Nem s3

This historical hacking document is preserved here for archival purposes. It has not been revised since its original writing and may be outdated. For an SCHG-equivalent document, see SCHG:Sonic 3.

Introduction

Here are my hacking notes on the Sonic 3 rom. If you use these notes I'd appreciate it if you would mention it with your hack or your utility, so that other people can find their way here. For hex editing I recommend you use a hex utility called Hex Workshop, and for emulators I recommend you get both Gens and Genecyst. Genecyst may be old and kinda crap, but it has a whole heap of debug outputs that really help when it comes to seeing exactly what it's doing and when.

First of all it's very important that you understand the basics. All data stored on a computer is in the form of 1's and 0's. On a CD for example, a laser hits the surface, and if the laser bounces back and hits the lens it's a 1, and if it doesn't it's a zero. Each 1 or 0 is called a bit, and a bit cannot have any other characters in it other that a 1 or a 0. Now the computer deals with bits in groups of 4. There are 16 possible combinations for a group of four 1's and 0's, so to make it simpler it deals with it as one value, rather than 4 (Eg. 0110 becomes 6). Now as there are 16 possible combinations for a group of 4 bits, this value to represent their values must have 16 values itself, so rather than a simple 0-9, this value is 0-F (0123456789ABCDEF). This value is called a hexadecimal value (hex value for short). Each hex value is dealt with in groups of 2, called a byte, each byte having 128 possible combinations. Now on a final output level the byte may be looked up on an ASCII table, which will convert that value into a recognisable character (Eg. a byte value of 73 becomes a lowercase s on an English ASCII table). You will practically never touch the ASCII version of the code in hacking though.

Now one important thing to realise is that as one character of hex has 16 values and a decimal (real) value only has 10, it may be necessary to convert the numbers between them from time to time. This is done with the use of a base converter (included in hex workshop). Let's say you wanted to give Sonic 50 rings. If you enter 50 as the value, you will in fact end up with 80, because that value you are entering is actually a hex value, but if you use the base converter to convert it first, you merely enter the value of 50 into the decimal box, and it will spit out a hex value of 32, which will in fact give you 50 rings in the game. Another useful utility that you will need is a hex calculator (also included in hex workshop). A hex calculator is the same as a normal calculator, but it deals with hex values rather than decimal values.

Another thing you need to know is that each level in Sonic 3 has a value assigned to it, but this value does not correspond with each level's final position in the game. Here is a list of the level values in Sonic 3:

00	Angel island zone
01	Hydrocity zone
02	Marble garden zone
03	Carnival Night zone
04	Flying Battery zone
05	Ice cap zone
06	launch base zone
07	Empty
08	Empty
09	Empty
0A	Empty
0B	Empty
0C	Empty
0D	Empty
0E	Azure Lake
0F	Balloon Park
10	Chrome Gadget
11	Desert Palace
12	Endless Mine
13	Bonus Stage
14	Empty
15	Empty
16	Empty
17	Empty

One other thing you need to know is the way that the Mega Drive stores all the art. All the art that is used in the game is stored in the form of 8x8 pixel blocks. These blocks do not actually store colours at all, they actually only have one hex value per pixel. That value specifies what point on the palette line the pixel will get its colour from. The palette has 4 lines, each with 16 colours on them. Now the colours on the palette can be changed at any point during play, and some palette colours may even automatically change colour each couple of frames to make it look like the colour is flashing.

Now these 8x8 blocks are not what make up the level directly. 4 8x8 blocks are grouped together to form a 16x16 block, and it is at this point that the palette line to use for that 16x16 block is specified. The 8x8 patterns can also have their x, y, or x and y values reversed when placing them in a 16x16 block. Also it's at the 16x16 level that the collision definitions are specified. Now finally we get to a 128x128 block, and these are the things that the actual level info loads. It is made up of 64 16x16 blocks, and each block inside them can use a different palette line. You cannot place anything except a sprite or a 128x128 block directly into a level.

Now that you know all the basics, here's my breakdown:

Address Listing

For the most part, there are no breaks in this list. If one address follows on directly from another on this list, it does so in the rom, with the exception of data that comes before 50000. All the compiled code that is used in the game is stored in this section, and that's a pain in the ass to sort through, so there will be many breaks there. The column on the left lists it's file location, the column in the middle contains it's name and description, and the column on the right will contain any special notes about it, such as compression format used if applicable, and number of blocks an art tile uses. The right column will also contain a link with the text further info, if that particular block requires it. That link will jump to a detailed explanation of that thing. Anything linked like that will also be listed in the contents at the top of the page. Any patterns that are not used anywhere in the game will be preceeded by this red dot .

See SCHG:Nem s3/Address listing.

Offset indexes

An offset index is a handy way of keeping a block of data grouped together, and also replacing a whole heap of pointers. The way it works is there is a list of two byte vaues, and depending on the block of data the game wants to load, it will take one of those values and add it to the starting address of the offset index. The most common usage is for every act of every level value, there is an offset that acts as the pointer to the block of data to use for it. Lets look at an example:

5AF8C:

00F8

0112

012C

0140

0148

0150

0158

016C

This is the beginning of the offset index for the pattern load cue's. If the game was trying to access the second pattern load cue, it would take the pointer to the offset index which is 5AF8C, and it would jump to the second offset, which in this case is 0112. It would then add that value to the location of the offset index, and that gives the location of the data.

5AF8C + 0112 = 5B09E

So in this case the data is located at 5B09E in the rom. This type of system is used for many things in the rom such as pattern load cue's, sprite mappings, etc.

Pointer list

A pointer list is simply a block of pointers. Pointers are a 4 byte number that gives the location of data. This location is listed on the lefthand side of a hex editor. The most common use of a pointer list in the game is to specify a block of data to be used in conjunction with each level or act. Simply count across to the pointer you wish to modify. For example, if you want to change the pointer to the data for HCZ act 1, and it's done on an act by act basis, you'll want to modify the third pointer in the list, which would be 8 bytes along.

Main level load block

This pointer table is what is used to load up the block mappings and main level patterns for every level in the game. Here's a breakdown of the pointer table in the S3 rom:

5AB0C-5AF8B: Main level load blocks (Bpatterns/Epatterns/B16x16/E16x16/B128x128/E128x128)

5AB0C-5AB3B: Angel Island zone (00)

5AB0C-5AB23: Act 1

5AB0C: AIZ act 1 base tiles (1A566A) [0B]

5AB10: AIZ act 1 extended tiles (1A647C) [0B]

5AB14: AIZ act 1 base 16x16 block mappings (1A374A) [0A]

5AB18: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0A]

5AB1C: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AB20: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AB24-5AB3B: Act 2

5AB24: AIZ act 2 base tiles (1B15D2) [0C]

5AB28: AIZ act 2 extended tiles (1B3784) [0C]

5AB2C: AIZ act 2 base 16x16 block mappings (1B0052) [0B]

5AB30: AIZ act 2 extended 16x16 block mappings (1B08F2) [0B]

5AB34: AIZ act 2 128x128 block mappings (1B51E8) [00]

5AB38: AIZ act 2 128x128 block mappings (1B51E8) [00]

5AB3C-5AB6B: Hydrocity zone (01)

5AB3C-5AB53: Act 1

5AB3C: HCZ base tiles (1B9668) [0E]

5AB40: HCZ act 1 extended tiles (1BAE7A) [0F]

5AB44: HCZ base 16x16 block mappings (1B91F8) [0C]

5AB48: HCZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1BA5EA) [0C]

5AB4C: HCZ base 128x128 block mappings (1BA2AA) [00]

5AB50: HCZ act 1 extended 128x128 block mappings (1BD0CC) [00]

5AB54-5AB6B: Act 2

5AB54: HCZ base tiles (1B9668) [10]

5AB58: HCZ act 2 extended tiles (1BFA6C) [11]

5AB5C: HCZ base 16x16 block mappings (1B91F8) [0D]

5AB60: HCZ act 2 extended 16x16 block mappings (1BF17C) [0D]

5AB64: HCZ base 128x128 block mappings (1BA2AA) [00]

5AB68: HCZ act 2 extended 128x128 block mappings (1C18EE) [00]

5AB6C-5AB9B: Marble Garden zone (02)

5AB6C-5AB83: Act 1

5AB6C: MGZ base tiles (1C3EBE) [12]

5AB70: MGZ act 1 extended tiles (1C8A70) [12]

5AB74: MGZ base 16x16 block mappings (1C356E) [0E]

5AB78: MGZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1C8760) [0E]

5AB7C: MGZ base 128x128 block mappings (1C6460) [00]

5AB80: MGZ act 1 extended 128x128 block mappings (1C9452) [00]

5AB84-5AB9B: Act 2

5AB84: MGZ base tiles (1C3EBE) [14]

5AB88: MGZ act 2 extended tiles (1CA132) [14]

5AB8C: MGZ base 16x16 block mappings (1C356E) [0F]

5AB90: MGZ act 2 extended 16x16 block mappings (1C9CD2) [0F]

5AB94: MGZ base 128x128 block mappings (1C6460) [00]

5AB98: MGZ act 2 extended 128x128 block mappings (1CB1C4) [00]

5AB9C-5ABCB: Carnival Night zone

5AB9C-5ABB3: Act 1

5AB9C: CNZ tiles (1CDC74) [16]

5ABA0: CNZ tiles (1CDC74) [17]

5ABA4: CNZ 16x16 block mappings (1CCC34) [10]

5ABA8: CNZ 16x16 block mappings (1CCC34) [10]

5ABAC: CNZ 128x128 block mappings (1D0E96) [00]

5ABB0: CNZ 128x128 block mappings (1D0E96) [00]

5ABB4-5ABCB: Act 2

5ABB4: CNZ tiles (1CDC74) [18]

5ABB8: CNZ tiles (1CDC74) [19]

5ABBC: CNZ 16x16 block mappings (1CCC34) [11]

5ABC0: CNZ 16x16 block mappings (1CCC34) [11]

5ABC4: CNZ 128x128 block mappings (1D0E96) [00]

5ABC8: CNZ 128x128 block mappings (1D0E96) [00]

5ABCC-5ABFB: Flying battery zone (04)

MEDIAWIKI WON'T ACCEPT THIS BLOCK?

