I'm pretty happy that I discovered a workaround for saving and loading savestates. Here is what I did:
first I reduced the number of savegame entries to four. then I changed the standard ASCII values a bit. In my case to $77-$7A (w-z) is more useful. And finally I simply remapped the input keys to make sure they match the needed button layout.
Code: Select all
#Saving:
%patch $9B46 $1B #Esc 1
%patch $9B54 $1B #Esc 2
%patch $9B4A $77 #Slots start at w,x,y...
%patch $9B4E $7A #...and end at z
#Loading:
%patch $9CC5 $1B #Esc 1
%patch $9CCB $1B #Esc 2
%patch $9CBB $77 #Slots start at w,x,y...
%patch $9CBF $7A #...and end at z
All that's left by now is to figure out an alternative way to place a name in the high score section. I'm still looking for a patch for one of these two solutions:
- The same name is given each time the player gets a high score so that the table eventually fills with 'NAME'.
- (Complex but elegant:) May it be possible to make it so the up and down arrows increase\decrease a character and the -> arrow moves to the next, allowing the player to input a name with the arrow keys?
for this last task I'm hoping for a helping hand.