Has anyone heard of a game Masters of Monsters on psx ?

[HwitVlf]

Has anyone tried the PAL version? I'm wondering if it has the same flaws as the US release.

[Tony0075]

https://www.gamefaqs.com/ps/197872-maste...faqs/10310
Here is the link to the Info you wanted to see . If it does not work it is the 3 rd FAQ on gamefaqs.com .

[HwitVlf]

Thanks, now I have a better idea of what the problem is. It sounds like the same random seed generation system that Brigandine uses, but Brig re-rolls the seed every action instead of each turn. When I get some time, I'll scan the disk for Sony's random number generating routine. maybe I can fix it. ‎ 

[duredure]

Just a reminder this game exists to genesis too.

[Tony0075]

That 's cool where could I get a program to try that so I might be able to learn something like that ?

[HwitVlf]

Wow, I found the hit calculator on this game and it's a colossal fail. ‎  It looks like it was supposed to generate a random number from 1 to 100 then compare that against the calculated hit odds (ie the odds are calculated based on the two units AGI scores). Instead, the random number generator spits out a number that increases by 2 each action and goes back to 0 when it reaches 100.

That's why game goes through a constant cycle of all hits, and then all misses. For example, when the count gets between 71 and 100, all creatures with 70% or lower hit chance miss. I would say that makes the game pretty much broken. I'm amazed no one noticed.

About your question Tony, it's not quite as simple as scanning with a program. There are PSX developer's documentation that detail various functions. For example a couple of the random generator functions were called "rand" and "srand". Since a lot of games use those basic functions, you can sometimes get lucky and find a routine by searching for key parts of it in a hex editor, but it takes a good amount of know how.

Turns out this game doesn't use rand anyway. I tracked down the method detailed in the Brigandine tracing tutorial I attached earlier - find the AGI stat in a save state, set a breakpoint that halts when the stat is read. If anyone else wants to find the creature stats, they're stored very near the creature's name in plain text, so just search in a save state for the name.

[HwitVlf]

Attached is a patch that should fix the hit odds. It now works similar to the Brigandine system where each attack generates a random-seed for the next attack.

I didn't overwrite the original broken random generator and there are several other routines in the game (monster fusion?) that use it. So the systems that still use it will cycle through certain failure/success as they are used.

There are two patches: "MoM_HitFix.ppf" is for standard BIN type images. The "MoM_HitFix_MDF.ppf" patch is for an MDF type image the includes sub channel data. As always, keep an untouched backup just to be safe.


EDIT: Attached updated version below.

[Tony0075]

Thank you so much I always wanted to finish this game but in the later stages It would be impossible because of running out of turns . I'll try it tomorrow .

[HwitVlf]

You're welcome Tony ‎  . Hopefully someday, I'll have time to sit down a play through this game. It actually reminds me of a Magic the Gathering game- more about summoning waves on monsters to overwhelm your enemies than strategically keeping them alive.

Attached is an updated fix. The "monster fusion" process was using the same bugged random number generator. It was supposed to have a success rate of about 60%. It should be a bit higher than that now (~70%). The odds of finding an item when capturing a tower are still set by the bugged system though. I don't picture that having a huge impact on gameplay. You'll still find items, but it'll go back and forth between 'no luck' and 'perfect luck'.

EDIT: Updated patch in later post

[HwitVlf]

Can anyone say if this patch significantly improves the Master of Monsters gameplay? I don't know if it's worth posting in a more visible location.