Table of Contents for
Gaming Hacks

Version ebook / Retour

Cover image for bash Cookbook, 2nd Edition Gaming Hacks by Simon Carless Published by O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2004
  1. Cover
  2. Gaming Hacks
  3. Credits
  4. Contributors
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. Foreword
  7. Preface
  8. How to Use This Book
  9. How This Book Is Organized
  10. Conventions Used in This Book
  11. Using Code Examples
  12. Comments and Questions
  13. Got a Hack?
  14. 1. Playing Classic Games
  15. Legal Emulation
  16. Play Commodore 64 Games Without the C-64
  17. Play Atari ROMs Without the Atari
  18. Use Atari Paddles with Your PC
  19. Run Homebrew Games on the Atari 2600
  20. Create Your Own Atari 2600 Homebrew Games
  21. Play Classic PC Graphic Adventures
  22. Play Old Games Through DOSBox
  23. Play Reissued All-in-One Joystick Games
  24. Play Arcade Games Without the Arcade
  25. Add and Manipulate a MAME Frontend
  26. Keep Your ROMs Tidy and Organized
  27. Learn Game-Specific MAME Controls
  28. Filter Inappropriate MAME ROMs
  29. Autoboot into MAME Heaven
  30. Play Emulated Arcade Games Online
  31. Play Classic Pinball Without the Table
  32. Emulate the SNES on the Dreamcast
  33. 2. Playing Portably
  34. Play Games on Your iPod
  35. Mod Your Game Boy
  36. Take and Print Photos with Your Game Boy
  37. Compose Music on Your Game Boy
  38. Explore the GP32 Handheld Gaming System
  39. Take Your Console with You
  40. Explore the Bandai WonderSwan
  41. Play Real Games on Your PDA
  42. Install a PlayStation 2 in Your Car
  43. 3. Playing Well with Others
  44. Practice Proper MMORPG Etiquette
  45. Understand MMORPG Lingo
  46. Grind Without Going Crazy
  47. Make a Profit in Vana’diel
  48. Write MMORPG Macros
  49. Build an Effective Group
  50. Catch Half-Life FPS Cheaters Redhanded
  51. 4. Playing with Hardware
  52. Build a Quiet, Killer Gaming Rig
  53. Find and Configure the Best FPS Peripherals
  54. Adapt Old Video Game Controllers to the PC
  55. Choose the Right Audio/Video Receiver
  56. Place Your Speakers Properly
  57. Connect Your Console to Your Home Theater
  58. Tune Console Video Output
  59. Tune Your TV for Console Video
  60. PC Audio Hacking
  61. Optimize PC Video Performance
  62. Build a Dedicated Multimedia PC
  63. Use a Multimedia Projector for Gaming
  64. 5. Playing with Console and Arcade Hardware
  65. Play LAN-Only Console Games Online
  66. Hack the Nuon DVD Player/Gaming System
  67. Play Import Games on American Consoles
  68. Find a Hackable Dreamcast
  69. Play Movies and Music on Your Dreamcast
  70. Hack the Dreamcast Visual Memory Unit
  71. Unblur Your Dreamcast Video
  72. Use Your Dreamcast Online
  73. Host Dreamcast Games Online
  74. Burn Dreamcast-Compatible Discs on Your PC
  75. Burn Dreamcast Homebrew Discs
  76. Buy Your Own Arcade Hardware
  77. Configure Your Arcade Controls, Connectors, and Cartridges
  78. Reorient and Align Your Arcade Monitor
  79. Buy Cart-Based JAMMA Boards
  80. Programming Music for the Nintendo Entertainment System
  81. 6. Playing Around the Game Engine
  82. Explore Machinima
  83. Choose a Machinima Engine
  84. Film Your First Machinima Movie
  85. Improve Your Camera Control
  86. Record Game Footage to Video
  87. Speedrun Your Way Through Metroid Prime
  88. Sequence-Break Quake
  89. Run Classic Game ROM Translations
  90. Change Games with ROM Hacks
  91. Apply ROM Hacks and Patches
  92. Create PS2 Cheat Codes
  93. Hack Xbox Game Saves
  94. Cheat on Other Consoles
  95. Modify PC Game Saves and Settings
  96. Buff Your Saved Characters
  97. Create Console Game Levels
  98. 7. Playing Your Own Games
  99. Adventure Game Studio Editing Tips
  100. Create and Play Pinball Tables
  101. Put Your Face in DOOM
  102. Create a Vehicle Model for Unreal Tournament 2004
  103. Add a Vehicle to Unreal Tournament 2004
  104. Modify the Behavior of a UT2004 Model
  105. Download, Compile, and Create an Inform Adventure
  106. Decorate Your IF Rooms
  107. Add Puzzles to Your IF Games
  108. Add Nonplayer Characters to IF Adventures
  109. Make Your IF NPCs Move
  110. Make Your IF NPCs Talk
  111. Create Your Own Animations
  112. Add Interactivity to Your Animations
  113. Write a Game in an Afternoon
  114. 8. Playing Everything Else
  115. Tweak Your Tactics for FPS Glory
  116. Beat Any Shoot-Em-Up
  117. Drive a Physics-Crazed Motorcycle
  118. Play Japanese Games Without Speaking Japanese
  119. Back Up, Modify, and Restore PlayStation Saved Games
  120. Access Your Console’s Memory Card Offline
  121. Overclock Your Console
  122. Index
  123. Colophon