5ABE4-5ABFB: Act 2

5ABE4: ICZ base 16x16 block mappings (1D3FB6) [1C]

5ABE8: ICZ base 16x16 block mappings (1D3FB6) [1C]

5ABEC: ICZ base 16x16 block mappings (1D3FB6) [13]

5ABF0: ICZ base 16x16 block mappings (1D3FB6) [13]

5ABF4: ICZ base 16x16 block mappings (1D3FB6) [00]

5ABF8: ICZ base 16x16 block mappings (1D3FB6) [00]

5ABFC-5AC2B: Ice Cap zone (05)

5ABFC-5AC13: Act 1

5ABFC: ICZ base tiles (1D4296) [1E]

5AC00: ICZ act 1 extended tiles (1D64C8) [1E]

5AC04: ICZ base 16x16 block mappings (1D3FB6) [14]

5AC08: ICZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1D5958) [14]

5AC0C: ICZ base 128x128 block mappings (1D56A8) [00]

5AC10: ICZ act 1 extended 128x128 block mappings (1D844A) [00]

5AC14-5AC2C: Act 2

5AC14: ICZ base tiles (1D4296) [20]

5AC18: ICZ act 2 extended tiles (1DAF0A) [20]

5AC1C: ICZ base 16x16 block mappings (1D3FB6) [15]

5AC20: ICZ act 2 extended 16x16 block mappings (1DA26A) [15]

5AC24: ICZ base 128x128 block mappings (1D56A8) [00]

5AC28: ICZ act 2 extended 128x128 block mappings (1DCFBC) [00]

5AC2C-5AC5B: Launch base zone (06)

5AC2C-5AC43: Act 1

5AC2C: LBZ base tiles (1DFABC) [22]

5AC30: LBZ act 1 extended tiles (1E120E) [22]

5AC34: LBZ base 16x16 block mappings (1DEA8C) [16]

5AC38: LBZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1DEFCC) [16]

5AC3C: LBZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1E2FA0) [00]

5AC40: LBZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1E2FA0) [00]

5AC44-5AC5B: Act 2

5AC44: LBZ base tiles (1DFABC) [24]

5AC48: LBZ act 2 extended tiles (1E77D0) [25]

5AC4C: LBZ base 16x16 block mappings (1DEA8C) [17]

5AC50: LBZ act 2 extended 16x16 block mappings (1E5F70) [17]

5AC54: LBZ act 2 128x128 block mappings (1EAF04) [00]

5AC58: LBZ act 2 128x128 block mappings (1EAF04) [00]

5AC5C-5AC8B: Empty (07)

5AC5C-5AC73: Act 1

5AC5C: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [26]

5AC60: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [26]

5AC64: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [18]

5AC68: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [18]

5AC6C: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [00]

5AC70: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [00]

5AC74-5AC8B: Act 2

5AC74: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [28]

5AC78: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [28]

5AC7C: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [19]

5AC80: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [19]

5AC84: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [00]

5AC88: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [00]

5AC8C-5ACBB: Empty (08)

5AC8C-5ACA3: Act 1

5AC8C: AIZ act 1 base tiles (1A566A) [0B]

5AC90: AIZ act 1 extended tiles (1A647C) [0B]

5AC94: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0A]

5AC98: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0A]

5AC9C: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5ACA0: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5ACA4-5ACBB: Act 2

5ACA4: AIZ act 1 base tiles (1A566A) [0C]

5ACA8: AIZ act 1 extended tiles (1A647C) [0C]

5ACAC: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0B]

5ACB0: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0B]

5ACB4: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5ACB8: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5ACBC-5ACEB: Empty (09)

5ACBC-5ACD3: Act 1

5ACBC: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [2E]

5ACC0: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [2E]

5ACC4: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [2E]

5ACC8: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [2E]

5ACCC: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [2E]

5ACD0: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [2E]

5ACD4-5ACEB: Act 2

5ACD4: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [2E]

5ACD8: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [2E]

5ACDC: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [2E]

5ACE0: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [2E]

5ACE4: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [2E]

5ACE8: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [2E]

5ACEC-5AD04: Empty (0A)

5ACEC-5AD03: Act 1

5ACEC: AIZ act 1 base tiles (1A566A) [0B]

5ACF0: AIZ act 1 extended tiles (1A647C) [0B]

5ACF4: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0A]

5ACF8: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0A]

5ACFC: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AD00: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AD04-5AD1B: Act 2

5AD04: AIZ act 1 base tiles (1A566A) [0C]

5AD08: AIZ act 1 extended tiles (1A647C) [0C]

5AD0C: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0B]

5AD10: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0B]

5AD14: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AD18: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AD1C-5AD4C: Empty (0B)

5AD1C-5AD33: Act 1

5AD1C: AIZ act 1 base tiles (1A566A) [0B]

5AD20: AIZ act 1 extended tiles (1A647C) [0B]

5AD24: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0A]

5AD28: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0A]

5AD2C: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AD30: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AD34-5AD4B: Act 2

5AD34: AIZ act 1 base tiles (1A566A) [0C]

5AD38: AIZ act 1 extended tiles (1A647C) [0C]

5AD3C: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0B]

5AD40: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0B]

5AD44: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AD48: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AD4C-5AD7B: Empty (0C)

5AD4C-5AD63: Act 1

5AD4C: AIZ act 1 base tiles (1A566A) [0B]

5AD50: AIZ act 1 extended tiles (1A647C) [0B]

5AD54: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0A]

5AD58: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0A]

5AD5C: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AD60: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AD64-5AD7C: Act 2

5AD64: AIZ act 1 base tiles (1A566A) [0C]

5AD68: AIZ act 1 extended tiles (1A647C) [0C]

5AD6C: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0B]

5AD70: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0B]

5AD74: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AD78: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AD7C-5AD93: Empty (0D)

5AD7C-5AD93: Act 1

5AD7C: AIZ act 1 base tiles (1A566A) [0B]

5AD80: Unknown patterns (1A944E) [0B]

5AD84: AIZ act 1 base 16x16 block mappings (1A374A) [2A]

5AD88: Unknown extended 16x16 block mappings (1A458A) [2A]

5AD8C: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AD90: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AD94-5ADAB: Act 2

5AD94: AIZ act 1 base tiles (1A566A) [0C]

5AD98: AIZ act 1 extended tiles (1A647C) [0C]

5AD9C: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0B]

5ADA0: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0B]

5ADA4: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5ADA8: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5ADAC-5ADDB: Azure lake (0E)

5ADAC-5ADC4: Act 1

5ADAC: AL tiles (1EEB84) [42]

5ADB0: AL tiles (1EEB84) [42]

5ADB4: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [26]

5ADB8: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [26]

5ADBC: AL 128x128 block mappings (1F1936) [00]

5ADC0: AL 128x128 block mappings (1F1936) [00]

5ADC4-5ADDC: Act 2

5ADC4: AL tiles (1EEB84) [42]

5ADC8: AL tiles (1EEB84) [42]

5ADCC: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [27]

5ADD0: AL 16x16 block mappings (1EE0C4) [27]

5ADD4: AL 128x128 block mappings (1F1936) [00]

5ADD8: AL 128x128 block mappings (1F1936) [00]

5ADDC-5AE0B: Ballon Park (0F)

5ADDC-5ADF3: Act 1

5ADDC: BP tiles (1F2896) [43]

5ADE0: BP tiles (1F2896) [43]

5ADE4: BP 16x16 block mappings (1F1FC6) [28]

5ADE8: BP 16x16 block mappings (1F1FC6) [28]

5ADEC: BP 128x128 block mappings (1F4878) [00]

5ADF0: BP 128x128 block mappings (1F4878) [00]

5ADF4-5AE0B: Act 2

5ADF4: BP tiles (1F2896) [43]

5ADF8: BP tiles (1F2896) [43]

5ADFC: BP 16x16 block mappings (1F1FC6) [29]

5AE00: BP 16x16 block mappings (1F1FC6) [29]

5AE04: BP 128x128 block mappings (1F4878) [00]

5AE08: BP 128x128 block mappings (1F4878) [00]

5AE0C-5AE3B: Chrome Gadget (10)

