If you'd like to support our preservation efforts (and this wasn't cheap), please consider donating or supporting us on Patreon. Thank you!
Proto:Super Mario Kart/Debugging Menus
This is a sub-page of Proto:Super Mario Kart.
 | This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes. |
 | ...But what does it mean? This game has text or audio that needs to be translated. If you are fluent with this language, please read our translation guidelines and then submit a translation! |
 | This page or section needs more images. There's a whole lotta words here, but not enough pictures. Please fix this. |
 | To do:
|
Contents
- 1 Main Debug Screen
- 2 Debug Menu Options
- 2.1 1st option (ワールト | "WORLD"): Cup Number
- 2.2 2nd option (コース | "COURSE"): Race Number
- 2.3 3rd option (レース スタート | "RACE START"): Grand Prix Test - Start
- 2.4 4th option (ハトル | "BATTLE"): Battle Mode - Set Battle Objects
- 2.5 5th option (マッフ | "MAP"): Battle Mode/EDIT1/EDIT2 - Set Track
- 2.6 6th option (ハトルスタート | "BATTLE START"): Battle Mode Test - Start
- 2.7 7th option (EDIT1): AI Zone and Target editor.
- 2.8 8th option (EDIT2): Object overlay editor
- 2.9 9th option (モート7 キャラ | "MODE7 CHARACTER"): Mode7 Tileset Viewer
- 2.10 10th option (COLOR MAP): Color Palette Viewer
- 2.11 11th option (DEMO1): Track Viewer / Object Editor (?)
- 2.12 12th option (DEMO2): Sprite Animation Test
- 2.13 13th option (サウント テスト | "SOUND TEST"): Sound Debugging
- 2.14 14th option (EXIT)
- 3 Unused Debug Menu Options
- 4 Earlier Debug Menus
- 5 Other Debugging Options
Main Debug Screen
This Debug Menu can be found in the May build, mario-kart-* build, and the kart-d build as well as the uncompiled Feb build, and possibly more prototypes (investigation needed). It can be accessed by pressing Start + Select on the titlescreen.
The kart-d build includes the debug menu, but is inaccessible without hex editing. To access it, open the rom in a hex editor, and go to offset 0x80000, and insert the first 0x8000 bytes from kimura/kart/risc/bin/editchar.bin, and save the ROM. The Select + Start combo should now work and the menu should load.
Debug Menu translates roughly to
MARIO KART DEBUG MODE
WORLD 00
COURSE 00
RACE START
BATTLE 00
MAP 00
BATTLE START
EDIT1
EDIT2
MODE7 CHARACTER
COLOR MAP
DEMO1
DEMO2
SOUND TEST
EXIT
The katakana on this menu does not use any dakutens or handakutens, however they can be implied when translating. For verification, check kimura/kart/risc/join/edit_data.asm.
Debug Menu Options
1st option (ワールト | "WORLD"): Cup Number
2nd option (コース | "COURSE"): Race Number
3rd option (レース スタート | "RACE START"): Grand Prix Test - Start
Start a Grand Prix or a Match Race (depends on what was selected before on the title screen), based on the cup and race number given by options 1 and 2 (shown below).
- It loads AI Zone, targets and object overlays from SRAM and not from the ROM itself (except for the kart-d build, where it can load the configurations directly from the rom when no edits were saved in SRAM).
