As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/

DS Homebrew Thread: Still Alive

DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
edited September 2009 in Games and Technology
Last updated: June 26th, 2008: StillAliveDS. The thread is also still alive.
Okay, so this got brought up in the other DS thread and I think it deserves its own place. Now [strike]I'm[/strike] I was kind of new to this whole homebrew thing; I got my flash card [strike]earlier today[/strike] almost a year ago.

Anyway, without further ado:

What is it?
Homemade software running on your DS.

Is it legal?
I don't see why not. We're not talking about piracy here (note: we are not talking about piracy here, or the mods will rightfully ban you forever), we're just talking about people writing code for a particular platform.

What do I need?
A homebrew device, which is basically a cartridge that you can write stuff to. These come in two types, slot-1 devices and slot-2 devices.

Slot-2 devices plug into the GBA slot and have either internal memory or a space for a CF or SD card. To run DS homebrew off of them, you also need a special card called a NoPass in the DS slot, because otherwise the DS would just boot into GBA mode, which is not nearly as cool. Slot-2 devices are basically obsolete. I don't even know if you can find them anywhere anymore. They still work for new homebrew stuff, though, so if you can find one cheap it might be worth it.

Slot-1 devices plug into the DS slot and usually have a MicroSD card slot on them, although a few exist that run with built-in memory and a mini-USB jack or something. You can't run old GBA homebrew off of these, but you don't need to screw around with NoPasses, either. These are basically the only kind of devices that you can find anywhere anymore.

As of today I am the proud new owner of an [strike]EZFlash V[/strike], which is a slot 1 device, but this particular model comes with this nifty expansion pack that I can write GBA homebrew to. This expansion pack also claims to function as a Rumble Pak (for rumble-enabled games) or Memory Pack (for the DS Browser and homebrew stuff that needs the extra RAM) but [strike]I have nothing to test that with so I can't vouch for that.[/strike] it seems those functions only work for homebrew or pirated games, unfortunately. Still, the RAM sure is useful for Quake II (see below)

Update: Turns out that the EZFlash V is a piece of shit and it just decided to stop working entirely for no reason. I now own a DSTT, which is the cheapest flash card that isn't a Datel-made piece of crap. If you also own a DSTT, you may have noticed that whoever wrote the card menu was smoking crack. Get a replacement named YSMENU here: http://home.usay.jp/pc/etc/nds/ (the site is in Japanese, search it for the word "YSMENU").

What's this DLDI crap I keep hearing about?
Well, in the old days, homebrew that created files would need to be written specifically for each different device, and for the most part, everything that didn't use a gigantic CF card was unsupported. A guy called Chism wrote a something called DLDI to solve this. Basically, you get a DLDI library for whatever card you have and run the homebrew through a patcher, which patches it so it can use the filesystem on your card. Lots of stuff supports this now, so you don't need to worry that you won't be able to use homebrew if you don't get an M3 or Supercard, like everyone was worried in the last thread.

What can I do with it?
Good question. Here are some programs, and if you guys find any other interesting ones out there, post them in this thread.

Applications:
MoonShell: A basic file browser, music player, and movie viewer for your DS. Plays damn near any kind of non-DRMed music and plays specially encoded DPG video. Includes an encoder but a better encoder can be found here. Works with nearly any flash card and it's probably the most widely used piece of DS homebrew. Many flash cards (including mine) have a modified version of it built-in.

DSOrganize: DSOrganize is a really cool PDA suite for the DS. You can draw pictures (but Colors! is much better, see below), keep a calendar and address book, it has a scientific calculator, etc. It has a file browser that can function as a music player, too. And an IRC client. And an online homebrew database that will let you download nifty programs right to your DS, although the database isn't always kept up to date. Also, as of a couple months ago, it includes a web browser that doesn't require a RAM expansion pack. One that can store six Wi-Fi connection entries instead of Nintendo's usual three. Nice!

DS Linux: As with pretty much every Turing-complete device, the Linux geeks have ported Linux to it. It's command-line only, so outside of Linux geeks like myself I don't think many would find it useful. Still, it's pretty interesting: it can use the microphone and Wi-Fi and everything.

Colors!: Colors! is an amazing paint program for the DS. It lets you use the DS as if it were a drawing tablet, and actually detects how much pressure you're using. It's the best paint program on the DS; if you still have Phidas installed (or if you're using DSOrganize to draw things) get this instead. I've heard that the official Nintendo devkit (that Nintendo gives out to real game companies) can't even do pressure-sensitive touchscreen stuff, so that's really impressive.