5AE0C-5AE23: Act 1

5AE0C: CG tiles (1F5948) [44]

5AE10: CG tiles (1F5948) [44]

5AE14: GC 16x16 block mappings (1F4F68) [34]

5AE18: GC 16x16 block mappings (1F4F68) [34]

5AE1C: GC 128x128 block mappings (1F743A) [00]

5AE20: GC 128x128 block mappings (1F743A) [00]

5AE24-5AE3B: Act 2

5AE24: CG tiles (1F5948) [44]

5AE28: CG tiles (1F5948) [44]

5AE2C: GC 16x16 block mappings (1F4F68) [34]

5AE30: GC 16x16 block mappings (1F4F68) [34]

5AE34: GC 128x128 block mappings (1F743A) [00]

5AE38: GC 128x128 block mappings (1F743A) [00]

5AE3C-5AE6B: Desert Palace (11)

5AE3C-5AE53: Act 1

5AE3C: DP tiles (1F81BA) [45]

5AE40: DP tiles (1F81BA) [45]

5AE44: DP 16x16 block mappings (1F7A6A) [35]

5AE48: DP 16x16 block mappings (1F7A6A) [35]

5AE4C: DP 128x128 block mappings (1FA75C) [00]

5AE50: DP 128x128 block mappings (1FA75C) [00]

5AE54-5AE6B: Act 2

5AE54: DP tiles (1F81BA) [45]

5AE58: DP tiles (1F81BA) [45]

5AE5C: DP 16x16 block mappings (1F7A6A) [35]

5AE60: DP 16x16 block mappings (1F7A6A) [35]

5AE64: DP 128x128 block mappings (1FA75C) [00]

5AE68: DP 128x128 block mappings (1FA75C) [00]

5AE6C-5AE9B: Endless Mine (12)

5AE6C-5AE83: Act 1

5AE6C: EM tiles (1FB6CC) [46]

5AE70: EM tiles (1FB6CC) [46]

5AE74: EM 16x16 block mappings (1FAC1C) [36]

5AE78: EM 16x16 block mappings (1FAC1C) [36]

5AE7C: EM 128x128 block mappings (1FE2FE) [00]

5AE80: EM 128x128 block mappings (1FE2FE) [00]

5AE84-5AE9B: Act 2

5AE84: EM tiles (1FB6CC) [46]

5AE88: EM tiles (1FB6CC) [46]

5AE8C: EM 16x16 block mappings (1FAC1C) [36]

5AE90: EM 16x16 block mappings (1FAC1C) [36]

5AE94: EM 128x128 block mappings (1FE2FE) [00]

5AE98: EM 128x128 block mappings (1FE2FE) [00]

5AE9C-5AECB: Bonus stage (13)

5AE9C-5AEB3: Act 1

5AE9C: Bonus stage 1 base tiles (1FEE2E) [47]

5AEA0: Bonus stage 1 base tiles (1FEE2E) [47]

5AEA4: Bonus stage 16x16 block mapings (1FEA0E) [33]

5AEA8: Bonus stage 16x16 block mapings (1FEA0E) [33]

5AEAC: Bonus stage 128x128 block mappings (1FFB80) [00]

5AEB0: Bonus stage 128x128 block mappings (1FFB80) [00]

5AEB4-5AECB: Act 2

5AEB4: Bonus stage 1 base tiles (1FEE2E) [47]

5AEB8: Bonus stage 1 base tiles (1FEE2E) [47]

5AEBC: Bonus stage 16x16 block mapings (1FEA0E) [33]

5AEC0: Bonus stage 16x16 block mapings (1FEA0E) [33]

5AEC4: Bonus stage 128x128 block mappings (1FFB80) [00]

5AEC8: Bonus stage 128x128 block mappings (1FFB80) [00]

5AECC-5AEFB: Empty (14)

5AECC-5AEE3: Act 1

5AECC: Nothing (1FFF20) [47]

5AED0: Nothing (1FFF20) [47]

5AED4: Nothing (1FFF20) [37]

5AED8: Nothing (1FFF20) [37]

5AEDC: Nothing (1FFF20) [00]

5AEE0: Nothing (1FFF20) [00]

5AEE4-5AEFB: Act 2

5AEE4: Nothing (1FFF20) [47]

5AEE8: Nothing (1FFF20) [47]

5AEEC: Nothing (1FFF20) [37]

5AEF0: Nothing (1FFF20) [37]

5AEF4: Nothing (1FFF20) [00]

5AEF8: Nothing (1FFF20) [00]

5AEFC-5AF2B: Empty (15)

5AEFC-5AF13: Act 1

5AEFC: Nothing (1FFF20) [47]

5AF00: Nothing (1FFF20) [47]

5AF04: Nothing (1FFF20) [38]

5AF08: Nothing (1FFF20) [38]

5AF0C: Nothing (1FFF20) [00]

5AF10: Nothing (1FFF20) [00]

5AF14-5AF2C: Act 2

5AF14: Nothing (1FFF20) [47]

5AF18: Nothing (1FFF20) [47]

5AF1C: Nothing (1FFF20) [38]

5AF20: Nothing (1FFF20) [38]

5AF24: Nothing (1FFF20) [00]

5AF28: Nothing (1FFF20) [00]

5AF2C-5AF5B: Empty (16)

5AF2C-5AF43: Act 1

5AF2C: AIZ act 1 base tiles (1A566A) [0B]

5AF30: AIZ act 1 extended tiles (1A647C) [0B]

5AF34: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0A]

5AF38: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0A]

5AF3C: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AF40: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AF44-5AF5B: Act 2

5AF44: AIZ act 1 base tiles (1A566A) [0C]

5AF48: AIZ act 1 extended tiles (1A647C) [0C]

5AF4C: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0B]

5AF50: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0B]

5AF54: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AF58: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AF5C-5AF73: Empty (17)

5AF5C-5AF73: Act 1

5AF5C: AIZ act 1 base tiles (1A566A) [0B]

5AF60: AIZ act 1 extended tiles (1A647C) [0B]

5AF64: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0A]

5AF68: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0A]

5AF6C: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AF70: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AF74-5AF8B: Act 2

5AF74: AIZ act 1 base tiles (1A566A) [0C]

5AF78: AIZ act 1 extended tiles (1A647C) [0C]

5AF7C: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0B]

5AF80: AIZ act 1 extended 16x16 block mappings (1A394A) [0B]

5AF84: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

5AF88: AIZ act 1 128x128 block mappings (1ABC40) [00]

Sonic 3 is quite different from the previous sonic games in the way that the core of S3 allows the programmers to change virtually anything about the level during game easily, making things such as smooth transition betwen acts and intro sequences possible. The data itself is often cut into sections, allowing the programmers to load just the modules that need updating. For each level, there may be a base block of data and an extended block of data for each thing. The way this works is the base block of data is the first section of that data block, and the extended one is the second. If you decompress both of them and chuck the extended one on the end of the base one, you get the full block of data. It is seperated like this to allow programmers to duplicate as little data as possible in any patches they may want to apply to that data while the level is running, and thus save rom space and cut down on the power required to make the transition. Now as you can see, these pointers specify the loading addresses in the rom for the 16x16 and 128x128 block mappings, as well as the main pattern block for that level. The main pattern block will always be loaded into the VRAM at address 0000. These loading addresses are all preceeded by a one byte value, so the address pointer only uses three bytes rather than the standard four. The value that proceeds the 128x128 block mappings specifies a value on the palette index to load for that level. For more information on the palette system, go here. The values preceeding the main level pattern and 16x16 block mapping pointers give the index numbers of the pattern load cue's to use for that level. For more information on that go here.

Pattern load cue's

The pattern load cue's are what loads all the peices of art into the VRAM that are not in the main level load block. Here's a breakdown of the pattern load cue's in the S3 rom:

