:::::::: -- SONIC ADVANCE 2 SP -- ::::::::
::::::::::: -- VERSION 1.02 -- :::::::::::: 

Sonic Advance 2 SP is a ROM hack geared at improving some of the less-loved aspects of Sonic Advance 2. 

Changes included:
- Adjusted enemy placements to reduce the amount of 'cheap shots', such as item boxes bouncing you into enemies
- Many bottomless pit areas replaced with new routes, or made harder to fall into at a moment's notice.
- More plentiful Special Ring placement, allowing a more freeform approach to entering Special Stages
- Special Stage entry requirement reduced to 5 SP Rings

That said, Advance 2 is still a challenging game! Bosses haven't been touched, and in the later half of the game you should expect plenty of enemies to catch you out,
and the return of the dreaded bottomless pits. I've tried to balance things in a way that feels fair, but also rewards memorisation for repeat play
and speedrunning - without *as* harsh a penalty for not doing so. Casual playthroughs are fun, and dedicated players will still get more out of it.

	:: -- HOW TO PLAY -- ::

Download XDelta UI (https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/598/) and run it. Select 'Sonic Advance 2 SP.xdelta', and then select your Sonic Advance 2 ROM file.
Sonic Advance 2 SP expects the US ROM for Sonic Advance 2 (SHA1 Hash 7bcd6a07af7c894746fa28073fe0c0e34408022d). 
Then name the output file (such as Sonic Advance 2 SP.gba) and click Patch. The game should now load as Advance 2 SP. 

	:: -- WHY DO I HAVE EVERYTHING UNLOCKED? -- ::

The Sonic Advance games have a somewhat funny debug state where, if an SRAM chip is not found (such as on a damaged or bootleg cartridge), all game content will be unlocked
immediately. Make sure your emulator or flashcart supports the SRAM chip.  

	:: -- CAN I USE THIS ON NINTENDO 3DS? -- ::

This hack has been lightly tested on 3DS, and seems to work fine. Use the Ultimate GBA VC Injector tool, and use the recommended settings during the
.cia creation process - it should work fine. 

	:: -- ARE YOU GOING TO DO ADVANCE 1/ADVANCE 3 SP? -- ::

Well...

	:: -- SPECIAL THANKS -- ::

This hack would not be possible without the work of MainMemory, who created the tools and Tiled extensions that allowed for stage editing in the first place, as well
as responding lightning-fast to every way in which I managed to break her tools. 

In addition, a huge thanks to freshollie, Jace, and all other members of the Sonic Advance 2 decompilation project for their hard work and Discord assistance. 

Thanks to Cornholio309, who created the original patch to reduce the SP Ring requirement and also provided the values that were edited in its README file. 

Thanks to SEGA, Sonic Team and Dimps for creating the original game. Much as I've complained about it, I'd have nothing to work from without it. That, and
Ice Paradise Act 2 slaps. 

Many thanks to those who tested this hack, or provided feedback:
- Arrietty
- Voltic.exe 
- CyclonX
- RobotFaker
- Azookara
- Wraith 
- Solkia
- Silva
- Rawrdom
- Cola64
- Michafrar
- Tomothy 
- SunnyD
- Stiv 

Many thanks to my Twitter followers for the unwavering support in getting this finished. Seeing all the excitement really pushed me forward!

And many thanks to my wife Hal, for putting up with me rambling about tilesets and co-ordinates and SP Rings for the last two weeks. She's the one. 

Please follow me @Tracker_TD.bsky.social on Bluesky for news on any updates or bugfixes for this release. 

CHANGELOG

-- 1.02
- Overhauled Sky Canyon Act 1's layout to avoid turnarounds that could result in players getting lost
(After replaying the hack myself lately, I embrassingly found myself getting lost in my own stage design... it should be a lot easier to navigate the bottom routes now)

- Adjusted enemy placement in several stages to disincentivise holding right 
(I got some feedback on the original version of the mod that suggested I'd basically created a version of the game that let you hold right by removing the speed traps. And... they were kind of
right in places. As a result, some speed traps are back; but don't panic! I've tried to be as fair as I can with them, largely putting them in areas that incentivise rolling to pick up speed
anyway. This is a Sonic game after all - spin to win! Airborne threats I've tested with multiple characters to make sure they can be approached in multiple ways; for example, while Sonic
can barrel through hazards with Humming Top, Tails can't, so you might have to pick a different way to tackle that hazard!) 

- Adjusted ring positions in True Area 53
(I've not so much added a bunch more rings, as simply shifted most ring sets up to make screen crunch less of an issue when trying to get them.) 

-- 1.01
- Fixed a header change that caused errors with certain flashcart boot settings