CAG needs a thread about DS homebrew

[seanw]

Trying to find info on CAG about how to run homebrew on my DS and I see a lot of locked topics, etc. I am genuinely not interested in trying to run ROMs of old console games, and so I'd like to see if we can conduct this thread without the word "ROM" appearing again. I really like boardgames, and there's a lot of boardgame support via homebrew, as well as organizer-type freeware, and I'm interested in using this stuff on my DS. But I can't find a resource that really answers the simple questions, on CAG or elsewhere. Those simple questions are:

1. What's the best device?
2. For that device, how do you get the homebrew apps into/onto the device?
2b. Can you do it with a Mac without running Virtual PC?

If others have other questions, please ask them, and hopefully the CAG body of knowledge will have answers for us. But nothing about the R-word, please.

[nyprimus4]

The only Homebrew I use is Moonshell.

[Puffa469]

I would love it if they put out some kinda organiser software for the DS. Give it some palm pilot type functionality. I'd buy that.

[jer7583]

careful.. this thread might implode.

[Vegan]

I would love it if they put out some kinda organiser software for the DS. Give it some palm pilot type functionality. I'd buy that.
They do. DSOrganize. http://www.dragonminded.com/?loc=ndsdev/DSOrganize

PS - I can answer questions about M3 Simply if anyone has them. Obviously not rom information, though.

[Cth]

1. What's the best device?
2. For that device, how do you get the homebrew apps into/onto the device?
2b. Can you do it with a Mac without running Virtual PC?

If others have other questions, please ask them, and hopefully the CAG body of knowledge will have answers for us. But nothing about the R-word, please.

I have an R4.

To add an app, I connect the MiniSD card to my PC's USB slot and it adds it as a drive letter.

I dump the file into a directory I set up called "04 -- Homebrew" (00 -- Games; 01 -- Comics; 02 -- MP3s; 03 -- Videos, etc)

I boot the DS up, and navigate to the 04 directory and select the app.

The apps I run are: (not the official names..)
- Falling Sand Simulator
- a Comic Reader
- a Kanji Learning program
- an Amplitude knock off (I was thinking it was going to be like Guitar Hero)
- some random music generator program (similar to Electrobes)
- DS weather

[seanw]

Has any used more than one homebrew solution? I have found people who really like M3, really like DS-X and really like R4, but I'm not getting a good sense of which is the favorite among those who have used them all.

http://ask.metafilter.com/64159/Whats-au-courant-in-DS-homebrew-in-June-2007

[Vegan]

I only have experience with the M3 Simply. For the record, the M3 and the R4 are exactly the same product, just different names. I don't know why.

Cth, is that JDS that you're using to learn the Japanese characters? That's what I've been using. I have ComicbookDS, too, which is actually good for any images that you want to zoom in on and pan around; not just comic books.

[anarchyburger]

i have an R4 and its basically the same thing as the M3 simple...

so what good hombrew apps actually works on the R4/M3 simple? cuz i hear the homebrew support for them is not that great

does ds organize work on it?

[Vegan]

i have an R4 and its basically the same thing as the M3 simple...

so what good hombrew apps actually works on the R4/M3 simple? cuz i hear the homebrew support for them is not that great

does ds organize work on it?

I haven't found anything that doesn't work on it. Everything either works right off the bat, or works after DLDI patching. DSOrganize works after patching.

[nyprimus4]

You would be surprised at the crazy stuff like AIM, wi-fi pictochat, etc.

[Vegan]

You would be surprised at the crazy stuff like AIM, wi-fi pictochat, etc.

I haven't tried any stuff like that, doesn't really interest me. If I wanted to use those, I'd have to be within range of a wifi connection, which probably means I'm at home, in which case my computer is right over there anyway.

[sblymnlcrymnl]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DS_homebrew

[Cth]

I only have experience with the M3 Simply. For the record, the M3 and the R4 are exactly the same product, just different names. I don't know why.

Cth, is that JDS that you're using to learn the Japanese characters? That's what I've been using. I have ComicbookDS, too, which is actually good for any images that you want to zoom in on and pan around; not just comic books.

I think so. It's something new that was posted on DS Scene about 2 weeks or so back.

And yeah ComicbookDS is amazing as a picture viewer or comic reader.

[SithFran]

So who here uses homebrew on both the DS and PSP? Which is easier? I've had problems using *** before so I never got into anything like this. I never could find good help sections.

[mickeyp]

where do u find these apps?

[Vegan]

where do u find these apps?

