EarthBound - Anti-Piracy "Hard Mode" goodness

[KingBrvno]

this is not an anti-piracy mesure..this normally happens yes, when you try to face enemies that are way weaker than you, it just skips the battle when you have 100% chance of winning

[OmniEraser]

@KingBrvno The automatic victory isn't what he said is the anti-piracy measure. It's the numerous enemies spawn.

[Zeubermench]

They made so many enemies and made it so hard to get to the end to make their revenge even sweeter. When you finally get to the last battle, the screen freezes.

[Flamsterette]

Wow.

[Max0070100]

FAKE!!!!!!

[Booster137]

@Max0070100 REAL!!!!!!

[HolyHeeroYui]

@Max0070100

Why do ostentatious people like you have to spout your crappy opinions as if they are facts?

If you're going to cry fake, at least try to be half of the dumbass you portray yourself to already be and state a crappy reason why you believe it's fake. At least we will be able to tell you why you're an idiot with real, actual factual evidence instead of just simply calling you an idiot.

[TheTRADEMARC2001No]

Damn. this was my favorite RPG on the SNES. 

[MeadowPercent]

Wait, I checked the tunnels for enemies on PK hack, but I didn't find any catepillars there.

[DrewskiTheLegend]

That's useful...Give the players who play the game illegally more chances to grind XD. I mean i have been through that tunnel ten thousand times and have not once seen a caterpillar, and in fact have only seen 2 over the course of my travels in the desert, and i had to fight through mounds of smilin' spheres and buffalo to get to them.

[PinkArmFlexer]

@DrewskiTheLegend Funnily enough, the little buggers are notoriously good at killing you with PSI, too. Why they run at the first sight of you is beyond me.

[MeadowPercent]

I was playing this game using ZSNES and 3 Mini barfs spawned in Onett. Does this have anything to do with the Anti-piracy thing?

[Neocasko]

@MeadowPercent Most likely not. Unless you used a code.

[DrewskiTheLegend]

@MeadowPercent I didn't think you could get mini-barfs in Onett.

[MeadowPercent]

@DrewskiTheLegend Yeah.. I was hacking and it happened. I think it might have something to do with a sprite I placed somewhere or something.

[somebody1993able]

What does it look like normally? as far as I could tell you only talked to/fought? 2 guys.

[ScReWaTtAcKeD]

Is it normal to find 3 annoying party people at once down the road?

[ThePhantomSafetyPin]

@zyboser There do exist clean Earthbound ROMs, you just have to find them.

[Pikafan2132]

Thanks, you broke my Earthbound rom now, dickhead.

[DarkstarV77]

Giygas uses Save Kill Ω

999 damage to saves.

[nogitsunefox]

Am I correct in thinking that you can use that code to trigger the increased enemy spawns, but avoid the game freezing up?

[Occono]

Why would they do this and not just block you from playing the game altogether?

[PewnyPL]

@Occono It's simple really. The game has a "It's a pirated copy" screen you can't get past. So in case someone gets over it, they left those 'little' things that could go unnoticed until it was too late

[Occono]

@PewnyPL Oh, that makes sense, thanks. Whenever I read stories about measures like this they make it seem like the game doesn't do anything until it sets these traps.....

[ThePhoneUpdate]

If I made a game and it detected piracy, it'd replace the consoles start-up sound with Justin Bieber, nobody would EVER pirate it again xD

[SamyaDaleh]

@ThePhoneUpdate Of course Justin Bieber fans are immune to your method ...

[ThePhoneUpdate]

@SamyaDaleh Justin Bieber fans shouldn't have the right to own good consoles, they should all be stuck with Tiger R-Zones.

[SamyaDaleh]

@ThePhoneUpdate Justin Bieber jokes are so mainstream. :P Your comment just doesn't make sense, seriously. I don't like Justin either, but those jokes aren't funny anymore. Please don't take it personally.

[FishTitan64]

0:21-0:24 Well, that was quick.

[hybrinoid]

Holy crap, that was an awesome levelup O.O

[Gigakoops]

@ShitWrangler Tr0ll harder!

[IamPinhead]

I always felt so awesome whenever I got so powerful enemies would avoid me.

[lilprogamer]

This actually makes one heck of a level up.

[JulianBo188]

at least you're too much for them

[brt5470]

I was confused about this video. I never played earthbound, and I was waiting for all the enemies. I saw so few enemies, I figured It would be at the end, then it wasn't. I guess 4-5 enemies is a lot?

[sayastra]

@brt5470 usually yes.... they're running away because the game has a automatic win function if you're party has no chance of loosing.

[Mysticgamer]

@brt5470 Notice when the person fought the crazy blue person and won 50 exp? Those are normal for area. Notice when he went into the tunnel and there were caterpillars that were worth over 7,000 exp? They weren't in the legal game, hell they're more powerful than the area first and second area bosses put together.

[locke103]

@Mysticgamer that's what really surprised me, you really only see criminal worms in the dusty dunes desert. hell, you normally dont see ANY enemies in the tunnels. the ghosts arent really an exception in such a case either.

