Gameboy Color DX Hacks (+GBC to GBA enhancement hacks)

[Brutapode89]

I tested the first patch of Final Fantasy Adventure. In my opinion, it's not enough colored. Are you using an asm file or Gameboy Colorizer?

[erpster2]

There's actually a hack that uses the name Pokemon Red DX, it builds off the full-color hacks and adds new features and Pokemon:  https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=360339

a Blue DX edition is available there in that Pokecommunity forum topic as well.

but both Red DX & Blue DX still suffer this game freezing/crashing problem when using the move Sucker Punch

The only issue I've run into is sucker punch freezing the game.

although that sucker punch crashing problem was supposedly fixed in a github commit, some people like this guy and this person had a hard time "building" a proper patch or update to it since that specific fix never got publicly released

[Brutapode89]

Why not do colors like I done with Paint to give an example?

Title screen:


Boy's naming menu:


Girl's naming menu:


Vs. Jackal:

[JKPhage]

Why not do colors like I done with Paint to give an example?

Probably because filling things with a paint bucket in an image editor is a completely different thing than working with pre-coded palettes in a gamebody game. There are probably numerous limitations to what can be done based on how the game is coded, like if any two characters share a palette, changing one color might look great on one character and make another look like a garbled mess, or there might only be so many palettes to work with that are shared between certain environmental elements and characters so that changing anything will make the entire world look like garbage. It's not as simple as you make it sound.

Just following along with Toruzz's color hack of For the Frog the Bell Tolls there is documentation of how he was limited to a set number of palettes to work with, meaning certain things were just going to have sharp cutoffs or jagged edges, or perhaps be colored a little strangely, and he had to work a feat of technical wizardry to access additional palettes tied to the game's UI to allow him to expand that number and improve visuals, and even that was limited to however many were tied to the UI. Unless the people working on FFA can somehow work out a way to code in additional palettes or some other magical coding feat, they're likely very limited in what they're able to do in terms of colorization. You're basically asking them "Why don't you just wave your magic wand and do something the game engine isn't capable of?"

[Supergamerguy]

I appreciate the enthusiasm for the FFA DX project (I'm really excited to see it progress too), but any further, project-specific comments (constructive, critical, or otherwise) need to be addressed in another thread. Feel free, however, to post small updates about its progression from time-to-time. That's part of this thread's purpose, after all.

[Brutapode89]

Probably because filling things with a paint bucket in an image editor is a completely different thing than working with pre-coded palettes in a gamebody game. There are probably numerous limitations to what can be done based on how the game is coded, like if any two characters share a palette, changing one color might look great on one character and make another look like a garbled mess, or there might only be so many palettes to work with that are shared between certain environmental elements and characters so that changing anything will make the entire world look like garbage. It's not as simple as you make it sound.

Just following along with Toruzz's color hack of For the Frog the Bell Tolls there is documentation of how he was limited to a set number of palettes to work with, meaning certain things were just going to have sharp cutoffs or jagged edges, or perhaps be colored a little strangely, and he had to work a feat of technical wizardry to access additional palettes tied to the game's UI to allow him to expand that number and improve visuals, and even that was limited to however many were tied to the UI. Unless the people working on FFA can somehow work out a way to code in additional palettes or some other magical coding feat, they're likely very limited in what they're able to do in terms of colorization. You're basically asking them "Why don't you just wave your magic wand and do something the game engine isn't capable of?"

I'm sorry but I don't know do anything with ASM file, forgive me. If not, maybe I can make texture packs for Game Boy games with GBE+

I appreciate the enthusiasm for the FFA DX project (I'm really excited to see it progress too), but any further, project-specific comments (constructive, critical, or otherwise) need to be addressed in another thread. Feel free, however, to post small updates about its progression from time-to-time. That's part of this thread's purpose, after all.

No, I've not used an ASM file or Game Boy Colorizer to colorize it, I captured screens (Always in black & white) from the Mystic Quest french version via the VBA emulator after I used Paint to colorize these screeshots allowing me to give examples for RobertCorwen. Because there aren't enough colors in this hack that he's making.

[JKPhage]

No, I've not used an ASM file or Game Boy Colorizer to colorize it, I captured screens (Always in black & white) from the Mystic Quest french version via the VBA emulator after I used Paint to colorize these screeshots allowing me to give examples for RobertCorwen. Because there aren't enough colors in this hack that he's making.

Read the room sir. And the post that you responded to. Take this to the discord dedicated to this project, or the Legend of the Mana Sword thread that it's connected to on this forum. Not here. Also, your comments directed toward it are, frankly, extremely rude and demanding for someone who isn't contributing and has admitted that they have zero knowledge of how the process actually works. Quit posting about it in this thread though.

[Brutapode89]

Read the room sir. And the post that you responded to. Take this to the discord dedicated to this project, or the Legend of the Mana Sword thread that it's connected to on this forum. Not here. Also, your comments directed toward it are, frankly, extremely rude and demanding for someone who isn't contributing and has admitted that they have zero knowledge of how the process actually works. Quit posting about it in this thread though.

Oh, sorry. I didn't realize how I say things. I'll go to the thread like you say me. Promised

[erpster2]

Wario Land - Super Mario Land 3 DX got recent 1.1x update about a day ago

[FlamePurge]

it seems super mario land dx doesnt work on a 3DS, injected as a virtual console game. not sure how accurate it is

[uVSthem]

Does anyone know if Alleyway DX ever had a final version of the patch released that fixed the capability issue with mGBA?

