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The State of DS Homebrew (hint: It rocks. Seriously)

Jonk

Member
So, when you touch Jesus does Jesus save.. your game or something like that?

Jesus loves touching!

Touch to Save yourself!
 

KINGMOKU

Member
Man is that offensive. Idont understand why people have to use Jesus like that. Seriously.


You use something else though, and everyone else goes apeshit.

Oh well.
 

Jonk

Member
If you cant laugh at yourself as a person of faith, then what type of Christian are you?

Ah whatever.

DS homebrew is rocking, but Jesus being in there makes no sense and kinda kills its a bit. Could have a better choice.
 
GDJustin said:
noplacetohide3.png

LOL! Those slimes look like puyos!
 

jko

Junior Member
Wait, so the flast cart for the GBA slot actually runs DS homebrew games??
I'm a little confused.
 

japtor

Member
jko said:
Wait, so the flast cart for the GBA slot actually runs DS homebrew games??
I'm a little confused.
yes, but only if you have either flashed your ds, or have booted up with a pass device (in the ds cart slot) of some sort.
 

ProphetZG

Member
G6 Lite is my recommendation.

- High compatability, both with GBA and NDS. (the DS-Xtreme doesn't play GBA stuff)
- Very fast NAND flash memory - no speed/skipping problems (as seen on SD based carts)

There's a lot of options coming now, but the G6 Lite is the best one overall IMO. I personally don't need more than 512MB, that's really more than people realize for GBA/NDS, unless you plan to play movies with it.
 

mollipen

Member
Hmm... I've really been wanting to try instant messanging on my DS. Might have to finally "get into" the DS homebrew scene.
 

Barf_the_Mog

powerless or are they? o_O
Supercard or M3 Perfect?

A few months ago, I narrowed my selection down to either an M3 Perfect or a Supercard. This thread (and SCUMMVM) has revived my interest in homebrew. Between those two, which one is the better product? Supercard is cheaper, but I've heard that the M3 is built better.
 

Jefklak

Member
Barf_the_Mog: Supercard has best compatibility with DS roms, but M3 with homebrew. Supercard Lite doesn't stick out but M3 lite will be released in a couple of weeks. I say trash 'em both, and buy a G6 Lite if you cannot wait for the ninjapass solution. I don't like the friggin' superkey cards, so I'll wait.

m3vsscbf6.jpg
 

Barf_the_Mog

powerless or are they? o_O
Jefklak said:
Barf_the_Mog: Supercard has best compatibility with DS roms, but M3 with homebrew. Supercard Lite doesn't stick out but M3 lite will be released in a couple of weeks. I say trash 'em both, and buy a G6 Lite if you cannot wait for the ninjapass solution. I don't like the friggin' superkey cards, so I'll wait.

Awesome. I think I'm going for the M3 Perfect. Does the "Lite" verstion work with the brick Nintendo DS? I'm not liking the way it sticks out and I won't buy a DS Lite just for that reason. Thanks much.

Edit: BTW, I have a 1 GB SD card, so that's why I'm not going with the G6.
 

Jefklak

Member
G6 Lite has a regular GBA cart if you don't have the DSLite
Supercard Lite does NOT and will not fit in your regular DS
Nothing yet from M3, news should be arriving within a couple of weeks.
 

japtor

Member
Jefklak said:
Supercard has best compatibility with DS roms, but M3 with homebrew.
sure about that? ive heard m3 is the best for roms. not sure about homebrew, but it seems pretty random about what dev supports what (although m3/g6 and supercard seem to be the frontrunners).

m3 seems to be the best for gba as well, but im not sure if the new m3 lite will have the fancy gba compatibility stuff (which makes it like $50 more than supercards). theres also an existing m3 that ive seen as 'lite', but its just the slim/v.2 sd one, the ds lite one uses micro sd.

how hard is it to switch shells with the g6 btw? just open up the shells and move the circuit board? and is the gba compatibility the same as the previous ones?
 

the-iek

Member
m3 is the best solution for gba, nds and homebrew. m3 lite is the same as the normal m3 in terms of compatibilty..
 

Mejilan

Running off of Custom Firmware
the-iek said:
m3 is the best solution for gba, nds and homebrew. m3 lite is the same as the normal m3 in terms of compatibilty..