Burn Dreamcast-Compatible Discs on Your PC

Burn your own special, personal Dreamcast CD-Rs.

In order to burn standalone self-booting Dreamcast discs on your PC, you need the ability to burn relatively complex CD images. The BIN, CUE, and ISO formats generally lack sufficient disc information. Therefore, most Dreamcast-disc images come in NRG or the more popular CDI format.

As for the media itself, normal CD-Rs will work. There’s no possible way to burn GD-ROMs, the Dreamcast’s proprietary format, unless you have a special Dreamcast-specific burner and a Dreamcast developer’s kit. Unless you’ve done some very pricey eBay shopping, it’s doubtful that you do.

The CDI format originated with Padus Discjuggler (http://www.padus.com/products/discjuggler.php). It’s now also available in the $50 utility Alcohol 120% (http://www.alcohol-soft.com/). Fortunately, there’s a 30-day full-featured demo version. This is one of the best products with which to try Dreamcast CD burning.

NRG, the less common alternative, is a custom format created by the Windows program Nero Burning ROM, more often just called Nero. There’s a demo version of Nero available on the official site (http://www.nero.com/) that is limited to single-speed burning. The full version costs around $80.

Here’s the step-by-step version of burning a CDI image using the trial version of Alcohol 120%:

  1. Download the trial Windows version of Alcohol 120% (http://trial.alcohol-soft.com/en/download_120.php) and install it to a sensible location on your machine. Launch it. It will configure its virtual drives and should autodetect your CD burner.

  2. Prepare your disc image. Use the self-booting CDI image of Great Giana Sisters (http://www.gianas-return.de/downloads.php), a sideways-scrolling platformer originally released in the ’80s that draws absolutely no inspiration from a certain pair of plumbers. Unzip the file to somewhere obvious. From the File/Open menu in Alcohol 120%, load the image. You’ll see support for plenty of other formats mentioned in the file window, including the sometimes-alternative Nero image (.NRG) format.

  3. Hit the Image Burning Wizard link on the main screen of Alcohol 120% (or from the File menu), as shown in Figure 5-5. Review your file selection and ensure that it has two sessions, each with a track. This is the special data structure necessary to make self-booting CDs work reliably. Hit Next, and make sure your CD recorder data is set up properly; then hit Burn. Follow the usual caveats for burning CDs. If your machine is a little sluggish, for example, you might want to reduce the burning speed.

  4. Pop the finished CD into your Dreamcast, boot it, and prepare for a little Giana sibling fun and shenanigans.

Using the Image Burning Wizard in Alcohol 120%

Figure 5-5. Using the Image Burning Wizard in Alcohol 120%

Various other lesser-known programs use both the NRG and CDI formats, but bear in mind that some may try to convert the original formats to the ISO or BIN standards before burning. This can interfere with the complex CD formatting required for self-booting CDs. Burning coasters may be useful at first, but it’s a tad annoying when the number of coasters outpaces the amount of people who drink beverages in your house.

Tip

Unfortunately, Mac or Linux burning software doesn’t often work well with these exotic formats, so you’ll have an easier time using a Windows machine to burn these particular hacks. Fortunately, Curmudgeon Gamer has been experimenting with methods of burning on Linux that seem promising (check out http://curmudgeongamer.com/article.php?story=20040105232756356).

As well as the simpler, standalone CDI files, you can also burn multiple small homebrew Dreamcast programs onto one disc and then use a self-booting menu to switch between them. Obviously, this doesn’t always use a CDI format, because you can select the executables you want to add, which adds some multisession weirdness. This deserves a separate hack of its own ( [Hack #57] ).