file name but a different extension -- usually CUE. Fewer programs can open BIN files than can open ISO files, but you can sometimes open BIN files with a program that can read ISO files if you change the BIN extension to ISO.
If the patcher claims all's fine with the .bin file, then I guess that's how it is, right? I just hope the .cue file will work with a patched .bin file because PSIO is very touchy about .cue files.
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Pyriel
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Re: Bug Fixes

Post by Pyriel »

It can't hurt to try.

Yeah, BIN files are technically different, provided their features are being taken advantage of, and it isn't just an ISO file renamed. However, I have a BIN version of Suikoden 2 I downloaded and an ISO version I ripped myself, but both are actually the same file. 100% identical, with the same SHA hashes. If the patcher was able to read your file, chances are you have the same BIN file as I found ages ago.

All the CUE file has in it is
TRACK 01 MODE2/2352
INDEX 01 00:00:00
which is about as vanilla as you can get. Like a Choose Your Own Adventure book where every choice is just, "if you want to take the only option available, turn to the next page."
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Takehaniyasubiko
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Re: Bug Fixes

Post by Takehaniyasubiko »

Pyriel wrote: Thu Apr 25, 2019 8:41 pmIf the patcher was able to read your file, chances are you have the same BIN file as I found ages ago.
It's simply a 1:1 dump of the original game disc.
Pyriel wrote: Thu Apr 25, 2019 8:41 pmAll the CUE file has in it is
TRACK 01 MODE2/2352
INDEX 01 00:00:00
which is about as vanilla as you can get. Like a Choose Your Own Adventure book where every choice is just, "if you want to take the only option available, turn to the next page."
Yes, I know, but did you use PSIO? It's not like an emulator. It's very touchy about the .cue files, but I guess in this case it must work if there's just INDEX 01 00:00:00? I'm more concerned abou the patcher changing something in the .bin file and making it incompatible with the .cue file (since you said it only produces .iso files - that's where my confusion is).

The reason I haven't yet checked it is because my PSIO is only pre-ordered now. I will get it once they produce one for me, lol.
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Pyriel
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Re: Bug Fixes

Post by Pyriel »

Yeah. The CUE file is just telling the reader where to find the tracks in the disc image. Since there's only one, written in the standard way, there's not much information it needs to convey.

Optical image formats have always been a confusing mess. As long as the ISO file is the right MODE 2 and doesn't just contain user data, it's essentially a raw dump, equivalent to a BIN file (under the usual definition of BIN in this context). So it's fair to say that the patcher reads and writes BIN files as well. The things is, the CD utility in the patcher will read any ISO-compatible format, as far as I'm aware. However, you can find BIN files produced by some rippers that it won't read. So for the sake of simplicity, my short answer is always going to be, "it works with ISOs."
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Takehaniyasubiko
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Re: Bug Fixes

Post by Takehaniyasubiko »

As soon as I get my PSIO, I will check it out and report here.

Thanks for the patches.
Omnigamer
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Re: Bug Fixes

Post by Omnigamer »

Regarding the "Rune Unite Speed Bug" from long ago, Z3R01337 and I managed to look more into how it works, and ultimately can manipulate it now.

It all relies on something I'm just going to call the Item Heap for simplicity. The game sets up a fairly naive list of all the "active" unique items in a party's inventory, equipment, and otherwise. It grows it in a first-come first-serve basis. However, if a party member is removed, any unique equipment that was solely in their possession become empty slots in the list. Any new items acquired thereafter, or unique equipment belonging to members added to the party, fill those empty slots first.

A note on what I mean by unique items: you might have several different groups of Medicine in your inventory, but in the Item Heap there will only be one Medicine entry. Even if you consume one of the Medicines, so long as one or more still exist in your inventory or your party members' equipment, it will retain its entry in the Heap.