Then why would someone consider the G6Lite or DS-X? What about the M3 Lite is so awesome?
 

bogg

Member
I thought g6 and m3 are pretty much the same....
anyone got any update on snes and genesis emulation? the snes emulation is far from perfect, and i dont really know about the genesis.
 

NotWii

Banned
Ok, I've spent the last 2 hours researching.
G6 and M3 are made by the same company, so they can do the same things like run moonshell, read txt/ebooks, play movies, play audio, view pictures, best compatability, etc.

---

main_products.jpg

G6 Flash
+ DS Mode Menus has touchscreen (Not supported in M3 yet)
+ Extra Cartridge Shells
+ Features M3 Software for 'Media' mode
+ Good price for something with onboard memory
- 512MB Capacity (1GB Version coming before end of year)
- SOME Homebrew doesn't work due to missing FAT library (this can be fixed by developers writing support for G6, which is likely, due to popularity)
There is a Homebrew Compatability List for G6 here: http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?p=218164#post218164

---

m3litepics1.jpg

m3lite1.jpg

M3 Lite
+ 100% Homebrew Support
+ Awesome M3 software
+ MicroSD Capacity
- No confirmation on Extra Cartridge Shells
- No confirmation on Menu updates (there will be updates no doubt)
- No confirmation on price (can't compare to G6 yet)

---

I'm going to wait a while for more info on the M3 Lite, and hopefully the arrival of DS-Extreme (Aug20) will force prices down a bit.

Moonshell is hot BTW
Default-preview.jpg

Preview_02.jpg
Moonshell-OSX-Preview_02.jpg
 

Jefklak

Member
I will not let this thread waste away. Here's a quick, not-so-complete overview of the current homebrew programs and games I came upon with.

Beginners guide on Running Homebrew

Read the first link before asking questions on how running homebrew please! Oh I only added relevant links, for a full overview please visit the Nintendo DS DCEMU network. Games wich aren't downloadable yet are marked with (n/a).

First Person Shooters

doom.gif


- DS Quake (n/a)
- DS Doom
> WiFi support! z0mg (+sound, super smooth speed)
> 1.0.0 release download
> Doom2 WAD works too, also playable
> Doom DS, another project, new game in Doom engine (n/a)
- Hexen DS
> v0.2 release with sound and touchscreen support
- DS Heretic
> v0.3 release download
> with map, touch controls, weapon swapping and all that stuff!
- Wolf3D Wolfenstein port (n/a)

Other genres homebrew

AToWv7.png


- No Place To Hide 10 minigames
> final version download
> mèt WiFi, full sound, flashy graphics, ... - great game!
- Super Snake DS (hehe Nokia)
- ReboNDS puzzle game
- QBX 3D Tetris something, very cool
- A Touch of War RTS game
> v0.8d release download here
> super fancy graphics, very nicely done with touchscreen controls
- explosive Gas Wifi minigame competition
- Grid Challange puzzle game
- Acromage the cardgame from Might & Magic on DS!
> release 0.9 download here
> "official" forum
- Chaos DS Port
- Blubb, mix between mine sweeper and battle chess
- Digger DS port
- MineSweepDS, no explanation needed.
- Every Extend DS, eat that PSP port!
> alpha versie download here
- Frozen Bubble DS port, bust-a-move
> version 4 download here
> own levels editable!
- Nethack DS PC port
- Omalone board game specific for DS
> version 1.6 download here
> worth it, very nicely done
- PASudoku for people without brain age
- even a Puerto Rico DS boardgame variant!
- Tales of Dagur JRPG, won Neoflash 2006 competition

Emulation on Nintendo DS

DayTentacleLogo.gif
mario.png


- ScummVM DS
> v0.61 release download here
> Almost all LucasArts games work 100% incl. music e.d. <= 32MB
> special method mouse/touchscreen controls
> Gobliiins I supported! Hopefully sometime 2 &3, see ScummVM homepage for dev updates.
- SnezziDS SNES Emulator
> v0.24b with sound release download here
> compatibility list incl. sound working/not column
- SnesDS SNES emulator (dev frozen)
> release 12-13-2005 download here
> compatibility list
- nesDS NES emulator rel. 12-30-2005
- PicoDrive Genesis emulator
> release v0.14 download hier
> fat library flashcart required
> no sound (yet)
- DSMS Sega Master System emulator
> v0.2 release download here
> instable and buggy but OK
- NesterDS NES emulator port v0.2 with sound

Non-game homebrew programs

- DSAmp Winamp controller
- DSFtp FTP client via WiFi
- DSOrganize PocketPC agenda
- Moonshell v1.41, complete PDA-OS wich handles MP3, movie, ... !
- Beup v0.3, MSN on DS! with SSL I tought
- NDSim, another MSN client (french)
- DSLinux, another full OS wich handles text, images, ...
- Draw v3: for artistic people, very nicely done
- NDS Mail client
- SylphDS IRC Client!