Typically, you won't find links to them all gathered onto one spot. Usually they're hosted on the personal webpages of whoever created the homebrew. You can find lists if you do some searching, but I recommend you do that yourself since they can easily lead you to more questionable uses for your device and I'd rather not be responsible for posting that here.

[NWgamer666]

I was considering Purchasing a M3/R4 and had some questions as well, which I will refer to as for homebrew purposes. 1. Is there any way if I copied a malicious program/code onto the M3/R4 micro SD card it could destroy or harm my DS? anyone heard of this or had it happen to them? This is my major concern.

2. I assume Bittorrent is the major source for programs and "homebrew," is this correct?

[Vegan]

I was considering Purchasing a M3/R4 and had some questions as well, which I will refer to as for homebrew purposes. 1. Is there any way if I copied a malicious program/code onto the M3/R4 micro SD card it could destroy or harm my DS? anyone heard of this or had it happen to them? This is my major concern.

2. I assume Bittorrent is the major source for programs and "homebrew," is this correct?

1. Not that anyone knows of. The most harmful occurance that I've heard of is DS Organize corrupting the file system on peoples' SD cards, forcing them to reformat; this happens randomly when you use its file copy/delete/move/rename functions, and I think it's because of sloppy coding.

I suppose if someone REALLY wanted to be a jerk they could write some homebrew that would purposely flash your BIOS incorrectly and then brick it, but the community would obviously notice that this new homebrew isn't what it's being presented as. I've never heard of something like that happening.

2. Depends on what you're really talking about. Legal, legitimate homebrew isn't traded through bittorrent. You just download it off the author's website; browse some M3 forums and you'll find links all over the place. Bittorrent is used for exactly what you think it's used for.

[NWgamer666]

Thanks very much for the reply. Time to find a good deal.

[guinaevere]

tagging

[SithFran]

I'll ask again. Does anyone homebrew on both PSP and DS? If so, which is the better way to go?

[nyprimus4]

PSP, thats simple.

[Vegan]

I've never touched a PSP, but I still know that the PSP does it better.

[Tybee]

My R4 arrives today. Can't wait to take SCUMM VM DS for a spin. Any tips on how to get started with the device?

[espy605]

Trying to find info on CAG about how to run homebrew on my DS and I see a lot of locked topics, etc. I am genuinely not interested in trying to run ROMs of old console games, and so I'd like to see if we can conduct this thread without the word "ROM" appearing again. I really like boardgames, and there's a lot of boardgame support via homebrew, as well as organizer-type freeware, and I'm interested in using this stuff on my DS. But I can't find a resource that really answers the simple questions, on CAG or elsewhere. Those simple questions are:

1. What's the best device?
2. For that device, how do you get the homebrew apps into/onto the device?
2b. Can you do it with a Mac without running Virtual PC?

If others have other questions, please ask them, and hopefully the CAG body of knowledge will have answers for us. But nothing about the R-word, please.

No offense, but the reason why flashcart threads get locked is because this site is focused primarily on purchasing games and the main reason people have these flashcarts is to pirate games. People can be coy all the want, but that's the truth.

There are sites dedicated to DS flashcarts and you'd have better luck going there for this type of discussion.

[Tybee]

No offense, but the reason why flashcart threads get locked is because this site is focused primarily on purchasing games and the main reason people have these flashcarts is to pirate games. People can be coy all the want, but that's the truth.

There are sites dedicated to DS flashcarts and you'd have better luck going there for this type of discussion.
Flashcarts are no different than anything else: They can be used responsibly, or they can be abused. And I'll even agree with you that most people are using flashcarts for dubious purposes. But some of us aren't, and are interested in discussing their use in homebrew, to play PC adventure games (all of which, incidentally, I have purchased and still own), and to run other utilities.

Most people in this thread are going out of their way to keep the discussion on the legal use of these devices, so please stop preaching. I buy my DS games, thank you very much.

[daroga]

I've had an itch to play something along the lines of an indie release recently? Anyone have a favorite free, homebrew DS game?

[Tybee]

So is anyone running SCUMM VM DS? I've imported the games from my various floppy and CD versions onto my PC and have them running fine in the latest version of SCUMM VM, but I could use a walkthrough on how to set them up on my R4 for play on my DS. Anyone done this? Do I just copy the directories to the R4 card? I know I have to reencode the audio for some of the CD games.

[nyprimus4]

Warcraft Tower Defense is supposed to be good.

[Tybee]

I've had an itch to play something along the lines of an indie release recently? Anyone have a favorite free, homebrew DS game?

