Metal Gear Remix v1.995

Thanks, everyone!

No problem, I'm glad that you reached out. Here is a zip file with documentation that I created over the years for the script hack. As I mentioned on your tumblr ask, there is no source code per say since there were no execution changes in the ROM. I hope this helps you with your Amiga port.

To give a general overview. The script code calls for tiles to be displayed from the font bitmap or is a dictionary (what I call in the documentation a "wordvar," short for Word Variable) call to an array of predefined tile sequences for common words. "Big Boss" is an example. Instead of taking up the space in the script to mention "Big Boss" multiple times, they list that sequence once, and use a single byte to refer to it in script. This saves a ton of data. These functions exist in all the commercial versions of the game.

In addition to the dictionary system, I altered several font tiles (which were previously Japanese katakana) to include multiple character sequences as a single tile that were otherwise consuming data space in the dictionary or script tables. Ellipsis "..." is an example, and so are common conjunctions, like "'ll". You'll see some bitmaps that will show you what I mean.

The key to stuffing as much data as possible into this system was optimizing what words and phrases were used in script, dictionary, and font tiles, to both maintain meaning, but also fall into a common usage that would maximize the use of these rudimentary compression techniques. Think of it as trying to tell an engrossing espionage story with only the same 150 words, and you can only tell a total of 1500 words to get the story across.

Honestly, if your port involves recompiling the game from source, you don't need to mess with all of this extra compression stuff. You won't have to fit it into a 128kb cartridge, haha!

That's awesome! Have fun with the project. Let me know if there's anything further I can provide.