Alien Soldier: 6-Button Controller Support

Hack description

This hack adds support for 6-button controllers, while retaining legacy support for 3-button controllers. Depending on whether a 3-button or 6-button controller is inserted into the console, a different control scheme will be used.

The recommended variant is "alien-soldier-6-button-toggle.ips," but if you are particular, then there are two different configuration decisions to make (see below.)

Complete list of changes:

- You can now dash by pressing Z. (Down+C no longer dashes in 6-button mode.)
- You can now perform the "Counter Force" parry manoeuvre by pressing Y. (Double-tap B no longer parries in 6-button mode.)
- You can now toggle shoot modes by pressing X or Mode at any time. (Down+A no longer swaps shoot mode in 6-button mode.)
- The new controls are displayed in the "control test" screen, assuming a 6-button controller is inserted.
- On the password input screen, pressing up now increments the number and down decrements. Furthermore, A, B, and C can now all be used to confirm password.
- Bypasses internal checksum verification and region lock.

You can use Lunar IPS to apply the hack to your Alien Soldier (JP) ROM file. Please note that only the Japanese ROM is supported (but it should still run on consoles in other regions).

Variants:

- "Hold" vs "Toggle": In the "Hold" variant of the hack, the shoot mode is only temporarily changed by holding X. (It can still be toggled with the Mode button, however.) This is useful if your controller has shoulder buttons, or for some keyboard layouts. However, it's inconvenient for standard 6-button controllers.
- "Hybrid" variants accept the original 3-button control combo-inputs in addition to the new 6-button controls. This is useful for those with strong muscle memory of the original game. However, it is not recommended for most players due to the likelihood of accidentally triggering an unintended input.

Changelog:

v1.4

- fixed error some keyboard users encountered where left+right at the same time triggered a mode button press (thanks, Ti!)

v1.3

- fixed demo (broke in v1.1)
- password entry can confirm with a, b, or c (instead of just c as in the base game)

v1.2

- corrected hybrid counterforce text in controls menu

v1.1:
- added "hybrid" variant
- fixed a bug in the hold variant where pressing or releasing X during hitstun toggles shoot mode like pressing Mode would.
- fixed dash and shoot mode inputs in certain late-game sections

Contributor	Type of contribution	Description
NaOH	Hacking
MiniMacro	Graphics
TwistC	Design
Ti	Hacking	Fixed keyboard left+right error

Reviews

Double the buttons, double the blasting	tsubasaplayer16	2023-12-02	Version 1.4
IMO, this is much needed for a game like this. It makes controlling the game a LOT better as a result. Now I can spam Counter Force much faster and actually teleport in the proper direction more accurately! Excellent work. The only downsides are that A. (by default) I can't customize it to my liking. Perhaps make separate patches for the different extra button layouts that one may choose (i.e. Y to teleport and Z to Counter Force)? and B. There's no patch for the Virtual Console NTSC-U standalone ROM release, which means you are stuck with the original Japanese intro (since this uses the Japanese ROM), in which its English grammar has some issues (since there's no JP to EN translation-hack currently outside of the PAL and NTSC-U Virtual Console releases). (Played and tested on a Genesis with the Mega EverDrive X7.)

A hack that does what the devs didnt	2spaz	2023-06-19	Version 1.4
Finally this game is now playable.. Why the devs of this game omitted 6-btn support on this game is beyond me.. This hack is simply put brilliant, and an option for different controllers and liking is great as well.. If you enjoy this game this hack is a must have..

Amazing hack that enhances an already amazing game!	Bruthkayo	2023-06-18	Version 1.3
Hold mode works well! You remain in the same armor color, but holding down X will make you move and shoot as if your armor is gold. I'm not entirely sure, but I think gold armor is supposed to deplete weapon energy faster, so if you want the difficulty to remain at approximately the same as the original, but with smart quality of life improvements, stick with toggle mode. Fantastic work on making the best action game on the Genesis even better! Now if only someone could make a romhack that creates a weapon wheel when you hold down the A button... then we would have the perfect version of this game!

Great on gamepad, not so much on keyboard	asdasd7	2023-06-09	Version 1.3
Works great on gamepad, however on keyboard pressing both left and right at the same time changes the shooting mode, which I don't think was intended. Tested using BlastEm, both as libretro core and standalone (default settings).

ALMOST Absolutely Perfect!	CyberAngel573	2023-06-08	Version 1.1
This is definitely the way to play the game. I'll admit, I had to play it through RetroArch using an Xbox 360 Controller. And I had to map A to the left button and X to the top button to make it more comfortable. A simple little swap that I think even the original would benefit from. But if it does not happen, it's still damn amazing.

Works Great. Nicely Done.	+RyeGuy+	2023-06-07	Version 1.0
Perfect button mapping. It's as if the original game was designed for six buttons.

The definitive way to play now	Jello_Snake	2023-06-07	Version 1.0
It's disappointing how few genesis/mega drive games actually use the 6 button controller. This game ESPECIALLY benefits from the extra buttons. NaOH did a great job and I hope they do more awesome improvements like this.

A massive improvement.	Red Soul	2023-06-06	Version 1.0
Alien Soldier is legendary in all right ways if you are after a hard boiled, deeply rewarding experience. That said, it's almost baffling for a game of this vintage to not make use of the immensely welcome and pleasant to use Mega Drive 6-button pad, considering split seconds can separate a well timed dodge from a complete fumble that results in damage or death in a game as frantic as this. This hack corrects this omission by shortcutting important ancillary actions to the top button row, or optionally giving an useful function to the often useless "Mode" button on said controller. Further, the classic control scheme is retained if you plug in a 3-button controller, so there's something for everyone, here.

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