Crash Team Racing - Oxide game crash, possible solution?

Zeb89 · November 8th, 2008

Most people who play Crash Team Racing on EPSXE are already familiar with this issue. I'm sincerely hoping to find a way around the problem with any possible help from experts in this forum.

Details on Oxide crashing the game
Oxide cannot be unlocked by completing the game, instead he is accessible only by using a Gameshark code (80087100 000F [PAL]). Now, once you enter the code and activate player 1 as Oxide there are certain tracks (larger ones aka hot air skyway, cortex castle, n.gin labs, polar pass, tiger temple etc) where the game will crash on loading The issue is evidently due to the fact that his character model is made up of more polygons compared to the other racers which the game/system can't seem to handle, probably due to ps1 graphic limits at the time. I said "evidently" because on the other hand if you play in 3 or 4 players the game is automaticaly set to reduce the poligons for ALL models (including race tracks) thus bypassing the crash while using Oxide. The point is Oxide should have been made a playable character in the first place and not being able to use him properly and on all tracks is too frustrating to comprehend unless you yourself are a CTR fan. I'm guessing the solution would be to somehow hack the ploygon limit in the game. I'm thinking about memory hacking or hex editing the .iso but I'm no expert...

I was wondering if anyone out there had any clue in the world on how to solve/hack/bypass this problem, even the faintest suggesting would do.

An interesting thing to do would be to try CTR on a PS2 or PS3 using gameshark to unlock Oxide then checking if the poly limit is set by the game itself or the console it's played on.

All help will be immensely appreciated

PS: rumor has it that a cheat code to unlock Oxides exists but was never released by the developers. I count it as a possibility but highly doubt it since it wouldn't justify the polygon limit crashing.

EDIT:

Notice how in time trial mode the game seems to handle his ghost model in all levels... strange.

Last edited by Zeb89; November 9th, 2008 at 02:44..

Zeb89 · 2 Weeks Ago

*bump*

KrossX · 2 Weeks Ago

Woah, quite the bump indeed.

Anyway, you're trying to use something not normally available, and by usage of a gameshark code. Expect unforseen consequences.

So, which versions of ePSXe have you tried? Also, which other emulators?

__________________

xRyudo · 2 Weeks Ago

Not much you can do about it really. Codes like -that- tend to bug the game out at some point. In your case it's those specific tracks. It's impossible to "hack" around it as well, since the game simply wasn't developed that way. So unless you plan to redesign the entire game I'd just give up on it.

Zeb89 · 2 Weeks Ago

I'm using the European PAL version of the game on EPSXE 1.7
The problem is well known amongst CTR fans. Many people say it's because Oxide's spaceship has too many poligons. This is simply untrue since you can assign 8 Oxides at once throuch the cheat plugin on any level expect those few larger ones where on the other hand it won't let you even use 1! I'm sure that if it was possible to modify the game even a little, it would be an easy bypass. The hard part is getting the right approach...

This is as close as I got to using him on the "forbidden" tracks. By first choosing Crash, turning on the character selection cheat during the race and then selecting "restart track"... it messes up the graphics but it still lets you play to some extent. You evem here oxides voice quotes.

Last edited by Zeb89; 2 Weeks Ago at 20:45..

KrossX · 2 Weeks Ago

Ehem... =_="

Try other versions of ePSXe, and try other emulators like pSX.
Also, does it crash on the real console? If so, you're doomed.

__________________

xRyudo · 2 Weeks Ago

You're ignoring the fact that it's a character that was never meant to be on those levels.

The fact that it's working on a few levels is just pure luck. The developers might have intended for him to be used at the levels it actually works, but then decided to scrap the whole idea anyways halfway through, causing the other levels to bug up like that.

It's much like any other game where you can play as a particular character when you're not supposed to.

Kingdom hearts 2 with Mickey for example. You can play with him, but the moment you use a special skill Mickey freezes in thin air. It's supposed to work, so why does this happen? Because the skills were never programmed in the game to work with Mickey.

It's the same for Oxide there. It probably works in some ways, but in a lot of other ways it simply won't work.

I'm going to guess it'll mess up on the actual console too, but you can give it a shot anyway.

