ROMhacking.net shuts down after nearly 20 years

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The game modification site ROMhacking.net, home to nearly 20 years worth of ROM hacks and community projects, has decided to close its doors as of August 1st, 2024. This sudden change comes after an increase in bot activity, content takedowns, and hostility with those involved with the site's operations and ownership.

The website's database, including all ROM hacks and other content uploaded to the site, has been preserved on archive.org. In addition, the site will remain up in a read-only state.

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Last edited by CeeDee,
What a pity! I still remember the first great translation patches for SNES gems released there, and the subsequent amazement, joy and gratitude of the fans in those pioneering years: Tales of Phantasia, Star Ocean, Seiken Densetsu 3, SRW3, Der Langrisser, Sailor Moon RPG and other unforgettable titles. How nostalgic! But time passes undaunted and merciless, and waits for no one....
Apparently its forum will remain as alive and active as ever. Thank God! After all, it was the only section I'd read lately.
 
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Honestly I know none of the specifics (and don’t particularly care, because the current landscape of most emulation and romhacking is unfortunately quite cancerous), but I find it fully plausible if not probable that it was a combination of romhacking.org harassing and “dehumanizing” RHDN, and the owner of RHDN being incompetent in site management (why not secure the website’s continued function, or name the group involved? Abusers should be named and shamed after all.)

As for those saying that this is the same group that led to Byuu suiciding, I suggest doing literally any amount of research before making such statements.

Also romhacking.org’s website is absolutely fucking atrocious and all of the “news” was just advertising their own stuff rather than showing off hacks like RHDN. Not a worthy successor in any light, especially when the people running the site were explicitly shown being toxic towards what has been a selfless service for the last 22 years.
 
*looks around for the new kid who takes the mantle... *

Only used to grab and go but yeah it sucks. Fantastic resource to get good/better games, simple. Oh well I'm sure somewhere else will pop up.
 
They always said the RHDN community was friendly... well, actually it wasn't. Every time I tried to ask for help on ROM hacking, someone would mock me of not having talent for that!
Well, sorry they made you feel like that. There's people like that everywhere and folks with that behavior in real life they must not be pleasant people to be around.
 
They always said the RHDN community was friendly... well, actually it wasn't. Every time I tried to ask for help on ROM hacking, someone would mock me of not having talent for that!
>wah wah, those mean guys on the rom hacking website mocked me for my inexperience

Grow up! Seriously, that's not a good reason for wishing upon the closure of a website that provided a lot for the retro gaming community. And here I was, thinking that you were doxxed or something worse
 
an amazing repository, sad to see it go. Been using it since I was a kid. Glad it's been backed-up and sad to read why it's happened. People suck. really, really suck.

The website's design is still from the 90s though, and I'd have been happy if it was completely restructured and updated. Something organized better and more responsive, but still basic and straight-forward.

What are the other romhack websites? I think I know of one or two, but it'd be nice to get a list of alternatives going.
 
i didn't know that RDHN had the self-management issues. it was a great collection for translations and romhacks, particularly SNES (glad i just updated a majority of the translations/hacks i use).

also, there is a serious problem with rude people and entitled assholes. covid made it much worse, and the amount of people i've seen demanding work/progress reports can be absurd.

let me be clear: nobody owes you anything in life, not progress updates on that app/translation, not a roadmap for that emulator, not anything...people do this for free because the are passionate about gaming.

i just learned about Near's death last year, it's so sad. i hope the group that did that to him faces some kind of legal punishment

as for RHDN, i recall that earlier in the year, somebody was spamming DDOS/many download requests to the site. that kid was stupid for doing it, but i suppose that just revealed another flaw in the site's protection.

in the end, i'd like to thank you gamers/devs/people who speak +2 languages for contributing to the community as a whole. you have brought countless hours of fun to many people across the globe..a true hallmark for gaming everywhere.
 
Last edited by grandosegood,
This is an incredibly sad site to lose. I'm sure something will take it's place, but at this time it really was the best go-to place for all sorts of rom hacks and mods.
 
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