DSAim: As the name would imply, this is an AOL Instant Messenger client for the DS. I'm using it now and it works perfectly (edit: well, semi-perfectly. It can choke if someone IMs you a huge block of text, but then it's only a beta), although typing out IMs with the keyboard on the touch screen could be better. Still, handwriting recognition is difficult, so this is more than forgivable. In any case, it works great. It even imports your buddy lists, aliases, etc. I find that the latest version can be a bit sketchy on some cards, so if it doesn't work, try tracking down and downloading version 0.02 instead.

DSLiveWeather: Check the weather.com forecast anywhere you have WiFi access. Can store up to 20 locations so you don't need to type in your ZIP code every time you use it. Quite useful.

DSFTP: This is an FTP server for the DS. "Wait, what?" I can hear you ask. "Why would I want my DS to be a fileserver?" Well, this way you can transfer files to it wirelessly instead of moving a tiny, fingernail-sized MicroSD card to your computer and back all the time. It's kind of slow, however, but once you get it set up, it works well enough. The newest version uses DLDI, so it will work with most flash cards.

FlashMe: This is a customized firmware for the DS. Originally, in the days before the NoPass existed, this was the only way to run homebrew without having a giant Gameshark-like PassMe sticking out of your DS. Now the only purpose of it is to remove the "Health and Safety Warning" that pops up whenever you start your DS, but that's still really damn useful in my opinion. It also has a recovery mode to fix your DS if something goes wrong, and the newest version even supports recovery from slot-1 devices (disclaimer: I have not had to test this). EDIT: Proper link posted, now that the guy's site is up. The current version is FlashmeV8. It supports the DS Lite, don't worry. For a walkthrough, see the next post.


Games:
QuakeDS: Okay, this one's [strike]not done yet, but it's progressing really well[/strike] basically finished, and it's completely awesome. It runs every level (except one single level that has a weird edicts bug) with a decent framerate. It has working netplay! (Currently it requires an access point in the vicinity, unfortunately.) I, personally, love it; as soon as I picked up Metroid Prime Hunters, my first thought was "damn, iD should really put Quake on here," and it looks like the homebrew community (or, specifically, Simon J. Hall) has picked up the slack.

Quake2DS: Ho-lee shit. I didn't even think that this was even possible, but the guy who got Quake working on the DS also got Quake 2 working, using some kind of strange voodoo magic programming skill. I mean, there was a YouTube video of his early attempts a year or two ago, and it was at like one frame per minute. Now it's at about thirty frames per second. Playable, definitely. The catch? This requires 16 MiB of RAM in the GBA slot. If you bought the Opera DS Browser, you're shit outta luck, as it only has 8 MiB. You need the EZ-Flash Expansion Pak or a Supercard or something.

ScummVM DS: A DS port of the SCUMM Virtual Machine, allowing you to play old LucasArts adventure games. If, like me, you never really got into those games back in the day and don't own any, you can download Beneath a Steel Sky or Flight of the Amazon Queen for free, legally, from here. It runs everything up to and including Day Of The Tentacle, which I played through entirely on my DS. It does not run The Curse of Monkey Island, The Dig, or Full Throttle. There just isn't enough memory in the DS to do it. The author is working on using a RAM expansion cartridge to get those games to work, but estimated time of arrival is "not soon".

(NEW!) StillAliveDS: What's this? A 2D, Portal-type game? Hell yes! It's a bit heavy on the references and in-jokes, but it's fucking Portal, man! And to make things better, there's a map editor (that you use on your PC) so you can make custom levels for on your DS. Maybe we'll swap a few in this thread, if anyone has anything interesting.

Lemmings DS! Okay, so Sony owns Psygnosis and therefore the Lemmings license, and so Lemmings ends up on the handheld least suitable for it. All is not lost, however, as a completely goddamn perfect port of the Amiga original appears on the DS for cheap as free! The controls work great and it's really a joy to play. Get it.

Pocket Physics: You draw stuff on the screen and it moves and interacts with other drawn objects. Simple concept. Completely addicting gameplay. Get it. Get it now.

DSDoom: Absolutely perfect port of Doom, Doom 2, Final Doom, etc. to the DS. You need to provide your own .wad, of course, but if you don't own Doom you can use id's free shareware one.

