GoldenEye 007 Nintendo 64 Community, GoldenEye X, Nintendo 64 Games Discussion

[Rey]

I'm sure everyone knows this one. When you place remote mine on the 2 sets of computer that hang in the Bunker level. Projectile objects float in mid air. Now I always wondered exactly why this happens. Can anyone full me in?
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[MultiplayerX]

I do remember a LOT of GE objects do that. Those objects may be FLAGGED wrong. Open up the level in editor and check them. I know weapons boxes use a flag that allows them to move when hit with bullets, etc.
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[Wreck]

Rey is refering directly to the glitch in Bunker i/ii. When you use mines to blow up the two hanging monitor racks in the central viewing room. Not only do you get that crazy projectile floating glitch, but you also are given an extra weapon called "NULL".

From what I remember reading, the programmers did know about this, and renamed the weapon "NULL" on purpose when they found it out. Maybe they didn't have time to fix it before the release. I don't think we've ever been able to recreate it in other levels. Then again, those are the only two with the monitor rack type... You thinking what I'm thinking?
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[MultiplayerX]

I know what you're thinking. honestly that would be cool to recreate that as an explosive feature in the entire game.
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[Rey]

Wreck wrote:

also are given an extra weapon called "NULL".

Yes I forgot about that. I wonder how they ended up discovering this.
Why they named it NULL is a bigger mystery to me. It's almost similar to the Silo Briefcase thing.
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[EternallyAries]

Interesting, I never knew about the NULL weapon. But the whole computer rack issue when you throw two grenades up there I known about. So maybe the NULL issue was removed in newer carts versions? Because the NULL weapon never showed up for me. When I get my N64 back I'll have to give it a try again and see if anything like that drops.
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[Rey]

Nothing drops from it. You automatically obtain the NULL in your selection screen.
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[Wreck]

And remember, only one version of GE was released for each region (NTSC, PAL and JAP). I don't know for certain if this glitch affects them all, but it definitely happens on the NTSC cart. Perhaps you just never noticed the NULL weapon added onto your watch inventory before, Aries?
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[PacmanPlush]

Rey wrote:

Nothing drops from it. You automatically obtain the NULL in your selection screen.

Wreck wrote:

Perhaps you just never noticed the NULL weapon added onto your watch inventory before, Aries?

Actually, it's entirely possible that Aries triggered the glitch but never saw the Null object.

From what I can tell, the Null glitch is only partially connected to the floating projectile glitch. To be more specific, the floating projectile glitch is required to obtain the Null object, but it is entirely possible to trigger the floating projectiles without also collecting the Null object.

It seems that the Null object doesn't appear in your inventory until you have fired a rocket-based weapon (either the Rocket Launcher or the Tank work fine) and, in doing so, have collected the rocket that you just fired.

The following is just speculation--I could be entirely mistaken here. It seems likely to me that player-fired rockets and actual collectable rockets (as seen on a table in Depot) are treated as separate objects by the game. Player-fired rockets, naturally, are set to explode on contact with any other object, or the level's geometry. Collectable rockets only trigger when a player touches them, at which point they are added to the player's inventory. But what would happen if a player somehow collected a rocket that they (or someone else) had fired? This should never happen in regular play, but it is made possible through the use of the floating projectile glitch. As a fail-safe measure, Rare set the pickup text and item type for this event. The game tells you that you have "Picked up a rocket" (sure enough, your current rocket count is incremented by one) but it also gives you the Null object. Why could this be?

On his website, Subdrag provides a list of item modifier codes that replace the weapons of various guards in Dam with any other weapon in the game. Subdrag identifies two of these objects as "Null Gun 1" and "Null Gun 2." Use the code 801E0188 0056 to give the first guard in Dam the first Null gun. Use 801E0188 0057 to give him the second Null gun. Using either code, you'll notice the weapon he drops after you kill him explodes once it hits the ground--almost as if it were a rocket colliding with the level's geometry. I have no reason to doubt that Subdrag identified these objects correctly, which means that the Null object, in normal play (without having used the floating projectile glitch), is functionally identical to a player-fired rocket. It travels in a straight line until it hits something, then it explodes.

