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DS Homebrew

edited May 2008 in Technology
Well, I'll say it right now, my goal in this thread is to not teach what DS homebrew is. If you do not know, there are wikipedia articles about it if you want to know.

Anyhow, I've been strongly looking getting into the realm of DS homebrew lately.

So, if any of you homebrew, what device(s) do you use and where did you buy them?

In before "fuck you pirates", because:
1. I know some [if not most/all] of you guys pirate stuff.
2. There are many legal things you can do with homebrew, like turning your DS into a media player, free web broswers, fan made games, etc.
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Comments

  • Right now I am using a Games N' Music card that I bought at walmart for $20. I mainly use it for nes emulation, homwbrew games, and reading ebooks.
  • My M3 Real DS Perfect Bundle version arrived last week. Thus far, I only have a few minor complaints. Worth the money though.
  • Yeah, I was interested in this and still am.
    I too would like a definitive choice of device, but it seems like such a thing does not exist.
    The main reason I was interested is emulation of NES and SNES;
    Using it as a media player would be nice but I don't think it's powerful enough.
  • I've had an M3 Simply for quite some time now. I mostly use it to play Japanese games and read mangas.
  • Using it as a media player would be nice but I don't think it's powerful enough.
    Apparently the moonshell player can play a very wide variety of audio files. It can also display text files and a few picture files. The only limitations I can see with Moonshell is that:
    a. it's limited storage-wise to the size of your micro sd card, which is probably only 1-2gb, which isn't that much for music.
    b. it only plays dpg video, which is more or less garbage, from what I hear.


    Today I just ordered a CycloDS. I've heard great things about it. I was thinking of getting the R4, but I heard that it rapes your battery. So I figure the extra $10 I spent on the Cyclo is going to a good cause.
  • which is probably only 1-2gb
    M3 Real DS supports SDHC.
  • I just bought a Super Card DS One so that I can dump music/videos on there so my dad can put all of his music on my iPod. He thinks that my videogame music and podcasts should be out weighed with his music.
  • which is probably only 1-2gb
    M3 Real DS supports SDHC.
    I realize that, but I'm just going out on a limb with 1-2gb because those are by far the cheapest cards you can get.
  • I've had a CycloDS Evolution for a few months now, and I can't believe I used to haul multiple little cartridges around. It's great for import games, NES/SNES/GBA emulation, and the like. I've heard good things about R4DS, but most people I've talked to (who use both) consider CycloDS to be slightly superior.
  • Cool.
    I guess I'll get a CycloDS also.
  • I roll with the SDHC version of the SD One. They're a little hard to find, and the web page is in some broken-ass english, but the OS is on the MicroSD card the device takes, so updating it is very easy. It runs moonshell by default, which is really nice, and it'll run all DS games without patching, usually supporting download play, if you're into that sort of thing. The nice feature in that regard is that if you let it patch the roms as it loads them, you can load cheat files and a text file you can switch to with a button combination, and it can do real-time saves.
  • I've had a CycloDS Evolution for a few months now, and I can't believe I used to haul multiple little cartridges around. It's great for import games, NES/SNES/GBA emulation, and the like. I've heard good things about R4DS, but most people I've talked to (who use both) consider CycloDS to be slightly superior.
    Do you need a slot 2 cart for gba roms? I've heard that around the net, but have gotten no confirmation...
  • edited May 2008
    Ok, [now that my computer is no longer freezing.] here is the lowdown. Your two choices should be between the R4DS (which I think is identical to the M3) and the CycloDS Evolution. The CycloDS is more expensive but has few more features (the menu can be operated with the stylus and you can slow games down in game.) but, more importantly, has support for Micro SDHC meaning you can get (relatively cheaply) 8GB of storage (more on why you would need so much in a bit.). The R4DS is a good basic card for the beginner, it only supports up to 4GB SD (which is more expensive than 4GB SDHC) so I'd recommend only using 1 or 2 GB cards. The important thing both share is that practically any files you put on them will run and will run without any need to modify your DS.