DScent: A port of Descent to the Nintendo DS. Alpha 3 actually works, so yay. You need the original PC version of Descent to play (or rather, you need the descent.pig and descent.hog files from the original PC version, patched up to version 1.4a). Descent is possibly the best game of the DOS era, so if you don't have your disks anymore, track it down somewhere. I'm serious, this thing is better than Starfox.

POWDER: Awesome rougelike with controls much more streamlined for the DS/GBA than, say, Nethack. Really much easier to get into. Very addictive.

AmplituDS: DS game that works much like Harmonix's Amplitude. I never played Amplitude, myself, but this is a pretty fun rhythm game. Now with a remixed version of the Super Mario theme.

Word Up!: Blocks with letters on them drop; form words before they fill the screen and make you lose. Pretty straightforward and damn fun; this thing could be a commercial game and people would buy it, I'm sure.

DS Chess is a chess program for the DS. Either the AI is really quite competent or I suck. In any case, the controls work really well with the stylus and even if you get beat it's an enjoyable game of chess.

LOCKJAW: Tetris-clone by an absolute obsessive compulsive. Do you know the difference between the rotation system used in Tetris DS and the system used in Sega Tetris from the Genesis? Do you feel the need to custom-configure the randomizer? Does anything about any Tetris game piss you off? Lockjaw probably allows you to customize everything you could possibly need. A PC port also exists.

Much more fun, in my opinion, is LOCKJAW: The Overdose, formerly known as Tetanus On Drugs and the main reason why I wanted to make sure I got a flash card that could play GBA games. This is a traditional Tetris game except the screen gets wavy and distorted. The amount of distortion is dependent on how close you are to losing. It's an excellent game, really, but it's GBA-only so people with just a slot-1 might not be able to play.

Codename: Hacker: Remember Chip's Challenge? This is the same thing, but with more levels and better graphics. The default language is French. Don't panic. Go into the options menu and switch it to English.

OpenTyrian DS: A long time ago, the company that is now famous for Unreal and Gears of War brought to the PC an amazing SHMUP. It's a western-style SHMUP, with a life bar and upgrades and the whole shebang, similar to Raptor if you're more familiar with that. Oh, and it's fuckawesome. Anyway, Epic actually released the source code to this game (why haven't they done that with the Unreal 1 engine yet?) and some intrepid programmers ported it to the DS. Also, Epic released the game assets as free, so unlike for Quake, you don't need to have already bought Tyrian back in 1995 to get this game to work; just download the zip file at that link, unpack to your card, and play.

Rise Of The Triad: Another classic FPS ported to the DS. In case you've never heard of it, this one was originally made by Apogee Games, the people now known as 3DRealms (and now famous for delaying Duke Nukem Forever), but a long time ago, they licensed the Wolfenstein 3D engine, modified the hell out of it, and made one kickass FPS. As usual, you can play for free with the old shareware version (also downloadable at that link in a nice convenient package) but you need the data files from the full PC version to play the full version on the DS.

Motocross Challenge (GBA Only): It's like what Excitebike would be if Nintendo ever made a GBA sequel. DHG Games couldn't find a publisher, so they released it for free. You'll need a GBA flash device to use it, though.

Luminesweeper (GBA Only): This is actually a piece of GBA homebrew, but I'll put it here anyway because it's awesome. I guess it's a Lumines clone, but with Minesweeper elements? I dunno, I've never played the actual Lumines. But this is great stuff.

Anything else? Where did you get most of this, man?
I've been lurking around GBADev a bunch lately, which was this website that used to deal largely with GBA homebrew and has now largely moved on to the Nintendo DS. Their "Homebrew Announcements" forum, here tends to have some interesting stuff on it before anywhere else does. (note to mods: that forum's anti-piracy rules are as strict as the ones here.)

Daedalus on
«13456728

Posts

  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    FlashMe Tutorial and FAQ:
    What the hell is FlashMe and why should I give a damn?
    FlashMe is a custom firmware for the DS, replacing the original firmware. It allows the user to boot DS code from a device in Slot-2 without extra crap in Slot-1.

    But nobody fucking uses Slot 2 for DS stuff anymore. What's the point?
    It also removes the encryption check on Download Play, so with the right wireless card you can beam stuff directly to your DS, although I don't know what stuff you'd do this for, to be honest. I'm sure there's something out there.
    More importantly, it also removes the Health and Safety Warning screen, and has a recovery mode to save you from the only known DS virus.