Index	Location	Name	Contents	Rom	Vram	Number
00	5B084	Unknown	-Sonic lives counter -Ring and score/time/rings -Points and starpoll -Monitor	15CEE6 15F2EC 15F528 15D2DE	FA80 D780 BC80 9880	(3)
01	5B09E	Unknown	-Sonic lives counter -Monitor -Ring and score/time/rings -Points and starpoll	15CEE6 15D2DE 15F2EC 15F528	FA80 9880 D780 BC80	(3)
02	5B0B8	Unknown	-Explosion -Squirrel -Bluebird	15E6C0 15FDA6 15F9D4	B400 B000 B240	(2)
03	5B0CC	Game/Time over	-Game/Time over text	15E49A	F380	(0)
04	5B0D4	Signpost	-End of level signpost	15DA5A	A000	(0)
05	5B0DC	Springs and spikes	-Horizontal springs and vertical spikes	15EFFC	9280	(0)
06	5B0E4	Competition mode	-Mini spring and spikes -Mini spring and button -Competition mode powerups	196D10 196B9C 196F02	7220 75A0 78C0	(2)
07	5B0F8	Unknown	-Tails lives counter -Monitor -Ring and score/time/rings -Points and starpoll	15CFFE 15D2DE 15F2EC 15F528	FA80 9880 D780 BC80	(3)
08	5B112	Monitor	-Monitor	15D2DE	9880	(0)
09	5B11A	Special stage platform test	-Special stage sphere	911CE	9C00	(0)
0A	5B122	AIZ intro	-Waves from AIZ intro	1481A0	7A20	(0)
0B	5B12A	AIZ 1st load cue	-Rope on flying fox -Unknown -Unknown -Impact splash on water -Bubbles from underwater -Grass tiles	18D8BC 18DA22 18DC90 18E4D8 15E1FC 18D586	8360 6480 6660 79E0 8B80 7EE0	(5)
0C-0D	5B150	AIZ 2nd load cue	-Misc AIZ blocks -Rope on flying fox -Unknown -Bubbles -Button -Unknown	18E760 18D8BC 18DB46 15E1FC 15C900 18D72A	5D20 8360 8700 8B80 8AC0 8800	(5)
0E	5B176	HCZ 1st load cue	-Bubbles -Misc HCZ blocks -Unknown -Misc MCZ blocks -Unknown -Metal spikeball	15E1FC 18FD88 18FCD4 190348 18FBB4 18FAEC	8B80 7940 84C0 6F40 85C0 87C0	(5)
0F	5B19C	HCZ 2nd load cue	-Blowfly	16A3E0	8980	(0)
10	5B1A4	Unknown	-Bubbles -Misc HCZ blocks -Unknown -Unknown -Metal spikeball -Sliding tube	15E1FC 18FD88 18FCD4 18FBB4 18FAEC 191B36	8B80 7940 84C0 85C0 87C0 6B80	(5)
11	5B1CA	Unknown	-Unknown -HCZ bridge -Blowfly	193714 19204C 16A3E0	6A00 0500 8980	(2)
12-13	5B1DE	MGZ 1st load cue	-Unknown -Unknown -MGZ signs -Diagonal spring	19382E 19426C 19487C 15CBD2	6BE0 7FE0 8A20 8F00	(3)
14-15	5B1F8	MGZ 2nd load cue	-Unknown -Unknown -MGZ signs -Diagonal spring	19382E 19426C 19487C 15CBD2	6BE0 7FE0 8A20 8F00	(3)
16-19	5B212	CNZ 1st load cue	-Misc CNZ blocks -Bubbles -Lightbulb	194AB6 15E1FC 195874	6A20 8B80 8600	(2)
1A-1D	5B226	CNZ 2nd load cue	-Diagonal spring	15CBD2	8740	(0)
1E-1F	5B22E	ICZ 1st load cue	-Unknown -Diagonal spring -Button -Ice blocks -Unknown	38FFE 15CBD2 15C900 171B0E 172732	D700 8740 8AC0 76C0 68C0	(4)
20-21	5B24E	ICZ 2nd load cue	-Diagonal spring -Button -Ice blocks -Unknown -Bubbles	15CBD2 15C900 171B0E 172BB4 15E1FC	8740 8AC0 76C0 6EE0 8B80	(4)
22-23	5B26E	LBZ 1st load cue	-Unknown -Unknown	1959DE 1964FC	7860 8AA0	(1)
24	5B27C	LBZ 2nd load cue	-Unknown -Bubbles	1959DE 15E1FC	7860 8B80	(1)
25	5B28A	Unknown	-Unknown	196760	5D40	(0)
26-2D	5B292	Unknown	-Diagonal spring -Horizontal and vertical spikes	15CBD2 15EFFC	8740 9280	(1)
2E-41	5B2A0	Unknown	-Diagonal spring -Horizontal and vertical spikes	15CBD2 15EFFC	8740 9280	(1)
42	5B2AE	Azure lake	-Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Mini spring and spikes -Mini spring and button -Competition mode powerups	14F5E2 1973F8 197BCA 197570 1980C4 196D10 196B9C 196F02	FC00 D780 E000 C000 EBC0 7220 75A0 78C0	(7)
43	5B2E0	Baloon park	-Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Mini spring and spikes -Mini spring and button -Competition mode powerups	19815E 14F5E2 1973F8 197BCA 197570 1980C4 196D10 196B9C 196F02	6000 FC00 D780 E000 C000 EBC0 7220 75A0 78C0	(8)
44	5B318	Chrome gadget	-Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Mini spring and spikes -Mini spring and button -Competition mode powerups	1989A8 14F5E2 1973F8 197BCA 197570 1980C4 196D10 196B9C 196F02	5000 FC00 D780 E000 C000 EBC0 7220 75A0 78C0	(8)
45	5B350	Desert palace	-Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Mini spring and spikes -Mini spring and button -Competition mode powerups	1989A8 14F5E2 1973F8 197BCA 197570 1980C4 196D10 196B9C 196F02	5000 FC00 D780 E000 C000 EBC0 7220 75A0 78C0	(8)
46	5B388	Endless mine	-Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Unknown -Mini spring and spikes -Mini spring and button -Competition mode powerups	1989A8 14F5E2 1973F8 197BCA 197570 1980C4 196D10 196B9C 196F02	5000 FC00 D780 E000 C000 EBC0 7220 75A0 78C0	(8)
47	5B3C0	Dispencer bonus stage	-Dispencer -Horizontal springs and vertical spikes	18AE2A 15EFFC	2B60 9280	(1)
48-5A	5B3CE	AIZ act 1 boss	-Firebomber from AIZ -Bombs launched by firebomber -Explosion -Small explosion	164BF2 1671A2 17FB50 17F800	8340 8E80 9040 9A40	(3)
5B	5B3E8	Unknown	-Unknown -Small explosion	168400 17F800	6080 A000	(1)
5C-5D	5B3F6	Unknown	-Unknown -Small explosion	16E548 17F800	A5C0 A000	(1)
5E	5B404	Unknown	-Unknown -Egg prison -Small explosion -Squirrel -Bluebird	1706B0 182180 17F800 15FDA6 15F9D4	A5C0 89C0 A000 85C0 8800	(4)
5F	5B424	Unknown	-Unknown -Small explosion	173CCC 17F800	9520 A000	(1)
60	5B432	Unknown	-Robotnic in main ship -Unknown	18041E 1791DE	A5C0 9AC0	(1)
61-6A	5B440	FBZ act 2 mini boss	-Lazer boss from FBZ -Robotnic -More Robotnic stuff -Small explosion	170C76 180BEC 181002 17F800	A5C0 8CC0 9520 A000	(3)
6B	5B45A	Unknown	-Robotnic in main ship -Small explosion	18041E 17F800	A5C0 9A40	(1)
6C	5B468	HCZ act 2 boss	-Water sprial -Robotnic in main ship -Small explosion -Egg prison	16929E 18041E 17F800 182180	6400 A5C0 A000 9280	(3)
6D	5B482	Unknown	-Robotnic in main ship -Small explosion -Egg prison	18041E 17F800 182180	A5C0 A000 9280	(2)
6E	5B496	Unknown	-Unknown -Robotnic in main ship -Small explosion -Egg prison	16EA04 18041E 17F800 182180	8600 A5C0 A000 9280	(3)
6F	5B4B0	FBZ act 2 boss	-FBZ act 2 boss -Robotnic's head -Other explosion -Robotnic in main ship -Small explosion -Egg prison	171178 18097A 1800A2 18041E 17F800 182180	7C00 8200 8A80 A5C0 A000 9280	(5)
70	5B4D6	Unknown	-Unknown -Robotnic in main ship -Small explosion -Egg prison	172F1E 18041E 17F800 182180	54C0 A5C0 A000 9280	(3)
71	5B4F0	Unknown	-Unknown -Small explosion	17599C 17F800	7540 A000	(1)
72-77	5B4FE	Unknown	-Robotnic in main ship -More Robotnic stuff -Small explosion	18041E 181002 17F800	A5C0 9520 A000	(2)
78-7B	5B512	Unknown	-Robotnic in main ship -Small explosion	18041E 17F800	A5C0 A000	(1)

This pointer list has an offset index to locate the correct cue. Go here for an explanation of how this works. Note that the number in parenthesis is the recorded number of requests in the cue. If a number follows it in brackets, it means the actual number that exists differs from the recorded one. This means any load requests past the recorded number were not being loaded, but still exist in the rom. Now, each load cue has a two byte value before it that specifies how many addresses are in the cue, to avoid it reading too far, and going into the next cue. This value is dead simple, just enter the number of patterns on the cue in hex between the first two bytes, but you have to count 00 as 1, so if there was 16 loading addresses in the cue, you'd have 000F preceding it. After that, there are 6 bytes per load request. The first four bytes are a pointer to the art block to use, and the two bytes after that are the location in the VRAM to load them into. To change the pattern load cue's being loaded for a level, you need to change the values in the main level load block. For more information on that go here.

Collision definitions

Ok, I'm going to explain how collision works on objects that are not sprites in the sonic games. First of all forget the image that the block contains. The image has absolutely nothing to do with the collision. There's basically in invisible collision box on top of every 16x16 block that sets what's solid and what's not. This collision box has two parts to it. The main part of it is the collision array (an array is basically a table of values). The collision array stores the actual data that says that is a block is solid in certain places. It does that through 16 bytes per collision box. To understand how those 16 bytes set what's solid, imagine a 16x16 block. Now imagine that 16x16 block with the numbers 1-10 (hex) down the side starting from the bottom and going up to the top, and starting from the left and going up as it moves right along the top, so that you can give an exact location of each pixel. (eg, the top left pixel would be 10,00) Now, in this array the first two bytes define what's solid for the row of pixels on the left side of that 16x16 block. Basically the first of those two bytes says where to start making things solid, and the second byte says where to stop making them solid. So if you entered the value 0010, the first row would be solid from the very bottom of the block all the way up to the top. If you were to enter the value 020E, there would be two pixels on either side of the block that are not solid, and everything in the middle would be. The next two bytes after that are for the next row, etc. After 16 bytes the definitions for the next collision box begin.

