Memory addresses

The game has 9 object slots, used for enemies, obstacles and all projectiles, and for many of the addresses treats the player as an 'object 0'.

Objects

Address(es)LengthData typeDescription
$00B7-$00BF, $00AD-$00B51 ByteUnsignedObject X (256 pixels, pixel)
$00CB-$00D3, $00C1-$00C91 ByteUnsignedObject Y (256 pixels, pixel)
$037D-$03851 ByteUnsignedObject HP

Player

Address(es)LengthData typeDescription
$00B6, $00AC, $04671 ByteUnsignedPlayer X (256 pixels, pixel, subpixel)
$00CA, $00C01 ByteUnsignedPlayer Y (256 pixels, pixel)
$00862 BytesSignedPlayer X Speed (subpixels)
$00882 BytesSignedPlayer Y Speed (subpixels)
$04961 ByteUnsignedPlayer HP

Gameplay

Basics

Levels

Throughout the game, the player puts on different disguises, and gains corresponding abilities. There are five different levels:
In theory, the player takes pictures of their target to create the mask, but this makes the countdown at the end of each level longer, so it is avoided.

Physics

The game uses a precise 256-subpixel movement system. When on the ground, the player accelerates by 30 subpixels each frame, and when midair, by 5 subpixels each frame.
There are two main kinds of floors in the game, based on their speed cap:
There is no speed cap in midair. In the warehouse levels, there are also occasionally tightropes, where speed is capped at 1 pixel per frame.
Most of the floors in the earlier levels are fast floors, with the exception of the wooden structures in the central park levels. However, in Chinatown and the construction site, most of the floors are slow floors.

Attacks

In the warehouse, central park and Chinatown levels, the player has a basic melee attack. It is slow, and can only be performed on the ground, and stops the player in their place.
In the carnival and construction site levels, the player has a basic projectile attack. It can again only be performed on the ground, and knocks the player back in the direction opposite to the projectile. Projectiles travel at 2 pixels per frame.
In all levels except the carnival, pressing A and B on the same frame does a short jump attack. This has the benefit of maintaining speed, and can also be chained to pass through many enemies without stopping.
Another use is for spacing: since the player speed is not capped when midair, it is faster to jump when possible. The jump attack is much lower than a usual jump, allowing it to be used when there is not room for a full jump.

Tricks and glitches

Misdirected knockback

In levels where the player has projectiles to shoot, the knockback is applied to the enemy in the direction the player is facing at the time the projectile makes contact with the enemy. This allows the player to control which direction the enemy is knocked back.

Despawning objects

This is not yet fully understood, but it seems like when an object spawns on the same frame another object despawns, it gains some of the properties of the despawning object. The only known use for this is for the third stage in the Warehouse level, where the balloon at the end turns into a potion at the same time as the despawning balloon would have.

Climbing inside walls

When near a wall, the game does not snap the player to a fixed X position, so they may end up climbing a small distance inside the wall. However, the maximum distance inside the wall is not optimal, as the player will bump into the top of the wall as they jump over it, which decreases their speed significantly more than it otherwise would.

Boss level endings

The vast majority of levels with bosses have their ending triggered by the player reaching a certain endzone position, regardless of whether the boss is actually dead. This allows the level to be completed without the boss being killed once the boss has been knocked back sufficiently far. For some reason, this doesn't seem to work on Smiley.
Instead, Smiley can be killed more quickly by knocking him off the other edge of the final platform.

GameResources/NES/Darkman last edited by Denial140 on 8/13/2022 11:10 PM
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