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	CONTRA - HEART OF GALUGA         
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	SHORT DESCRIPTION

The hack was made on the basis of the Japanese version, translated into Russian by Chief-Net. The hack includes many changes and additions, such as:
- expansion of levels;
- choice of difficulty "Contra" and "Veteran";
- more animated backgrounds on levels;
- redrawing of fonts, sprites, changing some palettes and adding new details on levels;
- changed characteristics of objects and weapons;
- new types of prizes and objects;
- some innovations on levels;
- ranks, time and number of deaths received after passing;
- additional new skin for game characters and other secret modes (see in the "Secrets" section);
- changed mapper of the game from VRC2 / VRC4 to VRC6.

The extended ROM includes a diverse approach to game design and a longer gameplay, which makes this hack unique in its own way


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Contra - Heart of Galuga [v1.1] (05.08.2025)
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	WHAT'S NEW

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Gameplay, graphics and levels
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- changed the placement of objects in most places;
- made some edits, changes and improvements to the level design in certain places;
- the speed of the explosion animation has been significantly increased, approximately like in Super C;
- adjusted the speed of destruction of the bridge on the 1st level. With a fast explosion animation, the bridge exploded in seconds and it was not possible to get over it;
- sprites of explosive bombs now flicker (thanks to PacnyTHuk!);
- you can shoot behind the screen (thanks to PacnyTHuk!);
- the waterfall moves, like in the original (someone's eyes are hurt by the fast animation);
- redrawing of snowballs on the 5th level;
- on the 5th level, the ceiling walls in large caves are now highlighted;
- redrawing platforms on level 6 and animated strip on large platforms;
- some types of platforms on level 6 have been fixed so that you can now stand on them at the left edge;
- warning prompts have been added before the lights on level 6;
- sprite edit for the prize medal;
- the Java dragon on level 8 has a different palette.

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Weapons and prizes
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- the rifle shoots 2 times faster, but the damage is reduced;
- F, F+R, S became a little faster;
- prize B when taken gives a bright flickering of neutral colors to the character for better visibility of the effect;
- prize B has a gradual increase in the flickering speed depending on the expiration of the effect (thanks to PacnyTHuk!);
- the number of bullets on the screen for the rifle and F has been reduced from 8 to 5;
- when taking the same weapon, they give 2500 points (thanks to PacnyTHuk!);
- when taking R, if you already have a pumped up weapon in your hands, they give 5000 points (thanks to PacnyTHuk!).

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Enemies and bosses
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- rebalanced the energy of objects, enemies and some bosses on both difficulties;
- in some places, autospawn of enemies is activated / disabled;
- a small fix of the original with the spawn of soldiers, when the spawn of three soldiers at once is randomized. Now they do not all come out from one edge of the screen in a crowd, but one by one from different edges (thanks to PacnyTHuk!);
- increased the interval between cannon shots on levels 1 and 3 on the "Contra" difficulty;
- the 2nd boss attacks with large bubbles a little less often;
- increased the interval between shots of explosive bombs for enemies in the water, on the "Veteran" difficulty;
- changed the balance of the timer for tanks on level 5;
- plates fly out of the 5th boss at different speeds when they fly in different directions of the screen, so that on the "Veteran" difficulty they touch each other exactly under the boss;
- on the 7th level, the mechanical hands that start working when the player gets closer, work earlier;
- fixed the sprite coordinate in one of the animations of the Bundle enemy (thanks to Sharpnull for finding the bug!);
- the Java dragon on the 8th level on the "Veteran" difficulty opens its mouth at the same speed as on normal difficulty;
- cocoons release facehuggers with a slightly longer time interval.

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Other
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- on the "Veteran" difficulty, they give more points. On the "Contra" difficulty, the points for some objects remained unchanged;
- the sound of damage to stones on the 3rd level was returned;
- the Konami cheat code for 30 lives was returned and an input sound was added. To do this, enter on the title screen: ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A (thanks to PacnyTHuk!);
- a new cheat code was made and an input sound was added for the hardcore mode, where from the start of the game there is 1 life and no continues. To do this, enter on the title screen: A B → ← → ← ↓ ↓ ↑ ↑ (thanks to PacnyTHuk!).


