tenpar
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2022 3:41 am

Continuation Availability for Fantasy Zone

There is no version of Fantasy Zone supported by MAME in which continues are available.
However, the PlayStation2 and Astro City Mini versions do allow continue.
Is this simply because the versions playable on PlayStation2 and Astro City Mini are not supported by MAME?
Or is the DIP switch setting in the MAME version incorrect?
tenpar
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2022 3:41 am

Re: Continuation Availability for Fantasy Zone

I used a tool (fzcc_unpack.zip) to extract 4 different ROMs from the Playstation2 version.

Two of the four were newer than the ones supported by MAME, and they also supported continue (fz1_7536a.p00 and fz1_07536a.p00).
One of the other two types seems to be the same as fantzone, and the other is a non-protected version of fantzonep.

Why don't MAME support the two new types and the non-protected version, as it did for the SYSTEM 16C version of Fantasy Zone II?
tenpar
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2022 3:41 am

Re: Continuation Availability for Fantasy Zone

I used the following to create a total of six files with extensions 24 to 26 and 41 to 43 from fz1_7536a.p00.

http://zarala.g2.xrea.com/soft/fzcc_unknown.txt

I then replaced them with files with the same extensions in fantzone, ran them through MAME and FBN, and they worked! (with CRC errors, of course).

I found the following differences compared to fantzone.

There is a few seconds of invincibility just after the start of stage.
There is a "MAP" sign on the left of the base radar.
The DIP switch can be set to continue or not, but the demo sound is fixed to off.
(While the Astro City Mini version has continue and demo sound?)
No remaining lives bonus after clearing the final stage (remaining lives will be carried over to the next lap).
After defeating the last boss, in MAME, the last boss drops tears but his face color is red; in FBN, the last boss does not drop tears but his face color is normal (same as the bug in the Playstation2 version).

From these it appears that the ROM files extracted from the Playstation2 version are correct, but both MAME and FBN have different bugs in each.

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