Sword of Vermilion(c) Sega, 1990

Sword of Vermilion(c) Sega, 1990

Save State Hacking Guide
Copyright 2009 Carlos Eugenio

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This guide is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike,
avaiable here http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode.
Simplifying the legalese, that means that you are free to copy, print,
distribute, and otherwise use this guide any way you want as long as you don't
violate the license i.e. give credit where it is due! :)
Derivative works of this guide are allowed provided that you credit me for
the original work *AND* release it under this same license or other free,
copyleft license compatible with Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike. If
you indeed produce a derivate, kindly inform me after it's done so I can enjoy
it too and maybe even improve this guide (you will be credited for it too of
course!)
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Version History
------------------------------------
2009 March 18: v. 1.0
-First Version of this guide. AFAIK everything is fine.
2009 October 6: v. 1.1
-Corrected my name in the beggining (not everyone uses ISO-8859-1 or
Unicode after all)
-Changed license terms, this work now licensed under a open license,
check it out right above.
-Added some text here and there, hopefully improving the guide :)
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This is a save state hacking guide for Sword of Vermillion, a classic
Genesis RPG by Sega. Why I bothered writing this stuff for a game that has
almost 20 years? Well... this game smells like my childhood, and I played it
beginning to end many many times over the years. I wanted to play it again
but... couldn't bear the thought of grinding for hours to level up & acquire
money! (or kim in this case). So I did fiddle a little with a hexeditor, a
diff tool, some save states and now I want to share it with you, my dear lazy
classic RPG gamer. Enjoy :)

PS: This guide won't teach you hex editing. There are plenty of other guides
who'll teach you better than me.

PS2: I used Gens 2.15.5 for Linux as emulator, I think that the offsets are
the same on Gens for Windows but since I can't and won't install that OS on my
machine I can only guess. Dunno if any of this will work on any other
emulators too, mail me if it does so I can update this notice.

PS3: Use this guide with moderation! You can ruin your fun if you go overboard
and max out everything. In fact, I recommend that you beat the game first
without cheating, and in subsequent replays hexedit away.

And, before anyone bug me with annoying accusations, I played on a emulator
yes, but I DO OWN a copy of this game!

Well, on to the guide...

Index
1.0 Save state?
1.1 Stats offsets
1.2 Money
1.3 Experience
1.4 Magic
1.5 Items
1.6 Battle Gear
1.7 Lists
1.8 Thanks & contact info

1.0 Save state?
Save state is a file with a snapshot of the game progress on a given
instant. More specifically, its the CPU & Memory data on a given instant. This
guide was made and tested on Gens for Linux as stated above, before the index.
The files you want to edit ends with the extension .gs* (where * goes from 0
to 9). Open it on your favorite hex editor, hack away the values you want to
edit, load the save state on the emulator and voila!

1.1 Stats offsets
*All values must be between 0001 - 270F, else they overflow (i.e start over
from zero again)

HP (current/max) 0xEAA4, 0xEAA5 / 0xEAA6, 0xEAA7
MP (current/max) 0xEAAA, 0xEAAB / 0xEAA8, 0xEAA9
STR: 0xEAAC, 0xEAAD
AC: 0xEAAE, 0xEAAF
INT: 0xEAB0, 0xEAB1
DEX: 0xEAB2, 0xEAB3
LUK: 0xEAB4, 0xEAB5

1.2 Money
0xEA99, 0xEA9A, 0xEA9B
Note: value is NOT hexadecimal, dunno why... Must be between 000000 - 999999

1.3 Experience
0xEA9D, 0xEA9E, 0xEA9F
Note: not hexadecimal, like the money offsets. Likewise, values must be
between 000000 - 999999

1.4 Magic
Magic quantity: 0xE8DB, max value is 08.
From this offset on begins the magics list. An magic is composed of two
bytes, the first a modifier and the second the magic value itself (refer to the
magics list for valid values). The modifier values which work are 00 (for field
magics), 02 (for battle magics not readied) and 82 (for readied battle magics).
BUT even if you change the modifier byte for a magic that isn't meant for
combat and equip it, nothing happens - the same battle magic readied before it
still applies when you enter in a battle.
Note: if you go beyond the values the game accepts as valid magics,
funny things occur sometimes. For example, beyond the last acceptable value
(16 - Sanguios spell), weapons & other battle gear appear on the list (and
some even work as field magic, healing you for free). And, further on, phrases
used by various salesmen on the game pop on! You can try them later just for
some cheap laughs.

Funny overflow values
50-52 Maybe next time!
53-55 Thank you.
56-58 Anything else for you today?
59-5B Thank you for your business!
5C Do you have anything to...
..got bored and did'nt went all the way to FF.

Be careful, using some of the bugged "spells" freeze the game sometimes :)

1.5 Items
Item quantity: 0xE8BB, max value is 08.
From this offset on begins the item list. Like magics (explained in
1.4 Magics), an item is composed of two bytes, a modifier and the item value
itself (refer to the items list for valid values). BUT, for items, the modifier
seems to do nothing meaningful, mail me if you find out what they do!