OK, so why this all matters: the rune unite speed bug occurs because the game is trying to get the spell ID at an incorrect offset of the caster's rune. These offsets are known and fixed based on the spell you're using - the variable here is what data actually exists at those offsets. Turns out that the offsets match up exactly with specific bytes of whatever entry exists in the next Item Heap slot. And better yet, those specific bytes are the item's description text - which have a fair amount of entropy. If the specific character byte the offset lands on happens to correspond to a spell ID with the "speed buff" modifier, then it will apply to the attack. A number of those happen to be pretty common characters, so it isn't an entirely uncommon occurrence.

What does this mean for the average player? Well, probably not much unless they have some reason to really enforce the bug to activate or not. The Item Heap as a whole doesn't get recalculated outside of reloading a save, in which case it will load your inventory, then it will iterate through your characters in slot order, starting with weapon rune, then skill runes top to bottom, then equipment top to bottom. Manipulating character slot positions, rune slot ordering, and character equipment before saving can set up whatever scenario you're looking for, so long as you can predict where the casting rune is and what will fill the slot under it. It's much more difficult to manipulate in real-time without having an active look into the Item Heap contents and order, which can be done with a special external script. I wouldn't recommend using it unless you really had a need to do so and don't mind a bit of a learning curve in figuring out what's going on.
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Pyriel
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Re: Bug Fixes

Post by Pyriel »

Yeah, I think I said it wasn't particularly exploitable back in the day, but I was always thinking in terms of the average player just plugging through the game at their own pace. I hadn't seen many speed runs back then. Now that I've sat through chunks of RPG Limit Break and Games Done Quick a couple of times, it's definitely something a speed run can exploit relatively easily. Either by quickly reloading at the point where it matters, or by carefully plotting how the unique list is set up from the start.

I say "relatively easily", but it's a ton of fiddling that probably shaves a few minutes at best, if it gives you a first go in some crucial battle. Definitely not worth the effort for someone who can grind levels, or spend hours getting everyone the best runes and equipment.
Omnigamer
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Re: Bug Fixes

Post by Omnigamer »

And you're right on that! We've actually already identified a fairly straightforward setup. Bright Shield happens to boost Water Dragon, Thor, and Blazing Camp, the latter two of which we actually care about. The bonus is that during the Luca party preparation sequence the game empties the entire party, including Riou. As far as I know, this is the only time the game does this. So the setup is simply to have Lightning in Riou's head slot. You still have to ensure that the two are loaded consecutively, but we can force this by first keeping, and then discarding some early-game items. In this case, if we discard bandana and robe from our inventory right before talking to Shu to begin the sequence, we can ensure that there are two consecutive Item Heap slots to place them. If Riou has a weapon rune, then also getting rid of gloves will ensure the same thing.

... So yes, something that can be manipulated in something as highly-controlled as a speedrun, but the average player will never be able to accurately track without external assistance or the prior-mentioned save-load.
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sonic_Reaper
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Re: Bug Fixes

Post by sonic_Reaper »

Not sure if this is a new bug. During flying squirrel hunting any consecutive squirrel if one was already in my party would load a garbage portrait.
Removing the glitched squirrel from my party at Leona's tavern would remove them permanently, as in, I couldn't add them back afterwards. It was like the game was skipping the event flag that actually added them to the roster.
My guess what seemed to cause this? Possibly the champion rune which I was wearing. Removing the rune or getting to a low enough average level "corrected" the portrait after the battle and the squirrel could be removed and added normally. Another way that seemed to work to avoid it without initiating battles was to collect one squirrel, return to base and remove it from the party, before collecting the next one.
I've attached a picture of my TV to show what the portrait looked like on the glitched squirrels.
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Pyriel
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Re: Bug Fixes

Post by Pyriel »

How much GameShark use occurred prior to this? I imagine a lot of people positively shun the champion rune during this task, believing that you need to get into battles, but it's a little suspect that nobody else has reported this.

