Tutorial How to make 3DS Games with Unity

[AliSd]

Thanks, I will try that

 

[Th3Travler]

You cant use pixel based shaders aka Fragment shaders. The 3DS GPU was made before that tech was around. Here is the list of working shaders for Unity 5.6.5 .

https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-make-3ds-games-with-unity.441193/page-13#post-10303463

hopefully this works never linked to a pervious post before

What affect are you trying to make? looks like you have a shader that is masking the edges of that wall?

 

[AliSd]

You cant use pixel based shaders aka Fragment shaders. The 3DS GPU was made before that tech was around. Here is the list of working shaders for Unity 5.6.5 .

https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-make-3ds-games-with-unity.441193/page-13#post-10303463

hopefully this works never linked to a pervious post before

What affect are you trying to make? looks like you have a shader that is masking the edges of that wall?

Thank you so much

Post automatically merged: Apr 19, 2024

I had weird lighting issues. The one change I made that I know worked for me was turning off reflections in the objects material. under the forward rendering options. not sure if that'll help

Post automatically merged: Apr 17, 2024

Oh, and I changed the main maps source from metallic alpha to albedo alpha, with both smoothness and metallic set to 0

It works thanks !

 

[Jalm]

ohh 5.6.6 is that out in the wild? from what I have read that was the most stable version that was ever released for the 3DS.

yeah, although it was somewhat difficult to find it.
The most stable unity for 3ds (that i know) is unityfor3ds-1.3.11 but since it is lost media I don't know if it uses the same version of unity.

 

[Th3Travler]

1.3.0 is 5.6.5f and 1.3.11 is 5.6.6f2 which means you have the most stable version
would you umm...know how one might acquire and unlock said version...
if you know just ping me - I know this is a sensitive subject on gbatemp so don't link anything
if you know just ping me

I am also hunting for the Unity 3DS tutorials that use to be hosted on the Devnet but that seems to be be far harder to acquire than an IS-Snake Box it self lol

 

[Jalm]

1.3.0 is 5.6.5f and 1.3.11 is 5.6.6f2 which means you have the most stable version
would you umm...know how one might acquire and unlock said version...
if you know just ping me - I know this is a sensitive subject on gbatemp so don't link anything
if you know just ping me

I am also hunting for the Unity 3DS tutorials that use to be hosted on the Devnet but that seems to be be far harder to acquire than an IS-Snake Box it self lol

View attachment 433017

I don't have 1.3.11, I have 1.3.10 which uses the same version of unity.

and yes, I know where you can find this version on youtube. i would help more to preserve this software so that it does not become lostmedia but my internet is too slow to upload it to the internet archive.

Sorry for my bad English, the translator doesn't work very well for some time ago

 

[Th3Travler]

I don't have 1.3.11, I have 1.3.10 which uses the same version of unity.

and yes, I know where you can find this version on youtube. i would help more to preserve this software so that it does not become lostmedia but my internet is too slow to upload it to the internet archive.

Sorry for my bad English, the translator doesn't work very well for some time ago

Aww you English is good enough man
yeah 1.3.1 is still a good version to have, sucks about the slow internet. Maybe a visit to a coffee shop or internet cafe with faster wifi can help with that..do internet cafes still exist?
Im sure someone has 1.3.11 on a harddrive somewhere just biding his time same with those tutorial files.

 

[Jalm]

Aww you English is good enough man
yeah 1.3.1 is still a good version to have, sucks about the slow internet. Maybe a visit to a coffee shop or internet cafe with faster wifi can help with that..do internet cafes still exist?
Im sure someone has 1.3.11 on a harddrive somewhere just biding his time same with those tutorial files.

well... they still exist here, but the upload speed is worse than mine xd
Tomorrow I am going to hire a new internet provider that supposedly has optical fiber for my area, to finally be able to preserve this and more for future generations

 

[Th3Travler]

well... they still exist here, but the upload speed is worse than mine xd
Tomorrow I am going to hire a new internet provider that supposedly has optical fiber for my area, to finally be able to preserve this and more for future generations

wow! you got quite a few versions pls let me know when you got them up!

