PS2 Non-retail Headhunter Promo

[SmilingMango]

Found an interesting build in my stack of promos. The Disc serial does not match the redump version, even though the redump version is also labeled as "promo".

CRC and size does not match and the build date is about 5 weeks before the release version. There are a lot of binary differences. Most seem to indicate changes in memory handling, but there are also diffs in the credits and audio files. In-game I couldn't find differences, although the camera seems to be a bit more janky in the promo build, but that could also be my set-up. After some fiddeling around with assembly I could also get the debug menu running on the promo which is identical to the retail build, except for the fact that the retail build seems to use more memory.

Weird oddity. Maybe a critical bug was discovered?

File folder on MEGA

mega.nz

Spoiler: Diffs

 

[n99k3d]

Man that's awesome! So the Myth - that Promo Disks couldnt have Beta Stuff on them is actually somewhat debunked by now I have the same Disc but didnt think that it has a Debug Menu still in Place Will do some more digging through mine now too

k now this is getting weird my disc looks the exact same down to the last detail but the build dates on it are different

Mine probably already lacks the Debug Menu but who knows if you want i can Upload it for you and send you via PM

 

[SmilingMango]

Man that's awesome! So the Myth - that Promo Disks couldnt have Beta Stuff on them is actually somewhat debunked by now I have the same Disc but didnt think that it has a Debug Menu still in Place Will do some more digging through mine now too

I think this was a release candidate that was pulled last minute.

Does your promo have a different disc ID (right side of the serial "SCES-50500"). My disc is "9323822". The one on redump that matches retail is "9608745".

redump.org • Headhunter

Redump - disc images information

redump.org

Your build probably has debug menu as well but you need to enable it with cheats. https://tcrf.net/Headhunter_(PlayStation_2)
For my build the memory offsets are different so I had to tweak the assembly to get it running.

 

[n99k3d]

I think this was a release candidate that was pulled last minute.

Does your promo have a different disc ID (right side of the serial "SCES-50500"). My disc is "9323822". The one on redump that matches retail is "9608745".

redump.org • Headhunter

Redump - disc images information

redump.org

Your build probably has debug menu as well but you need to enable it with cheats. https://tcrf.net/Headhunter_(PlayStation_2)
For my build the memory offsets are different so I had to tweak the assembly to get it running.

Havent looked at it closely before but it seems to say : SCES-50500-9323822# < the # is no error on my part - heres a Photo :



Will send you a PM maybe you can unlock the Debug Menu there too