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Contra - Heart of Galuga [v1.0] (25.05.2025)
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	WHAT'S NEW

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Title screen, text, cutscenes
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1. The translated CONTRA logo from Chief-Net has been changed to another logo translated into Russian from Chronix
2. Added the name of the hack and copyrights
3. When selecting the first player, the inscription "Ready!" appears, and for two - "Ready!"
4. The control of bots in the demo gameplay has been changed.
5. The text in the prologue is printed faster, so that when the musical theme ends, the prologue ends.
6. The typo in the word "Galuga" in the prologue in the original translation was corrected.
7. Verb words between levels, such as "arrived", have been changed to the plural - "arrived"
8. Level 7 "Hangar" has been changed to "Mine"
9. Testers have been added to the credits and who helped with the hack
10. Added another secret ending to the game
11. After the credits, portraits of Contra characters will appear under the KONAMI logo, showing the number of deaths during the entire passage and game time.
12. Fast scrolling of titles has been added by pressing the Up button
13. In the credits, the next part of the final music will be played when the screen stops at the player stats.
14. Some words have been changed in the player menu

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Levels, objects, and bosses
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All levels have been expanded and filled with various details, and a couple of them have added their own uniqueness:
1. Mines have been added to all levels except 2, 4 and 8. Mines cannot be destroyed except for certain prizes
2. Invisible borders on the edge of the screen have been made a little smaller
3. Rain has been added to level 1 + animation speed has been adjusted to affect rain
4. On level 1, after destroying a high wall, the path will open up further
5. Most objects will appear a little earlier when the screen moves
6. On "Veteran" difficulty, on levels 2 and 4, the player's bullets will pass through three-barreled guns on the boss
7. On "Veteran" difficulty, grenade launchers in the water cannot be killed except for the bomb prize. Bullets will pass through them, as they are hiding in the water
8. There are soldiers running around on the 3rd boss
9. On "Veteran" difficulty, the tentacles of the 3rd boss are now bulletproof
10. On level 5, soldiers do not come out from different sides of the 3rd tank on the lower floor
11. The 5th boss can now additionally attack with an explosive grenade, which is divided into 2 parts
12. The 6th boss now throws discs more often, and the chance of his jumping has been reduced
13. At level 7, the minecarts now have physics:
	- minecarts can crash into each other and hit the left walls;
	- they can now ride on any surface and at any height;
	- you can't accidentally jump off them by pressing the "down + A" buttons;
	- you can stay on them until the end during the fall.
14. At level 7, when you destroy 10 opening cannons at the end, the door for the soldiers will not open. This will only work on the "Contra" difficulty
15. On level 7, minecarts can come out of the opening door
16. On the "Veteran" difficulty, on level 7, the opening guns are bulletproof
17. A new type of enemy has been added on level 8
18. Acid has been added on level 8
19. On level 8, there will be a maze in which you will need to find the correct path out of three three times (almost like in Super Mario Bros). The principle of the maze is as follows:
	- the point of checking the correct or incorrect choice of path you will know by the flickering effect and sounds (your shots can drown out these sounds). These hints are only on the "Contra" difficulty;
	- if the wrong path is chosen, the game will throw you back 1 screen;
	- the correct paths are always random when loading the level;
	- if both players go in different directions, the game will not consider the path correct. You need to move together along one path.
20. On "Veteran" difficulty, cocoons on level 8 cannot be destroyed - bullets will pass through them, but you can walk on them
21. Some objects on the screen may not appear / activate immediately, only after you move further. There are more such objects on "Veteran" difficulty