My assumption here is that when a player fires their Rocket Launcher or Tank, the object they shoot is not, in fact, a rocket. It is the Null object, the properties of which are to:
-Explode on contact with the level's geometry or any other object
-If somehow collected by a player, display the text "Picked up a rocket," increment their rocket count by one, and add the Null object to their inventory.

On to the next part--how does the floating projectile glitch work? First, let's look at how it's done. Everyone has their own method of performing this glitch. EternallyAries mentioned throwing a couple grenades--I've never heard this before but I suppose it could work. Most people use remote mines, and place a mine on all eight monitors--you really only have to do four, but they have to be on the same rack. As far as I can tell, the key is that you destroy every monitor on one of the racks simultaneously.

The most commonly cited effect of this glitch is that any projectiles fired by the player freeze right in front of them. Other effects I've noticed include:


-guards can no longer throw grenades. Instead, they perform their throwing animation but the grenade remains stuck in their hand. It never detonates and they can proceed to "throw" another, or go back to shooting at you.


-guards no longer drop their weapons. They remain stuck in their hands during their death animation, and fade along with their bodies.

-with Enemy Rockets on, the guards' rockets freeze just like yours. Collecting one gives you a rocket and the Null object.

-shooting weapons on the ground normally causes them to bounce. With the glitch in place, weapons dropped prior to activating the glitch will no longer bounce. They stay locked firmly to the ground.

-shooting destructible objects will not cause them to slide, bounce, or fall when they explode.

Bizarrely, it's possible (though difficult) to trigger and then immediately "fix" the glitch. I never noticed this before now so it could be an emulation-only glitch--but I should note that I was able to pull it off twice. You can place your mines in such a way that you can destroy one set of four monitors (triggering the glitch) and have the explosion damage the other set, causing one or more of the monitors to fall and "fix" the glitch. Here's a PJ64 savestate I made that demonstrates this. Unfortunately, it was made after I noticed what had happened, so you'll have to take my word on how I did it--or try to do it yourself! The player is able to throw mines normally, but one is frozen in mid-air right in front of them. I threw this mine while the first set of monitors was exploding and the glitch was active, but before the explosion had spread to the second set.

So why does it happen? This is pure speculation but it seems clear to me that destroying the four hanging monitors simultaneously somehow breaks the game's ability to manipulate physics objects. The hanging monitor fixture might have some strange, hacked-in behaviour in place that attaches the monitors to the fixture until they are destroyed. This behaviour is somehow "spread" by manipulating the monitors in the right way.

Wreck wrote:

I don't know for certain if this glitch affects them all, but it definitely happens on the NTSC cart.

Both glitches work identically in the PAL and NTSC-J versions of the game, with all the same side effects. Here's some shots of the Null object from the Japanese version of the game.



The word "Null" seems to have been stripped from the game during the localization process. It never shows up in the full weapons list, but should be present in the second shot.

Wreck wrote:

I don't think we've ever been able to recreate it in other levels. Then again, those are the only two with the monitor rack type... You thinking what I'm thinking?

I tried adding the hanging monitor object to other levels in the Setup Editor. I'm able to place the frame, but I'm not sure how they added the monitors--I looked at the original setups in Bunker for reference, but couldn't find where or how the monitors were actually placed.

Rey wrote:

Yes I forgot about that. I wonder how they ended up discovering this. Why they named it NULL is a bigger mystery to me. It's almost similar to the Silo Briefcase thing.

Regarding the briefcase--Rare's Duncan Botwood and Mark Edmonds have stated that there was originally an objective tied to it. Moreover, I think it was essential (given the way things held in characters' hands are designed) to set the briefcase up as a weapon in order to get Ourumov to hold it. The key that Ourumov drops (if I recall correctly) is a skeleton key capable of opening every locked door in the Silo. In normal play, this is pretty useless because Ourumov is behind the last locked door in the level--you've already collected every key! I'd assume it was originally a debug object given to the player at the start of the level. (Hmm, what would happen if we brought this item over to another level? Would it function as a skeleton key there, too...?)
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[Wreck]

Very insightful post, Pacman. And I've now confirmed that the glitch is, indeed, caused by the hanging monitor rack object. The Editor doesn't currently support the rack type in a new setup, so I had to make the proper adjustments to the file manually...

