Notes:Zanac A.I. (NES)

This page contains notes for the game Zanac A.I. (NES).

Activating Debug Mode in FCE Ultra

FCE Ultra and its derivatives do not emulate the Family BASIC Keyboard properly. After reading the keyboard, Zanac writes $00 to $4016, which should disable all output from the device. However, the emulator ignores this, and as a result, the game gets incorrect data when it later tries to read controller 2, which causes a variety of problems. To activate the debug code, you'll need to do the following:

1. Load the ROM.
2. Soft reset the game 9 times (press F10). It's recommended that you make a save state at this point in case you mess up a later step.
3. In the "Input..." configuration window, enable the "Family Keyboard".
4. Press the Scroll Lock key. This enables the emulated keyboard.
5. From this point on, you'll need to hold down the F8 key to keep the keyboard from conflicting with the controllers (the game will freeze or the controls will go haywire if this is not done).
6. Type the word COMPILE and press Enter (the bug causes the first character of the code to be skipped). You should hear the 1-up jingle play.
7. Start the game as usual.