    Holy shit, really? I hate that warning screen! Where do I sign up!
    Download relevant files here:
    http://home.comcast.net/~olimar/flashme/
    The "stealth" version leaves the Health and Safety Warning intact.

    I'm guessing this flagrantly violates my warranty, no?
    Of course it does, but if you use the Stealth version (and don't fuck up and brick your DS), they won't know you did it. Also, with a DS Lite, if you don't know what you're doing, you could turn your DS into an inert brick of plastic.

    Assuming I haven't already decided not to do this at all, how do I avoid bricking my DS?
    Glad you asked. First of all, plug your DS in! Never mess with the firmware of anything when it's not plugged in. If you lose power partway through, you're screwed.

    Anyway. Let's explain about how the DS's write protection works.
    Basically, the first few blocks of the DS's firmware is write-protected. In order to overwrite it, you need to bridge a pair of contacts known as SL1. These contacts can be found under the battery cover and look like a screw head. On the DS Hevy, they're nice and isolated and easy to find, although there should be a red sticker in the way (removing this sticker voids your warranty, natch).

    On the old heavy DS it's easy: open the battery cover, peel the sticker, and just use a screwdriver or paper clip or something conductive and bridge those two metal semicircles when the FlashMe program tells you. Keep bridging until it says you're done.
    SL1_phat.jpg.
    bridging.jpg

    What about the DS Lite?
    The DS Lite has a bit of a gotcha. SL1 is nice and easy to find and doesn't even have a sticker in it.
    sl1.jpg
    However, in the DS Lite, next to SL1 is another contact called VR. If SL1 gets bridged to VR, the DS shuts down in the middle of flashing and you have a brick.
    sl1vr.jpg
    It's like playing Operation, except instead of a buzzer going off, you kill your DS.

    The solution is simple, of course: take your small screwdriver or whatever and wrap it in tape. All but the tip should be wrapped in tape. The tape prevents electrical contact between SL1 and VR and makes the process safe and relatively painless.

    What if I fuck up?
    FlashMeV8a (and most earlier versions) has a failsafe system. The first chunk of the replacement firmware is recovery code. As long as you're more than like 5% in or so, you should be able to hold down Start and Select when booting the DS and it will automatically try to boot from Slot 1 and Slot 2 in that order. disclaimer: I have not had to do this, and so I don't know if it will work. This entire process is at your own risk.

    Wait, what was that about a DS virus earlier?!
    It's very rare and you probably won't run into it. Also most flash cards specifically block it from working. However.

    Once upon a time, long before even the DS Lite, one of the people responsible for most of the early development of DS homebrew (the guy who invented and created the first PassMe, among other things) went a little crazy. He created a .nds file that would overwrite certain unprotected blocks of the DS's stock firmware, turning the DS into a brick. He named his doomsday device r0mloader.nds and released it on some IRC channel.

    Nowadays, many flash cards specifically look for this file and prevent it from running. At least, I know mine does. Bricker prevention is also built into moonshell. Also, most anti-virus programs will pick it up if you scan it. It's not a major threat anymore, is what I'm trying to say.

    What does this have to do with FlashMe?
    Okay, let me back up a bit. The whole SL1 thing only protects the first few blocks of the firmware. The Bricker corrupts other blocks, because it can't touch those. Now, that recovery mode I talked about earlier? That's "under" SL1 and can't be touched, so you can recover from the DS Bricker, too.

    Still, there's really very little to worry about in the first place and I just mostly put all that stuff about the Bricker up there for completeness sake.

    thanks to gbatemp and Loopy for the pics.

    Daedalus on
  • EinhanderEinhander __BANNED USERS regular
    edited April 2007
    Awesome.

    How much did you spend, anyway?

    Also, getting rid of the Health and Safety warning sounds like it would be nice. I'd like to boot right into my menu or a game.

    Einhander on
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Einhander wrote: »
    Awesome.

    How much did you spend, anyway?

    Also, getting rid of the Health and Safety warning sounds like it would be nice. I'd like to boot right into my menu or a game.

    I spent $11 on a 1GB MicroSD card from newegg (get Kingston, they're good. Whatever you do, don't get SanDisk, they suck), plus shipping. I spent like $55 USD plus $5 or so on shipping from Kicktrading.ca. I went with them because they're in Canada and not like Macau or something so they ended up cheapest after shipping. Shipping took like a week and a half, though, I guess them Canadians don't know how to work mail. (I kid, I kid).

