The Flintstones: The Treasure of Sierra Madrock

To do: Document the prototype Find out if there is another way to enable cheat mode (such as a password).

The Flintstones: The Treasure of Sierra Madrock is yet another in a series of corny rock-themed puns.

Developer Message#

At 0x6D6B2 is a version number and a copyright message featuring Kennosuke Suemura's name, who is one of the game's composers.

Ver1.27 Copyright K.Suemura

Anti-Piracy#

To do: Find cheat code to enable the no-lag timer even when the slowdown anti-piracy code is activated

Normal	Pirated

The game has two different checks, which usually both take into effect if SRAM is present. These checks proved problematic when the game's prototype first came out, as it was dumped with SRAM installed.

• On bootup, the game will attempt to write the four bytes of values from 0x92E4D4 to SRAM at addresses $701212 to $701223. If any of the SRAM writes were successful (as easily observed in a cartridge copier), the game writes the two bytes of values 23 54 to the register 0x801F8D.
  • During gameplay on all frames, the game reads the two bytes at register 0x801F8D and if it is equal to 23 54, the game adds a 8000 unit timer to the game's timer routine; this works by placing the value 1F40 in the accumulator and running a loop to decrement it by one until it reaches 0 before any further operations can be run. This artificially lags the game to about half its original speed, which includes Fred and Barney's movement speed. This even affects the map screen and the results screen at the end of each stage, with the latter being out of sync to the music as a result.
• Upon each screen transition, the game will also try to write two bytes of values to $700422.
  • When an object loads, these two bytes at $700422 are read to ensure that there wasn't any values written to them; if there was, the in-game timer will not be affected by the above lag. When combined with the above, the game ends up being much harder if not outright impossible to complete.

To experience the slowdown anti-piracy effect, use the Game Genie codes 47F6-A707 and 90F6-A767 together. However, the timer will be affected by the lag, though, making the game ironically a bit easier if you're patient enough.

Debug Mode#

Using the Pro Action Replay code 85B7E780 (US version) enables a debug/cheat mode of sorts. Each section below assumes that this mode is active.

Options Menu#

When the "press start button" text appears, hold down L + R and press Up, X, Down, B, Left, Y, Right, and A. A sound will play to confirm you've entered the code correctly. Now the options menu is expanded with several new options.

Ingame buttons#

During the game, press any of the following on controller 2:

• A: enters/exits the current space without ending your turn.
• B: automatically takes you to the area or stage (if you're already at stage 5, you'll just end up at stage 5 again).
• R: start the race against Rockhead.
• Start: toggles unlimited time (regular stages only).

Pause buttons#

Also, there are 3 button sequences for controller 1 which can be activated while the game is paused (they must be done in this order). The currently playing song/sound will change to indicate that the code was input successfully.

• Hold Down, hold Right, release Down, press A: unlimited time, 99 lives, 100 clams, maximum hearts.
• Press Right, hold Down, hold Right, press A: temporary invincibility.
• Hold Down, hold Left, release Down, press B: effect unknown.
  • also sets bit 0004 of $1F79 (effect unknown).

Debug display#

When bit 0002 of $1F79 is set, this display appears on the map screen, showing the values of the eight 16-bit words between $1F7B and $1F89. What each one represents is unknown, though the first one always seems to be set to 350E when leaving a stage. To enable this feature, use Game Genie code D4F5-A407 when debug mode is enabled.

References#