Now, to specify which blocks use which collision boxes, there are collision indexes, which give an array location for each 16x16 block. If you look at the space used by the collision array, you can divide that by 16 (the number of bytes used by each entry into the array) to give a one byte value, which represents the maximum number of collision boxes that the array can hold in the S3 platform, which is FF. Now, for each level there is at least one 16x16 collision index, and that index consists of a whole heap of array locations, one for each 16x16 block. If for example you wanted the 9th 16x16 block to use the collision box with an array location of 3E, you would give the 9th byte of the collision index for that level a value of 3E.

It is through collision indexes that the loops work in the game. It's commonly believed that there are layers, and that the sprite represented by 4 rings changes between them. This is partly true. For any levels that use multiple layers like that, there is a secondary 16x16 collision index. That object switches the 16x16 collision index in use. The pointers to these 16x16 collision indexes are stored at 4ADC-4B63. The first set of pointers in this group specify the location of the primary collision index to use for each level, and the second set specify the location of the secondary collision index to use for each level.

Now just setting something as solid, doesn't give it the effect of having a slope. There's an index in the rom, which has one byte in it for each collision array location. To understand how this value works, think of two lines running parallel to each other, both with the value 0-F along them. Now, the first value of the byte gives a point on the right line, and the second value gives a point on the left line. Now imagine drawing a line between these to points. If the points are different, the resulting gradient will be taken to create the effect of a slope and the resistance going up it on the box in the corresponding collision array location.

Level layout

In the S3 rom none of the level leyout's are compressed as such, but due to the nature of the way they're stored editing them is not nessicarily straightforward. Check the savestate hackng guide for information on how to edit the level layout.

Ring placement

The data for ring placement has an offset index to locate the correct group. Go here for an explanation of how this works. Now, in the rom each ring does not have to be stored individually. Instead you can place one ring, and specify that a certain number of rings come after it. The definitions for one ring takes up 4 bytes in the rom. Let's look at an example: 1234 5678 Now, in this example the ring will be placed at an x location of 1234, and a y location of 678. With that value where the 5 was entered, if the value entered is below 8, an additional ring will be placed next to the one before it for every unit that the value entered is above 0. Entering a value above 8 will place an additional ring below the one before it for each unit that the value entered is above 8. When specifying a position as the start of a group of rings, if the group is horizontal, the rings will go across to the right of that point, and if the group is vertical the rings will go down from that point. The value FFFF closes the group of ring locations, and it is essential that this is at the end of the ring locations list, or else the game will keep on reading past that point until it hits that value.

Sprite placement

Sprites are quite simple to define. It takes six bytes to define one sprite. The first two bytes are the x location of the sprite, and the next two bytes are the y location of the sprite. The 5th byte is the number on the sprite array to lookup to get the location for the function to use for the programming of that sprite, and the 6th byte is an optional declaration to use with the function for that sprite. Go here for more info on what exactly that means, and a list of all the sprites in the S3 rom.

Main level block mappings

For information on exactly what the block mappings do, read the introduction. In the S3 rom, the 128x128 and 16x16 block mappings are compressed. Editing compressd data is extremely impractical, so in order to edit this data you will need to extract them first. Chaosax-extract is capable of decompressing this data. Once it's decompressed you can edit it just like in the savestate, so check the savestate section for further info on editing them. Once you've made the appropriate changes, you can use chaos-pack to recompress the data.

Uncompressed art

Any art that needs to be updated on the fly will not be compressed in the rom. This is because the game can't work with compressed data, and needs to extract any data it wants to use to the ram. This decompression process takes a fair bit of computation, and because of that it wouldn't be possible to create the appearance of a smooth animation using compressed data. The same reason is true as to why any data that is not loaded into the ram will always be uncompressed, because otherwise they would have to load it into the ram just to read it.

Now, for example all of the blocks for Sonic and Tails are uncompressed, because they of course need to be updated quickly. You can use basically any editing utility to edit them, but you can only change what each block looks like through this. In order to edit what blocks are placed where in each of Sonic's animation frames, you need to edit the mappings for them, and for more information on that go here. Now in their uncompressed form, you can edit them just like you would in the VRAM, so for more information on that check the sonic 2 savestate breakdown.

Sprite mapping format

Sprite mappings are what construct an image for a sprite out of the 8x8 blocks. This format has two parts to it, the image layout and the pattern reloading. The patern reloading is only applicable to sprites that are animated and have to reload uncompressed patterns from the rom, such as the playable characters. It is important to understand when dealing with sprite mappings that a single sprite may be made up of several sections. When dealing with mappings you can freely create, move, and resize these sections. Each one is independent of each other, and as such each on is defined seperately.

Each section has a maximum size of 4x4 units, each one capable of holding an 8x8 block. You cannot actually specify what block goes where within that box. You give it a VRAM location, and starting at the top and working it's way down the first vertical column, then moving across one and working it's way down again, it loads as many blocks from that point in the VRAM as it needs. Here's an explination of the two parts of the sprite mapping format:

00

03

EC

0D

00

00

FF

EC

FC

06

00

08

00

04

FC

0A

00

0E

FF

EC

Don't panic, it's clearer once you break it down into it's sections like this:

1	00	03
2	EC	0D	00	00	FF	EC
3	FC	06	00	08	00	04
4	FC	0A	00	0E	FF	EC

The first section is the header. This is very simple, it's just a two byte value specifying how many sections the sprite has to it, so if you wanted 4 sections, you'd enter 0004. For every section there is, another six bytes follow. Here's what each byte does:

EC	0D	00	00	FF	EC
1	2	3		4

1	Vertical offset
2	Layout of block
3	Standard palette/block selection
4	Horizontal offset

Vertical offset

The vertical offset is set by 1 signed byte. What this means is that if you set it to 80 the image will be placed 128 pixels above the sprite location, and if you set it to 7F it will be placed 128 pixels below it. These values decrease as you get closer to thier respective ends, so FE would offset it by 1 pixel up.

Layout of block

For anyone who's comfortable working with binary, I'll explain exactly how this works. For any who aren't, just bear with me. The first 4 bits of this byte are unused. Bits 5 and 6 are the number of blocks vertically, and bits 7 and 8 are the number of blocks horizontally. For anyone who doesn't understand what that means, well here's yet another table:

Value entered	Size of section
00	1x1
01	2x1
02	3x1
03	4x1
04	1x2
05	2x2
06	3x2
07	4x2
08	1x3
09	2x3
0A	3x3
0B	4x3
0C	1x4
0D	2x4
0E	3x4
0F	4x4

Standard palette/block selection

You may have seen this table elsewhere:

Value	palette line	flipped horizntally	flipped vertically
1	n	n
1	1	n	y
2	2	n	n
3	2	n	y
4	3	n	n
5	3	n	y
6	4	n	n
7	4	n	y
8	1	n	n
9	1	n	y
A	2	n	n
B	2	n	y
C	3	n	n
D	3	n	y
E	4	n	n
F	4	n	y

Well this is the system that's applies to the first hex value (4 bits) of these two bytes. The last hex value of the first byte and all of the second byte combine to give a block number in the VRAM of the starting location of the tiles to use for this section. At 800 the block number restarts at 0, but the image is flipped horizontally. This is different from the way it's normally used though, because that block number is an offset from the default location in the VRAM.

Horizontal offset

This works just like the vertical offset, but in this case it's a 2 byte value rather than a 1 byte value. 8000 and up is right, 7FFF and down is left.

Pattern reloading

Here's another excert from Sonic's mappings:

00	01	FB	A2
1		2

The pattern reloading is very simple. The first two bytes are the header, which once again just says the number of sections. After that there's two bytes for each section. The first hex value of the first byte is the number of blocks to load from the rom, and the last hex value and second byte combine to give the number of blocks that come before the first one you want to access.

Sega intro sound

The Sega intro sound is just an 16000HZ wav sound. Opening up the rom in any sound editing program that supports raw audio with the settings listed next to the location on the list will enable you to playback the sound effect. You could also insert your own sound in the same place as long as it's at the same bitrate. The bitrate is to do with the quality of the sound. The lower it is the crappier it will sound, because that's to do with how often the output is modified. Just think of the difference between long play and short play on a VCR. Stuff recorded in long play does save space, but the quality of the recording is worse.

Art compression format

The art compression format is a very dense compression format. It's only used for art because the format relies on the data being in blocks of 64 bytes. This format is used for all the compressed art in sonic 1 and sonic 2 beta, and all the compressed art except for the main level pattern blocks in Sonic 2. In S3 this format is sparsely used, as it was pretty much replaced by the Kozinski compression format. As I said this format is very dense, and as such it requires a hell of a lot of computation to decompress. Because of this it also requires a hell of a lot of time and effort to crack. I've had a go at it, but the lightning has yet to strike. When I crack it I'll post the format breakdown here, and create a simple program to decompress it, but until then it is impossible to directly edit any art using this format. The porting of a compressed block of art is simple though, so if you want to transfer art from one game to another, you can just tack it onto the end and enter the pointer into the pattern load cue of the level or event you want it to appear at, along with a VRAM location to load it into. Go Here for more information on that.