    If you've already got a MicroSD card lying around from a cameraphone or something, you can use that. 1GB is excessive unless you turn your DS into your primary MP3 player (which I did).

    EDIT: About FlashMe. To make the main firmware writable, you need to open the battery cover and use some piece of metal to bridge two contacts (called SL1) in a little hole. (Keep the DS plugged in, because if it loses power during this, you lose a DS). For the DS Phat, this is easy. For the DS Lite, there's another little contact on the side that if you touch it and SL1 at the same time, the DS shorts and shuts itself off. It's like playing Operation, except instead of a loud buzzing noise, you waste $120. Of course, just like in Operation, you can cheat and wrap tape around the paper clip or screw driver or whatever, so that only the very tip can touch anything. Unlike in Operation, this is actively encouraged.

    Anyway, there's a recovery mode thingy if the DS gets shut off in the middle, but it only works with Slot-2 cards.

    It was scary as fuck to do it the first time (doubly so because I only have a slot-1 device), but it worked, so cool.

    Daedalus on
  • MugenmidgetMugenmidget Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1459

    This used to be 40 bucks, but they bumped it up a bit now. Still pretty good.

    Mugenmidget on
    e3ORbfq.png
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1459

    This used to be 40 bucks, but they bumped it up a bit now. Still pretty good.

    Related note: if you see something called the M3 Simply anywhere, that's the same thing as the R4 except with a different sticker on it (and a higher price tag).

    I went with the EZV just because of this little expansion cart thing, but if you don't care about GBA stuff, I hear the R4 has somewhat better support. Really, though, just about every major project is supported by every major flash card now because of DLDI, which is a linked library that offers widespread FAT support for almost everything.

    Daedalus on
  • MugenmidgetMugenmidget Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Tettatds is pretty sweet:

    http://blog.dev-scene.com/flatware/

    It's a Tetris Attack clone with online multiplayer.

    Mugenmidget on
    e3ORbfq.png
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Tettatds is pretty sweet:

    http://blog.dev-scene.com/flatware/

    It's a Tetris Attack clone with online multiplayer.

    Woo hoo! My girlfriend loves this game (she played it as Pokemon Puzzle Leauge). I'm getting it.

    Daedalus on
  • BushmaoriBushmaori Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Good timing, I just bought a new M3 Simply slot 1 after my old chinese import POS kicked the bucket. Cost me a pretty penny but hell a Gig of space for music and movies is hell neat.
    Music and movies aren't against the rules are they?

    Bushmaori on
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Bushmaori wrote: »
    Good timing, I just bought a new M3 Simply slot 1 after my old chinese import POS kicked the bucket. Cost me a pretty penny but hell a Gig of space for music and movies is hell neat.
    Music and movies aren't against the rules are they?

    I don't believe so. After all, the hardware to copy those to MP3 and whatever you use for movies is widely avaliable and used (read: iTunes, etc).

    Daedalus on
  • ArugulaZArugulaZ Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    ArugulaZ on
    JR

    Same old site, great new look! Check out The Gameroom Blitz at:
    http://www.lakupo.com/grblitz
  • TechnicalityTechnicality Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    dungeon crawl (roguelike) ds
    Nitrotracker (for making sweet sweet music)
    FTP server, so you don't need to keep yanking out the sd card just to try new stuff

    I've been making an animated sprite editor. Its not finished yet though, so nothing to share personally yet.

    Technicality on
    handt.jpg tor.jpg

  • RohaqRohaq UKRegistered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Anyone got DSFTP working yet? I can't figure out where they want me to put the conf file, and it won't let me log in with the login details it generates.

    Rohaq on
  • NofrikinfuNNofrikinfuN Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Rabble. This makes me want to hunt up a Slot 1 device.

    Question - What can you do on a Slot 2 device that you can't on a Slot 1 device? GBA homebrew? Or can you pretty much run anything on a slot 1 now?

    NofrikinfuN on
  • DrezDrez Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    I have the M3 Perfect CF and a 1 gig CF card for my DS Phat as per suggestions from Sporky and others in the last thread.

    My favorites applications are Comic Book DS and the NYC Subway maps I have on it. I'm also a big fan of ScummDS.

    Have they updated DSOrganize at all?

    I'm going to check out DSDoom and DS Chess. Maybe Luminesweeper. :^: Warlock!