HandyLinks

- Gbatemp.net DS Emulatie news & good forum
- drunkencoders NDS coding info for devs
- Nintendo DS DCEMU network, complete homebrew list
- pocketheaven.com boards, intresting (S)NES on DS help/discussion
- Modojo state of DS Homebrew article
- Beginners guide on Running Homebrew (PDF)



You're welcome :)
 

dock

Member
HeadsUpSevenUp said:
The apps should be be fine because most of the homebrew just loads into the DS memory.

It's $125 for essentially a Passme, 512MB storage, and a USB port in SLOT-1.

I prefer the DSLink which also fits flush into SLOT-1 but uses microSD.

I have a 1GB microSD card so that will be great for Moonshell. And I'll have SLOT-2 available for a lite-sized rumble pack or (rumored) gyro paack. I'll buy those when homebrew starts developing for them. A vibrating DS alarm would be awesome :) or maybe it can rumble when I get a message on DS AIM?
Is the DSLink available yet? How much does it cost?
Both interest me, although the DSlink would probably be better for moonshell for mp3s and whatnot.
 

Barf_the_Mog

powerless or are they? o_O
Three things:

1.) That Moonshell software intrigues me. Could someone explain that to me or at least direct me to a website that could?

2.) I'm hearing different explanations from different people. M3 perfect seems to have better compatibility, but is it worth the extra $30 over Supercard?

3.) What's the most reliable and/or cheapest online place to purchase one of these cards? (United States)
 

NotWii

Banned
Barf_the_Mog said:
Three things:

1.) That Moonshell software intrigues me. Could someone explain that to me or at least direct me to a website that could?

2.) I'm hearing different explanations from different people. M3 perfect seems to have better compatibility, but is it worth the extra $30 over Supercard?

3.) What's the most reliable and/or cheapest online place to purchase one of these cards?
MoonShell is a media player, I have not used it, but there are several videos on youtube showing off it's functionality. I believe it can also do simple file manager stuff
- It can play videos in its own format (there is a converter), it utilises the DS's full resolution and is capable of running videos at ~16-24fps, whereas the inbuilt M3 video player runs at ~11-16fps
- It can play mp3s and oggs, better quality than the inbuilt M3 audio player.
- It can use the touchscreen for controls
- It's skinnable, look out for GCTonyHawk's skins.

M3 has the best rom compatability.
But I'm all about homebrew >:O
As for value, I think it's better you read reviews of SuperCard and M3 and decide yourself.

No idea, depends on your region.
 

Soul4ger

Member
I don't understand why the NoPass isn't the best method for loading homebrew. And I don't know why there's any dispute as to why teh GBA Media device isn't the best means of storing the stuff. Is it just in case people want to use the thing for GBA stuff?
 

Jefklak

Member
Soul4ger: nopass in ds, bootup, play
- nopass drains battlife faster
- it's a hassle: you can't boot with say an original ds game inserted and have to take the nopass with you
- sleep mode

Wii, Supercard and M3 have about the same rom compatibility - tech. speaking G6 is best (and most expensive) but isn't quite as good for homebrew (no FAT, removable media). Supercards GBA rom compatibility sucks arse, and both are +/- the same for homebrew. It all comes down to personal choice/price/some other stuff: read some reviews on http://www.gbatemp.net if you're intrested.

I'm waiting for the DS X-Treme and M3 Lite.
Edit: true and it's only 512MB so not good for MP3/video/whatever that's big.
 

Gee

Member
Day of the tentacle on NDS-lite :)

What would you guys recommend in the 100-150 dollar price range?
I don't want the hassle with a pass key, or flashing the DS.

The M3, G6 or the DS-Extreme?
 

Jefklak

Member
Wario64 said:
Is there any proof of this?

Enough users tested it on gbatemp, read the forums :)
About an hour less (max) playtime.