- Needs at least one AI Zone in the selected track placed and saved in SRAM in order to work (Can be done with EDIT1)
v a l 2
00 01 02 03 04
----------------------------
v 0 | MC1 DP1 GV1 BC1 MC2
a 1 | CI1 GV2 DP2 BC2 MC3
l 2 | KB1 CI2 VL1 BC3 MC4
1 3 | DP3 KB2 GV3 VL2 RR
The Grand Prix/Match Race will be in a Debug Mode. The race starts instantly (even before the countdown) and there are debug tools and commands accessible by pressing a certain button combination:
| Button Combination | Debug Tool |
|---|---|
| Hold L + R and press Select | RAM Viewer / Editor Table |
| Hold Down + L or R and press Select: | Mini RAM Viewer / Editor |
| Hold Up + L or R and press Select | CPU Usage Meter |
| Hold X+A+B and press Y | Enable Last Lap Cheat by pressing L. A piece of the Boo item (its mouth) will be displayed on the top left |
| Hold L+R+X and press A: | Enable Item debugger. Another piece of the Boo item (its back) will be displayed on the top left. |
4th option (ハトル | "BATTLE"): Battle Mode - Set Battle Objects
- Completely unused. Intended use was possibly to set the battle mode objects overlay for use in Battle Mode Debugging
5th option (マッフ | "MAP"): Battle Mode/EDIT1/EDIT2 - Set Track
00: Mario Circuit 3 01: Ghost Valley 2 02: Donut Plains 2 03: Bowser Castle 2 04: Vanilla Lake 2 05: Rainbow Road 06: Koopa Beach 2 07: Mario Circuit 1 08: Ghost Valley 3 09: Bowser Castle 3 0A: Choco Island 2 0B: Donut Plains 3 0C: Vanilla Lake 1 0D: Koopa Beach 1 0E: Mario Circuit 4 0F: Mario Circuit 2 10: Ghost Valley 1 11: Bowser Castle 1 12: Choco Island 1 13: Donut Plains 1 14: Battle Course 3 15: Battle Course 4 16: Battle Course 1 17: Battle Course 2 >17: Garbage
6th option (ハトルスタート | "BATTLE START"): Battle Mode Test - Start
Starts a battle (requires you to select Battle Mode on the title screen before to prevent it from crashing)
- Loads AI Zones and object overlays from SRAM instead as well
- Needs at least one AI Zone in the selected track placed and saved in SRAM in order to work (Can be done with EDIT1)
- Has many problems regarding crashing. Due to a DSP routine that attempts to overwrite a non-existent racer object, overwriting an index to a routine.
_-_Debug_-_Edit1.png)
7th option (EDIT1): AI Zone and Target editor.
Editor for the AI zones as well as AI target/respawn points. It loads the selected track in the 5th option (マッフ) in a top-down view. It's also gridded. RAM ERROR is displayed on the screen if SRAM does not contain valid data.
There are also coordinates on the top left.
When pressing select, you can shuffle through 3 options: SET., CODE and PONT.
CODE
Puts down numbers and letters by pressing Y that increase in 2 increments (00 - 0C). These are used to create AI zones. Putting one down and pressing B on it will increase it, pressing Y will decrease it. These numbers determine what form the zone will get. Number that determines the form:
00 = Rectangle 02 = Triangle top-left 04 = Triangle top-right 06 = Triangle bottom-right 08 = Triangle bottom-left 0A = Diagonal Line top-right to bottom-left; UNUSED 0C = Diagonal Line top-left to bottom-right; UNUSED
SET.
Sets the size of the AI zones by clicking on a code number with B then pressing B somewhere to set the destination of the size.
PONT
Puts down target location and respawn points by pressing B (it also makes a coin sound). They are shown in form of wall part. Pressing X on a square will change its color that determines the speed configuration of that checkpoint. The color determines the speed:
RED = speed 3 GREEN = speed 2 BLUE = speed 1 YELLOW = speed 0
Hovering over one of these blocks will set the values of S and P in the top-left window. S is the speed setting of the current target block, and P is the AI zone number that the target corresponds to.
Pressing R will reveal some other options that can be shuffle through by pressing UP and DOWN:
- S-RAM: S-RAM will be displayed on the bottom, and the options YES and NO also pop up. Selecting YES with the B button will play the sound of shooting a Koopa Shell and the text NOW SAVE will be displayed before disappearing. This will save the current configuration of AI Zones, Targets, and Speeds to SRAM in a predetermined location based on the track number. Starting a race on this track from the Debug Menu or from the normal menu will load these configurations then.
- CLEA (clear): Resets everything.