[Shadowman621]

it seems super mario land dx doesnt work on a 3DS, injected as a virtual console game. not sure how accurate it is

Really? I've got it working on mine along with some other DX hacks

[FlamePurge]

Really? I've got it working on mine along with some other DX hacks

on your 3DS? i injected it using the Ultimate Game Boy Injector. when i load a level, i have no control over mario or luigi. they die repeatedly at the starting screen, until they lose all their lives.

[Shadowman621]

Yes. It's on my New 3DS if that matters. I've been using the New Super Ultimate Injector and injecting them as virtual console

[FlamePurge]

Yes. It's on my New 3DS if that matters. I've been using the New Super Ultimate Injector and injecting them as virtual console

I'll have to give it another try. I didn't know about that tool, thanks!

Edit - I'm on a New 3DS as well, using Super Mario Land 1 DX 2.0, and the same exact thing happens with New Super Ultimate Injector 3DS. Mario/Luigi dies as soon as they spawn in the level. When he runs out of lives, the first few notes of the Game Over jingle repeat over and over while the score counter endlessly increases. Are you sure you're talking about Super Mario Land 1 DX? And if so, are you using 2.0? Because Super Mario Land 2 DX works fine, it's just 1 that glitches out.

If not, and you could DM me about the injector method you used, I'd be grateful. (For the record, I changed both games' extensions to GBC and injected them as GBC titles.)

Same thing happens injected as a Game Boy game.

Edit 2 -

This is fantastic and looks professional! Out of sheer coincidence I happened to be looking for this the day before the newest patch. I had a weird issue where the rom would run fine in an emulator but when trying to inject into .cia file it would boot the title screen fine, but if I began the game Mario instantly dies. I did the following:

1.) Downloaded the .ips file
2.) Found the right original game backup and verified the crc.
3.) Patched with LIPS (also tried the built in .ips patching functionality of NSUI)
4.) Verified the resulting patched rom ran fine in retroarch on a pc.
5.) Injected using NSUI Beta 28.

I've tried it quite a few different ways at this point. Always the same result. Any advice at all on how to troubleshoot from here ? The number on the top left also auto increments quickly while Mario falls off the screen. I assume I'm doing something stupid but cant spot it. Thanks for any help you can provide.

I too made a .cia file to play on 3DS and have the exact same thing! Mario just keeps dying instantly, over and over. The ROM itself works fine in a PC emulator. What a weird quirk!

GREAT hack! Just played it on an emulator 

Unfortunately, it doesn't run properly as a .cia file on 3DS, my preferred method of playing  As soon as you press start, Mario immediately dies repeatedly until he's out of lives, then the Game Over gets stuck on a loop. I've seen others experience this too, so it's not just me.

Any solutions??

These people had the same issue. If you could help out by sharing your conversion method for Super Mario Land 1 DX, I think you'd be helping a lot of people.

[Shadowman621]

"(For the record, I changed both games' extensions to GBC and injected them as GBC titles.)"

I think that's your issue. I left them as GB and injected them as GB titles and it works perfectly. Hang on. I'm pretty sure it's DX 2.0 that I used but it's been a while so I'll inject it again and try to recreate the process.

Have you tried the patched rom on an emulator to make sure it works before you inject it?

Yes it looks to be DX 2.0 as the file was modified on April 26th this year. Just 6 days after DX 2.0 was released

Do you use Old GB Virtual Console, or New GB Virtual Console as the injection method?

[toruzz]

It seems the GB Virtual Console prevents the initial RAM writes necessary for the game to properly work (which is definitely an issue with the emulator as it works on real hardware). Of course, you can use an alternative emulator for 3DS like GameYob 3DS and it will work.

[FlamePurge]

I think that's your issue. I left them as GB and injected them as GB titles and it works perfectly. Hang on. I'm pretty sure it's DX 2.0 that I used but it's been a while so I'll inject it again and try to recreate the process.

As I said above, "Same thing happens injected as a Game Boy game."

Have you tried the patched rom on an emulator to make sure it works before you inject it?

That's the first thing I do every time.

Yes it looks to be DX 2.0 as the file was modified on April 26th this year. Just 6 days after DX 2.0 was released

Do you use Old GB Virtual Console, or New GB Virtual Console as the injection method?

I wasn't aware of this difference; I'm new to injecting games on my 3DS. Do you know which method you used?

It seems the GB Virtual Console prevents the initial RAM writes necessary for the game to properly work (which is definitely an issue with the emulator as it works on real hardware). Of course, you can use an alternative emulator for 3DS like GameYob 3DS and it will work.

Thanks toruzz, this seems to be the definitive answer.

[Shadowman621]

I use the old GB Virtual Console. Now one more question, do you patch the game before you inject it or during the injection?

My method is to patch beforehand with the "patch online now" feature. I open up New Super Ultimate Injector and under file, I select new Game Boy CIA. I load the ROM (which it doesn't recognize) and enter all the data for it. I have the injection method set to Old GB Virtual Console. Once it's all done, I export the CIA and transfer over to my 3DS. On my 3DS, I use FBI to install it and then delete the CIA. After that it's all ready to be played.

Let me know if this helps

[FlamePurge]

Which did you use for GB? When I go to "Tools > Options > Game Boy default settings > Default injection method:" I have several options.

GB Virtual Console
GB Virtual Console with Linking
GB Virtual Console (Alt)
Retroarch Gambatte Forwarder
Retroarch TGB Dual Forwarder

Also, when I inject it SML1 DX 2.0 as a Game Boy game, the title screen glitches and the game appears in black and white. Mario continues dying infinitely. I've tried GB Virtual Console (Alt) and GBC Virtual Console (Alt) both to no avail.

Edit - It works via the Gambatte Forwarder. Not ideal since it looks unofficial, but it'll do. Thanks.