Gee: no hassle does not exist, but ds x-treme "should" bring it. M3/G6 require "hassle".
 

WindyMan

Junior Member
I've been thinking about doing this for a while, but some of this DS stuff is going to push me over the edge.

Just one question, though. Can the GBA cards (like a Supercard SD) do GBA homebrew for use on a GBA along with DS/GBA homebrew for use on a DS? I'd like to get some more mileage out of my Micro, and having Super Smash Bros. Advance on it would rock.
 

gkryhewy

Member
Some of these adapters seem to have proprietary PC-end software associated with them. What is the best solution for Mac users?
 

Gee

Member
Jefklak said:
Enough users tested it on gbatemp, read the forums :)
About an hour less (max) playtime.

Gee: no hassle does not exist, but ds x-treme "should" bring it. M3/G6 require "hassle".


K thx!
 

Hajaz

Member
regarding DS-X

Homebrew
The 100% Homebrew Compatible statement was most probably miss-interpretation. It actually means "The guys behind DS-X are fully (100%) supporting the Homebrew Community" - Now i am not saying the DS-Xtreme is less compatible with homebrew then 100%, or more - I simply am saying the compatibility ratio on Homebrew has not been officially announced. However, i will most likely reveal more information on this in the following days.
 

Jefklak

Member
WindyMan said:
Just one question, though. Can the GBA cards (like a Supercard SD) do GBA homebrew for use on a GBA along with DS/GBA homebrew for use on a DS? I'd like to get some more mileage out of my Micro, and having

Yes. But Supercard's GBA compatibility quite sucks, so GBA homebrew is even worse. You should get M3 or G6 if you're also intrested in GBA roms :)
gkrykewy: as a MAC user, you'd be best with a removable media cartridge like M3 or Supercard wich uses CF, SD, miniSD or microSD. Plug it out of the cart, plug it into a card reader, pase a bunch of homebrew games and files 'n stuff onto the thing and boot it up. Firmware upgrades and patches could be a problem tough.
 

gkryhewy

Member
Jefklak said:
gkrykewy: as a MAC user, you'd be best with a removable media cartridge like M3 or Supercard wich uses CF, SD, miniSD or microSD.

Thanks. I wonder if I should be hopeful about the DS-X or not.
 

japtor

Member
WindyMan said:
Just one question, though. Can the GBA cards (like a Supercard SD) do GBA homebrew for use on a GBA along with DS/GBA homebrew for use on a DS? I'd like to get some more mileage out of my Micro, and having Super Smash Bros. Advance on it would rock.
yes, and as mentioned, m3 is the best for gba (with removable media at least). i got mine for gba, while thinking about getting a passcard in the future.

gkrykewy said:
Some of these adapters seem to have proprietary PC-end software associated with them. What is the best solution for Mac users?
ds homebrew is sorta random, i think some stuff needs patching and some doesnt. basically if something requires to be patched, youre screwed without access to windows in some way (pc, or virtualization or bootcamp on an intel mac). gba is easy, pretty much everything works drag and drop, i dont think any homebrew needs patching that ive seen. ive had one problem, the m3 doesnt automatically create a save file. i ran their app on my pc and got the save file, its just a blank 1MB file named romname.dat. i have a copy of it on my mac and just rename it to whatever if i need it. firmware for the m3 involves putting a file in the root of the card and booting up the gba (and yes/no to an update dialog or something). mac/linux/whatever friendly.

i would hold off on the ds-x until reviews come in on how it works. im guessing it acts as a usb storage device, which is good, but who knows if homebrew will all be just fine by dragging and dropping.

i know this is a ds homebrew thread, but heres some gba stuff (doesnt get enough love!)...copy pasted from a post i did on sa, not sure if any links are broken or anything:

bulletgba - bullet hell pattern thingy, you control a little @ that is your ship, patterns are from various shooters, although there seem to be more bullets than the real thing for most of the ones i recognize, as well as move faster. wish it had some sound effects or music, but otherwise its pretty awesome, unless you suck at manic shmups, then youll just die quickly.

battlepicross - its picross, not sure what else there is to say other than its polished and done well.

bust a move - good port of the original neo geo version.

