Land Maker

This page is rather stubbly and could use some expansion. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue this article?

Land Maker is a puzzle game released by Taito in 1998.

Removed Object Test Menu#

There is an object test menu left in the game, in both the prototype dump and the final. It appears to be normally inaccessible in both versions. It has three options: Object Check, for viewing sprites; SCP Check, for viewing non-sprite artwork; and Mask Check, for viewing palettes.

In the Object Check: P1 Button 1 and Button 2 cycle through each 'section', while P1 Left and Right cycle through each frame. P1 Up/Down cycle quickly.

In the SCP Check: P1 Left/Right cycles one by one, while P1 Up/Down cycle quickly.

In the Mask Check: P1 Left/Right cycles one by one, while P1 Up/Down cycle quickly.

In all modes, you can press P2 Start to return to the main menu. P1 Start will reset/lock up the game. The menu can be accessed with a MAME cheat to patch the code so the menu will appear after the initial coin insert:

Prototype:

  <cheat desc="Object test">
    <comment>Insert a coin to bring up this menu. You will need to reset the game first if you have previously inserted a coin.</comment>
    <script state="on">
      <action>temp0=maincpu.mw@8E2F6</action>
      <action>temp1=maincpu.mw@8E2F8</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@8E2F6=0000</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@8E2F8=665a</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.mw@8E2F6=temp0</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@8E2F8=temp1</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

Final:

  <cheat desc="Object test">
    <comment>Insert a coin to bring up this menu. You will need to reset the game first if you have previously inserted a coin.</comment>
    <script state="on">
      <action>temp0=maincpu.mw@8DF02</action>
      <action>temp1=maincpu.mw@8DF04</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@8DF02=0000</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@8DF04=665A</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.mw@8DF02=temp0</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@8DF04=temp1</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

Removed Alternate Difficulty Menu#

There is a removed and inaccessible alternate difficulty settings menu in both the prototype and final versions of the game. In the normal Configuration menu, the difficulty can be set to Easy, Normal, Hard and Very Hard, for the entire game. However, in this menu, the standard difficulty can be set as well with unique values for each round. It's not clear what each value is for yet. Upon exiting, it will ask to save the settings. The saving and loading to/from the NVRAM is functional.

It can be accessed with a MAME cheat that patches the code to load this menu instead of the standard Configuration menu in the Test Mode menu. The code can be turned on and off as necessary while in the Test Mode menu to switch between the normal Configuration and this Difficulty menu.

Prototype:

  <cheat desc="Alternate difficulty menu">
    <comment>This replaces the 'Configuration' menu option in the Test Menu. It can be turned on and off while in the Test Menu as needed.</comment>
    <script state="on">
      <action>temp0=maincpu.mw@10371A</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@10371A=24D4</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.mw@10371A=temp0</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

Final:

  <cheat desc="Alternate difficulty menu">
    <comment>This replaces the 'Configuration' menu option in the Test Menu. It can be turned on and off while in the Test Menu as needed.</comment>
    <script state="on">
      <action>temp0=maincpu.mw@1032BA</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@1032BA=2074</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.mw@1032BA=temp0</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

References#