 

[JonasRawen]

Hey guys! I have a tiny problem and I would be so happy if somebody would know what to do. The issue is that when I move as little as 50 units (idk probably meters) in my Unity project, I encounter extreme Floating Point Accuracy issues - everything starts jigglying and wobbling, to the point where it's virtually unplayable. Curiously enough, this problem exists still on Citra, but is like a 1000 times more subtle - on coords 1000+ on Citra it looks comparably to 100 on my 2ds (old one). Thanks for any replies

 

[Th3Travler]

! I have a tiny problem and I would be so happy if somebody would know what to do. The issue is that when I move as little as 50 units (idk probably meters) in my Unity project, I encounter extreme Floating Point Accuracy issues - everything starts jigglying and wobbling, to the point where it's virtually unplayable. Curiously enough, this problem exists still on Citra, but is like a 1000 times more subtle - on coords 1000+ on Citra it looks comp

well...
for sure those are float point errors.

could be a few things -

-What version of the SDK?
-how was the geo made?
-is it broken up into parts or combined?
-if you make a cube and move it to the distance where the float point errors occur does the new cube also have this float point issue or only the terrain? ( if the cube does not the ground geo may be to big and need to get cut up ) Geo can only be so big - or combined only a certain distance away before float point errors will just show up.

-What materials are assigned to the geo?
-How many polys are being drawn on screen?
-Are your UV's very far from 01 space?
-Could you upload a sample project?
-Have you removed objects in the scene to see if that stabilizes it?
-Have your tried moving the level to a new project?

I heard that World Streamer plugin for unity works on N3DS. might help give you a large open world if that is what you are aiming for.

 

[PlayerLobs]

Stuck here too, have you figured this one out yet?

Did anyone find a fix for this?

Removing spaces from the names in Player Settings, Publishing Settings didnt work.

 

[Th3Travler]

Did anyone find a fix for this?

Removing spaces from the names in Player Settings, Publishing Settings didnt work.

Well there are a lot of thighs that have to be setup correctly in order to get a 3ds project to export.

Lets start with this, do you have in your build settings Nintendo 3DS selected?

Are you using any of the sample 3ds packages?
mainly the 3DS Banner package?

When 5.6.5 released there is a bug related to the 3DS Banner package. it has a simple fix but definitely not obvious. The sample Banner package imports I think png files into all the Banner sub folders.

You must delete or convert every png or jpg or any other image format to .CTEX in order for the banner to export. CTEX is Nintendo's proprietary image format.

While you can delete the image files from all the folders except in one in COMMON.
- DO NOT DELETE THE FOLDERS! ONLY THE IMAGE FILES!
the texture file in COMMON\Textures
MUST BE CONVERTED TO CTEX AND CAN NOT BE DELETED!!!! DO NOT CHANGE THE NAME!
the exporter is very picky and will crash!

you CAN modify the image but make sure to save it in the proper folder and name it correctly!

COMMON
|______Textures -> COMMON1.ctex

You have to use the Photoshop NintendoWare for CTR tool set
to do the conversion. The software can be found on the web.

I don't know about modern photoshop but I have it working with CS 5.5
I know CS6 and cc14-16 works too. When properly installed you can save files in the
CTEX format.

My advice is stick to ETC1 and ETC1_A4 they are the best bang for the buck compression wise, thou you can use RGB compressions for better alpha and color, file sizes will be bigger tho. This advice is really more for 3D banners. for 2D Banners stick to RGB.

It is funny that you have to do this only for Banner files because you can use regular image formats for the rest of the project only the banner will error out if its not .CTEX. While Unity will convert all project images to Nintendo proprietary formats for the 3DS, the Banner is exported by a separate tool chain that does not do image conversions. it is very picky and going off script will make the exporter
insta-crash.

make sure that your images are multiple of 2 and smaller than 512. Id recommend simply converting the supplied sample image which is 256x128 and turning it into a simple 2d banner. 3D banners are a total other nightmare it for sure can be done but I'm not going to explain that here.

This may not be the fix either but this is something else that I know cause none descript errors and this one tends to bite people when they 1st start off. this is why I decided to explain it.

If this isn't it take a screen shot of your Build Settings, Player settings, Project and Hierarchy Ill see if I can help you. You can also upload your project and I can take a look.

 

[HyingPlantilina]

web

What web are you talking?

 

[Th3Travler]

What web are you talking?

I can not provide links but I can tell you to look around Github, Google can eventually lead you to the software. Sorry I can't be more detailed but those are GBATemp Rules.

