ROM Hacks News
New to the scene of ROM hacking but a lifelong veteran of Pokémon, Cram-o-dev has worked on and off over the past 7 months to release his take on a character swap hack of Pokémon Yellow featuring one of his favorite new Pokémon. To those of you who might have asked yourselves, “What if Pikachu was replaced with Cramorant from Pokémon Sword/Shield?”, then the result might look something like this!
Lacking programming skills but eager to learn and experiment, Cram-o-dev sought to turn his dream into reality. Using the disassembly of Pokémon Yellow as a base, he has put in a huge amount of time and effort in order to alter every sprite, graphic, sound, and dialogue associated with Pikachu into Cramorant! But he didn’t stop there. While playing around with the code, he realized he could make Pokémon Yellow even better than it already is and give players a better Pokémon Generation 1 experience while still retaining the tone and simplicity unique to Gen 1.
Every Pokémon has been made obtainable in-game, trainers use a greater variety of Pokémon, maps have been made prettier and easier to navigate, beta and unused content has been added, more flavor text has been written, some annoying bugs have been fixed, and much more!
The relevant link will take you to the project’s development page and source code, as well as providing readers with an exhaustive list of major and minor edits that have been made in order to create Cramorant Edition. On the RHDN project page, you can find a few more screenshots, a more general list of changes, and of course download the patch. Cram-o-dev has even created an epic trailer for his hack, which you can view on its project page!
For those looking for a new but familiar Pokémon Gen 1 experience, or even looking for a laugh (Cramorant has some “interesting” expressions), then give this hack a shot!
[ COMMENTS ] Relevant Link - RHDN Project Page
Homebrew News
Note: This homebrew game was removed and is not available on site. Please check the Related URL for policy on this matter.
In 1994, Capcom released Mega Man: The Wily Wars, a remake of Mega Man 1,2 and 3 for the Sega Genesis, which let players experience the classic NES titles in 16-bit glory. However, the later NES titles, 4-6, were left on their home system and never got a conversion. There was a gap that never got filled.
Until now. Mega Man: The Sequel Wars continues where Wily Wars left off and aims to recreate Mega Man 4, 5 and 6. It is a homebrew project built from the ground up while still running on the Sega Genesis. Episode Red is the first release of the project and contains the full remake of Mega Man 4. Experience this underappreciated classic with new stylish 16-bit flair. The full power of the Mega Drive is used to deliver detailed graphics, elaborate parallax backgrounds, two quality soundtracks and a slew of gameplay improvements and additions. Great care has been put into recreating the original game faithfully while adding new features.
Even if you’re a veteran that knows the original like the back of their hand, there is new content to enjoy. Use new weapons or play as completely different characters. And remember… Only for the Mega Drive!
[ COMMENTS ] Relevant Link
ROM Hacks News
So here it is: sooner than later, the 2nd project between Crying Onion and Protopixel has arrived.
This time, Protopixel is the one who brings the original idea: turn a Namco classic inspired by the children’s game “cops and robbers” into an adventure starring the grandson of the gentleman thief, Arsène Lupin. In some ways, this game feels better playing the role of the thief, with Lupin stealing valuables while being pursued by his nemesis, Inspector Zenigata and a troop of well-trained policemen.
Of course, the original game (Mappy) is an extremely addictive old arcade classic (but graphically poor), so this is still a minor project created for fun and completed in a couple of weeks.
In the related link it is possible to see the hack in action, courtesy of Nick Nitro’s channel. And on the project page, access to the *.IPS patch and to covers created especially for the occasion, designed by Crying Onion with original artwork provided by Protopixel.
So the only thing left to say is: Try it and enjoy it!
[ COMMENTS ] Relevant Link - RHDN Project Page
ROM Hacks News
After a previous attempt that wasn’t well received, user gzip has taken another stab at uncensoring Maniac Mansion for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Several limitations have been overcome to produce a version with more censored content and without all the unnecessary cruft.
You played it as a kid, now play it as an adult.
[ COMMENTS ] Relevant Link - RHDN Project Page
Translations News
An English translation of Ginga Ojousama Densetsu Yuna: Final Edition for the PlayStation has been released! Download it here: http://stargood.org/trans/yuna3f.php
The Machinate Empire has invaded Earth! Scrambling to stop its hordes of robotic soldiers is Savior of Light and happy-go-lucky galactic idol Yuna Kagurazaka. Facing more foes than ever before, Yuna’s power alone won’t be enough. She must gather her many (many) friends, battle her way to the shadowy Machinate Emperor in the far reaches of space, and put a stop to her plans of conquest before Earth – and the galaxy itself – is destroyed. Along the way, she must also uncover the connection between this mysterious empire, a legendary battle from ages past, and her beloved friend Ayako…
Ginga Ojousama Densetsu Yuna: Final Edition (Galaxy Fraulein Yuna: Final Edition) is a 1998 strategy RPG/adventure game for the PlayStation, developed by Red Company and Will and published by Hudson Soft. It is a mildly enhanced port of the 1997 Sega Saturn game Ginga Ojousama Densetsu Yuna 3: Lightning Angel. A major departure from the adventure games which had comprised the series to date, this entry, drawing inspiration from Red Company’s own flourishing Sakura Wars franchise, sees it transformed into an isometric tactical RPG with missions linked together by visual novel segments: a “tactical adventure”, as the game proclaims itself. True to its name, it’s also the final entry in the Yuna series.
