Hacking Experimenting with 60hz and PAL Tales of Symphonia

[ArcadeGamer1929]

Hey, I've been tinkering around with 60hz on Tales of Symphonia (GameCube), I manged to port Ralf@gc-forever's 60hz Action Replay code from the German version to the UK version (code at the end of the post), and am planning to port it to the French, Italian, and Spanish versions at a later time (codes will be added when they're ready codes have been added below), but I've come across an interesting issue when running it on real hardware.



It works perfectly on Dolphin, running at 60fps and with the correct video size.


On a real Wii via Nintendont (cheats and Force PAL60 on), it also works fine, it initially displays at 576i 50hz, and switches to 480i 60hz after the intro video (or after skipping it), but the bottom of the screen gets trimmed off, which I assume would be 576i being cropped to fit 480i.

Researching shows that the non-Japanese versions of the game don't support progressive scan, which would be fine, but this is also one of the few GameCube games where progressive scan can't be forced either, enabling it in Nintendont's settings leaves no signal with a Wii2HDMI adapter, and only audio with the console's original composite AV cables (red/white/yellow). I've also tried Ralf's original code with the German version on real hardware, and the same happens, so a separate, more "in-depth" fix would have to be made for the cropping and/or progressive scan issues.

Still, I'll post the code anyway, as it works perfectly on Dolphin, and would be helpful for anyone looking for a potentially definitive experience (60hz without the USA version's font).



(UK) Enable 60Hz Mode [Ralf] [ported by ArcadeGamer1929]

Spoiler: Decrypted Action Replay code

(UK) Enable 60Hz Mode [Ralf] [ported by ArcadeGamer1929]
04000088 3FE0802A
0400008C 63FF8F4C
04000090 93ED8670
04000094 4810647C
04070A74 38C0000F
04070AC0 3C80802A
04070AC4 38048F4C
04070B00 38C0000F
0410650C 4BEF9B7C
022A8F52 000001C1
022A8F54 000001C8
022A8F58 0000000F
022A8F5C 000001C8

(ES) Enable 60Hz Mode [Ralf] [ported by ArcadeGamer1929]

Spoiler: Decrypted Action Replay code

(ES) Enable 60Hz Mode [Ralf] [ported by ArcadeGamer1929]
04000088 3FE0802A
0400008C 63FFFB4C
04000090 93ED8670
04000094 48106444
04070A74 38C0000F
04070AC0 3C80802A
04070AC4 3804FB4C
04070B00 38C0000F
041064D4 4BEF9BB4
022AFB52 000001C1
022AFB54 000001C8
022AFB58 0000000F
022AFB5C 000001C8

(FR) Enable 60Hz Mode [Ralf] [ported by ArcadeGamer1929]

Spoiler: Decrypted Action Replay code

(FR) Enable 60Hz Mode [Ralf] [ported by ArcadeGamer1929]
04000088 3FE0802B
0400008C 63FF522C
04000090 93ED8670
04000094 48106454
04070A74 38C0000F
04070AC0 3C80802B
04070AC4 3804522C
04070B00 38C0000F
041064E4 4BEF9BA4
022B5232 000001C1
022B5234 000001C8
022B5238 0000000F
022B523C 000001C8

(IT) Enable 60Hz Mode [Ralf] [ported by ArcadeGamer1929]

Spoiler: Decrypted Action Replay code

(IT) Enable 60Hz Mode [Ralf] [ported by ArcadeGamer1929]
04000088 3FE0802B
0400008C 63FF992C
04000090 93ED8670
04000094 48106458
04070A74 38C0000F
04070AC0 3C80802B
04070AC4 3804992C
04070B00 38C0000F
041064E8 4BEF9BA0
022B9932 000001C1
022B9934 000001C8
022B9938 0000000F
022B993C 000001C8

Credits to Ralf@gc-forever for making the original German version codes:
Action Replay (encrypted): https://www.gc-forever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2063 (don't forget to use the master code at the top labelled (m) [Ralf])
WiiRD (decrypted): https://www.gc-forever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2137

 

[Extrems]

but this is also one of the few GameCube games where progressive scan can't be forced either

This problem was solved a decade ago on the actual GameCube with Swiss.

 

[ArcadeGamer1929]

This problem was solved a decade ago on the actual GameCube with Swiss.

I forgot to mention Swiss, I could use it on my Wii, but I don't have a USB Gecko or any physical modding devices that could be used with it. I am curious to know if this would fix the cropping issue though.

 

[Maeson]

I'd love to have a way to play the spanish release I got all those years ago at 60hz 480p on my Wii...

I just chime in because I was a bit confused about not being able to force the NTSC-U version to play in progressive without that stretching, but I just tried and got no issues myself.

Now mind you, I use official component cables and is connected to an OSSC, but it works well both in passthrough (480p) and in x2 (960p) on my end.

 

[ArcadeGamer1929]

The main post has been updated with codes for the Spanish, French, and Italian versions, 60hz for all!

 

[CheeseBurgerwithLove]

I saw in another forum where a French user did a cheat to disable the contour line of the characters that is drawn around them, it would be worth doing a little research on this for other languages of game... I also saw a cheat that eliminates effect blur, this is found on the game wiki only for German, French and Japanese.

 

[N7Kopper]

This problem was solved a decade ago on the actual GameCube with Swiss.

The method that Swiss used to solve this issue might be a useful lead for either Nintendont developers or revising 480p and 576p versions of this 480i code. It's a bit out of my wheelhouse though, I must admit.