November 8th, 2008	#1 (permalink)
Zeb89 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Palazzo del Podestà Posts: 6	Crash Team Racing - Oxide game crash, possible solution? Most people who play Crash Team Racing on EPSXE are already familiar with this issue. I'm sincerely hoping to find a way around the problem with any possible help from experts in this forum. Details on Oxide crashing the game Oxide cannot be unlocked by completing the game, instead he is accessible only by using a Gameshark code (80087100 000F [PAL]). Now, once you enter the code and activate player 1 as Oxide there are certain tracks (larger ones aka hot air skyway, cortex castle, n.gin labs, polar pass, tiger temple etc) where the game will crash on loading The issue is evidently due to the fact that his character model is made up of more polygons compared to the other racers which the game/system can't seem to handle, probably due to ps1 graphic limits at the time. I said "evidently" because on the other hand if you play in 3 or 4 players the game is automaticaly set to reduce the poligons for ALL models (including race tracks) thus bypassing the crash while using Oxide. The point is Oxide should have been made a playable character in the first place and not being able to use him properly and on all tracks is too frustrating to comprehend unless you yourself are a CTR fan. I'm guessing the solution would be to somehow hack the ploygon limit in the game. I'm thinking about memory hacking or hex editing the .iso but I'm no expert... I was wondering if anyone out there had any clue in the world on how to solve/hack/bypass this problem, even the faintest suggesting would do. An interesting thing to do would be to try CTR on a PS2 or PS3 using gameshark to unlock Oxide then checking if the poly limit is set by the game itself or the console it's played on. All help will be immensely appreciated PS: rumor has it that a cheat code to unlock Oxides exists but was never released by the developers. I count it as a possibility but highly doubt it since it wouldn't justify the polygon limit crashing. EDIT: Notice how in time trial mode the game seems to handle his ghost model in all levels... strange. Last edited by Zeb89; November 9th, 2008 at 02:44..

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2 Weeks Ago	#2 (permalink)
Zeb89 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Palazzo del Podestà Posts: 6	bump

2 Weeks Ago	#3 (permalink)
KrossX Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Argentina Posts: 928	Woah, quite the bump indeed. Anyway, you're trying to use something not normally available, and by usage of a gameshark code. Expect unforseen consequences. So, which versions of ePSXe have you tried? Also, which other emulators? __________________

2 Weeks Ago	#4 (permalink)
xRyudo Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: USA Posts: 107	Not much you can do about it really. Codes like -that- tend to bug the game out at some point. In your case it's those specific tracks. It's impossible to "hack" around it as well, since the game simply wasn't developed that way. So unless you plan to redesign the entire game I'd just give up on it.

2 Weeks Ago	#5 (permalink)
Zeb89 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Palazzo del Podestà Posts: 6	I'm using the European PAL version of the game on EPSXE 1.7 The problem is well known amongst CTR fans. Many people say it's because Oxide's spaceship has too many poligons. This is simply untrue since you can assign 8 Oxides at once throuch the cheat plugin on any level expect those few larger ones where on the other hand it won't let you even use 1! I'm sure that if it was possible to modify the game even a little, it would be an easy bypass. The hard part is getting the right approach... This is as close as I got to using him on the "forbidden" tracks. By first choosing Crash, turning on the character selection cheat during the race and then selecting "restart track"... it messes up the graphics but it still lets you play to some extent. You evem here oxides voice quotes. Last edited by Zeb89; 2 Weeks Ago at 20:45..

2 Weeks Ago	#6 (permalink)
KrossX Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Argentina Posts: 928	Ehem... =_=" Try other versions of ePSXe, and try other emulators like pSX. Also, does it crash on the real console? If so, you're doomed. __________________

2 Weeks Ago	#7 (permalink)
xRyudo Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: USA Posts: 107	You're ignoring the fact that it's a character that was never meant to be on those levels. The fact that it's working on a few levels is just pure luck. The developers might have intended for him to be used at the levels it actually works, but then decided to scrap the whole idea anyways halfway through, causing the other levels to bug up like that. It's much like any other game where you can play as a particular character when you're not supposed to. Kingdom hearts 2 with Mickey for example. You can play with him, but the moment you use a special skill Mickey freezes in thin air. It's supposed to work, so why does this happen? Because the skills were never programmed in the game to work with Mickey. It's the same for Oxide there. It probably works in some ways, but in a lot of other ways it simply won't work. I'm going to guess it'll mess up on the actual console too, but you can give it a shot anyway.