Also know you don't have to use the banner package folder if you just want to mess around with the software and export to the 3DS. It will export without the Banner folder in the project. The Folder is more if you want to customize the Banner that shows up when you highlight your app on the 3DS. If you already installed the Banner package you can simply delete or rename it and the exporter will ignore it

 

[HyingPlantilina]

ok bro. sorry for my bad english, thanks for the help.
i have already downloaded a file in github named project_ctr. I hope this is what i need for compress the png images

 

[Th3Travler]

ok bro. sorry for my bad english, thanks for the help.
i have already downloaded a file in github named project_ctr. I hope this is what i need for compress the png images

Your English is fine

From my findings .ctex is not a format they support...if its the same GitHub repository you found... they seem to cover more the main software file formats not the tool development formats.

Ill give you a better search word... The tool set you seek is called NW4C it installs in Maya and photoshop there is even a video out there about it that teaches you how to install the tool sets.

There may be homebrew tools that can generate these formats as well but I don't know them maybe someone else can chime in on that

if you do find the toolset don't put the link on here it is against GBATemp terms.

 

[HyingPlantilina]

don´t worry i have just found a video from extintorincendiandose where there is a link with all the tools, thanks.

 

[HyingPlantilina]

uhh guys, i have a problem installing the cia for test my game.

"Failed to install CIA file.
Result code: 0xD8E0806A
Level: Permanent (27)
Summary: Invalid argument (7)
Module: AM (32)
Desc: Cert signature or hash check failed (106)"

I tried changing the id code with homebrew, but nothing happened.

 

[Th3Travler]

uhh guys, i have a problem installing the cia for test my game.

"Failed to install CIA file.
Result code: 0xD8E0806A
Level: Permanent (27)
Summary: Invalid argument (7)
Module: AM (32)
Desc: Cert signature or hash check failed (106)"

I tried changing the id code with homebrew, but nothing happened.

Are you trying to use the CIA that exports out of Unity?

Those CIA's can only be read by official 3DS Dev/Test kit hardware they will not read on a jail broken 3DS.
To view your exported unity 3DS application you'll need to do a few steps...sadly without a Dev or Test kits it will be the only way you can install to your modded 3DS. ( least this is the only way I know how to do it ) There may be a better way which id love to know about too

1st : Export out of unity as a .CCI --> fun fact: ( CCI is the DEV kit application format while CIA is the Testkit format )

2. Rename the extinctions from ".CCI" to ".3DS" ..apparently its the same file format
from: xxxx.cci to: xxxx.3ds

3. This next part is a pain: there are 2 ways to do this only 1 has worked for me but I will mention both routes. As a side quest I recommend getting FTP-GMX and installing that into your 3DS so you can transfer files wirelessly rather than having to remove your SD card every time you want to add a new file. once you read the steps involved you'll see why you want to have ftp rather than do manual copying.

Option A ( I couldn't get this to work with Unity exported files )
There are programs people have written that can from the PC convert the CCI to CIA. Ill let the video explain it will be much faster.

* in my humble option* because you are exporting a unique file that is not an established game I think the converter doesn't know what to do with the file. Understand I am not a professional programmer so what do I know

Option B ( which is the way I have actually gotten it to work )
Copy the now named .3DS application file into your godmode 9, "in" folder located on your 3DS's SD card.

GM9
|
----> IN

Use Godmode9's 3ds to cia converter to convert the file. There are a lot of videos on YouTube that show this process
this one is good:

4. After you convert the file it will pass it to the "out" folder of GM9.
You can install it via the FBI application at this point. I leave all my conversions in the out folder but you can move them anywhere you want long as the FBI app can find them.

5. You are done!

6. Realize the implications of having to do this conversion every time you want to test to hardware and Don't even think about not testing to hardware! No emulator is going to do a better job. hop between the 2 to do testing. Test changes and Test often on real hardware! This why the FTP program is so important for development.

I know it's alot of extra steps...sadly developing for the 3DS is much harder than most consoles and without the dev hardware it harder still.

BUT! Do not despair I have gotten through all these hurdles and gotten my silly little game to work on hardware ( not anywhere near done in anyway but its on there and i can run around ) ... Long as you can take the L's and keep pushing forward you can do it!