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PHOXY
Posted on 10-11-21 08:52 AM Link | #4566
Before I say anything, Please not that I am not very smart. So please forgive me if this is already possible or if its not.

I like to play around with mods. I do it alot on switch, Wii U 3DS and Wii. Switch and 3DS emulators like Yuzu and Citra offer easy mod support by simply dumping the RomFS files and then pasting the modified RomFS in the mods directory of the game. The emulator then loads the game, followed by the RomFS and applies the RomFS as patch.

Wii modding on emulators like Dolphin allow you to extract the disc image, Where you can then modify the contents and then load up the main.dol file of the modified game to play the game with the changes applied.

My question: How would one achieve this on MelonDS? Is it possible to dump the rom in anyway to a modifiable state, which can then be reloaded without making a new rom image?
I'd like to know since I'm planning on doing a Pokemon Diamond Nuzlocke, and since I wish to stream it, I thought it would be nice if I could for instance, modify the protagonist sprites to look like me, or switch out some music, ect.

Please let me know if this is possible, and if not, Please let me know what tools you'd reccommend to achive any of these results outside of melonDS.

Thanks in advance!
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RiiTag

Arisotura
Posted on 10-11-21 08:56 AM Link | #4567
ROM hacking (or mods as it's called these days) on DS games is typically done by using a tool like NitroExplorer to extract the game's files, modifying them and then reinserting the modified files into the ROM (or, in cases like NSMB, using specialized tools like NSMBe).

the idea of being able to provide external files to replace the game's files would be feasible, and may be interesting, I just wonder if it'd be worth the hassle -- DS game mods seem to be largely distributed as oldstyle patch files to be applied to the ROM.

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Kuribo64

Generic aka RSDuck
Posted on 10-11-21 08:58 AM Link | #4568
for pokemon rom hacking this site might be useful: https://projectpokemon.org/

note that depending on what you want to do it's not trivial.

Theoretically something akin to layered fs would be possible in melonDS since games usually use the sdk filesystem, though nothing like this is implemented/planned.

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Take me to your heart / never let me go!

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poudink
Posted on 10-11-21 10:12 PM (rev. 2 of 10-11-21 10:12 PM) Link | #4570
A layered-fs like thing for DS games would make modding a bit more convenient but it doesn't exist with any emulator or tool that I know of. Would something like that even work on flashcarts? If not, then there's not much point in trying to implement something like that, imo. Even then, most editors edit the ROM directly and patches are all just xdelta (or sometimes bps) patches.

I'm really not familiar with Pokémon hacking, but generic DS file browsers/editors do exist, like the previously mentioned (very old) NitroExplorer, Every File Explorer and Tinke. I remember them using SDK formats (NSBMD, NCGR, etc.) so those tools will probably be able to edit a lot of the files. It's a mess, though. A lot of the files are unnamed and tucked away in NARC archives, so it's a pain to find what you want.
Music is just a regular old SDAT, so Nitro Studio would be the tool to use for that. Be warned though, since I've heard that Pokémon games are particularly finicky with SDAT edits. People in the ndspy server were saying that it stops working if you change anything, for some reason. Weird stuff.

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PHOXY
Posted on 10-12-21 07:13 AM Link | #4571
Posted by poudink
I'm really not familiar with Pokémon hacking, but generic DS file browsers/editors do exist, like the previously mentioned (very old) NitroExplorer, Every File Explorer and Tinke.

I have done some research on Tinke. It is the better file explorer, exporter and importer for NDS files. However, it requires manual compilation. I'm probably perfectly capable of doing this, but I do not yet have all the software required. As a victim of several viruses, trojans and hack attacks, I do not think I need to elaborate on the fears I have for downloading software. I shall will however attempt at overcoming my fear as I did with the previously mentioned software. I shall simply assume its safe knowing that the greater part of the community uses these applications.
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RiiTag

poudink
Posted on 10-12-21 07:02 PM Link | #4576
Posted by PHOXY
I have done some research on Tinke. It is the better file explorer, exporter and importer for NDS files. However, it requires manual compilation.

Er, no it doesn't. The official Github repository has release builds.

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Nothing to say, so jadnjkfmnjamnfjkldnajfnjkanfjdksan jsdnvj m.


Main - General - Question about mod support Hide post layouts | New reply

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