In addition to fully translating the game into English (including optional subtitles for videos and voice clips), this patch tries to address a common source of complaints by adding an adjustable fast-forward/animation skip option, allowing players disinclined to watch the game’s long and frequent animations to increase its pace. It also contains a number of optimizations to reduce delays between boxes of dialogue, which were significantly worsened in the PlayStation port but are now closer to what they were in the original Saturn version.
To coincide with this release, modest revisions have also been made to the previously released translation for Yuna 2, along with some very minor changes to Yuna 1. The latest versions can be downloaded here (Yuna 2) and here (Yuna 1).
This patch was the work of Supper (hacking and translation), Mafoo343 (translation support), cccmar (testing), Xanathis (testing), and Cargodin (testing). The authors hope you’ll enjoy the game!
[ COMMENTS ] Relevant Link - RHDN Project Page
Translations News
「BREAK ARTS」 is proud to announce a complete localization of Monster Hunter 2!
Monster Hunter 2 is an action role-playing game for the PlayStation 2, released in 2006. It features many mechanics which never returned in later entries, including a seasonal system, and online player-versus-player combat. It is also known for its punishing difficulty and strong monster advantage, when compared with other games in the series.
In this release, 「BREAK ARTS」 have completely translated the game. All NPC dialogue, Quest descriptions, tutorial text, UI texture, item descriptions, including everything in the game’s online component, has been completely translated.
The patch is fully compatible with online servers, and provides an original, unchanged Monster Hunter 2 experience.
Work on this patch took over 6 months and over 850 hours to complete, and much love was put into the hacking and localization of the game to give fans of the series the best experience possible.
Please enjoy Monster Hunter 2!
[ COMMENTS ] Relevant Link - RHDN Project Page
Translations News
Dear Heroes, the wait is over!
Unofficial Rent-A-Hero No.1 - English patch v.1.0 for SEGA Dreamcast has finally been released!
It should be noted that this is not an ordinary translation, as it includes new exclusive features:
- Unlockable content
- 3D models / animations
- VMU graphics / animations
- Opening/Ending subs
- Interface controls
- Debug menus
- Secret modes ( One-Punch man fans rejoice! )
- Developers message board with original team + Rent-A-Modders dev comments
- Skip logos sequence with START button
- Bug fixes
…And much more!
Project Story:
- Back to the year 2000, the release of an English version of Rent-A-Hero No.1 for the Dreamcast was eagerly anticipated, but it never materialized until 2017 when an unfinished Xbox localized prototype version appeared on hiddenpalace.org. Unfortunately prototype text data could not be used on the Dreamcast due to the file archives being totally different, therefore in order to port the text, VincentNL had to reverse both formats, write scripts to extract and reassemble the data.
- On February 9th, 2021, a first proof-of-concept video was released, and positive feedback encouraged VincentNL to begin disassembly and setting up a translation process. Thousands of untranslated lines from Xbox prototype, control codes to refactor, 3D models with Japanese names and over a hundred of textures had to be taken care of in a qualified team effort.
- Rent-A-Modders team grew in numbers and quality, with outstanding translators such as Korp13 and CurtainFire, who diligently tackled thousands of untranslated lines.
- The project stepped up with the contributions of fellow reverse engineers like Egregiousguy who made brand new 3D content + animations for the game, and Nanashi’s SH4 work on font / decompression algorithms which prompted the creation of new features for the game.
- Over 60+ new functions were coded in SH4 assembly by VincentNL, in particular Name entry, Debug menu, VMU animation system, subtitles, and new SECAMAIL interface controls with the analog stick.
- A special mention goes to Togepichu, who tirelessly worked on multiple playthroughs to find over 200+ bugs that needed fixing, and our Beta Testing team!
Although the journey was challenging, it was always fascinating and rewarding to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges together!
[ COMMENTS ] Relevant Link - RHDN Project Page
ROM Hacks News
Lemmings is a 1991 puzzle game originally released for the Amiga. The player does not control the titular Lemmings directly, instead controlling a cursor to assign skills to the Lemmings to help them navigate various levels and reach the exit of each one.
Out of over 30 different versions of Lemmings, the NES version is widely considered one of the worst, featuring dull, muddy color palettes, broken-sounding audio, lots of uninteresting levels, and many bad design decisions. This hack aims to fix the bulk of these.
