Documentation (Prince of Persia 2 DAT Differences)

Second part of the best game ever made.
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Norbert
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Documentation (Prince of Persia 2 DAT Differences)

Post by Norbert »

I have finished the first version of a document that describes the differences between the DAT files that are being supplied with PoP2 versions IR, 1.0 and 1.1:

2014-06-07_PoP2_DAT_Differences.pdf

The source document (.odt; OpenDocument) is also available, here.
Its main page on PoPOT.org is here.
Feedback is welcome. Just post it in this thread or send an e-mail.
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Norbert
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Re: Documentation (Prince of Persia 2 DAT Differences)

Post by Norbert »

By the way, I'm currently working on a "PoP2 Special Events" document.
Similar to the document about PoP1 events that already exists (info here).
It'll be several more days before that one if finished.
I'm creating it because I might create a PoP2 potion puzzle mod in the future; already have some ideas for that.
David
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Re: Documentation (Prince of Persia 2 DAT Differences)

Post by David »

I found an odd difference between IR and 1.0/1.1:
At level 12 room 19 tile 23, there is a drop button.
In 1.0/1.1, it closes (among others) the gate you see at the left. (room 8 tile 29)
In IR it does not.
However, this button is linked to the same gates in all versions: room 3 tile 18, room 1 tile 9, and room 8 tile 29.
So it should close that gate in all versions.
Perhaps this is a bug in IR?

Some other things you didn't mention:
* In 1.1, guards will come to you even if there is a gap between you and him: viewtopic.php?p=14175#p14175
* In IR, on level 6, after you enter the ruins, the level door behind you won't close and you can enter it.

About some differences that you wrote:
* Perhaps the "JGrows" and "JFight" sounds are related to the scrapped Jinnee-fight? (see the PoP2 doc, page 150)
* txt400010.bin is the cheat password, encoded with the method described here.
* txt401011.bin in IR is the copyright message. In 1.0 it was moved to 1012, and 1011 now says "Special thanks to the Broderbund Quality Assurance Department". You can see all these texts at the end of the intro.
(Hold ALT-F12 in DOSBox to go faster. Turn sounds off before to go even faster.)
* txt408011.bin says "Reloads". It's between the "Name"(8010) and "Time"(8012) Hall-of-fame texts. It doesn't seem to be used, however.
* ____00025.bin, ____00026.bin, and ____00027.bin are the demo moves. ("recorded game" as the exe calls them.) If you delete them, there will be no demo.
In IR, demo is always level 1. In 1.0, demo can be level 1, 4 or 8. (Today was the first time I saw levels 4 and 8 in the demo!)
I don't know much about their format, but the first byte seems to mean the level number.
* strl26000.bin contains the texts of the tree scene.
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Re: Documentation (Prince of Persia 2 DAT Differences)

Post by realXCV »

Feedbacks by... me.

1. I think the "different background?" in level 14, room 7 and 8 are the initial frames for the faces on the walls or something like that.

2. More infos about the changes in the seqs files:
- 12: Added one extra frame at the end (duplicate of the last frame)
- 22: Removed an horizontal displacement of the dead prince.
- 53-195: Added one extra frame at the end (duplicate of the last frame)
- 197: Added more laughs. (That's the animation of jaffar laughing.)
- 209: Added one extra frame at the end (duplicate of the last frame)
- 243: No idea.

3. You might be interested in this file. It contains the pictures for the first and last level but with their palettes fixed.
Attachments
fixed.zip
(369.3 KiB) Downloaded 119 times
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Norbert
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Re: Documentation (Prince of Persia 2 DAT Differences)

Post by Norbert »

Cool additions guys. :)
realXCV, how did you fix those palette(s); was it an alteration of PR?
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Re: Documentation (Prince of Persia 2 DAT Differences)

Post by realXCV »

It was done manually using the palette files exported by PR.
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Re: Documentation (Prince of Persia 2 DAT Differences)

Post by Andrew »

Hi, I see you've used an old link for PoP - TUC v1.3 in both PoP Differences documents but that gives me a "Service Unavailable" error. Kindly update all links to match the ones in my sig below, which have been modified after SkyDrive was renamed. Thanks!
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Re: Documentation (Prince of Persia 2 DAT Differences)

Post by Norbert »

Andrew wrote:Kindly update all links to match the ones in my sig below, [...]
Will do when releasing updated versions of the docs, thanks for the heads-up.
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Re: Documentation (Prince of Persia 2 DAT Differences)

Post by Norbert »

(Note to self.) Chapter "1. Differences in non-­DAT files" could also mention some of the things mentioned here.
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Re: Documentation (Prince of Persia 2 DAT Differences)

Post by David »

I found some more (non-DAT) differences between IR and 1.0:

Hurting the body
Start in cheat mode, on a temple level.
Draw the sword with ctrl. Press shift-S to turn into a shadow. The shadow will draw the sword.
(Sometimes there is a bug here: The shadow will stand without the sword and he won't move. In this case press down and then ctrl.)
Walk over the kid's body. Now he should wake up. Try to hurt him with your sword.
IR: You can hurt him.
1.0: You can't.

