Suikoden II: Guides: Bugs

Matilda Gate Glitch

Bug Details

System(s)	Playstation, PSN (POPS)
Bug Type	Gameplay
Region Introduced
Patch Version	2.01.065b

Regions Affected

The Matilda Gate Bug is an issue with the gate on the Muse-Matilda Border. It should be impassable for about half the game, but is not, due to a design oversight. Instead of acting as a solid wall, the Matilda Gate behaves like a box or a typical NPC, and can be pushed out of the way. Because it can be pushed, the player can gain access to the Matilda region much earlier than intended.

This is one of the most famous glitches in Suikoden II. By accessing Matilda early in the game, enemies of much higher level can be fought, better items purchased, and additional characters can be recruited early. Strangely, you can also access scenes in the game that may have been part of a scrapped set of events. Konami may have originally planned for Matilda to be accessible earlier in the game, and those events, and possibly the Gate Bug, are remnants of those abandoned plans. The way the Gate Bug occurs, and appears in game, does not directly lend credence to that speculation, though. Konami may have changed it from a hot spot&emdash;a place that, when examined, causes an event to trigger&emdash;and erroneously made the Gate moveable instead of fixed, but we will probably never know for certain.

Cause

This bug is the result of a property being set wrong for the Gate object. The Matilda Gate Area is contained in /CDROM/090_ARI/VI11.BIN, and when it loads, the Gate is created as a pushable feature of the map.

RAM:80112994 GateStart:      .byte    3
RAM:80112995                 .byte    0
RAM:80112996                 .byte    4
RAM:80112997                 .byte    1               # Sets properties, like allowed interactions.
RAM:80112998 GateSprite:     .byte  0xC               # Sprite C?
RAM:80112999                 .byte    0

RAM:8011299A GateID:         .byte    0
RAM:8011299B                 .byte    0
RAM:8011299C                 .byte    2
RAM:8011299D                 .byte    0
RAM:8011299E                 .byte    0
RAM:8011299F                 .byte    0
RAM:801129A0 GateXPos:       .byte 0x10
RAM:801129A1                 .byte    0
RAM:801129A2 GateYPos:       .byte 0x33  # 3
RAM:801129A3                 .byte    0
RAM:801129A4                 .byte    0
RAM:801129A5                 .byte    0
RAM:801129A6                 .byte    0
RAM:801129A7 GateEnd:        .byte    0

These are the default properties of the object when the map loads. The only properties known to change after loading are the position. The 0xC value is essentially a sprite, which is more an assemblage of several tiles. The important bit is the byte preceding the sprite, which at the very least defines what can be done to the object. The value 1 is typical for mobile NPCs and objects that can be shifted.

Fix

If you look just above the Gate's entry, you find the entries for the area's Guards, who are not pushable, unlike most NPCs. Their property is set to 0xFF. Overwriting the Gate with this value makes it impossible to move.

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