    Drez on
    Switch: SW-7690-2320-9238Steam/PSN/Xbox: Drezdar
  • harvestharvest By birthright, a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1459

    This used to be 40 bucks, but they bumped it up a bit now. Still pretty good.
    This poast wins so hard. Bought'd like woah. I haven't been able to find this kind of combo for less than $80 anywhere online and I spent all last week looking.

    harvest on
    B6yM5w2.gif
  • NofrikinfuNNofrikinfuN Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    harvest wrote: »
    http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1459

    This used to be 40 bucks, but they bumped it up a bit now. Still pretty good.
    This poast wins so hard. Bought'd like woah. I haven't been able to find this kind of combo for less than $80 anywhere online and I spent all last week looking.

    Woah indeed. I've heard some good things about the R4... Can anyone confirm its pros/cons? Surely it can't be cheap and awesome both... Right?
    Please let it be awesome!

    Would I really be missing out on anything important if I went with a Slot 1 solution? Because with a deal like that, it's really hard to just not go ahead and buy it.

    NofrikinfuN on
  • harvestharvest By birthright, a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Well the review on this site http://www.ds-scene.net/reviews.php makes it seem pretty awesome, that's why I've been trying to find it.

    Edit: oh shit, these guys ship for free, but it takes 2 weeks to get it. Well, it's worth waiting to me.

    harvest on
    B6yM5w2.gif
  • NofrikinfuNNofrikinfuN Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    harvest wrote: »
    Well the review on this site http://www.ds-scene.net/reviews.php makes it seem pretty awesome, that's why I've been trying to find it.

    Edit: oh shit, these guys ship for free, but it takes 2 weeks to get it. Well, it's worth waiting to me.

    At any rate, free shipping is a nice bonus.

    So is the 1GB MicroSD card. Also, in one of those pictures, there's a little module that looks vaguely like a thumb drive. Is that a USB dock for the SD card? Because not having to buy the memory or a PC card reader makes the deal all the sweeter. Unless this thing was totally gimped for homebrew, the only thing I don't like about it is that it is white. (I have an old silver DS.)

    NofrikinfuN on
  • AnakinOUAnakinOU Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Crap. The wife's gonna kill me.

    boughted.

    AnakinOU on
  • NofrikinfuNNofrikinfuN Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    AnakinOU wrote: »
    Crap. The wife's gonna kill me.

    boughted.

    You know, that's pretty much the sole opposition I'm running into as well. She would be cool with it, but the monies are so tight lately.

    EDIT: Is it against the rules to post a link to a homebrew site? Because I was wondering if someone had a link to a decent source for things like Moonshell, DSOrganize and all the various homebrew games and whatnot. Is there any one source, or will it all need to be found piece by piece?

    NofrikinfuN on
  • Dublo7Dublo7 Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    So, Comic Book DS is fantastic. Just putting that out there.

    What flash cards do you guys use?
    I got myself an M3 Simply. I haven't had any problems with it. I love it to death.

    Also, I've been wanting a Chess game for my DS. Thanks a tonne for that link in the OP :)

    edit - OK, the Chess AI is kicking the piss out of me D:

    Dublo7 on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • harvestharvest By birthright, a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    AnakinOU wrote: »
    Crap. The wife's gonna kill me.

    boughted.

    You know, that's pretty much the sole opposition I'm running into as well. She would be cool with it, but the monies are so tight lately.

    EDIT: Is it against the rules to post a link to a homebrew site? Because I was wondering if someone had a link to a decent source for things like Moonshell, DSOrganize and all the various homebrew games and whatnot. Is there any one source, or will it all need to be found piece by piece?
    Depending on which version you actually get of the R4DS, (v1 or v2) you might get both a black and a white DS cart shell.

    The site I linked to above, DS Scene, has a downloads section. I don't see any infringing software, but I haven't examined it too closely yet, since I won't have the hardware for two weeks.

    harvest on
    B6yM5w2.gif
  • NofrikinfuNNofrikinfuN Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Dublo7 wrote: »
    So, Comic Book DS is fantastic. Just putting that out there.

    What flash cards do you guys use?
    I got myself an M3 Simply. I haven't had any problems with it. I love it to death.

    Odd, I was just reading a review for the R4 that said Comic Book DS wasn't supported. I thought the M3 Simply and R4 were practically identical hardware?

    Also, thanks Harvest.

    NofrikinfuN on
  • Dublo7Dublo7 Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Dublo7 wrote: »
    So, Comic Book DS is fantastic. Just putting that out there.

    What flash cards do you guys use?
    I got myself an M3 Simply. I haven't had any problems with it. I love it to death.