1.6 Battle Gear
Battle gear quantity: 0xE8FB, max value is 08.
Battle gear list follows the same rules of the Magics and Items list.
The modifier byte indicates where you can equip the item and it if is already
equipped. Valid modifier values are:
04 - Sword
08 - Shield
10 - Armor
84 - Equipped Sword
88 - Equipped Shield
90 - Equipped Armor

Refer to the Battle Gear lists for valid values for the second byte.

1.7 Lists
* = Cursed Item

Magic Weapons Shields Armors
00 Aero 00 Bronze Sword 14 Leather Shield 28 Leather Armor
01 Aerios 01 Iron Sword 15 Small Shield 29 Bronze Armor
02 Volti 02 Sharp Sword 16 Large Shield 2A Metal Armor
03 Voltio 03 Long Sword 17 Silver Shield 2B Scale Armor
04 Voltios 04 Silver Sword 18 Gold Shield 2C Plate Armor
05 Ferros 05 Prime Sword 19 Platinum Shield 2D Silver Armor
06 Copperos 06 Golden Sword 1A Gem Shield 2E Gold Armor
07 Mercurios 07 Mirage Sword 1B Sapphire Shield 2F Crystal Armor
08 Argentos 08 Platinum Sword 1C Diamond Shield 30 Emerald Armor
09 Hydro 09 Diamond Sword 1D Dragon Shield 31 Diamond Armor
0A Hydrios 0A Graphite Sword 1E Magic Shield 32 Knight Armor
0B Chrono 0B Royal Sword 1F Phantom Shield 33 Ultimate Armor
0C Chronios 0C Ultimate Sword 20 Grizzly Shield 34 Odin Armor
0D Terrafissi 0D Sword of Vermillion 21 Carmine Shield 35 Secret Armor
0E Aries 0E Dark Sword* 22 Royal Shield 36 Skeleton Armor
0F Extrios 0F Death Sword* 23 Poison Shield 37 Crimson Armor
10 Inaudios 10 Barbarian Sword 24 Knight Shield 38 Old Nick Armor*
11 Luminos 11 Critical Sword 25 Carmine Shield
12 Sangua 12 Dark Sword* 26 Carmine Shield
13 Sanguia 13 Dark Sword* 27 Carmine Shield
14 Sanguio
15 Toxios
16 Sanguios

Items Effect
00 Herbs recover some HP
01 Candle illuminate a dungeon for some time
02 Lantern illuminate a dungeon, lasts while you don't leave it
03 Poison Balm Removes poison status
04 Alarm Clock Needed to wake dr. Basil
05 Vase Nothing (need to buy while in Malaga to forge the
Sword of Vermillion)
06 Joke Book Nothing (need to buy while in Malaga to forge the
Sword of Vermillion)
07 Small Bomb Nothing (need to buy while in Malaga to forge the
Sword of Vermillion)
08 Old Woman's Sketch Needed to find the Crimson Armor and the Dragon Shield
09 Old Man's Sketch Needed to find the Crimson Armor and the Dragon Shield
0A Pass to Cartahena Needed to get inside Cartahena
0B Truffle Give to the king of Deepdale
0C Digot Plant Needed if you get poisoned by Cartahenan spy
0D Treasure of Troy Give to the fake king of Parma
0E White Crystal Give to the king of Swaffham
0F Red Crystal Give to the king of Swaffham
10 Blue Crystal Give to the king of Swaffham
11 White Key Opens the White Crystal cave
12 Red Key Opens the Red Crystal cave
13 Blue Key Opens the Blue Crystal cave
14 Crown Give to Bruno
15 Sixteen Rings Won't spoil this for ya ;)
16 Bronze Key Last cave key
17 Silver Key Last cave key
18 Gold Key Last cave key
19 Thule Key Last cave key
1A Secret Key Secret cave key
1B Medicine recover some HP
1C Agate Jewel recover some MP
1D Griffin Wing Teleports you to last visited town
1E Titania's Mirror Shows temporary map of uncharted lands
1F Gnome Stone Teleports out of dungeons
20 Topaz Jewel recover some MP
21 Banshee Powder Kills you! but you don't lose any money
22 Rafael's Stick Remove curses
23 Mirror of Atlas Gives you ALL maps of the game
24 Ruby Brooch Same as Inaudios spell
25 Dungeon Key Needed in a cave (forgot which)
26 Kulm Vase Raises AC with a funny message
27 Kasan's Chisel Raises DEX with a funny message
28 Book of Kiel Raises INT with a funny message
29 Danegeld Water Raises Max MP with funny message
2A Mineral Bar Raises STR with a funny message
2B Mega Blast Raises LUK with a funny message

1.8 Thanks & contact info

-Thanks to Sega, for this wonderful game, I enjoy it to this day!
-Thanks to the free & open source software people!
-Thanks to the GameFAQs people!
-Thanks to anyone who deserves a thanks but I forgot to mention!

You can reach me on demonsword at gmail dot com. Please, if you want to mail
me, write in proper English so I can understand you. Offensive mails won't
get replied. And please, I'm a busy man, so if I don't reply to you the same
day/month/year/century don't be mad at me ok? :)

---EOF