Moduled tile format

The moduled tile format is a method of storage that uses the Kozinski compression format. The utility called Chaosax-extract is capable of extracting this format, and the utility called chaos-pack is capable of re-compressing into this compression format. The moduled format itself requires explanation though. Each pattern block is preceeded by a two byte header. This two byte value is simply how many bytes are compressed in the archive. Directly after this header, the actual compressed data starts, so you'll need to add 2 bytes to any main pattern block compressed in this manner when adding it into chaosax-extract to allow it to extract successfully. The reason for this header is that if the archive is over 1000 (hex) the art is broken down into modules, each one carrying a maximum of 1000. If for example there were 54D6 bytes of compressed data, the data block would be in 6 modules. The first five would contain 1000 bytes of compressed data, and the last would contain 4D6 bytes. In the address listing, any block that is a standalone archive, or the first piece of an archive will have the header in the right hand column. Any modules of an archive will have module X written in their name, where x is the number of the module, and will not have any header written in the right-hand column. If you wish to decompress a module, you do mot have to add 2 bytes to it's address, as it has no header.

Rasterised layer deformation

Raster effects are simply effects to do with deformation of an image based on lines of pixels. In Sonic 3, these effects are used to create the movement effects for the backgrounds and foregrounds of all the levels, as well as the splitscreen effect in competition mode. In addition to these effects, in Sonic 3 the programmers used this section of code to achieve other rather clever runtime effects, such as the wall moving after you from behind at the beginning of HCZ act 2, and the FBZ bombing the ground after you in AIZ act 2. Because the programming for these effects are stored in the form of compiled code, you'll have to learn ASM in order to edit them. Changing which effect to use for what level is easier though.

The pointer list for this section of code requires explination too. There are 8 pointers (32 bytes) for each level value. First of all, here's those 12 bytes for HCZ:

0003 C28C	0003 C29C	0003 C5AE	0003 C5C2	0003 C298	0003 C2CA	0003 C5B6	0003 B42A
01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08

And here's what each pointer is for:

01	Act 1 initial foreground layout
02	Act 1 initial background layout
03	Act 2 initial foreground layout
04	Act 2 initial background layout
05	Act 1 rasterised effects
06	Act 1 layer deformation and load checkpoints
07	Act 2 rasterised effects
08	Act 2 layer deformation and load checkpoints

Initial background/foreground layout:

This affects the layout of the background or foreground tiles upon the loading of that section. Becuase the rasterised layer deormation effect and patterns are often changed in level, this is required to correct the layout if it differs from the one it should be set to. This is only accessed once upon loading the level.

Rasterised effects

Rasterised effects are used for many flashy effects throughout the game that would otherwise be impossible. Some of these effects are the treetruck in AIZ act 1, FBZ bombing sequence in AIZ act 2, Crushing wall in HCZ act 2, etc. Becuase of how integrated these effects are, don't expect to be able to readily transfer these from one level to another. This section of code is accessed each loop to check for the condition.

Layer deformation and load checkpoints

This is what determins the movement of the background and foreground, as well as when new patterns are loaded into the VRAM during the level. This block should be transferrable between levels, but no guarantees. Also you'll need to edit this section of code if you don't want it to load patterns at it's checkpoints, or if you want to change which background movement effect is used when. This section of code is accessed each loop to check the conditions, and to update the output.

Dynamic screen resizing

In S3, the programmers allowed for some very fancy effects to do with the height and width of the sceen. They allowed for the X/Y start, and X/Y ending locations to be changed at any point during the level, based on any event they cared to use. All the programming for the screen resizing is compiled, so it's very difficult to edit directly. The code itself is farily simple though, so if you have some experience with ASM you shouldn't find it difficult to modify.

Palettes

All the main palettes used in the game are linked in a pointer table at 8BF94. In this pointer table there are 8 bytes per palette. The first four simply give a location in the rom for the data to load. The fifth and sixth bytes give the location in the system ram to load the data into, and the seventh and eighth bytes give the number of four byte blocks being loaded. Here's a palette pointer:

0000 2942 FB20 0007

Now in this case the palette is being loaded from 00002942 in the rom into the beginning of the second above water palette row (FB20), and it's loading 16 colours (0007). Here's a listing of the palette pointers in the S3 rom:

Index	Pointer location	Palette location	Name of palette slot	Palette line	Number of colours
00	8BF54	8C134	1	64
01	8BF5C	8C1B4	2	16
02	8BF64	8C1D4	1	64
03	8BF6C	8C234	Main palette line	1	16
04	8BF74	8C274	Level select palette	1	64
05	8BF7C	8C2F4	2	16
06	8BF84	8C134	1	64
07	8BF8C	8C134	1	64
08	8BF94	8C134	1	64
09	8BF9C	8C134	1	64
0A	8BFA4	8C314	AIZ act 1 intro	2	48
0B	8BFAC	8C3D4	AIZ act 2	2	48
0C	8BFB4	8C594	HCZ act 1 above water	2	48
0D	8BFBC	8C5F4	HCZ act 2 above water	2	48
0E	8BFC4	8C754	MGZ act 1	2	48
0F	8BFCC	8C754	MGZ act 2	2	48
10	8BFD4	8C7B4	CNZ act 1	2	48
11	8BFDC	8C7B4	CNZ act 2	2	48
12	8BFE4	8C894	FBZ act 1	2	48
13	8BFEC	8C894	FBZ act 2	2	48
14	8BFF4	8C894	ICZ act 1	2	48
15	8BFFC	8C8F4	ICZ act 2	2	48
16	8C004	8C9D4	LBZ act 1	2	48
17	8C00C	8CA34	LBZ act 2	2	48
18	8C014	8CB74	07 act 1	2	48
19	8C01C	8CB74	07 act 2	2	48
1A	8C024	8CB74	08 act 1	2	48
1B	8C02C	8CB74	08 act 2	2	48
1C	8C034	8CB74	09 act 1	2	48
1D	8C03C	8CB74	09 act 2	2	48
1E	8C044	8CB74	0A act 1	2	48
1F	8C04C	8CB74	0A act 2	2	48
20	8C054	8CB74	0B act 1	2	48
21	8C05C	8CB74	0B act 2	2	48
22	8C064	8CB74	0C act 1	2	48
23	8C06C	8CB74	0C act 2	2	48
24	8C074	8CB74	0D act 1	2	48
25	8C07C	8CB74	0D act 2	2	48
26	8C084	8CB74	Azure lake act 1	2	48
27	8C08C	8CB74	Azure lake act 2	2	48
28	8C094	8CBD4	Baloon park act 1	2	48
29	8C09C	8CBD4	Baloon park act 2	2	48
2A	8C0A4	8C374	AIZ intro level palette when Knuckles is on screen	2	48
2B	8C0AC	8C494	AIZ act 1 underwater	1	64
2C	8C0B4	8C514	AIZ act 2 underwater	1	64
2D	8C0BC	8CA94	LBZ act 1 underwater	1	64
2E	8C0C4	8CA94	LBZ act 2 underwater	1	64
2F	8C0CC	8CB14	2	48
30	8C0D4	8C434	AIZ act 2 FBZ bombing sequence	2	48
31	8C0DC	8C654	HCZ act 1 underwater	1	64
32	8C0E4	8C6D4	HCZ act 2 underwater	1	64
33	8C0EC	8CD54	Dispencer bonus stage palette	2	48
34	8C0F4	8CC34	Desert palace	2	48
35	8C0FC	8CC94	Chrome gadget	2	48
36	8C104	8CCF4	Endless mine	2	48
37	8C10C	8CDB4	2	48
38	8C114	8CE14	2	48
39	8C11C	8C954	ICZ act 2 underwater	1	64
3A	8C124	8C814	1	64
3B	8C12C	8C374	2	48

To change the palette being loaded for each level, you need to change the palette index number in the main level load block. For more information on that go here. The palettes themeslves are very easy to modify as they are all uncompressed in the rom. Refer to the savestate hacking documents for information on how to edit palettes.

Character start location array

The start location for the characers and the camera for each level are stored in this array at address 5B02. It couldn't be any simpler to modify, there's just two values per act, the first being the X location, and the second being the Y location.

Music playlist for levels

This is actually part of a sub in the code, but it's editable all the same. Pretty simple, just one byte per level. That one byte is the value of the song you wish to play. The value of the songs can be obtained from the sound test in the level select screen.

Level select level order

The level select one is easy to modify. There is a list of two byte values at 6A8E in the rom. Just enter the level value followed by an act number for each of the levels you want to load, in the order you want them to be loaded. The values are listed in order from the first one in the top lefthand corner, going down to the bottom of the screen, and starting again at the top on the other side. For a list of the level values for all the different stages, look at the beginning of the introduction to this page. By default, a slot that is not accessable has the value 5555 in it.