    Working out what size card depends on how you plan to use it. For just apps, games and books you will only need a one or two gig card. I wouldn't recommend using it for music unless you are getting the 8GB card as, while there is an iPod emulator available, there isn't a good way to organize a collection. Movies also might not be such a great idea, as you might already have something like an iPod which can play commercial formats whereas to convert to DPG requires some patience. That said, I was able to fit a whole episode of Victorian Romance: Emma into 70mB ish and it looked pretty good.

    Now for things you will be wanting to fill your memory card with: Manga and comics through ComicbookDS works really nicely and you can fit a whole manga series into between 0.5 and 1 GB. Emulators for the DS are at the point where it is possible to carry quite a retro collection in your pocket. You can also use your DS as a mail and RSS reader with DSMail.
    Another thing you might want to buy is an EZ Flash 3-in-1 which will let you run GBA roms and use the DS browser as well as rumble in games.
    Post edited by Omnutia on
  • Oh, question for all you manga people: what program do you use? Moonshell's image viewer? ComicBookDS? Another program?
  • Oh mans. Check out woot.com today. If you're getting into DS Homebrew, you'll need a microSD card. Sorry if this sounds like an ad, but I just bought 3. I payed the same price for a 1 gig card about a month ago (in both a hurry and a photography store).
  • ComicBookDS, the interface is really well designed for comic reading.
  • ComicBookDS, the interface is really well designed for comic reading.
    I've had extreme problems to get it to work with Linux, at least the PictoDS part.
  • edited May 2008
    For those who don't know, PicToDS is the converter to convert comics to the archive used by comic book DS.
    I will have to try the Linux version. Usually I just use the Windows programs for such things but I'll give it a try.
    Post edited by Omnutia on
  • Oh mans. Check outwoot.com today. If you're getting into DS Homebrew, you'll need a microSD card. Sorry if this sounds like an ad, but I just bought 3. I payed the same price for a 1 gig card about a month ago (in both a hurry and a photography store).
    Is cube any good? I got a 2gb Kingston microSD card from Amazon for $12.

    As for ComicBookDS, does it support jpg files or only the archive format?
  • What's the archive format? If it's just .cbr or .cbz, those are just regular Rar and Zip files with a new extension, respectively.
  • What's the archive format? If it's just .cbr or .cbz, those are just regular Rar and Zip files with a new extension, respectively.
    It's .cbds. You need you to convert image files to that format. The easy part is, though, is that the ComicBookDS zip file comes with the converter. At least the one I downloaded did.

    Another question: Why can't you play GBA roms with slot-1 cards? Is it a RAM issue or is it something else? I never really understood that...
  • The speed/bandwidth of the GBA slot is faster than the new one. There is no physical way for the games to run from the slot-1 with nothing in slot-2. M3DS Real cartridges come with a slot-2 adapter to overcome this.
  • The speed/bandwidth of the GBA slot is faster than the new one. There is no physical way for the games to run from the slot-1 with nothing in slot-2. M3DS Real cartridges come with a slot-2 adapter to overcome this.
    On-board RAM perchance?
  • edited May 2008
    The speed/bandwidth of the GBA slot is faster than the new one. There is no physical way for the games to run from the slot-1 with nothing in slot-2. M3DS Real cartridges come with a slot-2 adapter to overcome this.
    On-board RAM perchance?
    I read somewhere that the CycloDS team is working on an gba emulator for it.

    In other news, I got my CycloDS yesterday. I got my micro SD card today (ordered them from separate places). Putting stuff on the card now. I'll report in later on the results.
    Post edited by Dkong on
  • I just got my SuperCard in the mail, and I'm gonna upload some stuff onto it. I'm thinking mostly whatever it will read, just to see what happens.
    Oh, I was just wondering, am I a terrible person if I download a game my mom won't import for me? I really wanna play Jump Ultimate Stars after hearing about it from a podcast, but it's Japan only, and my mom doesn't wanna get it for me. Maybe I shouldn't have spent all my money on this MicroSD card...
  • am I a terrible person if I download a game my mom won't import for me?
    Honestly, it's not legal, and it's not really morally right...but I'd be a fucking liar if I told you that I don't have downloaded DS games on my microSD card. Meh, about half or more are Japan-only, but it's still piracy.
    Fuck, if you get any emulator on there and then get roms for it, that's just as illegal...though it's less morally wrong since you PROBABLY don't have the original console or anywhere to buy the games you want to play. Whereas you obviously have a DS and you can easily get imports (hell, check ebay if she doesn't wanna jump to Play Asia).

