brotenko / pmmasterquest

Take Paper Mario 64, buff old and new enemies to absurd levels, then rebalance Mario's overpowered strategies, and you've got one of the most difficult hacks of all time: Paper Mario Master Quest. The Discord:

Description

Paper Mario: Master Quest is a mod made for "Paper Mario" on the N64. It was created by Emperor_Thamz, Rainchus, JaThePlayer, Brotenko, and now Quackles (with some bug fixes by theKidOfArcrania). It revamps old content and adds plenty of new as well.
Often considered "The Dark Souls of Paper Mario", the mod is incredibly difficult. It was designed with elite challenge runners in mind, and unless you have extensive knowledge of Paper Mario, you may struggle with much of the content. For those players we offer Paper Mario: Master Quest Jr which has all of the content of Master Quest, with a much more reasonable difficulty curve. If you want to stream the mod, starting with Jr. is recommended.

Some of the new content includes:

• 50+ new maps, including a brand new dungeon!
• A fully functional Pit of 100 Trials.
• Boss refights for all major bosses.
• 60+ new enemies, ranging from recolors to fully custom bosses.
• Heavy changes to enemy AI, and new battle mechanics not found in the vanilla game.
• A number of map changes to keep some areas feeling fresh, and keep the player on their toes.
• Item and Badge rebalancing, some more obscure tools are now viable.
• New badges and partner attacks.

Setup

1. Download the newest .mod file
2. Get a Paper Mario (USA) ROM. A .z64 ROM file is required.
3. Go to this link to patch your ROM.
4. Get an emulator, if you have one already, then load the patched ROM file and play! Bizhawk is the recommended emulator for Master Quest.

FAQ

Is this mod completed?

Yes, for the most part. A version 2.0 is in the works but is in development by a new team with a fair bit of input from Thamz. v2.0 will be the final version of the mod when it comes out, but until then, you can consider 1.5.x.x a "finished" mod. There is no ETA on v2.0, but this will be updated when it comes out. If you would like to follow development, please visit the Paper Mario Modding Discord.

Bizhawk: savestates don't work!

After loading the patched ROM, go to the N64 tab at the top and check "Use Expansion Slot".

Project64: "R4300i opcode" error

After attempting to load the ROM, go to settings. Under Paper Mario, change 4 MB ram to 8 MB. Then, click on Recompiler by expanding the Paper Mario settings. Uncheck register caching and save your changes.

Project64: Graphical Issues / Screen Flicker

You need to manually setup the GLideN64 graphics plugin for your emulator. Visit this link and add extract the zip to path/to/project64/Plugin/GFX. Then, reopen PJ64, go to options -> settings, click on Plugins in the left pane, and select GLideN64 for the Video Plugin option. Note that Glide64 is not GLideN64 - the latter is more accurate to the point of being required for decent Paper Mario emulation, although it doesn't support weaker machines.

Project64: "Verify ROM and its settings" error

Your ROM is somehow corrupted! Most likely it was not in the correct format (.z64) when you patched it; try N64 Tool to convert your .n64 or .v64 ROM to .z64 and use the online patcher.

Opening the pause menu causes a TON of lag!

Open up the graphics plugin settings for your emulator. Non-Bizhawk users should have setup GLideN64 first before this. In the GLideN64 ->Frame Buffer Settings tab, change the FB (Framebuffer) settings to the same as the picture below and click Save. Different emulators may use slightly different names for options.

Where do I report bugs?

You can post a message in the #mq_chat channel on the Paper Mario Modding Discord. Keep in mind that unless a bug is found that completely prevents completion of the game, it will likely not be patched until v2.0 is ready.

Why is _ so hard!? This mod is unfair!

This mod was designed to be incredibly difficult. If you are struggling, we suggest you check out MQ Jr!

How can I support MQ?

Find someone streaming MQ, and sub to them on twitch or donate or however you want to do it. Just dropping into the Paper Mario Modding Discord to say thanks is always nice too!

Where can I post a link if I stream this mod?