    Odd, I was just reading a review for the R4 that said Comic Book DS wasn't supported. I thought the M3 Simply and R4 were practically identical hardware?

    Also, thanks Harvest.

    It is supported. You just need to patch the ComicbookDS rom with an appropriate (R4DS) DLDI patch.
    There is a link on that Comic Book DS website.

    Dublo7 on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Brodo FagginsBrodo Faggins Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    harvest wrote: »
    Well the review on this site http://www.ds-scene.net/reviews.php makes it seem pretty awesome, that's why I've been trying to find it.

    Edit: oh shit, these guys ship for free, but it takes 2 weeks to get it. Well, it's worth waiting to me.

    At any rate, free shipping is a nice bonus.

    So is the 1GB MicroSD card. Also, in one of those pictures, there's a little module that looks vaguely like a thumb drive. Is that a USB dock for the SD card? Because not having to buy the memory or a PC card reader makes the deal all the sweeter. Unless this thing was totally gimped for homebrew, the only thing I don't like about it is that it is white. (I have an old silver DS.)

    Yeah, it's a USB adaptor for a microSD card. Two of my friends and I got this package, and we're highly satisfied with it. However, the USB adaptor totally sucks balls. It'll freeze up our machines (two pc's and a mac, fyi) when it's allllllllmost done with the transfer. Problem solved with a usb media-card reader.

    Brodo Faggins on
    9PZnq.png
  • Dublo7Dublo7 Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    The majority of Slot-1 devices come with USB Micro SD card readers.

    Dublo7 on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    EDIT: Is it against the rules to post a link to a homebrew site? Because I was wondering if someone had a link to a decent source for things like Moonshell, DSOrganize and all the various homebrew games and whatnot. Is there any one source, or will it all need to be found piece by piece?

    Well, I've linked to a bunch in the OP.

    The thing is, if the site has stuff about teh cr4ck r0ms on it, then the mods will get pissed off. Sites that actively ban such discussion should be safe, gbadev.org for instance.

    Daedalus on
  • EinhanderEinhander __BANNED USERS regular
    edited April 2007
    Oh God they've got SCUMM running on the DS?

    I am counting the days until I get paid again.

    Einhander on
  • NofrikinfuNNofrikinfuN Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    I keep thinking up more and more reasons to buy one, including my realization that my DS still has a stuck pixel. Besides which, I've been wanting an MP3 player for some time now. Also, videos on the go! (And so on in that fashion.)

    Tell me. How does Comic Book DS work, exactly? Are special "comic book" files needed, or is it like a specialized image browser? Could I read Manga with it? I like to read Naruto and Bleach on occaision.

    NofrikinfuN on
  • GihgehlsGihgehls Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    It looks like you convert your image files into ComicDS files using a PC program first, then throw them on your card.

    Gihgehls on
    PA-gihgehls-sig.jpg
  • TechnicalityTechnicality Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Einhander wrote: »
    Oh God they've got SCUMM running on the DS?

    I am counting the days until I get paid again.

    SCUMMVM DS is worth buying a homebrew cart for alone. There should be commercial point and click's for the DS. It is perfect for them.

    Technicality on
    handt.jpg tor.jpg

  • DrezDrez Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Einhander wrote: »
    Oh God they've got SCUMM running on the DS?

    I am counting the days until I get paid again.

    SCUMMVM DS is worth buying a homebrew cart for alone. There should be commercial point and click's for the DS. It is perfect for them.

    Unfortunately they have Touch Detective which sucked. I mean it's unfortunate that it sucked. Does not bode well for the genre on the DS.

    Drez on
    Switch: SW-7690-2320-9238Steam/PSN/Xbox: Drezdar
  • NofrikinfuNNofrikinfuN Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Drez wrote: »
    Einhander wrote: »
    Oh God they've got SCUMM running on the DS?

    I am counting the days until I get paid again.

    SCUMMVM DS is worth buying a homebrew cart for alone. There should be commercial point and click's for the DS. It is perfect for them.

    Unfortunately they have Touch Detective which sucked. I mean it's unfortunate that it sucked. Does not bode well for the genre on the DS.

    Phoenix Wright qualifies, doesn't it?

    NofrikinfuN on
  • DrezDrez Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Drez wrote: »
    Einhander wrote: »
    Oh God they've got SCUMM running on the DS?

    I am counting the days until I get paid again.