Cave Story DS. Though it's only a demo, it looks teriffic (so says Kotaku):

http://kotaku.com/gaming/full-version-please/cave-story-ds-demo-get-273059.php

[Vegan]

Someone ported Lemmings to the DS. I think that's old enough for it to be safe to talk about.

[Vinny]

Do any of those DS browsers support file saving directly to the MicroSD? Every once in a while I'll find something on my Wii browser but then go down to save it on my regular computer since I can't do it there.

I have an R4 and the only thing I've used so far is Moonshell for movies, music, and pictures.

[nyprimus4]

I ripped a CD with Windows Media Player this morning before I headed over to the train only to find they were .wma files that moonshell wouldn't play.

[espy605]

Most people in this thread are going out of their way to keep the discussion on the legal use of these devices, so please stop preaching. I buy my DS games, thank you very much.
I won't stop anything, I'm pretty sure I can say whatever I want, as you can. I don't care if you buy your DS games, or if the OP does. And I don't think I was preaching, but if that's your take on it, that's fine, too.

My main purpose in posting before was suggesting he find sites dedicated to flashcarts, of which there are many, to find the information he's looking where there is little risk of the threads being closed. The flashcarts' primary function, as advertised and utilizied, often come in conflict with the main purpose of this site. That is a fact and not a judgment.

[Tybee]

I won't stop anything, I'm pretty sure I can say whatever I want, as you can. I don't care if you buy your DS games, or if the OP does. And I don't think I was preaching, but if that's your take on it, that's fine, too.

My main purpose in posting before was suggesting he find sites dedicated to flashcarts, of which there are many, to find the information he's looking where there is little risk of the threads being closed. The flashcarts' primary function, as advertised and utilizied, often come in conflict with the main purpose of this site. That is a fact and not a judgment.
You're right in that it was unfair of me to label your comments "preaching." Further, you are right that there are far better resources for homebrew information than the CAG forums.

But you yourself were justifying the past censure of homebrew discussion and essentially implying that this discussion should be locked as well, despite the fact that there has been little or no talk of illegally obtaining published games, much less where and how to obtain them. So who's telling whom what they can and can't say?

Anyway, back to the subject at hand: Has anyone used ComicBookDS? Looks like a really slick picture/comic viewer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-3oRAFN190

I'm also interested in trying DS Live Weather (http://www.dev-scene.com/NDS/DSLiveWeather), a util that uses the WiFi connection to download detailed weather information.

[espy605]

But you yourself were justifying the past censure of homebrew discussion and essentially implying that this discussion should be locked as well, despite the fact that there has been little or no talk of illegally obtaining published games, much less where and how to obtain them. So who's telling whom what they can and can't say?

I don't know if I'm justifying it exactly, I was just giving my thoughts as to why threads on this subject are typically locked. CAG is a privately-owned site and basically, they can lock any thread they want. My guess is they want to avoid any topic that can be a source of potential litigation, and I think that's fair. If flashcarts weren't in a gray area of legality, you'd be able to buy them in normal retail stores. They play it a little cautious sometimes, but it's their right to do so.

I'm not implying this discussion should be locked, but I am saying that past experience shows it has a good chance of being locked. I have no idea what you're talking about in terms of me telling someone what they can't say.

All I did was give my opinion, however unsolicited it may be, that the primary use of flashcarts is suspect which may result in his thread being closed. I didn't accuse anyone of pirating anything, but you agreed as much that the most common flashcart use is pirating games. Then I suggested he'd have better luck in dedicated forums. The reason why I did so is because these forums often include partipation from actual developers that read feedback and suggestions, as well as people who are solely focused and active on this subject. How am I telling him or anyone what they can say?

[Tybee]

I don't know if I'm justifying it exactly, I was just giving my thoughts as to why threads on this subject are typically locked. CAG is a privately-owned site and basically, they can lock any thread they want. My guess is they want to avoid any topic that can be a source of potential litigation, and I think that's fair. If flashcarts weren't in a gray area of legality, you'd be able to buy them in normal retail stores. They play it a little cautious sometimes, but it's their right to do so.

I'm not implying this discussion should be locked, but I am saying that past experience shows it has a good chance of being locked. I have no idea what you're talking about in terms of me telling someone what they can't say.

Understood. My bad.

[yukine]

Omalone is a pretty fun homebrew game, and ComicBook DS works fantastic. Also, if you're using an R4 be sure to update to the latest firmware (1.10) as it now supports auto-DLDI patching, a very useful thing when it comes to homebrew compatibility.

