MARVEL MODS PRESENTS: THE 36 ROSTER HACK
Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the entire Marvel Mods community, I present to you
"The Holy Grail" that was many years in the making, referred to as the
36 Roster Hack (or "36R" for short). Normally, the game only allows for 27 playable heroes on the roster. But, through years of research, testing, and coding work, we have made it possible to have as many as 36 playable characters on the roster! Now,
ALL of the official characters can be in the game at the same time!
Um... what are you doing? Stop pinching yourself -- you're not dreaming. And yes, your eyes are seeing this correctly.
Though this hack was the work of Nikita488, UltraMegaMagnus and myself, it was the brainchild of many minds here in this forum.
(Its predecessor, the now-discontinued 33 Roster Hack had suffered some problems with the last 5 characters on our herostats. No more! Testing has shown that all of the characters gained XP and can equip items without worry. And saving the game isn't a problem, as a save file was created and loaded back into with no problems.) So, why settle for 27 when you can have 36? Download this awesome hack and see for yourself. And, feel free to give props, criticism, or feedback.
SPECIAL NOTE: Please note that the 36 Roster Hack is only compatible with the original 2006 port of MUA. It will not work on the "remastered" 2016 Steam version. Unsure which version you got? Check the game folder -- if you see .bin files and the exe file date is 2016, then you've got the "remastered" version that is useless here. Search ebay or Amazon to find and purchase the 2006 original port.
FEATURES UPDATED to 2.5:
-36 heroes are now playable, extending the roster by 9. All can level up and use items with no problems. Saving data is not a problem either, as the game's memory has been increased. (NOTE: All 36 spots must be filled for game saves to work.)
-New awesome-looking character select stage with double platforms. Menulocations #23 and #42 are no longer facing awkward directions.
-Adds an extraction point to first level.
-All characters and extraction points unlocked.
-New pictures for new extraction points, including better pics for Stark Tower and Castle Doom.
-All extraction points can now extract to other locations. (Previously, some SHIELD points couldn't extract elsewhere.) Only the "Command Deck" point cannot be extracted to, but can be extracted from.
-Bobby Drake model at Sanctum Santorum. (View "Iceman Couch" pic. Why would he be in ice form there?)
-Green markers under characters are now gone.
-Hard difficulty unlocked.
-New accurately-sized mannequins of Colossus, Luke Cage, and the Thing.
-Pre-made newbie-friendly herostat with all official characters in alphabetical order.
MINOR GLITCHES:
-Some characters will have all of their outfits locked, including the one they are wearing. Fortunately, the "Unlock All Costumes" cheat code will fix that.
-When not using all official characters, the last two or three characters may not have a blue circle on their first power. The "Unlock All Powers" cheat code will fix that.
-All 36 spots must be filled on a roster. Otherwise, game saves won't work.
HEROSELECT NOTE:
The 36 Roster Hack will not work with Heroselect, as it still uses the old menu locations and has the max at 27. However, Tony Stark has created and modified his OpenHeroselect program to support the 36R. You can find it here:
http://marvelmods.com/forum/index.php/topic,10597.0.html
PROJECT CREDITS:
Nikita488: Limit Adjuster plugins, dinput8.dll
UltraMegaMagnus: Team stage makeover, green marker removal, improved mannequins, zoneshot conversion, remastered interface
Outsider: Extraction point alteration, herostat set-up, zoneshot creation, Iceman script change, Doom & Galactus loading screens, pre-made herostat
FEATURE CREDITS:
Andersonbrazil: Help with m_team_stage background
brandonmeek: Extraction point at first level
Krisan Thyme: Character unlock script
Cyborg Sun & Bloodymares: Assistance with pre-made herostat
RESEARCH CREDITS:
Nikita488 - Discovery of herostat & select screen codes, mlm_team_back file hex-editing
Outsider - 28 Roster Limit Hack modification & research, project testing and analysis
Krisan Thyme - 11-NPC & 39-Character limit discoveries
Teancum - Extensive research of game engine & PY scripts found at Knowledge Base
Tommyboy2002 - NPC>27 project research and game-breaking limit experimentation
NOTABLE MENTIONS:
Maegawa - Stage Select finding (through zoneinfo.engb)
Julio Cabral - Ideas from simulator mission research
(Also, thanks to all members who have contributed their thoughts and support throughout the process.)
WARNING:
For all newbies (and I cannot stress this enough), please read the notes before installing this package into your game. It contains a step-by-step manual on how to do it. And if there are any problems or questions, please don't post them here. Post at the technical problems section. Don't place here a bunch more 36R complaints that really has nothing to do with the 36R. Other things: Do not using third party cheat tools such as unl-muatrn.exe. Also, delete or rename the game save folder, under Documents\Activision\Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and create new "settings.dat" file, as leaving an old "settings.dat" file can cause minor issues.