    SCUMMVM DS is worth buying a homebrew cart for alone. There should be commercial point and click's for the DS. It is perfect for them.

    Unfortunately they have Touch Detective which sucked. I mean it's unfortunate that it sucked. Does not bode well for the genre on the DS.

    Phoenix Wright qualifies, doesn't it?

    Sorta. PW is like a mixture of the traditional Japanese storyboard game and a point-n-click, or an interactive fiction game without a text parser. Touch Detective is much more like a traditional (though surreal) point-n-click adventure game.

    Drez on
    Switch: SW-7690-2320-9238Steam/PSN/Xbox: Drezdar
  • schmadsschmads Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Phoenix Wright and Hotel Dusk (I'm pretending that Touch Detective didn't exist) are the closest to the classic LucasArts style adventures. Adding ScummVM to the mix, it's just great.

    Some games are a bit tricky... it shows a zoomed version on one screen and a scaled version on the other, and you have to figure out how to right-click and the like, but it's still one of the best interfaces for point-and-click adventures that I've found. It's why I got the R4, and with the DLDI patch and beta ScummVM (well, it might not be beta any more, I haven't checked in a while), it works fine.

    schmads on
    Battle.net/SC2: Kwisatz.868 | Steam/XBL/PSN/Gamecenter: schmads | BattleTag/D3: Schmads#1144 | Hero Academy & * With Friends: FallenKwisatz | 3DS: 4356-0128-9671
  • NofrikinfuNNofrikinfuN Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    When talking about point & click games, I always think back to the DOS Star Trek 25th Anniversary and Judgement Rites. (P&C is absolutely the best genre for Star Trek.) I loved those games. Someone should get on a DS port or a DS DOS environment or something.

    NofrikinfuN on
  • DrezDrez Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    I never beat Judgment Rites, sadly. I did beat 25th Anniversary which was awesome. That one mission outside the door with the numbered keypad lock was a doozy.

    I wonder if I could get Judgment Rites working in DOSBOX...

    Also, there were a slew of Star Trek text adventures in the C64 and Atari 400/800 XL/Atari ST days.

    Drez on
    Switch: SW-7690-2320-9238Steam/PSN/Xbox: Drezdar
  • EvanderEvander Disappointed Father Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    So, I just shelled out 70 bucks for an R4 and a 2gig card (I've been playing with my roommates R4 for the past week, and I have a sneaking suspicsion he might want it back soon.

    I gave up on portable homebrew when I got tired of PSP firmware obstacles, but it looks like I'm back into having some fun.

    Evander on
  • NofrikinfuNNofrikinfuN Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Drez wrote: »
    I never beat Judgment Rites, sadly. I did beat 25th Anniversary which was awesome. That one mission outside the door with the numbered keypad lock was a doozy.

    I wonder if I could get Judgment Rites working in DOSBOX...

    Also, there were a slew of Star Trek text adventures in the C64 and Atari 400/800 XL/Atari ST days.

    I don't believe I ever beat it either. It didn't run properly on our ancient PC, so I slogged through the first few levels in super slow motion and gave up. Later on, I tried it again, but I can't honestly recall where I stopped. Great games, though. I would play modern games of that style in a heartbeat. It's a shame the genre has dipped in popularity. (Especially bad for Trekkies. Those were easily the best of the franchise.)

    Wow. I was just looking at a digg article about some guy running Mac OS 6 on a DS. That's pretty slick. I wonder it could run Crystal Quest. :D

    NofrikinfuN on
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Rohaq wrote: »
    Anyone got DSFTP working yet? I can't figure out where they want me to put the conf file, and it won't let me log in with the login details it generates.

    I believe they want you to put it in /data/settings/ftp.conf

    I just got it working, myself. My ftp.conf file looks like this:
    motd /ftp/motd.txt
    logfile /data/logs/ftp.log
    loglevel 5
    #timeout 60
    portrangestart 9000
    portrangeend 9999
    screensaver 30
    wakeonlog false
    
    user anonymous
    	root /
    	home /
    	write true
    	boot true
    end user
    

    Please note that this configuration is unsafe and will allow anyone to erase everything on your card if they know your DS's IP address. You might want to set a password. Still, it seems to work for me. I'm just testing right now.

    Another note: when the DS is recieving a file, it will sometimes appear to crash (if the screensaver is up, it won't go away, etc). Just wait until the file is done. It might take a while; I think the DS can only do 802.11b.

    Daedalus on
Sign In or Register to comment.