    Anyhow...I said I'd report back, so I'm reporting back.
    So far, I have a few DS games, a few emulators (and a bunch of roms for each), a few homebrew games, and a few homebrew apps.
    Ds games: I'm not gonna mention what I have or where I got them. But all I can say is that they work perfectly and save perfectly, so I'm content with them.

    Emulators: so far I have an NES emu (nesDS), a SNES emu (SNEmul), and a GB/GBC emul (lamboy). The NES and GB/GBC work perfectly, but the SNES one is buggy. It plays some stuff fine, but graphics need to be tinkered with for most (which isn't that hard to do), and a few roms (that are good dumps, BTW, since they play on the emulators I have on my comp) won't even play. Also, it took awhile for me to even find an SNES emu that worked. The other one I tried (snesDS) worked horribly.

    Homebrew games: I have a bunch...DSDoom (which is more of a pirate of Doom, actually), GeoWars (which is an obvious ripoff of...I'll let you fill in the blank, LemmingsDS (also more of a pirate, it's still fucking awesome, though), Lockjaw (tetris clone), OpenTyrian (original vertical scrolling shooter), Pocket physics (awesome), StillAliveDS (not a portal clone, but a portal ripoff. It's actually more of a platformer, since it's not first person, and it's all 2d. great game, though. A lot like the flash game, if you've played it...but at the same time, it's NOT the flash game, nor does it have the same levels, as far as I can remember), population tire (awesome port of the homestar game, if you guys remember it)...and that's about it. Oh, I also have a kinda shitty starcraft ripoff (starlite).

    Homebrew apps: Colors (awesome drawing app), animanatee (great animation program), NitroTracker (a music sequencer of sorts), ProteinDS/DScratch (amazing DJ scratching program. Though right now it's limited in the fact that I can't really get my uploaded .wavs to work), RickrollDS (old meme is old, but funny since I named it "Battletoads", and thus it can still work on people).

    Battery life- actually, not so good. I've had to recharge it twice since getting it. So really, twice in around 2 weeks. Prior to using this, I'd have to charge once a month at most. I'm playing a little more than I normally do, but not THAT much. And since battery life was a big reason why I got the Cyclo over the R4 (I heard the cyclo has good life), I'm a bit upset.


    All in all- worth the ~$70, easily. Though I'd go for the R4 because it's a lot cheaper and the microSD card has a spring-loaded slot, so you don't have to pry the damn thing out...
  • edited June 2008
    Interesting, I found the R4's pop out mechanism really annoying, especially at the times when I launched the card into some corner of my room.
    I thought I'd give everyone a quick rundown of what I have on my card.

    PADict DS - Awesome little app that turns your DS into a Japanese-English dictionary. I use the full Dictionary. I also swapped it to take over from moonshell as the middle button on the main menu (just rename and replace). The Kana input is useless as you can't use ten-ten but Romanji input makes up for that. Also has radical and drawing input.

    SNEmulDS - Great Snes emulator. Works with most games and supports save states. [Note: The article at the top of the page says SNEmulDS 0.3 but on the right the download section has 0.6]

    Jenesis - Mega Drive emulator, stable and fast with sound, also has save states.

    ReadMoreDS - Neat little book reading program where you hold the DS sideways.

    I have a lot more but those are the few I use with any regularity.
    Post edited by Omnutia on
  • I got my EZ 3 in 1 and it's an amazing piece of kit for the price (£10 online.). GBA loader, RAM expansion (also doubles as a volatile, but faster, GBA loader.) and rumble pack (noisy but worth a laugh or two.). It sticks out ever so slightly and has a matt finish but you aren't going to notice while playing.
    More information here.
  • If I wanted to get one of these, can I really go wrong with an R4i?
  • Go for it. Just check the website it's made by to make sure they've updated recently.
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