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Wolfenstein 3D
 
Category: ROM data
Reference: 3028
Closed (accepted) by: root.
z.g » 2008-09-25 14:52:42

[Euro-dump matches US-version]
Wolfenstein 3D #
(#: confirmed)

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something wrong. as i understerstand — confirmed means redump of another region, so good version of rom exists. why in datomatic is a data for bad rom?

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game (
name "Wolfenstein 3D (USA, Europe)"
description "Wolfenstein 3D (USA, Europe)"
rom ( name "Wolfenstein 3D (USA, Europe).gba" size 8388608 crc C4AA2B7B md5 D853B5FFA5EF88605A0823D3B4B2DF08 sha1 2C077DE84348C6E09581A0A523376056A2AEBA95 )
)
kazumi213 » 2008-09-25 20:54:37

This game has an interesting dump history. Sadly I have no access to the discussion thread on the old forum and I can't recall the details. What I remember is that an EUR-labeled, NON-pirated cart, was dumped by a trusted dumper here (Dopefish, maybe Sir VG?) with currently used hashes by DoM (so they aren't bad)

This EUR-labeled cart yielded a USA-serial dump which didn't match previous USA "good" dump (the late #0300 one in scene numbering), so a USA-labeled cart redump was mandatory. I think Sir VG redumped it just to find it matched the dump from the EUR-labeled cart (currently used hashes).

The interesting here is that both USA and EUR-labeled carts were previously (before current hashes) redumped but they were either a pirated cart (I think the EUR one)/legit one containing hacked data (found by hex comparison after the current dump). A theory explaining the latter is that a Mode7 member had access somehow to the master binary. This hacked binary could be used for some cart batches before detected and fixed.
z.g » 2008-09-25 21:05:50

not bad?

do you belive, what original cart may contain text:

MODE 7 BRINGS YOU ::: ECKS VS. SEVER (C) BAM ::: AFTER BRINGING YOU DOOM, HERE IS ANOTHER ELITE FPS A FEW DAYS AHEAD OF RETAIL. ENJOY IT EVERYONE! - REMEMBER TRUE SCENERS DON'T CARE ABOUT CRC'S AND UNTOUCHED DUMPS, THOSE THAT DO CAN FUCK OFF AND DIE! - OUR RESPECT TO THE FOLLOWING: CAPITAL . ILLUSION . AGGRESSION . ANTHROX . SNEAKERS . SWAT . MENACE . EURASIA . VENOM . LIGHTFORCE . OK! THAT'S ALL FOR NOW, SEE YOU IN THE NEXT ONE (DO YOU GUYS EVEN READ THIS FAR?) ...
kazumi213 » 2008-09-26 13:20:37

An original cart filled with a master binary which blindly reuses code from hacked Ecks vs Sever, also by BAM!. As I said I don't remember the details on that thread but all this was noticed there. Please wait for the reply from the redumpers.

As long as both redumped (USA/EUR) carts were originals, the dumps are good. Now if the original carts themselves contain hacked data, well that's a different question.
Dopefish » 2008-09-26 13:51:54

It wasn't me who redumped it. It was Sir VG.

Anyway, I still can't understand how this stuff got into the retail cart. A Mode7 member having access to pre-release binary code and adding stuff from another introed game still sounds unbelievable to me. At that time the only explanation we had for this was that the developers probably took part of the hacked Ecks vs. Sever code as a basis for Wolfenstein 3D. That in itself is illogical, because why would a developer take a rom image instead of the source code to make another game? The only explanation would be that the source code itself was already hacked.
z.g » 2008-09-26 18:21:46

@Dopefish
in this case hacked code was inside game. but really it at free space at rom end. looks like mode7 put intro into rom twice but use of course once. one was removed by gbata, another stay in dump.

@kazumi213
how do you know (USA/EUR) carts were originals?
kazumi213 » 2008-09-26 20:09:17

Because Sir VG knows what's he's doing and I trust him. Plus he posted cart and PCB pics from them. So far this is enough (specially the PCB scan and presence of stamped codes on cart sticky) to tell whether a cart is original or pirate.
Dopefish » 2008-09-26 21:16:46

I would love to get my hands on this game to redump it myself, but since I'm from Germany this is a little problematic...
z.g » 2008-09-26 23:07:23

@kazumi213

do you think only nintendo own magic skill «stamp codes on carts»?

ps: intro in so called good dump is fully working. simply change 1st three bytes in rom to 0xfe 0xef 0x1f and run it.
kazumi213 » 2008-09-27 01:58:27

So what? That's still the Ecks vs. Sever intro which could be included on blatant/malicious code copy&paste at developing stage.

So your argument is: Mode7 hacked the good dump from original USA-labeled cart for Wolfenstein 3D (which nobody else is able to find). They put the Wolfenstein 3D intro and, as a bonus, decided to add their previous Ecks vs. Sever intro (fully working but in silent mode) and part of the script from Ecks vs Sever in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish (right before the Wolfenstein 3D intro). Then pirates flooded USA and Europe markets with perfect copies of original Nintendo carts containing the partially intro-removed Mode 7 release so real originals could never be found.