- L-DISK: Executes the LOAD system call for the SFX-DOS, and loads track data from an external floppy disk. Currently unfunctional without modding. See here
- L-RAM: Plays the Koopa Shell sound. This will load the a configuration of AI Zones, Targets, and Speeds from SRAM from a predetermined location based on the track number.
- S-DISK: Executes the SAVE system call for the SFX-DOS, and saves the track data to an external floppy disk. Currently unfunctional without modding. See here
_-_Debug_-_Edit2.png)
8th option (EDIT2): Object overlay editor
Loads an editor for placing the objects like Itemfields, Coins, Zippers and more.
Controls:
Press Select to choose tile type
up/down - select different type
left/right - select different direction
R cycle save options
L when R has been pressed seems to cycle through 10 slots
B to place object
Y to delete object
Object types:
QUES - Questionbox field NIKO - Empty Questionbox field AROW - Zipper KABE - 2x2 Blockage with 4 colored blocks (unused in the final game) OIL - Oilslick JUMP 0N - Jumpbar horizontal JUMP 1N - Jumpbar vertical COIN 0N - + shaped coins COIN 1N - x shaped coins COIN 2N - / shaped coins COIN 3N - \ shaped coins COIN 4N - - shaped coins COIN 5N - | shaped coins COIN 6N - Single coin
- Top banner:
- First Letter - Editing Mode: Y (presumably ”yakumono”)
- Next 3 Letters - Track Theme:
CIR = MC (CIRcuit) QBA = GV (QBAke) ["obake" means ghost] GRA = DP (GRAss) CAS = BC (CAStle) ICE = VL (ICE) DAR = CI (DARt) [dirt] SAN = KB (SANd)
- After Dash:
- First Digit - Map index in theme
- Second Digit: Save Slot
MC2: YCIR-1 GV2: YQBA-1 DP2: YGRA-1 BC2: YCAS-1 VL2: YICE-1 RR: YDAR-1 KB2: YSAN-1 MC1: YCIR-2 GV3: YQBA-2 BC3: YCAS-2 CI2: YDAR-2 DP3: YGRA-2 VL1: YICE-2 KB1: YSAN-2 MC4: YCIR-3 MC2: YCIR-4 GV1: YQBA-3 BC1: YCAS-3 CI1: YDAR-3 DP1: YGRA-3
_-_Debug_-_3rd_option.png)
9th option (モート7 キャラ | "MODE7 CHARACTER"): Mode7 Tileset Viewer
Mode7 Tileset Viewer. Buggy.
- Unknown at this time if there is any intended control during this screen.
- Inconsistent palette during different tests.
10th option (COLOR MAP): Color Palette Viewer
Color Palette Viewer. Static, and buggy. Currently unknown whether there is any control over this option.
11th option (DEMO1): Track Viewer / Object Editor (?)
| To do:
|
Loads a viewer in a top down view of the track selected in the Course and World value. The track's specific objects like pipes, thwomps, moles etc. and also Match Race objects like the Chain Chomps and the Bananas can also be viewed and edited. They will be displayed in form of numbers while the number determines which kind of object and to which visibility area it belongs. It doesn't seem to be possible to save new edits however (Investigation needed).
Depending on which mode was accessed before, overlay object like item fields can be displayed as well (Time Trial for example will remove them).
At the Top-Left are the coordinates and the currently placable object. The numbers at the middle-left side appear to be mode 7 values of how the track is zoomed and placed.
This editor has some differences in some builds:
- Only in the Feb build it is possible to rotate the track. There was also more Japanese text, displayed in place where the R and W letters are displayed in later builds
- In the kart-d build the numbers were removed, zooming controls were added and the zoom is set to display the entire track by default. This might have been used to capture track previews for medias such as magazines, promos and also the game's manual.