This hack does not necessarily focus on accuracy to other versions; it simply aims to make this version about as good as it reasonably could have been with just a bit more thought and effort. Changes made to the game include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Brighter, more appealing color palettes for almost every tileset
- New graphics for the skill bar and the menu font
- Higher-quality music and more reasonable sound effects
- Less repetitive music rotation
- Ability to navigate the skill bar while the game is paused
- Much less annoying Builder mechanics
- HUD displays selected Lemming’s state (like almost all other versions)
- Several updates to the levels
It is now (hopefully) easier to enjoy the few truly unique things this version had to offer.
NOTICE: This hack is only for use with the USA release of the game.
[ COMMENTS ] Relevant Link - RHDN Project Page
ROM Hacks News
After a long absence, Crying Onion is back. And this time comes with two friends: Super Buni, who inspired some time ago one of the most notorious projects of this author and who, once again, contributed both the original idea and some suggestions. And ProtoPixel, professional graphic artist and lover of old school games, who brings his talent in pixelart.
And what do they bring us? Something that being honest is quite simple: A parody/tribute to Resident Evil 3, using Nintendo’s classic “Popeye” as a base.
You can see the animated gifs that accompany this article, search for it on YT, where several videos have already been dedicated to it, or you can simply download it and judge for yourself this cuteness that as usual from its creator, hides enough references and Easter eggs so that within its simplicity, any fan of Capcom’s franchise will enjoy it.
[ COMMENTS ] Relevant Link - RHDN Project Page
Utilities News
- For Windows computers: https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/1752/
- For ARM-based Macs (Apple silicon): https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/1753/
- For Intel-based Macs: https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/1755/
Ever wanted to play MOTHER 3 without so much noise? Love hearing its soundtrack crystal clear on YouTube? Now you can experience the game with much cleaner audio! This hack mixes every individual channel at 16-bit audio before downsampling everything to 8-bit audio as opposed to the default m4a mixer which mixes every channel at 8-bit audio (blame the GBA’s DAC!)
- This greatly reduces the number of quantization/rounding errors that pop up during the mixing process, making the classic GBA “background hiss” much quieter while making Shogo Sakai’s music sound crispier than ever! Results seem even better when played back on actual hardware. Enjoy!!
DISCLAIMERS
FOR EVERYONE:
- You may hear occasional popping in-game after patching your ROM, for example while saving your game. Throughout 100+ hours of testing, these same pops were heard while playing the original Japanese release, making the hack authors fairly confident this hack isn’t the cause. It’s possible these audio glitches were covered up by the original mixer’s background noise and are now easier to hear with clearer audio. Please don’t hesitate to report any bugs, but just keep in mind there’s only so much you can do with the GBA’s limitations!
FOR SPEEDRUNNERS:
- If your ROM is a Fan Translation, this patch does modify the RNG used by MOTHER 3 and will most likely give you unexpected results! Because of that, any TAS recordings of MOTHER 3 will be broken by this hack. You have been warned!!
PATCHER FEATURES
- 100% compatibility with ALL Fan Translations! [versions 1.2 and below will cause occasional slowdowns with this hack, regardless of the language]
- Compatible with the original Japanese release of MOTHER 3
- Compatible with other ROM hacks, such as Claus’ Journey [this is an EXPERIMENTAL feature; be aware of potential bugs!!]
- Customize your game’s sample rate for higher-quality sound effects, including Lucas’ clean electric guitar during battles
- Save backup copies of your game before patching
- Easily undo/remove the HQ sound patch from your game
- Read the source code behind this patch
- Windows and macOS support (64-bit only)
HOW TO PATCH YOUR GAME:
Download the patcher and either load your ROM with the “Open” button or drag-and-drop your ROM into the patcher. After you indicate whether your copy of MOTHER 3 is an original Japanese release or a Fan Translation, you’ll be able to apply the hack to your game. Simple as!
FUTURE GOALS
- Having the patcher translated to languages other than English (Currently available in French and Brazilian Portuguese)
- Support for Linux distros
CREDITS
- Mixer preparation, ROM hacking, and patcher written by Summer Dragonfly (xkas format by Near/byuu: https://wiki.superfamicom.org/xkas)
- HQ sound mixer ingeniously programmed by ipatix (https://github.com/ipatix), inspired by “Golden Sun”: https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=324673
- Original HQ sound mixing code written by Haruki “Bon” Kodera for Camelot Software Planning: https://www.camelot.co.jp/gimon/gimon21.html
- Mother 3 decompilation and technical support: Kurausukun and theo3 (https://github.com/Kurausukun/mother3)
- Extra technical support: phoenixbound, Lorenzooone, and Yosuke
- French translations and Intel-based Mac version packaged by JumpmanFR
- Brazilian Portuguese translations by Somewhat Viable
- Special thanks to the Mother 1+2 Fan Translation/Sound Restoration project and the PRET Discord community!