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Complexity
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There are now 2 difficulties to choose from.: 
1. Contra (normal difficulty). ""The Red Falcon" seeks to destroy the Earth, but nerves of steel and caution give you every chance to destroy the enemy.":
	- Start the game with 5 lives;
	- endless continuations;
	- average level of platforming;
	- most of the objects have remained the same in their characteristics as in the original, but a small part of them has changed;
	- rebalance the energy of enemies and objects along with bosses;
	- Some visible objects can be deactivated at this difficulty;
	- more points for destroying some objects;
	- A hint in the form of sounds and an effect in the maze at level 8.
2. Veteran (heavy difficulty). "The whole archipelago is against you, and a large group of enemies has become merciless and aggressive. More thoughtful tactics and dexterity give you a guarantee to withstand their onslaught":
	- game starts with 5 lives;
	- 5 continues;
	- high level of platforming;
	- objects have more energy;
	- object bullets fly faster;
	- changed characteristics of objects and bosses, + some objects in the game do not have hitboxes, and others are bulletproof;
	- snipers have more advanced armor and have high resistance to regular rifle bullets (in v1.1: snipers have 3hp);
	- enemies on the levels run out more often, as when passing several circles in the original;
	- more enemy objects on the levels, + all visible objects are activated on this difficulty;
	- less points for destroying some objects (in v1.1: more points than on the "Contra" difficulty);
	- no hints in the maze on level 8.

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Graphics and animation
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Tiles, sprites, and palette have been changed/improved in many places. Animation of backgrounds has also been added in many places instead of static backgrounds from the Japanese version. Fonts and other symbols have been redrawn on the title screen and cutscenes. New blocks (structures consisting of several tiles for levels) have been added, which adds new details to the levels, unusual structures, and a new approach to level design.

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Weapons and prizes
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Weapons have been balanced so that they now have their own uniqueness. Shots now have a timer when you can shoot again (except M and L) - this was done in order to get rid of shot spam and imbalance between weapons. For example, the rifle in the original destroys objects much faster than M with turbo buttons, if you shoot at point-blank range. And S in the original makes the game too easy, surpassing other weapons, turning bullets into a chaotic scatter of bullets with multiple shots.
	Shooting through the regular B button works like on the turbo button, that is, now you can hold down the regular B button - the shot will be made automatically, without the need to press this button many times. This was done specifically to make shooting via the regular B button easier, as is done mostly in more advanced Run and Gun games. This works on weapons that you couldn't hold down B and shoot automatically. L via the turbo button now shoots like when you press the regular B button. Also, strange shooting was removed from L, where you could shoot again with it, where the old laser beam disappeared immediately from the screen, before reaching the target.

Weapon strength has been changed (from the original, when approaching certain objects with a certain weapon, they start shooting more actively or their energy increases)

Original:
Rifle - 1
M - 2
F - 3
S - 4
L - 2

Hack:
Rifle - 1
M - 2
F - 2
F+R - 3
S - 4
L - 4

Below are the changes in weapons and prizes of different versions compared to the original

[Rifle] [v1.0]
- has a high delay between shots;
- the bullet is redrawn to a more prominent sprite;
- deals double damage;
- when upgraded, bullets fly much faster;
- when upgraded, the delay between shots is slightly reduced;
- fits 8 bullets on the screen.

[Rifle] [v1.1]
- has a low delay between shots;
- the bullet is redrawn to a more prominent sprite;
- when upgraded, bullets fly much faster;
- when upgraded, the delay between shots is slightly reduced;
- fits 5 bullets on the screen.

[M] [v1.0 - v1.1]
- when upgraded, bullets fly much faster.

[F] [v1.0]
- has a high delay between shots;
- deals double damage;
- destroys mines;
- when upgraded, the delay between shots is reduced;
- fits 8 bullets on the screen.

[F] [v1.1]
- has a medium delay between shots;
- deals double damage;
- destroys mines;
- when upgraded, the delay between shots is much reduced;
- fits 5 bullets on the screen.

[S] [v1.0]
- has a high delay between shots;
- bullets do not turn into huge balls;
- when upgraded, bullets fly much faster;
- when upgraded, the delay between shots is reduced;
- when upgraded, the radius of destruction becomes larger.

[S] [v1.1]
- has a medium delay between shots;
- bullets do not turn into huge balls;
- when upgraded, bullets fly much faster;
- when upgraded, the delay between shots is reduced;
- when upgraded, the radius of damage becomes larger.