The Paper Mario Modding Discord MQ channels are a good place to start.

pmmasterquest's Issues

Game Freeze in Tubba Blubba's Castle

So for some reason when I spend around five minutes in Tubba Blubba's castle going around and doing stuff, the game will freeze. I have tested this on the latest development version of Project 64 with GlideN64 and Azimer's HLE audio v0.70 WIP 10, and on Mupen64Plus with GlideN64 and ParaLLEI N64 (on the RetroArch frontend), and the freeze happens on all three cases. I will be posting a .zip with two versions of the save I have been using on all three cases, one for for project 64. and another for Mupen64Plus, because that might help find the problem. One more thing I have to say is that this is not on the Jr. version of Master Quest, it is for the normal version.

master quest crash save.zip

Game Crashes At Credits D:

Please help, my friend and I are playing through Master Quest and we just defeated Bowser and can't get past the credits D:

We spent over 60 hours (no savestates/rewinds/cheats) on this file so any help is appreciated, we are loving master quest and really wish to finish it.

Rom File: Paper Mario Master Quest 1.3.0.2.z64 (Normal, not Jr.)
Save File Attached: Paper Mario Master Quest 1.3.0.2.SaveRAM
Using Bizhawk with recommended settings. Tried on 3 different PC's.

Game crashes after defeating Bowser during credits, near Chuck Quizmo/The 3 Female Toads/Mechabowser. We changed the video plugin to Rice and managed to get past this part, but then it crashed at the Toads With Glowing Spots.

Error Screen: https://i.imgur.com/PEyprkK.png

Thank you so, so much.

Softlock in Shyguys Toybox

When moving through the toybox after the pink station to the pink switch in the area before the switch with the flame guy behind the blocks if you run in front of the blocks you get pushed onto the train tracks and soft locked. I was playing on Openemu for macOS. This was in MQ Jr but probably is in both if that particular area is the same.

Picture for reference attached.

Can't get past that first Bowser battle; stuck in a loop.

The game shows up a retry menu at the end of the first battle--the one where you're supposed to lose.

Master Quest Jr. not Jr?

The title screen doesn't say Jr, and when I tried playing, it's way too hard. No matter what file I download it's still standard hard mode. I looked up gameplay of jr but the title screen has bowser jr, not bowser. I have been looking for days trying to find a workaround, modding several times but it's still saying standard. I made an account just for this.

Everdrive 64 Compatibility

I can't seem to get the rom to run on my Everdrive 64. I looked around online and I think someone mentioned that there's a compatibility issue somewhere. Does this mean there is no way to play this ROM on my Everdrive or is there a work around? Are there other methods of patching the game to make it compatible perhaps?

Dull Bones Negative HP Overflow

(Master Quest Jr.) When using Spin Smash in a battle with a dull bones in Dry Dry Ruins, the damage from being hit by the Pokey struck in the front affects the Dull Bones, but does not cause it to collapse and it remains standing at zero HP. Repeating this causes it to remain standing with a negative HP overflow, giving it 255 HP.

Tasty Tonic effect is changed ?

I just realized tasty tonic's description has been changed, and I used one outside of battle that healed me for 99 hearts (and apparently also leaves me with only 1 FP). Is this a change made by you or in the Pro Mode ?

If it has been changed by you, it is not listed in your readme. If not, do you know where I could get the list of changes not directly made by you but still transfered within PM Master Quest ?

Thanks

Game crash during credits

It might just be something wrong with my emulator, but the game seems to always crash when the bowser costume float appears on screen

Having issues using the patcher

I've tried to patch Paper Mario (USA) multiple times and it doesn't seem to work. I've read the instructions on how to do it and went to the link too. It says it specifically asks for a Paper Mario rom with a format .z64 and I've tried looking for this specific format on multiple sites. Its always in the form of a zip file and when its unpacked the rom itself is in .n64 format which the rom patcher does not accept.
I even tried changing the extension type to .z64 and thought maybe it solves the my issue but no such luck.

The error keeps repeating "Unknown Format" and took a glance at the console window that google replies back to me with the error box.

Okay never mind, I found my issue... apparently it wasn't the paper mario rom file it was the mod files I downloaded, I tried again changing the extension to .z64 and it finally worked!!
These two ---> "PMMQ_1.5.1.1.mod" & "PMMQ_Jr._1.5.1.2.mod" files on the page was throwing the error (uploaded by Emperor_Thamz). I went to (Brotenko) profile and downloaded the files again in this format "Paper_Mario_Master_Quest_Jr_1.5.1.mod" & "Paper_Mario_Master_Quest_1.5.1.mod" and the patcher worked with the changed rom extension!

