Mega Man Zero 2: Mega Man Zero 2 Revisited

Mega Man Zero 2 improved on MMZ1 in many ways. However, there were still a few rough edges. Mega Man Zero 2 Revisited is a collection of 3 patches that allow you to customize your MMZ2 experience.

*mmz2_antigrind: Though MMZ2 divided Z1's cyber elf e-crystal costs by 3, the ending values were still high enough that a player will not naturally unlock many cyber elves over the course of a regular game. The antigrind patch halves the cost of the cyber elves to make their usage more frequent.

*mmz2_elf_penalty: Z2 improved on Z1 in the ways it handled penalties for Cyber Elf upgrades. Rather than subtracting 10p permanently from your score, it would subtract either 5p or 10p from your current mission, followed by a permanent 2p or 5p reduction. One-time use Cyber Elves subtracted 1p from your current mission. Like the MMZ1 Revisited Patch, this has been overhauled by the Elf Penalty patch. Permanent upgrades do not subtract anything from either your current mission or future missions. One-time use Elves will subtract 5p from the current mission. Additionally the damage penalty has been changed from 1p per 5 damage to MMZ3's more forgiving 1p per 6 damage.

*mmz2_easyexskill: Mega Man Zero 2 also introduced EX Skills that you got by beating bosses with a high enough rank. Players are unlikely to get a high enough rank until they have practiced the game several times. The EX Skills patch allows players to always gain the EX Skill, regardless of rank.

Title: Mega Man Zero Antigrind
Author: PowerPanda
Version: 1.0
Applies to: Mega Man Zero 2 GBA (USA)
(No-Intro version 20130720-015858)
ROM/File SHA-1: C4D93A58F0F82C526DEC8A3FDBDA170336303689

Contents: mmz2_revisited.ips The Main Patch
--individual patches---
mmz2_antigrind.ips Cyber-elf costs cut in half
mmz2_mission_penalty.ips Cyber-elf and Damage penalty adjustment
mmz2_easyexskill.ips Always get EX Skills

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-=Intro and Description=-
Mega Man Zero 2 improved on MMZ1 in many ways. However, there were still a few rough edges. Mega Man Zero 2 Revisited is a collection of 3 patches that allow you to customize your MMZ2 experience.

*mmz2_antigrind: Though MMZ2 divided Z1's cyber elf e-crystal costs by 3, the ending values were still high enough that a player will not naturally unlock many cyber elves over the course of a regular game. The antigrind patch halves the cost of the cyber elves to make their usage more frequent.

*mmz2_elf_penalty: Z2 improved on Z1 in the ways it handled penalties for Cyber Elf upgrades. Rather than subtracting 10p permanently from your score, it would subtract either 5p or 10p from your current mission, followed by a permanent 2p or 5p reduction. One-time use Cyber Elves subtracted 1p from your current mission. Like the MMZ1 Revisited Patch, this has been overhauled by the Elf Penalty patch. Permanent upgrades do not subtract anything from either your current mission or future missions. One-time use Elves will subtract 5p from the current mission. Additionally the damage penalty has been changed from 1p per 5 damage to MMZ3's more forgiving 1p per 6 damage.

*mmz2_easyexskill: Mega Man Zero 2 also introduced EX Skills that you got by beating bosses with a high enough rank. Players are unlikely to get a high enough rank until they have practiced the game several times. The EX Skills patch allows players to always gain the EX Skill, regardless of rank.

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-=Patching Instructions and Compatibility=-
These patches can be applied to the rom using Lunar IPS, or a similar program.

These patches ONLY update the specific values for weapon experience and cyber-elf e-crystals, and do not relocate any other code, so they should be compatible with any other patch used.

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-=Credits=-
Hacking (Antigrind, Elf Penalty): PowerPanda
Hacking (Easy EX Skill): acediaz
Programs Used: HxD (Hex Editing), no$gba (Debugging), VBA (Testing)

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-=Code Changes=-

EX SKILLS
00/1D6C
04 28 19 D9 > 07 28 00 00

CYBER ELF COSTS
34/A5C8
Orig. Antigrind
2C 01 96 00
E8 03 F4 01
FA 00 7D 00
90 01 C8 00
2C 01 96 00
C8 00 64 00
BC 02 5E 01
2C 01 96 00
46 00 23 00
96 00 4B 00
FA 00 7D 00
C8 00 64 00
BC 02 5E 01
2C 01 96 00
2C 01 96 00
00 00 00 00

DAMAGE PENALTY ADJUSTMENT
01/42D2
05 > 06 ;1p penalty for every 6 damage taken

CYBER ELF PENALTY ADJUSTMENT
34/B28C: 05 > 00 ;2-evo permanent penalty
34/B28D: 02 > 00 ;1-evo permanent penalty
34/B28E: 00 > 00 ;0-evo permanent penalty (note: game never checks this value)
34/B28F: 0A > 00 ;2-evo temporary penalty
34/B290: 05 > 00 ;1-evo temporary penalty
34/B291: 01 > 05 ;0-evo temporary penalty

Database match: Mega Man Zero 2 (USA)
Database: No-Intro: Game Boy Advance (v. 20210227-023848)
File/ROM SHA-1: C4D93A58F0F82C526DEC8A3FDBDA170336303689
File/ROM CRC32: CE1E37BB