[L] [v1.0 - v1.1]
- the beam flies faster;
- the beam does not disappear until it reaches the target or the end of the screen;
- the beam is redrawn, like in Super C;
- the beam sprites are connected in such a way that the sprites do not flicker and look nice visually;
- through turbo B, the beam flies out, as when pressing the regular B button;
- when upgraded, the beam begins to pierce most targets;
- when upgraded, the beam begins to blink.

[R] [v1.0]
- the prize glows blue.

[R] [v1.1]
- the prize glows blue;
- when taking R, if you already have an upgraded weapon in your hands, 5000 points are given.

[B] [v1.0]
- a slightly longer duration of the effect.

[B] [v1.1]
- a slightly longer duration of the effect;
- gives a bright flickering of neutral colors to the character for better visibility of the effect;
- has a gradual increase in the flickering speed depending on the expiration of the effect.

[Bomb] [v1.0 - v1.1]
- no changes.

[Medal] [v1.0 - v1.1]
- a new prize that gives +1 life. They are located on all levels. Some of them are located in dangerous areas where you have to take risks to get it, or by going through the same path on the screen a second time.

[Question Prize] [v1.0 - v1.1]
- a new bonus that gives a random prize. If this prize is in a flying capsule or in a container, then there is a small chance that the prize may explode, and on levels 2 and 4, instead of an explosion, a grenade may be thrown towards the player. The prizes that can be won are: R, rifle, M+R, F, S, L, B, bomb, medal, shooting down R.

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Other
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1. Added start-pause for the second player
2. When you lose all your lives, a skull with wings appears on the screen instead of the Game Over inscription
3. Now, to get your first life for points, you need to score 25,000 points instead of 20,000, and subsequent lives for points will be given for every 30,000 - 50,000 points
4. Redistribution of points to each object
5. Changed the sounds of damage to some objects
6. On the "end of game" screen, next to the word "continue" there is an infinity symbol on the "Counter" difficulty, and on the "Veteran" difficulty - a number
7. After destroying the heart, the rank will be shown on the helicopter in the next cutscene. The rank is determined by how many deaths were received during the passage. When playing with two players, the rank becomes common. On the "Contra" difficulty, the maximum rank is A+, and on the "Veteran" difficulty - S+
8. The score rating is not reset after pressing the software reset
9. Resetting the counter before starting the demo gameplay if any button was pressed
10. After completing the game, the game does not load the first level, but goes to the title screen
11. The game cut out the walkthrough circles, instead of this, a choice of difficulty was added
12. Changing the game mapper from VRC2 / VRC4 to VRC6, which made it possible to run the hack on many emulators

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Secrets
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	In version 1.1:
- start with 30 lives. Enter on the title screen: ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A
- start with 1 life and no continues. Enter on the title screen: A B → ← → ← ↓ ↓ ↑ ↑

	In version 1.0:
- start with 1 life and no continues. Enter on the title screen: ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A

	In both versions:
- so that all prizes on the levels are with questions. Enter on the title screen: B A ↓ B ↑ ↓
- exit to the player menu. On the title screen, hold B + A and press START
- exit to the level menu. After selecting the difficulty, hold: ← + SELECT
- change the skin from Bill and Lance to paratroopers. Enter on the title screen: ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ SELECT. In this case, the palette of enemies who used the blue color of the first player will also change. In cutscenes, the heroes are not affected, since this secret skin is not canon

When entering cheats, a flickering effect and sound will occur on the screen, determining that the cheat code was entered correctly. After the end of the game, all cheats are reset.
In the game mode with questionable prizes, glitches may appear if you manage to pick up a bomb from a random prize during autoscroll on the 1st, 7th and 8th bosses