[RanYakumoShikigami]

@brt5470 For Earthbound, the most enemies you'll USUALLY see onscreen is 3, with the exception of weak monsters that come in groups of 5 or 6 that can be easily mowed down with a single Fire of the appropriate level. Attack Slugs, Fobbies, and Foppies are all I can think of.

In fact, I can only think of one, maybe two instances other than said weak monsters that a battle will ever start with more than 3 enemies; I know one is i the gold mines.

[dave1sfx]

lol the enemies are running away

[LordSaber]

Gotta love how this game will erase your saves if you have a pirated copy right at the end of the game. Can you imagine how pissed off the pirates would have been? More games should do that, it'd be hilarious. Of course, pirating is a lot more sophisticated these days, and I'm sure hackers could get around it eventually, but it'd still be funny at first.

[princessZelda089]

@LordSaber

I'd love a screamer at the end when the game was un-resetable/not being able to turn off unless you unplug it by cord. XD

[LordSaber]

@princessZelda089 That would totally be hilarious. Imagine these days if people pirated say CoD and in the middle of online play the game erases all your prestige/kill streaks/perks and then freezes. lol.

[princessZelda089]

@LordSaber

Yep. I think if I create a video game I should be evil like Itoi and make loud noises and the graphics go crazy, while the pirater was about to get to the end. owo

[princessZelda089]

The sadder thing is, when you get to the last fight it crashes on you Dx

[Pikafan2132]

@princessZelda089 How does that happen? I went to the Giygas fight normally and nothing happened.

[princessZelda089]

@Pikafan2132

Use this cheat.

Own Pokey.

Game crashes.

Emulators. -w-

[LordFalcey]

Can this happen if I play on a emulator and without that code? I think that happened to me.

[dragonlady317]

@LordFalcey yeah, it happened to me a long time ago too on an emulator. luckily, i had backups of my save files and somehow worked around it.

[dcent2]

What if im playing on GPSP on my PSP??

[MasterVash]

"I never use this code for a normal playthrough; I was merely curious about what the enemy spawn rate would be on a pirate cartridge. Please do not call me a cheater."

That's a code to make the game both harder and more frustrating. WHY would anyone call you out for using a cheat to make a game more DIFFICULT?

[borico62]

@MasterVash Bah, there are retarded assholes out there who complain about everything.

[Gashban]

I think a more funny and devastating anti-piracy prank would be to make the last tunnel run on an endless loop, and then when you restart the game your saves are gone.

[somepartsareme]

OH BABY! HP UP BY 69

[somepartsareme]

@BlueDragon992 No, he just goes on his regular spiel and then just freezes up.

[KarmaJolt]

Has anyone ever even seen a pirated SNES cart? Like, was piracy a legitimate problem, enough for Nintendo to have to take measures against it? I've seen certain games try to yell at me for having a pirated copy (usually it's something that detects my 4 player adapter and freaks out) like Tetris Attack, Tetris & Dr. Mario, Donkey Kong Country 2, etc...

[sayastra]

@Mycatisbigfoot i can't find either (apparently pirates in general don't want to touch this game until the copyright has worn off-although Nintendo themselves appear to have let the franchise go out and play in traffic) because i was thinking that if i had a fc twin that there might be a chance that it wouldn't happen anyway (since the fc does not work exactly like a SNES since it is not one- ie the reason cart with the sa1 chip will stop the loading dead in it's tracks)

[sayastra]

@Mycatisbigfoot thanks buddy- i'll take my chances with that one (i think it's if the cart is pirated that happens) i was more worried that i would see the excessive amounts of enemies as in this version

[sayastra]

@Mycatisbigfoot  so it will play as normal on a fc twin?

[sayastra]

oh shit- i have a fc twin........am i fucked out of playing this game on it?

[Droctogonpus]

At the last boss, when the game freezes, it forces you to reset the game. When it starts up, you'll be greeted with the text "Giygas ate your save file!" AND ALL YOUR SAVE SLOTS ARE GONE! ...Evil...

[somepartsareme]

@Droctogonpus Cool lies bro. It never says that, but your files will be gone

[GodzillahGodzilla]

i wonder if this happens on emulators, does it?

[SilvStreak]

No, this does not normally happen; emulators replicate the same operating environments as the SNES, so when the game checks how much memory is available, it only sees the amount it expects and operates normally.

Cartridge copiers back in the day may have not had the same amount of RAM, so it would activate the flag, which causes the increased spawn, purposeful game hang at the last boss, and an anti-piracy warning on startup that you usually can't get past.

[darkhedgehog45678]

@SilvStreak I actually had the game crash on me on the last boss when I tried using cheats on it, and some other time, I accidently trigged hard mode. No idea how.

[fugue10]

Level up!

[somonesetusupthebomb]

this is what happens if you play on an FC twin

[reiyun]

holy crap that's a lot

[OsakaLover]

Criminal Caterpillars? I've never fought them before but considering the EXP you get from them, they seem somewhat medium difficult...then again I can't tell xD

[DisgruntledC2]

they're really easy to kill but run away really fast. Unless you're severely underleveled, you'll almost never get in an actual fight because you always attack from behind since they run

[StevenBergstrom]

something happens like this when i play this game only on some enemies tho. snakes and crows later in onett. is it like that in the normal game too?