Now I don't understand what went wrong or what's the difference between the two files aside from the version numbers. But the short named mod files were throwing an unknown patch format error. Also I'm not sure if other people are having a similar issue as I did. So I'm just leaving this here for others.

Postman crashes game when reading Goombario's letter

I just got to Toad Town and talked to the post manager at the post office. I had a letter for Goombario but when I tried to read it the game froze with some debug information:

If it matters I am playing on a real N64 with an Everdrive X7.

Discord link is broken

Is there still a discord community for MQ? the link in the description is broken.

MQ Jr Crashing on End Credits

Hello,

I was playing through Master Quest Jr. and was able to beat Bowser. However, I had to do it twice because the game would crash a min or two into the credits (after Chuck Quizzmo, i believe). I learned my lesson and save stated the second time right outside the castle before the credits. However, that didn't matter.

I'm not a super technical person and don't know a lot about coding or anything like that. SO I tried to mess around with a few Project 64 settings, but had no idea what I would doing. Would love o continue and do the boss refights/clear out the Dojo, etc.

Are we supposed to be able to follow the link displayed at the end of the bonus dungeon's boss?

I get a 404 so I assume it's a private repo - was that intentional or no?

Electro Blooper Crash Game (Equipped Zap Tap Badge)

When I can get equip with Zap Tap then battle with Electro Blooper, however there two problem... One of blooper baby can leech it while shocked and still there repeat "A" button due I didn't use repeat "A" then Electro Blooper going attack with Ink Shot (I believe AI used) then Crash Game with code list. Now second problem I had used hammer throw attack blooper baby get one shot then electro blooper get attack me then back to place and game is gonna stopped now. That's all for report bug, so now I'm gonna fight electro blooper without zap tap. -sigh-

Readme missing info?

Hey, in the readme, it says to address the audio stuttering you should "change the FB (Framebuffer) settings to the same as the picture below", but there is no picture. What are the correct settings?

General guy crashes game

When general guy (I believe) is trying to throw a bomb, the games just crashes with invalid address load/TLB. (This is for PMMQ Jr btw, but I would guess this would also apply for PMMQ?) EDIT: PMMQ works fine

I know it's probably old and unsupported so if that's the case, I'll probably just do some more reverse engineering of the PMMQ patch code of this to try to fix it myself.

Step before crash:

Step after crash: [1]

Diagnosing the issue a bit more carefully it seems like the script for throwing a bomb[2] seems to summon an enemy[3] from variable slot 0 with a formation that seems to be pointing an invalid actor blueprint[4] As soon as the game tries to create the actor and load the script, we reach the unexpected crash resulting with an address read at address 0x7, resulting in a TLB miss exception.

Notes:

1. Error message might look different because I originally attempted to patch out TLB exception initially to see if that would resolve the issue.
2. Not sure if this is actually the attack_throw_bomb script (but just saw the first two instructions matching that one).
3. Not sure if you were suppose to summon an enemy at this step (original code just seems to proceed to animate bomb throw) and does not call SummonEnemy at all
4. Maybe the patch somehow didn't change the actor blueprint or the pointer is just wrong?

Game crash in Koopa Village

When visiting Koopa Village while the Bob-ombs are arguing inside, if you change partners to Bombette anywhere on that map, the game will encounter an error and crash. This does not happen in the other map of Koopa Village.

Image of the error here.

Issue opened by mistake

Nothing to see here.

PS: I can't apparently delete an issue on a repo I don't own.

Cannot get beyond scripted fight at beginning of game?

Can't seem to get beyond the first fight with Bowser, game offers to restart battle, reload from save block or load file select after Bowser reduces your HP to 0. Seems like it's treating the Bowser fight like it would a normal battle?

Fights in bowser castles keep crashing the game

especially in the dark place where you have to use watt

Tubba Blubba's Castle Bug

I've just entered Tubba's Castle and entered the first hallway. I'm getting a bug where after beating the first awake Clubba, the game just freezes up while the coins scatter on the floor.

Game Crashes :(

Hello, I'm currently playing Paper Mario Master Quest Jr. on Bizhawk and when I get to the credit, my game crashes. I think it happens when I see the Mecha Bowser with the Koopa Bros on top.

Badge Disappeared?

So I was playing through the game and at some point my Berserker badge and one of my Sound Effect badges just escaped my inventory completely. I can't rebuy them from the Star Piece trader either...