Mr. Bones

Mr. Bones
Developer: Zono Publisher: Sega Platform: Sega Saturn Released in JP: June 27, 1997 Released in US: September 30, 1996 Released in EU: October 1, 1996 Released in AU: October 1, 1996 This game has hidden development-related text.

To do: Regional Differences. The Japanese version was made easier.

Mr. Bones is a multi-genre Saturn title starring the titular character. The game is notable for having a majority of its music composed by Ronnie Montrose.

Hidden Developer Text

To do: Is this in any other version of the game?

Note: These messages are confirmed to appear in the US version and JP Sample Version.

Present in the '03CODE' files on both discs is a message that seems to reference the Sega Saturn's Slave CPU.

mr. Bones is in the house, and the slave is slaving

The location of this text is different in each '03CODE' file. A table of all their locations is below.

Disc Level Folder Hex Offset 

1

04RUNWAY

00037BA0

1

05MAUSO

0007F950

1

06VALLEY

000A4448

1

07GUITAR

0003FF18

1

08BAT1

00092A88

1

09BAT2

00094324

1

10BAT3

00095408

1

11LOGS

000881D4

1

14DRUM

00029A00

1

15GLASS

0007D750

1

16BIGBNS

0001D694

1

17VORTEX

0002F96C

2

18RIDE

0001E7D0

2

19VILLAGE

0007DE28

2

20ICE1

00080EA4

2

21ICE2

00073430

2

22SHADOW

0006632C

2

23MOAT

0009180C

2

24STAING

0001FA18

2

25GENRM

0001D72C

2

26LAFF

00075C30

2

27FINALE

0006E1D4

A related message can be found at 0000B8B4 in the 02 file within the root of both discs:

mr. Bones is in the house, and the loader is loading

Loading Debug Text:

To do: Add a table including the offsets to these messages in every '03CODE' file

Debug messages refering to loading code can be seen in every '03CODE' file. A list of their offsets can be seen below:
*Insert table featuring HEX offsets here*
However, in '03CODE' files for levels which prompt the "Insert CD 1" or "Insert CD 2" message, another hidden message can be seen alongside the previously mentioned debug text, at HEX offset 00003F04, with the message:

We did the deed to the NVM

The NVM might be referring to the Sega Saturn's Non-Volatile Memory. This would make sense as the game automatically loads the stage you were trying to enter if you replace the current disc with the other disc.

Debugging .MAP Files

Within the '30MAP' directory on both discs, a .ZIP file is contained, which itself contains debugging .MAP files.