Hello Arcade-Projects Community,
I would like to submit a formal project request for a definitive ROM hack/IPS soft-patch for Konami's The Simpsons Arcade Game (running on custom Konami 68000 hardware).
The goal of this project is to create a localized English version that preserves the un-nerfed, vastly superior gameplay mechanics of the Japanese parent clone (simpsonsj), but bridges it natively with the standard 4-player international layout.
As many of you know, the US/World versions of the game stripped away several incredible mechanics to make the cabinet a tougher "quarter-eater." This project aims to restore those features completely for English-speaking players on modern setups.
Core Project Requirements & Restorations:
Target Base Romset: Konami simpsonsj (or mapped to run over standard 4-player configurations).
Health Bar Stacking: Retain the exclusive Japanese mechanic where eating food stacks your life bar past full health, converting into numeric multipliers (e.g., x2, x3).
Exclusive Weapon Assets: Ensure the Japanese-exclusive item drops—specifically the Mop and the Slingshot—remain fully active in the item pools.
Nuclear Clearing Bombs: Retain the atomic radiation item drops that instantly clear all enemies on the screen.
Free Character Selection: Retain the Japanese 4-player behavior where players can choose any character on insert coin, rather than being locked to a specific stick/player slot.
Text & Asset Localization: Translate all Japanese text strings (Character Select, Stage Introductions, Cutscenes, and Ending Cards) into English using the original Konami arcade font style where possible.
Assets Provided (Stage Card Text Mapping):
Character Select -> CHARACTER SELECT
ステージ 1：ダウンタウン -> STAGE 1: DOWNTOWN SPRINGFIELD
ステージ 2：クラスティ ランド -> STAGE 2: KRUSTYLAND
ステージ 3：スプリングフィールドの街 -> STAGE 3: SPRINGFIELD CEMETERY
ステージ 4：タバーン -> STAGE 4: MOE'S TAVERN
ステージ 5：アニメーション スタジオ -> STAGE 6: CHANNEL 6 STUDIOS
ステージ 6：ドリーム ランド -> STAGE 7: DREAMLAND
ステージ 7：原子力 発電所 -> STAGE 8: NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
おめでとう！ -> CONGRATULATIONS!
Ideally, this would be delivered as a non-destructive .ips layout file so that users can drop it straight into their MAME patches/simpsonsj/ folder without permanently altering their clean, archived ROM files.
If any hex editors or ROM hackers are interested in taking this on or looking into the graphic tiles/text injection pointers, I would be incredibly grateful. Please let me know if you need any additional testing or document dumps from the Japanese ROM structure!
Thank you for your time and expertise,
Jonny Modlin
I would like to submit a formal project request for a definitive ROM hack/IPS soft-patch for Konami's The Simpsons Arcade Game (running on custom Konami 68000 hardware).
The goal of this project is to create a localized English version that preserves the un-nerfed, vastly superior gameplay mechanics of the Japanese parent clone (simpsonsj), but bridges it natively with the standard 4-player international layout.
As many of you know, the US/World versions of the game stripped away several incredible mechanics to make the cabinet a tougher "quarter-eater." This project aims to restore those features completely for English-speaking players on modern setups.
Core Project Requirements & Restorations:
Target Base Romset: Konami simpsonsj (or mapped to run over standard 4-player configurations).
Health Bar Stacking: Retain the exclusive Japanese mechanic where eating food stacks your life bar past full health, converting into numeric multipliers (e.g., x2, x3).
Exclusive Weapon Assets: Ensure the Japanese-exclusive item drops—specifically the Mop and the Slingshot—remain fully active in the item pools.
Nuclear Clearing Bombs: Retain the atomic radiation item drops that instantly clear all enemies on the screen.
Free Character Selection: Retain the Japanese 4-player behavior where players can choose any character on insert coin, rather than being locked to a specific stick/player slot.
Text & Asset Localization: Translate all Japanese text strings (Character Select, Stage Introductions, Cutscenes, and Ending Cards) into English using the original Konami arcade font style where possible.
Assets Provided (Stage Card Text Mapping):
Character Select -> CHARACTER SELECT
ステージ 1：ダウンタウン -> STAGE 1: DOWNTOWN SPRINGFIELD
ステージ 2：クラスティ ランド -> STAGE 2: KRUSTYLAND
ステージ 3：スプリングフィールドの街 -> STAGE 3: SPRINGFIELD CEMETERY
ステージ 4：タバーン -> STAGE 4: MOE'S TAVERN
ステージ 5：アニメーション スタジオ -> STAGE 6: CHANNEL 6 STUDIOS
ステージ 6：ドリーム ランド -> STAGE 7: DREAMLAND
ステージ 7：原子力 発電所 -> STAGE 8: NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
おめでとう！ -> CONGRATULATIONS!
Ideally, this would be delivered as a non-destructive .ips layout file so that users can drop it straight into their MAME patches/simpsonsj/ folder without permanently altering their clean, archived ROM files.
If any hex editors or ROM hackers are interested in taking this on or looking into the graphic tiles/text injection pointers, I would be incredibly grateful. Please let me know if you need any additional testing or document dumps from the Japanese ROM structure!
Thank you for your time and expertise,
Jonny Modlin
