Hello everyone, I'm excited to show you all my first project for the Nintendo Switch.
It's a WIP for now, but I think it will be a great idea to let others give ideas and/or follow the process.
NinBadges (still under study, open for suggestions)
For months, since I bought my Switch, I have asked myself why Nintendo never made an achievements system even though some first-party games have their own in-game systems for this.
When I started to learn and dive into the homebrew scene, everywhere I searched about it always came down to people complaining about it, but never anything concrete.
I work with Java and my background with C/C++ is pretty low, but I believe everything can be achieved, so I started to learn (especially in this forum).
First things first, why badges? My concept is to make the entire project revolve around scout badges.
I really like the shapes, designs, and I think that they will fit perfectly with the feeling of a Switch.
For example, for the categories I was thinking of something that refers to some classics:
The idea is simple, the project will be split into three parts:
sysmodule: works in the background, handles the memory read, makes requests to get/post the list of badges, shows the popup when unlocking some badge; (60% done)
application: will show and manage the list of games and badges of each, maybe a friend system and other things (nothing done yet, UI is a mess for me);
backend: receives requests, manages the db, login, level, friends, etc.; (70% done)
My biggest fear/concern will be mapping each memory pointer and value for the achievements… For games that already have achievements, my plan is to keep what the developers created (artwork, names, descriptions, etc.) and parse that together with the community (especially if the games are available on other platforms where it's possible to run Cheat Engine or similar tools to extract everything more easily).
For first-party titles and games that don’t have existing achievements, I believe it would be excellent to organize contests with the community where we can vote on and validate achievements created by you all. As soon as I define my search method, I intend to create materials to help people hunt for these addresses and values as a way to contribute to the project. Every bit of help is welcome!
FAQ (will be updated)
Is there a ETA?
Not for now. I'm making this post to show the idea and get some feedback. I'm a solo developer and don't want to rush this (because I'll get stuck and end up abandoning the project), so I am taking my time.
How is it going to work?
Once the sysmodule is enabled, and a game is open, a list of badges (which contains title, description, memory_pointer_address, and memory_pointer_value) will be received. If the badge is still locked, a memory search will happen in real time to see if the value of the address and the expected value match.
What about perfomance?
I developed this on a Switch Lite and have never had an issue or frame drop so far. Of course, a lot of new things will be added and performance is one of my priorities.
Is there any other place where I can get info about this project?
Not for now. This post will be updated with new things when the time comes.
Is there any GitHub project?
That will be my next step. I'm organizing everything to push and allow other people's collaboration.
CONCEPTS
1. Main Page
2.1. Pop-up Concept
2.2. Pop-up Concept
3. Badges Concept - For now, it's only stars because I don't want to waste time on this right now.
4. Real Badge PopUp - I used Plutonium (thanks to XorTroll), but I discarded the idea because of the limitations.
I have big ideas and many ambitions for the project. I'm trying not to let the scope grow too much until it becomes minimally viable. I would love to hear from you about what I can improve and what I should keep doing.
It's a WIP for now, but I think it will be a great idea to let others give ideas and/or follow the process.
NinBadges (still under study, open for suggestions)
For months, since I bought my Switch, I have asked myself why Nintendo never made an achievements system even though some first-party games have their own in-game systems for this.
When I started to learn and dive into the homebrew scene, everywhere I searched about it always came down to people complaining about it, but never anything concrete.
I work with Java and my background with C/C++ is pretty low, but I believe everything can be achieved, so I started to learn (especially in this forum).
First things first, why badges? My concept is to make the entire project revolve around scout badges.
I really like the shapes, designs, and I think that they will fit perfectly with the feeling of a Switch.
For example, for the categories I was thinking of something that refers to some classics:
- Bronze Mushroom (15 points) [Bronze Achievement]
- Silver Rupee (30 points) [Silver Achievement]
- Golden Banana (50 points) [Golden Achievement]
- Power Star (75 points) [Platinum]
- Maybe other badges for events or other tasks (friendship, level, collaboration at project, etc)
The idea is simple, the project will be split into three parts:
sysmodule: works in the background, handles the memory read, makes requests to get/post the list of badges, shows the popup when unlocking some badge; (60% done)
application: will show and manage the list of games and badges of each, maybe a friend system and other things (nothing done yet, UI is a mess for me);
backend: receives requests, manages the db, login, level, friends, etc.; (70% done)
My biggest fear/concern will be mapping each memory pointer and value for the achievements… For games that already have achievements, my plan is to keep what the developers created (artwork, names, descriptions, etc.) and parse that together with the community (especially if the games are available on other platforms where it's possible to run Cheat Engine or similar tools to extract everything more easily).
For first-party titles and games that don’t have existing achievements, I believe it would be excellent to organize contests with the community where we can vote on and validate achievements created by you all. As soon as I define my search method, I intend to create materials to help people hunt for these addresses and values as a way to contribute to the project. Every bit of help is welcome!
FAQ (will be updated)
Is there a ETA?
Not for now. I'm making this post to show the idea and get some feedback. I'm a solo developer and don't want to rush this (because I'll get stuck and end up abandoning the project), so I am taking my time.
How is it going to work?
Once the sysmodule is enabled, and a game is open, a list of badges (which contains title, description, memory_pointer_address, and memory_pointer_value) will be received. If the badge is still locked, a memory search will happen in real time to see if the value of the address and the expected value match.
What about perfomance?
I developed this on a Switch Lite and have never had an issue or frame drop so far. Of course, a lot of new things will be added and performance is one of my priorities.
Is there any other place where I can get info about this project?
Not for now. This post will be updated with new things when the time comes.
Is there any GitHub project?
That will be my next step. I'm organizing everything to push and allow other people's collaboration.
CONCEPTS
1. Main Page
2.1. Pop-up Concept
2.2. Pop-up Concept
3. Badges Concept - For now, it's only stars because I don't want to waste time on this right now.
4. Real Badge PopUp - I used Plutonium (thanks to XorTroll), but I discarded the idea because of the limitations.
I have big ideas and many ambitions for the project. I'm trying not to let the scope grow too much until it becomes minimally viable. I would love to hear from you about what I can improve and what I should keep doing.