Controls:
B - lays object Y - removes object X - changes number Select - toggles cursor on and off and enables load (and save?) feature START+Select - goes back to menu L - quick move D-pad - move kart-d only: Y - Zoom in X - Zoom out
Number Meaning:
00 - ??? 01 - Object, visible in area 1 02 - Object, visible in area 2 03 - Object, visible in area 3 04 - Object, visible in area 4 05 - Chain Chomp Horizontal 06 - Chain Chomp Vertical 07 - Banana
Pressing Select will remove the coordinates and the cursor. Holding R will display the letter R and pressing B then will load the objects for the track. Holding L displays a W and pressing B then will display some garbaged tiles for a short moment (possible for saving?). Replacing the font with the japanese font type will fix the garbaged tiles (shown right). (Translation needed).
12th option (DEMO2): Sprite Animation Test
Displays character models with Mario, Luigi, Bowser, and Peach spinning. It also includes miscolored sprites of two shells and a banana.
13th option (サウント テスト | "SOUND TEST"): Sound Debugging
Displays the four sound effect registers.
- 2140: Main SFX register. Values given below (Confirmation needed)
01: "Race Fanfare" song 02: **"Time Trial Countdown" song 03: "Race Countdown" song 04: **SNES-loaded Song 05: "Final Lap Jingle" song 06: "Last Lap" version of SNES-loaded Song 07: Even Faster version of SNES-loaded Song 08: "Starman Theme" song 09: "Race Qualified" song 0A: "No Record" song 0B: "Rank Out" song 0C: "Mario's Rank" song 0D: "Luigi's Rank" song 0E: "Bowser's Rank" song 0F: "Peach's Rank" song 10: "DK Jr's Rank" song 11: "Koopa Troopa's Rank" song 12: "Toad's Rank" song 13: "Yoshi's Rank" song 14: "Game Over" song 15: Super fast SNES-loaded Song 16: SNES-loaded Song 17: ??? 18: ??? 19: ??? 1A: ??? 1B: ??? 1C: ??? 1D: Silence Music 1E: Fade out Music while playing 1F: Hang Last Played Notes 20: Coin 21: Hop/Ramp (Probably Hop) 22: Monty Mole Hole Hop 23: Cheep Cheep Balloon Inflation 24: Feather Jump 25: Landing from Hop 26: Champagne Cork 27: Falling off of Edge 28: Racer "Poof" 29: Erase Data/Balloon 2A: Hit Player With Item 2B: Item Launched by Player 2C: Cursor Moved 2D: Start Pressed 2E: Confirm Selection 2F: Cancel Selection 30: Chain Chomp Bounce Loud 31: Chain Chomp Bounce Med 32: Chain Chomp Bounce Soft 33: ** ceh-bwoom Loud 34: ** ceh-bwoon Med 35: ** ceh-bwoom Soft 36: Trophy Drop Loud 37: Trophy Drop Med 38: Trophy Drop Soft 39: Item Hit Loud 3A: Item Hit Med 3B: Item Hit Soft 3C: (MC) Wall-hit 1 Loud 3D: (MC) Wall-hit 1 Med 3E: (MC) Wall-hit 1 Soft 3F: (MC) Wall-hit 2 40: Ghost Valley Wall-Hit 41: Hit Ice Block 42: Racer Collision 43: Hit Pipe 44: Thwomp Pound Loud 45: Thwomp Pound Medium 46: Thwomp Pound Soft 47: Flattened swaying down 48: Speed Boost 49: *marimba tonk 4A: * unknown 4B: "Congratulations" Zoom and Bounce 4C: Grow sound? 4D: MLKPT Taunt 4E: Some taunt? 4F: Lightning/Danger Jingle 50: Yoshi Taunt 51: Bowser Taunt 52: Banana Placed 53: Item Thrown by Non-Player 54: Racer Collision 55: Racer collision soft 56: Select again? 57: Cancel again? 58: Cheep Cheep Balloon Waddle Loud 59: Cheep Cheep Balloon Waddle Med 5A: Cheep Cheep Balloon Waddle Soft 5B: "Ranked Out" Bouncing Sound 5C: DK Jr Taunt 5D: Crush + flattened paper sound? 5E: Shrinking sound? 5F: Growing Sound 80-9F: Pause Menu (Control held to silence)
- 2141: Extra Sound Effects, channel dependent
- Format is --LR SSSS, where L="play left channel", R="play right channel", S=value from table below
0: drift hard 1: drift soft 2: wrong way/laki bad warning 3: underwater 4: off road / gravelly 5: little shuffly sound 6: little bnk 7: little scrtch 8: splash 9: spinout A: lakitu carry B: item roulette C: item selected D: bottom 4 E: wrong way F: NO SOUND
- 2142: Left Channel Engine Pitch
- 2143: Right Channel Engine Pitch
14th option (EXIT)
Completely unfunctional. Routine that is activated by this does not check controller inputs, and does nothing except return.
