This document was written by: Tony Hedstrom t.hed@excite.com This document explains how to convert a 6 letter NES (Nintendo) Game Genie code into an 8 letter code. Before I start, I should mention that most of the time, an 8 letter code is better than a 6 letter code, so if you have a 6 letter code that has some glitches, or has some problems, there is a chance that changing it to an 8 letter code will get rid of the problems. But there is also the chance that changing it to an 8 letter code will have unwanted effects on the code. Sometimes, a 6 letter code will cause more than one effect (because it usually modifies more than one address), but if you convert it to an 8 letter code, it will only modify one address, so you may lose some of the effects of the 6 letter code. All I'm trying to say is that most of the time, converting a 6 letter code to an 8 letter will make the code better, but sometimes, it can make it worse. On smaller games, changing a 6 letter code to an 8 letter code will sometimes make no difference. Generally speaking, the larger a game is, the more difference you will notice between a 6 and 8 letter code. OK, lets get started... There are 3 ways that I know of to do this: 1) Try all 256 different possibilities until you find the right one... That would take way too long. 2) Use a 6502 disassembler. This is probably the most efficient method to use, but it's a little bit complicated. 3) Use a hex editor. This is the method that I will use in this example. This is what you'll need: 1) A Game Genie code converter program (that changes GG codes into hex codes). You can get one from my website (in the "Download" section): http://www.angelfire.com/games2/codehut/ 2) The ROM of the game you want to hack 3) A hex editor. You can get a free trial version of Hex Workshop here: http://www.bpsoft.com/ For this example, I'm going to use a GG code I made for Megaman 3: NXTKGE start with infinite energy tanks. Here's how to convert it into an 8 letter code: 1) Enter the GG code (in this case NXTKGE) into the GG conversion program and write down the raw hex code that the program gives you (in this case it's 40EC). 2) Add $10 (hex) to the code you wrote down. You can use the Windows (or Mac) calculator to do this. To find the Windows Calculator, click on Start/ Programs/Accessories/Calculator, then in the calc window, click on "View" and click on "Scientific". Also, make sure that you click on the Hex button. If we add $10 to 40EC, we get 40FC. Write this new number down. 3) Now, open up the ROM (in this case Megaman3.nes) with a hex editor. 4) Find the hex address (the one with $10 added to it) in the file that you just opened. In this case, we're looking for 40FC. 5) When you find the right address (offset), write down the two digit value that is there (in this case, it's 48). 6) Now, find the address that is $8000 (hex) higher than the one you just looked at. In this case, we add $8000 to 40FC and we get C0FC. Remember, you can use the Windows (or Mac) calculator to do this hex addition. 7) Once you find the new address that is $8000 higher than the last one (in this case it's C0FC), write down the two digit value that is there (in this case, it's 05). 8) Keep adding $8000 to the address and writing down the two digit value at each new address until you reach the end of the file. 9) Now, you should have between 1 to 16 (or more, depending on how big the game is) two digit values writen down. One of these, is the value that you're looking for! Here are the values that I found in this example: 48,05,00,21,E0,48,84,90,00, 00,FF,FC. Eliminate any duplicate values that you may have. In this case, 48, and 00 are duplicates (or triplicates), so I can delete the extras from the list. This leaves us with: 48,05,00,21,E0,84, 90,FF,FC. Exit the hex editor, we won't need it anymore. 10) Take your list of values and convert each one into a Game Genie code using the GG code conversion program. Here's how: Enter your original 6 letter GG code (in this case NXTKGE) into the conversion program. (I highly recommend using the GG code conversion program that's on my website for this, it's called "ggconvc". The address is at the end of this document.) After you enter in your 6 letter GG code, you will see that below the code you typed in, it gives you the hex code. In the middle of the hex code, there is an empty box with a "?" next to it (on the left). This is where you type in the two digit values that you wrote down before. When you type in one of the two digit values in this box, it will convert it into an 8 letter GG code which it shows you in the "GG Code" box. Do this for each one of the two digit values that you wrote down and write down each new 8 letter GG code that the program gives you. Here's our list of two digit values that we wrote down before: 48,05,00,21,E0,84,90,FF,FC. Here are the codes that we get from this list: 40EC 48 AF = NXVKGEAK 40EC 05 AF = NXVKGAIE 40EC 00 AF = NXVKGAAE 40EC 21 AF = NXVKGAPX 40EC E0 AF = NXVKGAEV 40EC 84 AF = NXVKGAKE 40EC 90 AF = NXVKGAEO 40EC FF AF = NXVKGENN 40EC FC AF = NXVKGEKN 11) Now take your new list of 8 letter GG codes and try each one until you find the one that works (in this case, it's NXVKGAEO). Well, that's it. I hope this helps. You can email me at: Tony Hedstrom t.hed@excite.com Visit my website (The Code Hut) at: http://www.angelfire.com/games2/codehut/