You'll see here that I had installed two racks, each with four monitors a piece, inside the back of the Facility's loading bay. I placed a remote mine upon all eight monitors, then stepped back to detonate them. The results were as follows...





Exactly the same behaviour as in both Bunker levels. I've also equipped the NULL weapon in the first image. The tank is still fully operational, although your tank rounds don't quite possess the same launching power. There were also some serious texture issues happening, mainly wreaking havoc on the spawning enemy clothing.

I'm guessing you could most likely trigger this effect in every level, so long as there are monitor racks (or maybe even a single one would work).
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[Rey]

I do remember the texture acting as whatever was floating. Back of the Rocket comes to mind. I still wonder, how it is that the NULL can be contained within the racks.
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[Wreck]

I tend to agree with Pacman's thoughts on this one. Though I haven't tried for myself, it does make sense that you'd only obtain this "NULL" weapon after you've picked up one of your floating rockets. Your launched projectiles (say a rocket shell) likely are their own weapons. You aren't supposed to procure these, as they are meant to blow up on contact with other geometry. However, the glitch caused by blowing up the monitor racks allows this to be possible. Since the rocket remains in the place where it was fired from, the player can walk up to it. For whatever reason, the rocket shell can be collected. But you aren't just collecting regular rocket ammunition, you're getting the "NULL" weapon added to your inventory.

So, I think this thread has possibly been able to resolve two long standing mysteries that have always been connected together. Very cool.

Oh, and by the way, the back of the rocket is untextured. I'm pretty sure it is drawn first, but it doesn't use a specified texture. Even if you fire a rocket, you might be able to just see through the smoke that it is a solid colour, usually white. I guess the glitches cause more craziness to go on, and ends up with a texture overrun. I know I've even seen the skull image from berets on the back of a floating rocket before.
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[Rey]

Well according to the setup editor. There are two different types of NULL.
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[PacmanPlush]

Rey wrote:

Well according to the setup editor. There are two different types of NULL.

Rey, you just keep asking the right questions--this is so exciting, I love it!

As mentioned, both "Null guns" (object IDs 56 and 57, internally) can be given to the first guard in the Dam using the GameShark codes 801E0188 0056 and 801E0188 0057, respectively. Using the Setup Editor, they can be given to any guard in the game, with the same results. Neither is a functional weapon, and (having killed the guard) they explode upon touching the ground. Hence my hypothesis that the rockets you fire and the Null object you can collect are one and the same.

Here's where things get really interesting.

Your comment just reminded me that we can use the Setup Editor to add any item to Bond's starting inventory. So, let's do it!

Bond "holding" Null 1 in the intro swirl


Null gun 1, we've seen this before


Null gun 2


Both Null guns in the weapons menu--notice that there are two blank spaces!


As you may have noticed, the second Null item uses the same ammo icon as your Grenade Launcher. During my first look back into this glitch, I'd been trying (unsuccessfully) to convince Bond to collect a frozen Grenade Launcher round, to no avail. This is what would have happened, had it worked.

Both weapons have no ammo, but we can fix this. By adding Rocket and Grenade Launcher rounds to your starting inventory (or adding them to the map and collecting them), you'll have ammo for both, but they still aren't functional as you can't "reload" them. Here's Null 2 fully stocked:


Basically, the Null guns are non-functional clones of your standard Rocket Launcher and Grenade Launcher. If my earlier hypothesis was correct, both objects are used to set the collision properties for fired rockets and grenade rounds. While you should never be able to run into your own rocket (except through using the frozen projectiles glitch), it is fully possible to hit yourself with your own grenade round by bouncing it back--Rare knew this, and it is likely the reason why we can't collect frozen Grenade Launcher rounds.

Wreck wrote:

So, I think this thread has possibly been able to resolve two long standing mysteries that have always been connected together. Very cool.

Yeah, really--I'm kind of shocked that this has all been more or less cracked in a matter of days. Shows that it really pays to ask the right questions... thanks for starting this thread, Rey!
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[Rey]

So in photo one, NULL is rocket Ammo. And 2 is grenade. I agree with your stance on this, And so comes another question. If this a so called "Programmer's Trick" then the same should apply for the Throwing Knifes and all the other separate Mines including the normal grenade.
That is perhaps the other strange "-" lines that you see when equipping Bond/Guards with weapons there not supposed to have.
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