Unused Debug Menu Options
demo1: Internal name is "demo1", refers to an unused demo screen
- Starts off with a screen that says "Mario Kart World Championship"
- Displays Mode7 animations of each racer spinning sequentially.
- Each screen also displays the following text, loading each line by line (Like Race Results Screen)
BENETON B191 ENGINE FORD HB SERIES V 75DEB V8 3494CC FEATURING GEAR BOX BENETTON TIRE PIRELLI GASOLINE MOBIL
- Luigi's sprite doesn't display correctly. This is due to the animation being created back when Luigi used his own full body graphics. At this point in development, he shares Mario's body graphics.
- Pressing Y increases the sprite's size
- Pressing A decreases the sprite's size
- Pressing SELECT resets sprite
- There is no limit to the sprite size, so it will flip upside down if it becomes too large
- Animation repeats after completion
Video footage of this in action can be found here.
Earlier Debug Menus
Nov'91 Proto Debug Menu (ED-3)
.png)
This version of the debug menu appears in the Nov'91 Prototype. It is an early version of the Debug Menu. As such, most elements from the later debug menus are missing. However, two of the debug options stayed in this menu:
- MODE7 CHAR
- COLOR MAP
There are three other options in this menu that don't seem to appear in later prototypes
- BATTLE OBJ
- BOUND POWER
- "MARIO"
BATTLE OBJ: Value is supposed to be bounded between 00 and 01, however due to unclean RAM it will sometimes start with a different value.
- 00 - Sets the Battle Mode to "Coin Collection" mode
- 01 - Sets the Battle Mode to "Machine-Gun Mode", as referenced in this developer interview.
As of the time of this release, the "Gate Battle" was not properly implemented, so it is inaccessible by normal means.
BOUND POWER: Represents the power at which objects are knocked back by collisions.
"MARIO": This option will load up a screen with all 8 characters' sprites loaded up at a skewed angle. Unsure at the time if anything else is supposed to happen on this screen.
Other Debugging Options
RAM Viewer / Editor Table
This mode is currently accessible in the Nov'91 prototype, May prototype, and the kart-d build.
Version 1 includes a full page of RAM viewing, with 4 groups of 8 bytes each. This version is accessed by pressing L+R+DOWN+SELECT (L+R+SELECT in kart-d). The selected nybble will flash, and you can move around the cursor with the D-pad. Pressing A will increment the current nybble, and pressing Y will decrement the current nybble. The accessible area is from address $7E:0000 to $7E:FFFF, so the upper area of WRAM is not accessible.
In the May build, it is required to start the race from the Debug Menu to get access to the RAM Viewer with the button combination. And you can only move the cursor when pausing the game.
Mini RAM Viewer / Editor
This mode is currently accessible in the Nov'91, February, May prototypes and the kart-d build. This can briefly be seen on a Japanese Promotional video. The left chunk shows a 24-bit address which can be adjusted to anywhere in the SNES's 24-bit address space. The right chunk shows the values at that address. To control this version, L and R move the cursor LEFT and RIGHT respectively, A increments the selected nybble, and Y decrements the selected nybble.
In the May build, it is required to start the race from the Debug Menu to get access to the Mini RAM Viewer with the button combination.
| February Prototype | Promotional Video |
|---|---|
(Source: February Proto) |
(Source: Toad. T on YouTube) |