	FIXES

1. Fixed screen scrolling when playing with two players. Now the screen starts moving forward the same way as when playing with one player + removed the invisible wall if one of the players goes forward and the other stands
2. Fixed the lack of shot recoil after leaving the water on level 1
3. Fixed the cannon coming out of the ground on levels 1 and 3, when it only fired at the first player, now it shoots at the one who is closer to it
4. Removed the ability to jump down on level 3 if there is a hole under the player
5. Canceled hitbox checks if the player is above or below the screen
6. Fixed checks of players in turn. There was a bug with this, where the first player would accidentally jump off the cart when the second player crashed into the cart
7. Fix for clearing the second player's counter before gaining life
8. Fix for the sprite coordinate in one of the Bundle enemy animations (fixed in version 1.1)
9. A small fix to the original with the spawn of soldiers, when the spawn of three soldiers at once was randomized. Now they do not all come out from one edge of the screen in a crowd, but one by one from different edges (fixed in version 1.1)


	GUIDES

1. The dropped prize does not disappear over time
2. If you are using a weapon with R, then when you take the same weapon, R is not knocked down
3. Explosive bombs, divided into 3 parts, you can easily determine where they will fall. They always fall and explode on the platform where the player is standing. If the player jumped and there is another platform on his level and the bomb falls somewhere nearby, then it will explode on this platform
4. On the "Contra" difficulty, you can hold on to the edge of the screen - enemies will not run out from there for a long time. On the "Veteran" difficulty, it is already dangerous to be near the edges of the screen
5. You can take hard-to-reach prizes, such as a medal on the 1st wall on level 1, but when playing with two players: one stands and holds the screen, while the second goes further and takes this medal. You can also take one, but by death, if you move the screen in the right place
6. At level 6, there are three types of fire output: from the horizontal pipe, from the right side of the wall and from the vertical pipe
	- the fire from the horizontal pipe is triggered only if you get closer to it. They have 4 types of fire output timers. Being near them, you can determine how often the fire will come out, and thus you can find the moment and safely slip past it;
	- the fire from the right wall is triggered only by the game timer;
	- the fire from the vertical pipe has 4 types of fire output timers when it first appears on the screen. After the first fire is triggered, it will work randomly: you can never guess how the fire will behave, you need to be on your guard!
7. At level 7, there are a couple of places that are difficult to access for jumping from a minecart or without it. Sometimes it is worth waiting for the next minecart to jump from it to the desired platform. There are two types of minecarts:
	- a standing/falling minecart. They only appear once or twice in one place, so it is better not to destroy them in order to use them to jump over holes or pass a difficult section;
	- a minecart that appears on the right and moves towards the player. They appear constantly where this object was placed. They will not appear where there are none.
8. Mechanical arms on level 7 that don't go all the way down to the platform, you can lie under them
9. Lights on level 6 and mechanical arms on level 7 stop working at the left edge of the screen. Use this
10. On level 8, you can walk and jump on cocoons, but a facehugger coming out of there can hit you
11. You can lie down when shooters (enemies standing behind a turret), snipers, and regular soldiers shooting while standing shoot at your legs - in this case, the bullet will fly past you. You can also stand and lie, for example, on a minecart, and enemies and snipers running nearby will not touch you
12. The prize you receive will be given to both players at once if they have merged into one sprite at that moment
13. If you have spent a life, then when you appear, you should not press forward if there are holes on the screen. The game will resurrect your character above the platform and most often on the left. If there is a section you want to climb when you appear, press the desired direction to fall on it, if there is no large gap between the platforms
14. The game will not allow you to jump down if there is a pit below you. If there is a platform below you, then the game will allow you to jump off, unless you are on an impassable block
15. You can jump on top of the spiked walls on the 7th level, and also break them with the invulnerability effect from the B prize, tanking them


	SUPPORT

If you find any critical bugs, then write to me in the discord: my nickname is dimelnex

The author of the hack:
DimelNEX

Artist, lvl-designer:
DimelNEX

They helped with the hack:
leon-udomlya
PacnyTHuk
Doomday

Testers:
Hobbot
ENT_PAVEL

Many thanks to PacnyTHuk for expanding the rom, writing new codes, fixes and many interesting things, without which there would not be the very Contra that we have now!
Thanks also to leon-udomlya for helping us find the data and create a pause for the second player and the game timer!
Thanks to Doomday for changing the mapper to VRC6, which now makes it possible to run this hack on many emulators!
And special thanks to the testers who identified difficult points in the game for further edits and found bugs that were fixed soon!