I did find this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4m7akZb4YQ

Similar oddness, but not quite the same results. I'm wondering if a code, say the "fix crash with wrong items" code, could be preventing the game from properly loading data from the disc while you're in the field.
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sonic_Reaper
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Re: Bug Fixes

Post by sonic_Reaper »

Pyriel wrote: Mon Oct 14, 2019 9:30 am How much GameShark use occurred prior to this? I imagine a lot of people positively shun the champion rune during this task, believing that you need to get into battles, but it's a little suspect that nobody else has reported this.

I did find this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4m7akZb4YQ

Similar oddness, but not quite the same results. I'm wondering if a code, say the "fix crash with wrong items" code, could be preventing the game from properly loading data from the disc while you're in the field.
I know I've been posting in the game shark topic a lot lately :lol: , but this was BEFORE I started sharking the game. I only used the game shark to "correct" some things that were bothering me in this play through at the end of the play through. So to answer your question, no game shark use at this point when the glitch occurred.

I was running the game on a slim PS2, a newer model (the metallic silver one that was released late in the game's lifespan). I have an older black slim line that has issues running discs, at least at first, but I did not encounter any issues with the silver slim line PS2.

Regarding the youtube video you posted, that's the same glitch because the garbage portrait would appear when you checked formation as soon as the squirrel "joined". If you hovered over another character's portrait, then back to the glitched squirrel, it would load the previous portrait (either Riou or Stallion for example), but with the wrong pallet, like in the video. Interesting to know that this is not an isolated incident.
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Pyriel
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Re: Bug Fixes

Post by Pyriel »

Well, it's probably a glitch of some sort then. In that video, the player appears to not have the Champion Rune on anybody. So that's probably out unless it's a part of some broader category of things that can cause it. No real thoughts on what that category might be at the moment.

I've done the squirrel recruiting several times, just to test things out, and never ran into this. I don't know if I'll be able to reproduce it. What phase of the game were you in when you experienced this? Your level looks a bit high for immediately post Two River. If you're around the Greenhill Liberation arc, that's when I usually tested getting the squirrels. Which means it could be something like the recruit at 99 glitch, where people who hit it on a play through tend to find it happens fairly consistently for random memory-stomping reasons, but everybody else could swear there's no such issue.
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sonic_Reaper
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Re: Bug Fixes

Post by sonic_Reaper »

Pyriel wrote: Mon Oct 14, 2019 8:51 pm What phase of the game were you in when you experienced this? Your level looks a bit high for immediately post Two River. If you're around the Greenhill Liberation arc, that's when I usually tested getting the squirrels. Which means it could be something like the recruit at 99 glitch, where people who hit it on a play through tend to find it happens fairly consistently for random memory-stomping reasons, but everybody else could swear there's no such issue.
This is literally right before the end. I stopped right before Culgan and Seed and left the final dungeon, going back to finish up collecting some final armors and levelling who I could to 99. This was after I got most characters to 99 save those I actually used to get through most of the game. Hence Stallion being 99 here. As well, I had most characters fitted with optimal gear, Master Garbs, Wind Hats and the like. Riou is level 68 here I believe, game clock is around 56 hours.
Skrybe
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Re: Bug Fixes

Post by Skrybe »

Just came across a bug I don't recall hearing about before. I can confirm this happens on an authentic copy of the game running on real hardware. When making the menu for Hai Yo's restaurant, don't fill the entire menu before confirming it, e.g., just put one dish then select "Yes". At the prompt asking if you want to use this menu, cancel and return to the recipe select screen, and you will end up with far more ingredients than you should have. This can be repeated, causing the ingredients to roll over. Abusing this will allow you to purchase food that you don't actually have the ingredients to make.

As best as I can tell, when you cancel and return to the recipe select, the game is trying to remove the last dish selected and return those ingredients to your inventory. Trying to remove the blank space at the end of the menu must break something, I guess.
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Re: Bug Fixes

Post by wataru14 »

Just a note about the Godspeed Rune patch. Something doesn't code right in Richmond's investigation of Stallion. The third investigation stops displaying after the Rune's name. So it reads: "I wonder what that Godspeed" with nothing after it.
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