Abuse Wii

Abuse Wii
General
Author	Sam Hocevar/HunterZ/niuus
Type	Platform
Version	0.8.684.2
License	GPL-2.0
Last Updated	2022/04/07
Links
Download
Website
Source

Abuse is a dark 2D side-scrolling action/platform/shooter that pits you -- assuming the role of Nick Vrenna, resistance fighter -- against ruthless alien killers, called ants, that have taken control over humanity.

Developed by Crack dot Com in 1995, the game features beautiful lighting, realistic animation and alien-like creatures to destroy. It is now maintained by Sam Hocevar in an attempt to prevent it from vanishing from the Internet.

Wii port by HunterZ based on Sam Hocevar's source at http://abuse.zoy.org/.

Installation

Wii

To install Abuse Wii on Wii, copy the abuse folder to /apps/. The game will automatically detect the game path based on where boot.dol was launched from.

The /data/ subfolder must be present for the game to work and the /save/ subfolder must be present if you want to save settings and game files.

You can customize the options in meta.xml to suit your preferences. All options come with comments that explain their functions.

Dolphin

Abuse Wii can also run on Dolphin, but performance may not be optimal. To run the game on Dolphin, you need to create an SD card image (sd.raw) with the Abuse Wii files under /apps/abuse/.

To run Abuse Wii properly on Dolphin, select "Config > Wii > Insert SD Card" and "Graphics > External Frame Buffer > Real". Unfortunately, there is no way to pass command-line arguments when loading a .dol file in Dolphin, so you will have to stick with the default settings.

Wiiload

Wiiload is mainly useful for developers to test changes to boot.dol without having to reinstall the entire game. To use Wiiload, Abuse Wii must first be installed on the SD under "/apps/abuse".

Options (from meta.xml) can be passed as command-line parameters when running Wiiload, but a dummy parameter must be passed as the first one after boot.dol.

To start, run the Homebrew Channel on the Wii and then run Wiiload with Abuse Wii's boot.dol as the first parameter.

User guide

Plot

The Ants were fearless, efficient killers. The Unified Underground's only opening was that the Ant defense systems were designed by engineers too arrogant to consider the threat of an individual. It was enough to justify the covert Abuse Missions.

On August 31, 2021, eight bytes were zeroed in a computer, and Nick Vrenna's identity was erased. A suit of armor cradling a smoking auto rifle stood in shadows appreciating the stench coming from the first retired Ant of the day. The armored soul feared the effort would end up as pathetic as the Terran Surrender Terms, but humanity had nothing else.

Saving and Loading

The game saves files and other configuration data in the /save/ subfolder located in the game's installation path. To reset the game to its original state, delete all files from the /save/ folder, but keep the folder itself. If the /save/ folder is removed, the game will only run in read-only mode and won't be able to save any settings or progress.

To save your current game progress, find a save terminal in the game and activate it. There are several terminals scattered throughout the levels. After activation, a menu will appear with a list of save slots. Select the desired slot to save your progress.

To load a saved game, click on the blue floppy disk icon on the main menu (only visible if saved games exist). Then, choose the desired save slot.

Music

The game's music is supported through the SDL Wii's built-in Timidity library. To set it up, download the Timidity patches and install the ".cfg" file to /etc/timidity/timidity.cfg and the patches to the appropriate sub-folder(s) of /usr/local/lib/timidity."

This approach also works for other SDL-based Wii games, as more detailed instructions and links can be found on CorsixTH's page. A recent build of Wiidoom also seems to work with this setup.

Multiplayer

The networking code in the game's source code doesn't compile on the Wii, so the Wii port has been configured not to support multiplayer.

Editing

The Wii port does not support the editing mode or the abuse-tool. Edit mode may work with command-line switches from meta.xml, but this has not been tested. There may also be keystrokes needed for editing that have not been mapped to Wii inputs.

Instead, consider using PC ports of Abuse and abuse-tool to create content and then run it on the Wii port. This approach is likely to be easier.

Controls

Abuse was originally designed to be played on PC with a keyboard and mouse. The Wii version replaces these with Nunchuk (or Classic Controller Pro held in left hand) & Wiimote, with the following default mappings.

Wiimote

D-Pad - Scroll (unused?)

Pointer - Aim, Move Cursor

A - Special (e.g. running), Right Mouse Click

B - Fire Weapon, Left Mouse Click

Plus/Minus - Next/Previous Weapon

Home - Pause (to main menu), Quit, Close Menu, Skip

1 - Continue/Unpause (in-game Pause only?)

2 - Pause (in-game)

Nunchuck

Control Stick - Move Left/Right

Z - Jump, Climb Up

C - Activate, Climb Down

Classic Controller

D-Pad - Scroll (unused?)

Plus/Minus - Next/Previous Weapon

Home - Pause (to main menu), Quit, Close Menu, Skip

Left Control Stick - Move Left/Right

ZL - Jump, Climb Up

L - Activate, Climb Down

By default, jump and activate actions are only mapped to buttons on the Nunchuk/Classic Controller Pro, not to up/down on the stick. This provides better control over jumping and activating but makes climbing ladders less intuitive. However, as of version 0.8.684.2, there are options in meta.xml to change this behavior.

Screenshots

Media

Abuse Wii v0.8.682.1 (Cid2Mizard)

Compatibility

The game is best played on a real Wii through the Homebrew Channel, either from SD or USB.

It can also be run on Dolphin or Wiiload, but there may be limitations.

Changelog

V0.8.684.2 2022/04/07

• Second official release, with lots of new goodies.
• Note: Version numbering system is [Abuse major version].[Abuse minor version].[Sam Hocevar SVN revision].[Wii revision].

V0.8.684.2 2013/06/13

• Added optional jump/climb/activate via joystick up/down (default disabled).
• Added optional swap of shoulder button mappings for jump/climb/activate (default disabled).
• Added configurable horizontal and vertical joystick dead zones (defaults 15.0% and 50.0%, respectively).
• Added optional aspect ratio compensation to display the game in a 4:3 area on 16:9 screens (default enabled).
• Added optional pixel smoothing (default enabled).
• Added many settings to meta.xml that control the above features.
• Modified English Lisp script to mention Wii-specific controls in the tutorial level hints. Note that this is hard-coded to reflect the default controls.
• Built with latest libogc and latest SDL-Wii SVN.

V0.8.682.1 2011/09/18

• Initial release.

Credits

• Original game - Crack Dot Com.
• Various ports - Many other contributors.
• Current Abuse SDL source maintainer - Sam Hocevar at abuse.zoy.org.

External links

• WiiBrew - https://wiibrew.org/wiki/Abuse_Wii
• Github (niuus) - https://github.com/niuus/abuse-wii
• Github (HunterZ) - https://github.com/HunterZ/abuse-wii