[LancerEvoX]

Bumping with Colors!

http://www.collectingsmiles.com/colors/

From site: "Colors! is a simplistic digital application for Nintendo DS based on modern painting-techniques developed for drawing tablets in programs like Photoshop. By taking advantage of the pressure sensitivity of the DS touch-screen it becomes a perfect portable digital sketch-book."

Galleries of what a lot of people made:

http://colors.brombra.net/index.php?page=1

[gamemasterjd]

I'll ask again. Does anyone homebrew on both PSP and DS? If so, which is the better way to go?

PSP, thats simple.

No way. Ds is WAY easier to do home brew. no need to flash and upgrade. as long as you watch what you download, bricking your ds is nigh impossible.

The psp has plenty of hurdles to jump through before you can even use your first homebrew program. All which can possible result in the loss of your $160 modern technology.

The end result is better with the psp though. more support for those who play games, prettier graphics and you can do more.

Ds has some very very dedicated and creative programmers behind them, and as a result the programs tend to work better and not require the hurdles that the psp does. With the recent release of auto DLDI patching, all you have to do is drag and drop programs onto your card and you are in business.

Over all i prefer the Ds. but thats just me. if you feel so l33t hackerish, good luck with the psp homebrew. I'm just a bit bitter cause my first encounter with psp brew bricked mine. Fake mem cards are a bitch, do your research before trying.

Hope this helps!

[Vinny]

I'd say DS too... I tried a few things on the PSP and it was pretty good but I always feared bricking my PSP. Plus the firmwares kept making things more complicated- to play the newest games or keep your homebrew.

The DS's touch screen makes a few homebrew apps more appealing and as the poster above says, it's nearly impossible to brick your DS. I always thought the PSP was the better brew machine since we heard about PSP brew so much but... I guess that was because PSP owners had nothing else to do with their PSPs.:lol: (That's a joke.)

[yukine]

Colors for the DS is pretty slick, but I'm not very artistic so I can't do much with it. :lol:

[Emi]

ComicBookDS is very good for all types of images. Lots of responsive view and zoom options. I had to patch DLDI to use, but the creator linked right to the FAT stack I needed.

(Converter is windows friendly, don't know about any other OS)

[triforcer]

what's this DLDI patch? i've tested out comicbookds and it is pretty cool, but it seems kind of weird how you suppose to update the files everytime you convert a new book to read.

[Emi]

You don't have to update the files. The INI is only there if you change sound or default view options. You don't have to copy it over.

DLDI patching is only important if you use a non-standard flash or HD device. In my case since I use the (please don't buy this unless saving 30~40 dollars is really, really worth your hassle) MMD, I had to patch.

[crunchewy]

The latest M3 and R4 firmware does automatic DLDI patching, so homebrew generally just works with a drag and drop to your MicroSD card. There's a very nice Panel De Pon homebrew game. I good port of Doom (play demo levels or you can provide the levels from your Doom CD. Some other stuff.

[Tybee]

Drymouth was a GBA Picross clone developed by Demiforce, an independent developer. It never found a publisher, so they've made the ROM publicly available.

http://demiforce.parodius.com/drymouth/

[Pestilence]

http://dicewars.drunkencoders.com/

a risk clone, based off of the semi-popular flash game.

it takes elements of risk and throws (buh duh PSSH) dice in to the mix.

right now its only single player but i just wasted 3 hours playing that. just wait till they actually add 8 player WiFi...*drool*

[RaPtOrsIII]

what happened to the r4ds forums?

[laaj]

Any of you know where to get R4 or M3s? They are sold out everywhere I look.

[pitfallharry219]

I'm not sure they're sold out. I've heard a lot of places are pulling them because of the recent crackdown on modding.

[laaj]

I'm not sure they're sold out. I've heard a lot of places are pulling them because of the recent crackdown on modding.

One place I ordered my R4 from has ignored my emails for last 4 days and it's still pending but my online bank statement tells me they're charging me more than $10 than they should be. I'll give them few more days to get some answer before calling my bank. Sigh, no wonder DS homebrew scene is so fucked up.

[Xrazor]

There really isnt much DS Homebrew atleast I think there isnt. DS Customization is limited to Mods (LEDS, Clear Shells, etc etc) The only homebrew i have ever seen for DS is those Cartigdres with the Mini SD's in them.

[kube00]

Damn all the the store are sold out crap, looks like I might be buying one from China.