- Mercs Hacking Guide -

Written and © of Johnny Hughson, 2002
Text in italics were added by TurboKiller

This is a guide to hacking savestates for the Genesis/Megadrive version of Mercs. To make use of this hacking information you will need a hexeditor and an emulator compatible with Genecyst format savestates (preferably Gens). Values marked Arcade/Original Mode Only will only work in their respective game modes (all other values should work in both).

Game Data
Game data covers values such as score and time remaining. 
E7AA-AD - Score
Current score, stored in decimal as 4 bytes eg. 12450 would be stored as 00 01 24 50
Don't set it too high, after the score reaches the maximum value itt will restart from 0

E7BB - Continues (Arcade Mode Only)
Continues remaining in Arcade Mode: 0=04, 1=08, 2=0C, 3=10... 9=28

E837-38 - Medals (Original Mode Only)
Medals collected, stored in decimal as 2 bytes eg. 123 medals would be stored as 01 23
Max value is 999, but it will restart from 0 if you get one more Medal in the game

EA34-35 - Time (Arcade Mode Only)
Time remaining, stored in decimal as 2 bytes eg. 195 seconds would be stored as 01 95

Current Merc Stats
Current Merc Stats are the stats of the Merc in Arcade Mode and also the stats of the Merc currently being used in Original Mode. Editing these values in Original Mode only works in-game and any changes made will overwrite the stored values for the selected Merc.
E7BF - Weapon Power
Controls how powerful your weapon is. eg. 00=1 unit of firepower, 09=10 units of firepower (maximum).

E7C1 - Health
Amount of health left, stored as a hex value. eg. 00=No Health, 20=Full Health (before any powerups). Maximum health can be increased by using health extender powerups. Values above current maximum health are read as maximum (so a value of 26 when the maximum health available is 20 will be read simply as 20).

E7C3 - Max Health Additions
Amount that the size of the health bar should be increased. Each health extender powerup adds 02 to this, so acceptable values are 00,02,04,06,08
0A works as well too. If you set it to 01,03,05, etc. then it will give you immensely high Max Health, but it will reset it to a correct value once you get a Life Extender in the game

E7C9 - Number of Megacrashes
Number of Megacrash attacks left. Stored as decimal value. eg. 00=0 Megacrashes, 99=99 Megacrashes.
Don't set this to 99, if you get one more Mega Crash, it will reset to 0. I recommend setting it to 80

E7CB - Weapon
Selects weapon currently held. Allows weapons from Original Mode to be used in Arcade and vice versa. It also allows an Original Mode Merc to use a weapon different from their own (although this will revert back to normal when you change Mercs). The graphics for a new weapon are not loaded, so graphics from previous weapon will continue to be used with some often strange looking results.

  • 00=Rifle
  • 04=Flamethrower
  • 08=Rocket Launcher
  • 0E=Homing Rockets
  • 14=Green Multishot aka Shotgun
  • 02/06/0A=Laser(?)
    •
    0C is the Laser as well, but they will glitch up the game if you enter a new mission with these weapons. Also, if you have a firepower bigger then 3 (for the Homing missle) or 4 (for the Laser) then the game will produce very strange effects, or it will just crash, cause these weapons can't have bigger values by default.
E82F - Speed
Controls how fast your Merc moves. 00=1 unit of speed, 04=5 units of speed (maximum?).

E83B - Gas Mask (Original Mode Only)
Controls whether your Merc is equipped with a gas mask. 00=No, 01=Yes

E83D - Bulletproof Vest (Original Mode Only)
Controls whether your Merc is equipped with a bulletproof vest. 00=No, 01=Yes

Mercs Stats (Original Mode Only)
Merc Stats are the stored stats of your Mercs team in Original Mode. These stats can be edited even if the Merc has yet to be found or is dead. These values are best edited on the Merc select screen, especially if you want to edit the Merc you are currently using.

Below is a quick summary of the stats format- if you are unsure, see the Current Merc Stats section for more detailed explanations.

  • Power: 00=1 unit, 09=10 units. Cannot exceed amount of units shown on select screen.
  • Speed: 00=1 unit, 04=5 units. Cannot exceed amount of units shown on select screen.
  • Health: Hex value, starting max is 20. Values above current maximum are read as the maximum value.
  • Max Health Additions: Each health extender powerup adds 02 to this, so acceptable values are 00,02,04,06,08, 0A.
  • Megacrashes: Decimal value, 00=0 Megacrashes, 10=10 Megacrashes
  • Gas Mask: 00=No, 01=Yes
  • Bulletproof Vest: 00=No, 01=Yes
note: the values I added are the default ones set by the game. It is possible to set higher values, but I haven't checked the games response to it. They probably work though, if there isn't a maximum set by the game (mainly for power and speed).

Rifle Stats

  • E7E9 - Rifle Power (00-09)
  • E7EB - Rifle Speed (00-04)
  • E7ED - Rifle Health (00-20, max 30)
  • E7EF - Rifle Max Health Additions (values are 00, 02, 04, 06, 08)
  • E7F1 - Rifle Megacrashes
  • E7F3 - Rifle Gas Mask
  • E7F5 - Rifle Bulletproof Vest
    •
Burner Stats
  • E7F7 - Burner Power (00-09)
  • E7F9 - Burner Speed (00-02)
  • E7FB - Burner Health (00-20, max 28)
  • E7FD - Burner Max Health Additions (values are 00, 02, 04)
  • E7FF - Burner Megacrashes
  • E801 - Burner Gas Mask
  • E803 - Burner Bulletproof Vest
    •
Launcher Stats
  • E805 - Launcher Power (00-09)
  • E807 - Launcher Speed (00-01)
  • E809 - Launcher Health (00-20, max 34)
  • E80B - Launcher Max Health Additions (values are 00, 02, 04, 06, 08, 0a)
  • E80D - Launcher Megacrashes
  • E80F - Launcher Gas Mask
  • E811 - Launcher Bulletproof Vest
    •
Laser Stats
  • E813 - Laser Power (00-03)
  • E815 - Laser Speed (00-03)
  • E817 - Laser Health (00-02)
  • E819 - Laser Max Health Additions (values are 00, 02, 04, 06, 08)
  • E81B - Laser Megacrashes
  • E81D - Laser Gas Mask
  • E81F - Laser Bulletproof Vest
    •
Homing Stats
  • E821 - Homing Power (00-02)
  • E823 - Homing Speed (00-02)
  • E825 - Homing Health (00-20, max 28)
  • E827 - Homing Max Health Additions (values are 00, 02, 04)
  • E829 - Homing Megacrashes
  • E82B - Homing Gas Mask
  • E82D - Homing Bulletproof Vest

Mercs Selectable (Original Mode Only)
Covers which Mercs are available to select on the Merc select screen.
E83F - Mercs found
Controls which Mercs are available to select.
These values will reset to their default at the start of every mission.
  • 00=Rifle
  • 02=Rifle + Burner
  • 04=Rifle + Burner + Launcher
  • 06=Rifle + Burner + Launcher + Laser
  • 08=Rifle + Burner + Launcher + Laser + Homing
In the following values 00=Alive & FF=Dead:
  • E830 - Rifle Alive/Dead
  • E831 - Burner Alive/Dead
  • E832 - Launcher Alive/Dead
  • E833 - Laser Alive/Dead
  • E834 - Homing Alive/Dead