Unless you can prove that a real good dump is possible I'll keep trusting Sir VG results. I wish you were right, honest.
z.g » 2008-09-27 02:48:39

"So what? That's still the Ecks vs. Sever intro which could be included on blatant/malicious code copy&paste at developing stage."
no. i see only one «believable» scenario, how this can be in original cartridge. i'm not expert in producing gba roms, but something like master-cartridge must exists. and this master-cartridge of course reflashable. once at friday one of the gbacartridgefactory workers get this master-cartridge to home, because his son wants to play pirated gba games. last game played by this boy was Ecks_vs_Sever_USA_GBA-MODE7 dump. at monday this worker brings master-cartridge back to factory. at this day wolf 3d game production started. as wolf 3d game length is a 5114476 bytes, and data to master-cartridge written by 1mb blocks, so 5 mb was written, and last 3 mb stay from mode7 release.

"So your argument is: Mode7 hacked the good dump from original USA-labeled cart for Wolfenstein 3D (which nobody else is able to find)."
nobody? i found old thread at pocket heaven board — was only two redumps. one cart goes from ebay, another from online shop. very trusted sources.

"Then pirates flooded USA and Europe markets with perfect copies of original Nintendo carts containing the partially intro-removed Mode 7 release so real originals could never be found."
this is speculation.
Sir VG » 2008-09-29 00:33:59

I had redumped both the European and the USA carts and brought the whole faked Euro dump to light.
Dopefish » 2008-09-29 15:11:53

Who made the EUR redump which turned out to be fake?

Edit: I just realized that Wolfenstein 3D EUR was released by the same group that made the fake EUR dump from Fortress. Fortress was redumped by me from a UK cart (AGB-AFOP-UKV) and it turned out be identical to the US version. The cart serial "-UKV" usually indicates that it's a dupe. According to Pocketheaven the group wC also released the EUR version of Megaman & Bass. I suggest to redump this one, since the other two "dumps" from this group were fake.
kazumi213 » 2008-09-29 19:42:01

I've said that the EUR one was redumped from pirated cart before Sir VG redump because Advanscene shows the "fake P" in its pure list, noted as Redump (which IMO means is not just a ROM edit to unpatch the save in WC release, but a Redump indeed). I also remembered someone here talking about a previous redump from a pirate cart (which now I'm starting to doubt it was Wolfenstein). So I can't be sure whether Wolfenstein 3D EUR was redumped before Sir VG did. I was just connecting things.
michal99 » 2008-09-29 20:52:30

I redumped Wolfenstein 3D too and I have the cart home. The text is in the cart and the dump is EUR/USA.
Sir VG » 2008-09-30 05:54:29

I believe I still have the carts for both the Europe and USA versions, since I haven't sold too many GBA games (since kids these days don't play 'old' games it seems. :P ) and could scan them again, if nobody has the images. But yeah, I was shocked to see the Ecks vs Sever code stuffed into the end of the ROM file. I can't explain how, but my carts appear to be 100% legit, so all I can say is it's there.
kazumi213 » 2008-10-04 22:43:53

Today I've received an EUR Wolfenstein 3D cart that I bought a few days ago on e-Bay. Used cart-only. Anyway it looks original to me.

----| File Data |--------------------------------------------------
System: Nintendo Game Boy Advance
File: AGB-AWOP-UKV.gba
Length: 8388608 Bytes (64 Mbit)
CRC32: C4AA2B7B
MD5: D853B5FFA5EF88605A0823D3B4B2DF08
SHA1: 2C077DE84348C6E09581A0A523376056A2AEBA95
----| Header Data |------------------------------------------------
ROM Entry Point: EA00002E
Logo Code: Ok
Title: WOLF3D
Serial: AWOE (USA)
Maker Code: 6L (BAM! Entertainment)
Fixed Value: 0x96 (Ok)
Unit Code: 0x00
Device Code: 0x00
Version: 0x00 (v1.0)
Complement: 0xF4 (Ok)
----| Backup Media |-----------------------------------------------
Chip: EEPROM_V120
Size: 4/64 Kbit
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Result: Matches hashes in current GBA DAT. Dump includes discussed hacked Mode7 intro leftovers and M5 script from Ecks vs. Sever. So I get the same results as Sir VG and michal99.

First two pics are from the Wolfenstein cart I've bought.

Third pic if for the nearest PCB arrangement model I personally bought boxed&factory sealed from a well known game shop franchise here at Spain. Main differences are that "R" components (resistors?) are missing on Wolfenstein PCB and PCB label for main chip. I think these differences are simply revampings of the AGB-E03 PCB model (from -10 on Wolfenstein to -20 in Spyro Fusion)

Fourth and fifth pics try to support the above argument by showing AGB-E02-10 and AGB-E02-30 PCB models. The former is also missing "R" components and has the main chip labeled different. Both games (SPA Golden Sun and EUR Sonic Advance) were rented at the same shop and dumps matched previous hashes on GBA DAT.