[MasterHand243]

Kinda, Crows and stray dogs spawn a lot in onett but if it is really over the top then yuo gots a problem.

[Pikafan2132]

@MasterHand243 So this explains why my rom crashed when i tried the code for the last time.

[MarioNavi]

Here's the jist of it. It's a Game Genie code. The C0 start PAR signals GG. There is another line that actually fixes the freezing up. This is not a pirate code, but makes grinding more easier and makes 1/128 hunting easier.

[kl4969]

This would be an awesome extra mode for the normal game.

It could be called "Epic Enemy Overload Mode" or something.

[nintendude8]

will this happen on an emulator?

[User7726]

Not unless you use a code. I think...

[Sasukeuchihahaha]

good thing this doesnt happen on my hack. the enemies have 50k hp (Evil laugh)

[Bonezmayon]

lol you used the rock candy trick huh? thats why poo had that high hp increase right?

[Citrangish]

That rocks!

[TheUltraDude]

I have never even seen that enemy in the tunnel!

[sonicfeet]

Oh, baby!

[Jonhny2]

Will the anti-piracy feature kick in if I play the Japan version of the game on a SNES?

(BTW, SNES - USA, Super Famicom - Japan.)

[SilvStreak]

No - As far as I remember, the game mainly checks the amount of RAM it has avaliable, and if it exceeds the amount in the SNES/SF, it will trigger the increased enemy count.

Most Super Famicom/SNES games are only locked out via physical differences in the cartridges - you can file down some plastic inside your SNES to let Super Famicom games fit.

[Cloaytonem2]

@Jonhny2 That...isn't possible...as far as I know...

[zed617]

...How do I turn this on in ZSNES?

[SilvStreak]

Load the game, pause with ESC, then navigate to the "Cheats" menu. From there, just input the cheat C0283480, and add it. It will toggle on automatically.

[wizkid5059]

@SilvStreak Does it still delete all the saves at the Giygas Fight check?

[ebilmcdawnuld]

wow! nice level up on poo 69 hp and 56 pp i beleave it was o.O

[HisuroKun]

True, but this way you could keep entering "instant win" battles so you could easily level up to 99.

[LuunnaGaia]

Some of the piracy checks for this game were so evil.

[darkprogame]

I've never seen a Criminal Caterpillar either, didn't even know enemies could spawn there O_o

[churlyryan]

If NoA would bloody release this on VC (along with Mother 1) maybe people wouldn't pirate it (and the other Mothers) so much.

[MakubekuUrashima]

you should look for injecting mods ;3

i have earthbound on my wii for free :D

[Gamefan15]

I was hoping like a message popped up going like

"Good Job! Your game has just detected that your SNES to be unofficial. Since your entering Threed while I'm talking. We'll freeze the game for you!"  -Much Love

Earthbound Developers

[roetemeteor]

I know, right?!: P I was expecting at the Giygas checkpoint Pokey would say, "Oh? What's this? Pirated! Naughty you. Well, You've gotten this far, so tell your other pirate freinds what happens when I do THIS!!"

And then you see your saves gone and you go " o 0 o; "

[LuunnaGaia]

That would have been so fucking epic.

[sayastra]

@roetemeteor actually that happens if you have a reproduction of the cart on a real SNES (more of less)

[OriginalShadowZero]

@roetemeteor O.o nice that would be pretty good =D!!! you should upload Roms with a patch that makes this happen that way they would be sad for buying cheap games

[ThePhantomSafetyPin]

@roetemeteor It actually does do that as a CheckSum error. At the end of the game when Pokey/Porky (talking about Giygas) says "You're... you're just another meal to him!", the game will check to see if there's a copying device attached. Any game copier from that time used more RAM than the SNES used for this game, so if EarthBound detected this at that point, the game would freeze, shut off, and when you restarted it all of your save files would be gone. You could never beat the game.

[yusukeelric]

@ThePhantomSafetyPin THe best punishment ever... The game waits until you play like 20 hours, then in the end of the game. It just turns off and delete all the data... EPIC

[ThePhantomSafetyPin]

@yusukeelric That's because Game Designers back then weren't total and complete pussies about the Anti-Piracy issue.

[KarmaJolt]

Hahaha! Maximum HP went up by 69!

[Tylerburrito]

Oh, baby!

[Spartan1841]

I'm confused...if it does not work when its not played in a legitimate SNES then why does it work normally on emulators?

[SilvStreak]

The anti-piracy measures were meant to prevent cartridge copiers from being used, since most cart copiers had mre RAM than an actual SNES. Most emulators emulate the memory limitations of the SNES, so the flags for the anti-piracy measures aren't set.

[jowido]

These enemies are normally not there. These are rare. Normally.

[XxGaloyxX]

I've never seen seen a Criminal Caterpillar.

[SundarkSoldier]

They're actually not that hard to find. Go to the desert, in about the middle above the rocks.

[Shishizurui]

Whats bad is the teritorial oaks that will block your way to the happy happy vilalge so Criminal catapillar appears in the tunnel too?