moneymatch - i believe this is a clone of money puzzle exchanger on neo geo...which i havent played, but im pretty sure its the same concept. basically like magical drop, but the coins combine values up until they get to 1000, at which they clear. crappy explanation but its easy to figure out once you play it. (i also found one magical drop clone, but it wasnt nearly as polished so i didnt bother keeping it, anyone else find other magical drop clones?)

sokoban - sokoban, basically the only regular sokoban one i found actually. control seemed a bit twitchy when i tried it on my sp, havent tried it on the micro yet. otherwise seems good enough (the undo function helps with any mishaps with the controls).

sudoku micro (sorta english translation) - only sudoku one i found, and it seemed pretty nice from the one time i tried it. wish the number selection was a quick hold style instead of a toggle, but no complaints other than that so far.

theres a new one from the bulletgba guy, but the amount of bullets is pretty ridiculous: http://gba.pqrs.org/vulkanon/
 

Jefklak

Member
japtor, that sudoku version looks really sweet! I wish they did something like that on DS touch screen. The sudoku version of ds homebrew isn't that great. I'll have to test them. Someone should add all my and japtors links to the first post :) Since we're talking gba homebrew I might add a few very important links

- DrSMS Sega Master system emulator v6 (pocketSMS here)
- SMSAdvance, Goomba, ... - everything you'll be needing
- Goomba Color alpha 6, very playable with option tweaks! GBC emulator, horray
- Working GBA Atari 2600 Emulator
- PocketNES Nintendo Entertainment System emulator by Flubba teh god (also PCEAdvance emulation in here)
- Luminesweeper yust made your PSP trashable!
- Pogoshell, the GBA moonshell variant. (dev stalled to 2b4 I think)
- Snezziboy v0.26 - no sound ed ed, GBA can't handle it. Taken over by DS
- Ishar Advance - a FPS RPG a-la Might & Magic, very intresting (early dev) check it out:

1.png
3.png


- Luigi Mastermind puzzle game
- Katamicro japanese style puzzle game
-Mister Jelly, lol, LocoRoco Advance! Looks funny, doesn't play that well
- Mario Balls - Zuma for GBA. Doesn't look great but it's fun
- Chip Advance remake of Chip Challenge, worth checking out! (v2.0)

ChipAdv02_10.png
ChipAdv00_00.png


Other general intersting website: gbadev.org
 

Barf_the_Mog

powerless or are they? o_O
Man, in some ways, the GBA development scene is much better than the DS one. The system has been out for two years now, and all it does is eumlate other older consoles. Is there a site that has a large database of just homebrew games and apps?
 

japtor

Member
Jefklak said:
- Luminesweeper yust made your PSP trashable!
that guy also did a wacky tetris clone, used to be tetanus on drugs, but apparently he changed the name to lockjaw: the overdose. basically the playfield goes through a bunch of distortions, zooms, spins, etc.
ishackimageho3.png


Barf_the_Mog said:
Man, in some ways, the GBA development scene is much better than the DS one. The system has been out for two years now, and all it does is eumlate other older consoles. Is there a site that has a large database of just homebrew games and apps?
well, thats just what a few more years on the market gets you. ds homebrew didnt really seem to have much momentum up until a little while ago as well, but it seems to be pretty healthy now (while gba seems to be dwindling). as for sites:
http://gbadev.org and http://pdroms.de
the main problem is that a bunch of the programs have no screen or description, and no outside link, so its hard to tell what is what. searching for what might be the good ones (by user suggestions or whatever) is sort of hard too, since most of the recent homebrew stuff has all been about the ds. im hoping there are more people like jefklak that can point out the good gba stuff.
 

Stryder

Member
This thread is godly, I really have to try out some of these apps at home this weekend.
I'm looking forward to trying out No Place to Hide!, getting DSOrganize running, and getting DOTT going on my Lite as well..

Hey so, I hear there is a 30mb limitation with ScummVM DS because of hardware limitations, does that mean we can't play the talkie versions of these games? or is there a way around this?
 

Jefklak

Member
Stryder said:
This thread is godly

Yes, that's why I need to bump it!

I hear there is a 30mb limitation with ScummVM DS because of hardware limitations

Bullshit :) HW limits means no Full Throttle. You need a flashcart with removable media to support >30MB, that's all. No G6 Lite or anything. SuperCard Lite has a moonshell patcher provided with it: patch your scummvmds and you're good to go. It has been confirmed working. Luckily, day of the tentacle without sound is like... err... woman without boobs?
 
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