Fake HP and messages
1.0: On levels 6, 10 and 14 (*), if you get an extra HP, and restart the level, it will appear as if you still had the extra HP.
On level 14, this way you can also keep messages on the screen. (Except GAME PAUSED.)
But it's not real: press alt-L/G/O/H and then Esc, and it will disappear.
IR: No such bug.
(*) Note that these are the levels that start "seamlessly" after a cutscene, and therefore some redraws are skipped.

Wrongly drawn pillars
On level 13, go to room 32. (The first room that has those special pillars at the bottom.)
Press shift-B twice to force redrawing of the room.
IR: The front piece of the regular pillar will be drawn with wrong coordinates, so the "pinkness" will see through. Not just here, but also in the room to the right.
But only if there is no background at the tile below.
1.0: No such bug.

Tree scene
IR: If you start a level with LEVELn, alt-A will show a tree scene and the time will start.
1.0: This does not happen.

Speed of alt-A
By the way, restarting the level seems to be faster in IR: the screen stays black for a shorter time than in 1.0.
With cycles=3000, I can restart level 13 six times in IR, while the screen is black in 1.0.

Flame on the tower
On level 14, outside the tower, turn left-right-left-right-...
IR: The kid will turn into a flame.
1.0: This does not happen.

See also this post: viewtopic.php?p=14919#p14919
And some events are not in IR, only 1.0, namely:
(level 14) The prince can't go engarde if he's in room 1 or 2.
(level 14 room 6) Every time the prince enters this room, the facing of the false princes are randomized.
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Re: Documentation (Prince of Persia 2 DAT Differences)

Post by zethholyblade »

Hey David I got a question for you.

I read the post and files and It's pretty cool you've mentioned all these changes between both versions.

When I made the Hardcore mod, I used version 1.0 and guards acted different than using apoplexy. I'd like to know if there's a way to combine or mix the behavior for guards in both versions 1.0 and 1.1. to make them react different depending on the desired level difficulty :)
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Re: Documentation (Prince of Persia 2 DAT Differences)

Post by David »

zethholyblade wrote:I'd like to know if there's a way to combine or mix the behavior for guards in both versions 1.0 and 1.1.
Maybe if we knew what difference between the EXE files causes the difference in behavior.
But I have the disassembly only for the IR, and even that is incomplete.

Now, do you really want an 1.1-style guard who will walk into a gap? :)
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Re: Documentation (Prince of Persia 2 DAT Differences)

Post by David »

David wrote: Fake HP and messages
Tree scene
Speed of alt-A
These differences appeared only because I used the cracked versions.
They don't exist in the original versions.

Since then, I found some other differences:

Pass copyprot with cheat word
In cheat mode, type the cheat word on the copy protection screen, and press enter.
IR: The game accepts any choice.
1.0, 1.1: No such feature.
Already mentioned here: viewtopic.php?p=17819#p17819

Getting father's sword
IR: When the cutscene ends, the prince already has the new sword.
1.0, 1.1: When the cutscene ends, you have to pick up the sword again.
Already mentioned here: http://popuw.com/problems.html

LEVELn shows copyprot
Start the game in cheat mode with a LEVELn parameter. (n=3..14)
IR: No copy protection screen.
1.0, 1.1: The copy protection screen appears.

Small red potions affect the shadow
As the shadow (or flame), lose some HP (Shift-K) and drink a small red potion. (You can try this on level 10.)
IR: Nothing happens.
1.0, 1.1: One HP is restored.
I think this was added because of the new potions on level 14.

Exit stairs clip/align
Enter an exit door.
IR, 1.0: No bug.
1.1: The prince is misaligned.
Already mentioned here: viewtopic.php?p=17976#p17976

Alt+V word wrap
Press Alt+V.
IR, 1.0: No bug.
1.1: The text breaks into two lines because of the added "V".
Already mentioned?

Become blue on temple levels
Become shadow. Press Shift-K until you have only 1 or 2 HP. Then press Shift-T.
IR: The prince becomes blue, as if he was a flame. (But there is no flame behind him.)
1.0, 1.1: He stays black.
Already mentioned here: http://popuw.com/cheats2.html and http://popuw.com/tips2.html

Colors of level 10 if you interrupt the cutscene
IR: All black.
1.0, 1.1: Correct.
Already mentioned here: viewtopic.php?p=14257#p14257 and viewtopic.php?p=17619#p17619
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