Donkey Kong Land III/RAM map

The following article is a RAM map for Donkey Kong Land III.

Some notes:

• Most, if not all, of these addresses apply to both the English and Japanese versions.
• Many (but not all) of these addresses may also apply to Donkey Kong Land 2, as they run off the same game engine.

• C5EE = Bonus timer
• DF00 = Current character
  • 00 = Kiddy Kong
  • 01 = Dixie Kong
  • 02 = Ellie
  • 03 = Squawks
  • 04 = Enguarde
  • 05 = Squitter
  • 06 = Rattly (glitched, simply leftover from DKL2)
  • 07 = Toboggan
• DF30 = Invincibility timer

Saved data

Miscellaneous data

• A000-A04F = File 1
• A050-A0BF = File 2
• A0A0-A0EF = File 3

File 1	File 2	File 3	Description
A000-A001	A050-A051	A0A0-A0A1	16-bit big endian checksum of 4E bytes afterwards (e.g. A002-A04F for File 1)
A004	A054	A0A4	Last world visited
A00A	A05A	A0AA	Bonus Coins collected
A00B	A05B	A0AB	DK Coins collected
A00C	A05C	A0AC	Watches collected
A015	A065	A0B5	Card Game record (starts out at 31 seconds in a new file)
A016-A01B	A066-A06B	A0B6-A0BB	Bear data Bit 6: 1 if DK Coin is collected, 0 if not Bit 1: 1 if Watch is collected, 0 if not Bit 0: 1 if attempted at least once, 0 if not
A01C-A03F	A06C-A08F	A0BC-A0DF	Level data Bit 7: 0 if cleared with Kiddy the first time, 1 if cleared with Dixie for the first time Bit 6: 0 if missing at least one Bonus Coin, 1 if both Bonus Coins have been found Bit 5: Unused? Bit 4: 0 if Bonus Coin #2 is missing, 1 if Bonus Coin #2 is collected Bit 3: 0 if Bonus Coin #1 is missing, 1 if Bonus Coin #1 is collected Bit 2: Unused? Bit 1: 0 if DK Coin is not collected, 1 if DK Coin is collected Bit 0: 0 if not cleared, 1 if cleared
A040-A045	A090-A095	A0E0-A0E5	Boss level data Bit 7: ??? Bit 6: 1 if Bonus Coin is collected Bit 2: ??? Bit 0: 1 if cleared
A100-A14F A200-A24F	A150-A19F A250-A29F	A1A0-A1EF A2A0-A2EF	Backup copies of given file, used if previous checksum fails

Checksum

For each 50-byte block, a 16-bit, big endian checksum is stored in the first two bytes. This is a sum of each 8-bit value in the rest of the 4E bytes. If the checksum fails, the checksum in the file's first backup copy is checked. If this also fails, the checksum in the file's second and final backup copy is checked. If they all fail, the file is erased. If any of them pass, the game always uses the data in the first block. This occurs even if the checksum failed in this block, but passed in either of the two backup blocks, suggesting that this is likely a bug. Since the game always uses the data in the first block, this can cause glitches if the first block is corrupted, but the other two are intact.

Time Attack data

• A350-A382: File 1
• A383-A3B5: File 2
• A3B6-A3E8: File 3

File 1	File 2	File 3	Description
A350-A373	A383-A3A6	A3B6-A3D9	Time Attack level records Format: minutes, seconds, 1/100 seconds
A374-A37F	A3A7-A3B2	A3DA-A3E5	Time Attack clear flags 01 = Cleared; 00 = Not cleared
A380	A3B3	A3E6	Seems to be number of Time Attack records completed
A381	A3B4	A3E7	Time Attack unlocked? 01 = Unlocked; 00 = Not unlocked
A382	A3B5	A3E8	Time Attack checksum

Time Attack checksum

• The Time Attack checksum works as follows:
  • Take the values from the following RAM offsets (depending on the file) and add them all up, one byte at a time. (These contain time records, flags to determine whether a level is passed, etc.)
    • File 1: A350-A381
    • File 2: A383-A3B4
    • File 3: A3B6-A3E7
  • Next, take only the last 8 bits of the sum.
  • Flip all the bits of this sum (essentially, the sum is subtracted from FF; alternately, the sum is XORed with FF.)
  • Add 58 to this result (Note: in the prototype, add 50 instead), and store it in one of these offsets depending on the file:
    • File 1: A382
    • File 2: A3B5
    • File 3: A3E8
  • If this checksum fails, all Time Attack data is erased.

Velocity

• DF10 = Horizontal velocity
  • Some common values:

Action	Value(s)		Notes
Walking	19	E7
Running	23	DD	This is also Squitter's walking speed.
Attacking (while standing still)	0F	F1
Attacking (while walking or running)	23	DD
Jumping (while walking)	23	DD
Jumping (while running)	28	D8
Dixie's helicopter spin	23	DD
Jumping on enemy	1E	E2	Holding B does not seem to affect speed.
Attacking an enemy	2D	D3
	37	C9	If attacking two or more enemies in a row.
Holding a barrel while moving	1E	E2
Swimming (slow speed -- without holding B)	0F	F1
	15	EB	If pressing A to ascend.
Swimming (fast speed -- while holding B)	14	EC
	1A	E6	If pressing A to ascend.
Swimming (with Enguarde)	1E	E2
Stabbing (with Enguarde)	23	DD
Climbing	0F	F1	When not holding B.
	1E	E2	When holding B.
Toboggan	32
Jumping on enemy in Toboggan	2B		Does not decrease to 2B right away; gradually decreases. Afterwards, gradually increases back to 32.

• DF11 = Vertical velocity
  • Some common values:

Action	Value	Notes
Gravity	46	This value remains at 46 even when standing on ground.
Jumping	B3	After jumping, this value slowly increases (which causes downward acceleration) until it reaches the gravity value of 46. However, when this value reaches BB, it can remain at BB for up to 7 frames, depending on how long A is held down.
Dixie's helicopter spin	0A
Jumping on enemy	9F	Like normal jumping, this value slowly increases (causing downward acceleration) until it reaches 46.
	95	If A is held down while hitting the enemy.
Descending while swimming	0A
	14	If Down is pressed.
Ascending while swimming	F1	Every time A is pressed, this slowly decreases to F1, then slowly increases back to normal swimming speed
	F7	If Down is pressed.
	E8	If Up is pressed.
Swimming with Enguarde	1E	While descending.
	E2	While ascending.
Climbing	0F/F1	When not holding B.
	19/E7	When holding B.
Toboggan	6E
Jumping in Toboggan	C3	As is always the case with jumping, this value increases until it reaches gravity speed.
Jumping on enemy in Toboggan	9F

Note: For both vertical and horizontal velocity, both of these bytes are signed integers. Anything less than 00 (i.e. 80-FF) will be negative; for horizontal velocity, this will be to the left, and for vertical velocity, this will be up. Anything more than 00 (i.e. 01-7F) will be positive; for horizontal velocity, this will be to the right, and for vertical velocity, this will be down. 00 is stationary.

80 is the fastest speed for left or upward movement; 7F is the fastest speed for right or downward movement.