Hello... (3DS Newbie)

[StrudelCat84]

Hey, there. So... I'm new to this *whole* thing and this website itself. I recently modded my 2dsxl according to this guide on Youtube which seems to be inline with 3ds hacks guide. I wanted to preserve my games and such and also learn how to patch certain JP games I've acquired but I wanted to learn the basics first before doing anything. I didn't expect it to be this easy, but I'm glad I took the plunge. As long as you followed the guide, it's straightforward for just about anyone. Diving right in, I have questions that maybe I can be redirected to a thread or something (since I tried searching it and not much to go on)
What is:

Homebrew Launcher
Universal Updater
FBI
CheckPoint
& Anemone

Also, if I wanted to make my own custom theme, how do I do it?

 

[Ryab]

Hey, there. So... I'm new to this *whole* thing and this website itself. I recently modded my 2dsxl according to this guide on Youtube which seems to be inline with 3ds hacks guide. I wanted to preserve my games and such and also learn how to patch certain JP games I've acquired but I wanted to learn the basics first before doing anything. I didn't expect it to be this easy, but I'm glad I took the plunge. As long as you followed the guide, it's straightforward for just about anyone. Diving right in, I have questions that maybe I can be redirected to a thread or something (since I tried searching it and not much to go on)
What is:

Homebrew Launcher
Universal Updater
FBI
CheckPoint
& Anemone

Also, if I wanted to make my own custom theme, how do I do it?

I can answer a few of your questions for you.
Homebrew Launcher is where you can load well homebrew from. Basically third party software.
Universal Update is just a tool for updating stuff.
FBI is a title installer it basically allows you to add new icons onto the home menu.
Checkpoint is a save manager that allows backup/restore of game saves.
Anemone is a theme manager to load themes.

Basically some homebrew is in the 3dsx format some in the cia format. 3dsx homebrew is run through the homebrew launcher and .cia are installed using FBI. The Homebrew launcher checks for .3dsx files in the /3ds folder.

 

[StrudelCat84]

I can answer a few of your questions for you.
Homebrew Launcher is where you can load well homebrew from. Basically third party software.
Universal Update is just a tool for updating stuff.
FBI is a title installer it basically allows you to add new icons onto the home menu.
Checkpoint is a save manager that allows backup/restore of game saves.
Anemone is a theme manager to load themes.

Basically some homebrew is in the 3dsx format some in the cia format. 3dsx homebrew is run through the homebrew launcher and .cia are installed using FBI. The Homebrew launcher checks for .3dsx files in the /3ds folder.

So, Universal Updater will be something I'll be using for say, Luma3DS to update the CFW possibly? And, is it possible to add NDS/GBA games without using my physical copies by inserting it into FBI to make an icon?

 

[AutumnWolf]

To make custom themes you should follow this tutorial/guide

https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-make-3ds-custom-themes-2020-updated.568539/

 

[StrudelCat84]

Thanks. I'll check it out.

 

[godreborn]

Nds through TwilightMenu and gba through open agb firm.

 

[AutumnWolf]

So, Universal Updater will be something I'll be using for say, Luma3DS to update the CFW possibly? And, is it possible to add NDS/GBA games without using my physical copies by inserting it into FBI to make an icon?

If you want to play DS games off your SD card you need this https://gbatemp.net/threads/ds-i-3d...-ds-i-games-and-ds-i-menu-replacement.472200/

For GBA games you can make your own GBA Virtual Console games (.cia format GBA games installable using FBI) using this https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-ultimate-gba-vc-injector-for-3ds.438057/

or you can use an emulator (performance may vary depending on if you have a New 3DS or an Old 3DS)

mgba is recommended for New 3DS users

https://github.com/mgba-emu/mgba/releases/download/0.10.1/mGBA-0.10.1-3ds.7z

While Virtual Console is recommended for Old 3DS users

 

[StrudelCat84]

I didn't expect two options for both consoles, but many thanks for the resources.

Nds through TwilightMenu and gba through open agb firm.

Is there a tutorial for Twilight Menu and Agb by any chance?

 

[Ryab]

I didn't expect two options for both consoles, but many thanks for the resources.

Is there a tutorial for Twilight Menu and Agb by any chance?

https://wiki.ds-homebrew.com/twilightmenu/installing-3ds.html

https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-ultimate-gba-vc-injector-for-3ds.438057/

 

[Kwyjor]

To be precise: FBI is used to install .cia files to the Home menu. The Homebrew Launcher is used to run software in .3dsx format. There is a limit to the number of icons you can have on the Home menu, so the Homebrew Launcher is sometimes preferable when software is available as .3dsx.

Virtual Console injects for GBA games are generally functionally identical to open_agb_firm, but again: VC injects create an icon on the Home menu, while open_agb_firm requires rebooting your system. open_agb_firm also stores save data in a much more convenient fashion.

 

[StrudelCat84]

Noted. I'll be looking into this over the weekend so I can sit down and read it carefully. I'll come back if I have any more questions.

 

[StrudelCat84]

I know this is rather late, but I wanted to say thank you all who've helped me get used to the tools. I think the only thing left is learning about Anemone, but I will look into it also at another time. Thanks again for all the help.

 

[StrudelCat84]

I forgot to ask something last time, but if there's a game with no cheats in Checkpoint, and I wanted to add Cheats to the list, does anyone know where I can find it and edit it on my SD Card?

 

[Iron_Masuku]

If you want to play DS games off your SD card you need this https://gbatemp.net/threads/ds-i-3d...-ds-i-games-and-ds-i-menu-replacement.472200/

For GBA games you can make your own GBA Virtual Console games (.cia format GBA games installable using FBI) using this https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-ultimate-gba-vc-injector-for-3ds.438057/

or you can use an emulator (performance may vary depending on if you have a New 3DS or an Old 3DS)

mgba is recommended for New 3DS users

https://github.com/mgba-emu/mgba/releases/download/0.10.1/mGBA-0.10.1-3ds.7z

While Virtual Console is recommended for Old 3DS users

Sorry I don't mean to highjack the thread, but similarly to OP, I'm also new to this.
I've been using Twilight to play Pokémon HGSS and BWBW2, using Pokémon Chest Universal-Team to edit a little bit using the default path …/roms/nds/…
Anyway, is there a way to make the booting of said games a bit smoother instead of:
Menu → Twilight icon → navigate folder …/roms/nds/… → launch what seems to be an emulator? Not sure if it's an emulator or not. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I was playing Emerald through GBARunner2 and it was choppy and not playing well, I installed Emerald VC through a CIA I found online and it's MUCH better. Is there something like this for NDS generation of games Pt/HGSS/BW/BW2?

 

[Kwyjor]

Sorry I don't mean to highjack the thread

I hope you at least bothered to read the other replies first.

TWiLight Menu isn't really an emulator, though it functions a lot like one.

There are various "DS forwarders" available that will let you access a DS game from the Home screen, but they lack some of the functionality that is only available via TWiLight Menu.

 

[CoolMe]

Anyway, is there a way to make the booting of said games a bit smoother instead of:
Menu → Twilight icon → navigate folder …/roms/nds/… → launch what seems to be an emulator?

You don't need to navigate to the nds folder each time you launch TWilightmenu, it should boot straight to it, just make sure you don't have it set to go to DS style menu instead of your games folder.
Also as mentioned, you can make your own DS game forwarders to launch DS games from the 3ds home menu without the need to launch TWilightmenu each time. use YANBF.