ASCII text

ASCII text is raw text just like you'd type in notepad. Editing it is just as easy, simply type it in. There are two flags you need to know though. To signal the end of a block of text the hex values 0000 must be entered. At the beginning of each block there is another two byte value, which is the vertical location on the screen for it to be placed. The text is automatically centered horizontally.

Object debug list

The object debug list in the Sonic 3 platform is different from previous versions. There's a two byte header, which is the number of objects in the list. After that there's 10 bytes per object. Here's an object from the AIZ debug list:

00	01	8C	F6	00	01	90	DE	A6	BC
1	2			3	4			5

And here's what each byte does:

1	Frame to display
2	Pointer to code
3	Declaration
4	Pointer to mappings
5	Flip/mirror/VRAM location

Frame to display

This is simply the frame of the sprite that will be displayed on the preview picture before you place an object. Right now it's set to 00, which is the first frame.

Pointer to code

This is the pointer to the code to use for the sprite. The object number on the sprite array is not used, allowing an object to be placed in the debug list while not being in the sprite array. Code locations can be obtained from the address listing.

Declaration

This is the declaration for the loading of the sprite. For information on exactly what that is, go here. In this example the declaration is 08, which switches the type of monitor it is in the case of this sprite.

Sprite mappings

This is a pointer to the location in the rom to load the mappings for that sprite. This will be located in the programming for the sprite itself. Do not change this unless porting between levels, or you're absolutely sure you know what you're doing, or the game will most likely hang. This only affects the preview picture, not the placed object itself. In this case, the sprite mappings are being loaded from the address 012D36 in the rom.

Flip/mirror/VRAM location

The first hex value of the 7th byte is to do with flipping and mirroring of the sprite, as well as the palette line to use for it. Refer to the following table for an explination of what responce each value will create.

Value	palette line	flipped horizntally	flipped vertically
1	n	n
1	1	n	y
2	2	n	n
3	2	n	y
4	3	n	n
5	3	n	y
6	4	n	n
7	4	n	y
8	1	n	n
9	1	n	y
A	2	n	n
B	2	n	y
C	3	n	n
D	3	n	y
E	4	n	n
F	4	n	y

In the case of our example, the value of 0 is used, so the preview image will use the first palette line, and will not be flipped or mirrored.

The last hex value of the 7th byte, and all of the 8th byte in this block combine to give a starting location in the VRAM to find the patterns to use for that sprite when displaying the preview. This is not an actual location, but merely the number of blocks after which to load the patterns from. After the value of 800 is passed, the block number resets to zero but the image is mirrored. In this case, that block number is 680.

Dynamic pattern reloading

Dynamic pattern reloading is a method of loading patterns into the VRAM, but unlike the other methods, this one has no limitations, because it uses actual programmed code. Basically this is here for any effects to do with patterns changing in game that isn't posible using the normal load cue system, such as many areas of the backgrounds in the S3 levels where the patterns to display is determined by the position of the screen. Becuase the programming for it is in the form of compiled code, direct editing of it is not possible.

Animated pattern load cue's

Animated patterns require the art they are working with to be in an uncompressed form, so if you are attempting to make an animated pattern, make sure the art is uncompressed or it won't work. Now, the length of each load request on the cue varies depending on the animation. The first byte specifies a value that will determine how often to switch frames in the animation. If you use this value you will not be able to specify a frame as having a different duration to another. Setting this to FF will disable automatic frame control and allow the user to input a manual duration for each frame. This will mean that for every frame the user wants in the animation, they have to allow another byte at the end of the load request. If you want automatic pattern control, which you would use if you want all the animations frames to have the same duration. Just enter how many screen refreshes to wait until the next frame of the animation is displayed. Bytes 2,3, and 4 are the address in the rom to load the patterns from. Bytes 5 and 6 are the location in VRAM to load the patterns into. Byte 7 is the number of frames the animation has, and byte 8 is the number of spaces in VRAM to use for each frame. The function of the bytes beyond this point depend on whether or not automatic frame control is enabled, so refer to appropriate section below.

With automatic frame control

One byte per frame of animation. This byte simply specifies the image to use for each frame of the animation. Based on the loading address entered, this value is the offset in 8x8 blocks to load each frame from in the rom. So if for example you were dealing with an animation that had 4 8x8 blocks per frame, and there were 4 frames of that, and you wanted it to display each frame one by one, you would enter the value 0004 080C.

Without automatic frame control

Two bytes per frame of animation. The first byte is the offset of blocks in the file to load the animation frame from. This byte simply specifies the image to use for each frame of the animation. Based on the loading address entered, this value is the offset in 8x8 blocks to load each frame from in the rom. The second byte is the number of screen refreshes to keep that image loaded for, before going on to the next animation frame.

Sprite programming

The programming for a sprite in the sonic games are stored as a function, and that function can take one declaration. People often confuse this declaration with a subtype value, but it's not really. What that basically means for the non programmers out there is that when the game places a sprite, you can enter a value along with the sprite number that may alter something about that sprite, but what it does varies depending on what sprite you're working with. Now because these functions are now compiled, the only way you can effectively edit them is to find the code for it and decompile it into assembly, alter it as necessary, and then recompile it and enter it back into the rom. This document will contain all the info necessary to enter a new sprite or replace an old one, but when it comes to the ASM you're on your own.

Now, the value assigned to a sprite in the game is done by a pointer index at 5CC96. It�s pretty simple, just one pointer per address value. Here's the pointer list in Sonic 3:

Index	Pointer location	Name of the sprite	Code location
00	5CC96	Ring	18CF6
01	5CC9A	Monitor	1B41E
02	5CC9E	Layer changer	1AFC2
03	5CCA2	????????	1D3C4
04	5CCA6	Collapsing platform from AIZ	1DE1C
05	5CCAA	Rocks from AIZ	1D656
06	5CCAE	Flying fox from AIZ	200AE
07	5CCB2	Spring	213D8
08	5CCB6	Spikes	22612
09	5CCBA	Trunk of plamtree in AIZ	1C3BC
0A	5CCBE	End of flying fox in AIZ	1C3FE
0B	5CCC2	Spinning balls	2336E
0C	5CCC6	Unknown. Something you hold onto.	20768
0D	5CCCA	Unknown. A breakable barrier.	1F6BC
0E	5CCCE	????????	23C70
0F	5CCD2	????????	1DF4C
10	5CCD6	Lift from LBZ	28C10
11	5CCDA	Unknown. Hovering platforms.	23D32
12	5CCDE	????????	24722
13	5CCE2	Switch thingy that you bust from LBZ	24912
14	5CCE6	Unknown. A long vertical barrier with repeated block.	24C24
15	5CCEA	Unknown. Line of blocks in foreground.	250D2
16	5CCEE	Head that spurts out fire from LBZ	25394
17	5CCF2	Flying fox from LBZ	25584
18	5CCF6	Cylindrical platform that spins around screw from LBZ	25A12
19	5CCFA	Unknown. Repeated blocks in background.	26144
1A	5CCFE	Unknown. Resemble a seesaw. Automatically locked at center until you jump.	26202
1B	5CD02	Bustable section of pipe from LBZ	264FA
1C	5CD06	Unknown. Top hurts you. Bobs up and down slightly when hit from bottom.	268FE
1D	5CD0A	Unknown. Hovering platforms.	2425E
1E	5CD0E	Thing on wall that accelerates you in a ball when you go through it from LBZ	2795A
1F	5CD12	Unknown. Something you hold onto.	27BF0
20	5CD16	Unknown. Bottom hurts you.	28114
21	5CD1A	????????	28286
22	5CD1E	Sprite that summons up flying badnicks from LBZ	283B8
23	5CD22	????????	2848A
24	5CD26	Unknown. Upon contact, it teleports you across the map.	28542
25	5CD2A	????????	18CF6
26	5CD2E	Sprite that makes you enter ball	1C440
27	5CD32	????????	1C704
28	5CD36	Unknown. Invisible collision box.	1C7E6
29	5CD3A	Unknown. Large solid box that cycles patterns around edge.	29336
2A	5CD3E	Breakable vertical barriers used for spintubes in AIZ and ICZ	2963A
2B	5CD42	Long diagonal string of platforms, with each of them tilting in sequence from AIZ	29F80
2C	5CD46	Collapsing wooden bridge from AIZ	2A3A4
2D	5CD4A	Spawnpoint for wooden platforms that travel down waterfall in AIZ	2AC4E
2E	5CD4E	Rotating spikey log from AIZ	2AF20
2F	5CD52	Unknown. Fixed sprite in background.	2B2DA
30	5CD56	Unknown. Animated block in background.	2B66A
31	5CD5A	????????	2B9B6
32	5CD5E	Unknown. Long vertical barrier with repeated block.	2A7F2
33	5CD62	Button	2BB20
34	5CD66	Starpoll	2C41E
35	5CD6A	Leaves in foreground of AIZ	2B72E
36	5CD6E	Wooden pole that Sonic hangs onto in HCZ	1C8EE
37	5CD72	Unknown. Big block with section to the left solid.	2E4BA
38	5CD76	Fan from CNZ	2EF5E
39	5CD7A	????????	2F2D8
3A	5CD7E	Hand that pops out of the floor and speeds you up from HCZ	2F650
3B	5CD82	????????	2E786
3C	5CD86	One way barrier from HCZ	2FAB0
3D	5CD8A	Spring that pops up out of floor	22072
3E	5CD8E	????????	2FDBE
3F	5CD92	????????	3015C
40	5CD96	Unknown. A block.	1CFF2
41	5CD9A	Baloon from CNZ	30368
42	5CD9E	Cannon from CNZ	30764
43	5CDA2	Platform you jump on to make rize from CNZ	30BDC
44	5CDA6	Trap door that opens when you get shot out of tube from CNZ	30D30
45	5CDAA	Lightbulb from CNZ	30DFC
46	5CDAE	Sprite that makes you float from fans	30E7E
47	5CDB2	Rotating cylinder from CNZ	31262
48	5CDB6	Sprite that creates resistance and acceleration barriers in CNZ	310A0
49	5CDBA	Unknown. Sprite forces you to move right.	31B54
4A	5CDBE	Bumper from CNZ	32082
4B	5CDC2	????????	31C20
4C	5CDC6	Spiral spintube from CNZ	32302
4D	5CDCA	Sprite that creates surface and spinning effect when walking on diagonal rotating cylinder from CNZ	3259A
4E	5CDCE	????????	32A70
4F	5CDD2	????????	31D08
50	5CDD6	????????	32EC0
51	5CDDA	Unknown. Hovering platforms.	243FC
52	5CDDE	Unknown. Bottom hurts you.	28114
53	5CDE2	Platform moving in circle on chain thingy from MGZ	331D0
54	5CDE6	????????	2E04E
55	5CDEA	Head thing on wall that launches arrows from MGZ	335AC
56	5CDEE	Rotating cylinder with spikes on sides moving up/down and left/right from MGZ	33A7A
57	5CDF2	Horizontal block that you need spinning platform to bust	33874
58	5CDF6	Huge spikeball spinning on chain from MGZ	3333C
59	5CDFA	Gizmo that raises platform when Spin Dashed at from MGZ	249B2
5A	5CDFE	Large sprite that sits in background	33CC8
5B	5CE02	Free moving spintop from MGZ that hovers when you run on it	34190
5C	5CE06	Spintop mounted on block	34F20
5D	5CE0A	An invisible horizontal barrier that bounces you back when you jump into it	31EFA
5E	5CE0E	Platform with blade on bottom from CG	3500C
5F	5CE12	Spring that pops up out of floor	221C6
60	5CE16	Unknown. A block with the left side solid.	3518A
61	5CE1A	Baloon from BP	35312
62	5CE1E	Unknown. A block that sits there cycling patterns.	354CC
63	5CE22	Mini button from competition mode	35834
64	5CE26	????????	358F6
65	5CE2A	Starpost and HUD for competition mode	36172
66	5CE2E	Goo dripper from EM	3768A
67	5CE32	Moving block from HCZ	245B4
68	5CE36	Rotating cylinder from HCZ	31880
69	5CE3A	Unknown. Appears to make character enter ball and spinoff to right.	3867A
6A	5CE3E	Unknown. Top hurts you. Possibly spikes from competition mode.	1D096
6B	5CE42	Unknown. Same as above.	1D224
6C	5CE46	Unknown. Vertical string of repeated blocks in background.	37C94
6D	5CE4A	Sprite of water hitting surface	37994
6E	5CE4E	Unknown. Something dropping a stream of something else.	3780E
6F	5CE52	Ring	18CF6
70	5CE56	Ring	18CF6
71	5CE5A	Ring	18CF6
72	5CE5E	Ring	18CF6
73	5CE62	Ring	18CF6
74	5CE66	Ring	18CF6
75	5CE6A	Ring	18CF6
76	5CE6E	Ring	18CF6
77	5CE72	Ring	18CF6
78	5CE76	Ring	18CF6
79	5CE7A	Ring	18CF6
7A	5CE7E	Ring	18CF6
7B	5CE82	Ring	18CF6
7C	5CE86	Ring	18CF6
7D	5CE8A	Ring	18CF6
7E	5CE8E	Ring	18CF6
7F	5CE92	Ring	18CF6
80	5CE96	????????	46442
81	5CE9A	Spikeball launcher on ground from AIZ	54B66
82	5CE9E	Rhinobot from AIZ	54C52
83	5CEA2	Coconut throwing guys from AIZ	54F52
84	5CEA6	????????	19230
85	5CEAA	Mini boss from LBZ act 1	4F474
86	5CEAE	Rocket boss from end of LBZ act 2	4F9AC
87	5CEB2	Thingy that's on the wall and hides in shell from LBZ	59746
88	5CEB6	Green dude from LBZ that punches and swings ball	59A74
89	5CEBA	Orbit badnick from LBZ	59DB2
8A	5CEBE	Lazer thing on track from LBZ	59EA4
8B	5CEC2	Dive bomber bird things from LBZ	5A0DA
8C	5CEC6	????????	5040E
8D	5CECA	????????	4BF90
8E	5CECE	????????	4B5A8
8F	5CED2	????????	4C93E
90	5CED6	????????	19230
91	5CEDA	????????	19230
92	5CEDE	????????	19230
93	5CEE2	????????	19230
94	5CEE6	????????	19230
95	5CEEA	????????	19230
96	5CEEE	????????	19230
97	5CEF2	????????	19230
98	5CEF6	????????	19230
99	5CEFA	Jet badnick from HCZ	556AE
9A	5CEFE	Turret from HCZ that you need to bus to break platform	55726
9B	5CF02	Blowfly from MCZ	5580A
9C	5CF06	Ground runner guy from HCZ that launces rocket from back	559AA
9D	5CF0A	Fish from HCZ	55D3C
9E	5CF0E	Puffer fish from HCZ	56068
9F	5CF12	Blue worm like badnick made out of balls from AIZ	554C6
A0	5CF16	Shell badnick from CNZ	56D72
A1	5CF1A	Badnick that teleports from roof to floor and vice versa from CNZ	56F4C
A2	5CF1E	Bat from CNZ	5712A
A3	5CF22	Floating blue guy from MGZ with spikes that pop in and out	56122
A4	5CF26	Drill thingy from MGZ	56246
A5	5CF2A	Spikes that pop up and shoot from MGZ	56954
A6	5CF2E	Grasshopper from MGZ	56C1E
A7	5CF32	Cannon like ground badnick from FBZ	57242
A8	5CF36	Mouse from FBZ	574B8
A9	5CF3A	????????	470B2
AA	5CF3E	Penguin from ICZ	59276
AB	5CF42	Orbit badnick from ICZ	595C6
AC	5CF46	Unknown. Locks screen X at 10E0. Suspect used for ICZ mini boss.	46974
AD	5CF4A	????????	47CF6
AE	5CF4E	????????	5A2C0
AF	5CF52	Sonic's first encounter with MGZ boss in act 2	49D72
B0	5CF56	Sonic's final encounter with MGZ boss in act 2	4A0F8
B1	5CF5A	Tails' version of MGZ boss act 2	4A45E
B2	5CF5E	????????	4ECCE
B3	5CF62	????????	4E37E
B4	5CF66	FBZ act 2 final boss	4DBA0
B5	5CF6A	????????	48CDA
B6	5CF6E	FBZ act 2 lazer mini boss	4D558
B7	5CF72	Robotnic's empty ship that you can jump in	5A834
B8	5CF76	Large metal column after lazer boss in FBZ that moves	57C54
B9	5CF7A	ICZ platform wedged on wall that you can jump on to move	57764
BA	5CF7E	Large metal column after lazer boss in FBZ that moves	57A92
BB	5CF82	Thing lodged in roof that shoots cold stuff at you to freeze you in ICZ	57E38
BC	5CF86	Stack of ice blocks that you can smash from ICZ	58324
BD	5CF8A	Swinging platform from ICZ	584BC
BE	5CF8E	Falling icicle from ICZ	5894C
BF	5CF92	Block of ice you can break from ICZ	58B24
C0	5CF96	Icicle on roof from ICZ	58A58
C1	5CF9A	Unknown. A block in background that hurts you.	58C6A
C2	5CF9E	Unknown. A row of blocks in foreground.	58CE8
C3	5CFA2	Platform suspended between to elastically chain thingys that when you jump on propels you up from ICZ	59032
C4	5CFA6	????????	56354
C5	5CFAA	Unknown. Sits in background with picture of monitor and no animation.	522EA
C6	5CFAE	Egg prison	544E0
C7	5CFB2	????????	446F2
C8	5CFB6	Unknown. A one way block.	57B46
C9	5CFBA	Unknown. Sits inbackground with picture of button.	4549C
CA	5CFBE	AIZ intro with plane	4584E
CB	5CFC2	Giant golden ring	44236
CC	5CFC6	LBZ act 1 mini boss activation trigger	5A512
CD	5CFCA	Robotnic flying off into background	51B4C
CE	5CFCE	????????	43830
CF	5CFD2	Unknown. A few blocks hovering in background	43B08
D0	5CFD6	FInal S3 boss from LBZ act 2	50CAA
D1	5CFDA	Breakable vertical barriers used for spintubes in AIZ and ICZ	455F4
D2	5CFDE	Button	4564C
D3	5CFE2	Unknown. Large vertical block. Posibly waterfall.	45424