I have performed a search of this forum and I haven't found anything that really correlates with my question here, but I'm certain I can't be the only one who wants to do something along these lines. Thus, I feel it's not overstepping any boundaries to ask the question here.
Those users, such as myself, who were part of the ambassador program, were granted 20 pieces of software - 10 NES games that run on the Virtual Console, and 10 GBA games. My question lies with the latter.
I *think* have a general understanding of how the gameboy advance games work on the 3DS. They aren't run on any sort of virtual console; rather, the 3DS runs the software on its built-in DS, which in turn runs the software because the DS by default has the ability to run GBA software. Because of this layering, and the fact that the speed of the CPU has been manually slowed down, it is impossible to return to the HOME menu or access any other 3ds functions, in the same way as when playing a DS cart.
What I want to do is install more GBA games on the system.
Basically, I figure that if there are already 10 game boy advance games that run on the system, presumably all encoded in the same format, I should be able to convert more GBA games to that format and place them in the right place so that my 3DS would recognize them as software and be able to run them in the same way. The end result would be me having several more GBA games available to be played on my system, none of which were part of the original ambassador program.
What I would like advice on is whether such a project is feasible, and if so where I should start.
I'm aware (I think) of a couple of possible difficulties:
~Firstly, iirc, most software downloaded from the eShop (which includes the ambassador GBA games whose format I would be trying to replicate) is modified somehow with a small bit of system-specific code, so that the game can't be copied and used on other systems. I figure that if it was known where this modification is made, it would be possible to apply it to all software that I would want to add, and thus avert the issue.
~Secondly, I don't know where said software is stored, and this is probably the bigger (although probably more fixable) problem. I've sifted through the SD card in Finder (mac user) and while I have located some .sav (GBA savestate? My computer tells me to open them with my GBA emulator) files (though I have no idea what games they correspond to) and lots of various binary executables (of whose purpose I am unclear), I haven't found anything that even looks like a file in which a game could be stored, let alone any file big enough to store a full game of any sort. Additionally, almost all folders and binary executables are labeled in hex strings, which make it difficult for me to tell what deals with what.
In regards to the second issue, my question effectively boils down to the following: Is software from the eShop downloaded completely to the SD card, or is it split somehow between the SD card and the system memory? And if the former is true, where on the SD card can I find downloaded software?
Thank you to whoever might be able to point me in the right direction on this.
EDIT: I accidentally posted this thread twice, and upon attempting to edit this I could find no way to delete the duplicate. I apologize for the inconvenience, but ask that someone with power do so, so as to avoid clutter of some sort.
Those users, such as myself, who were part of the ambassador program, were granted 20 pieces of software - 10 NES games that run on the Virtual Console, and 10 GBA games. My question lies with the latter.
I *think* have a general understanding of how the gameboy advance games work on the 3DS. They aren't run on any sort of virtual console; rather, the 3DS runs the software on its built-in DS, which in turn runs the software because the DS by default has the ability to run GBA software. Because of this layering, and the fact that the speed of the CPU has been manually slowed down, it is impossible to return to the HOME menu or access any other 3ds functions, in the same way as when playing a DS cart.
What I want to do is install more GBA games on the system.
Basically, I figure that if there are already 10 game boy advance games that run on the system, presumably all encoded in the same format, I should be able to convert more GBA games to that format and place them in the right place so that my 3DS would recognize them as software and be able to run them in the same way. The end result would be me having several more GBA games available to be played on my system, none of which were part of the original ambassador program.
What I would like advice on is whether such a project is feasible, and if so where I should start.
I'm aware (I think) of a couple of possible difficulties:
~Firstly, iirc, most software downloaded from the eShop (which includes the ambassador GBA games whose format I would be trying to replicate) is modified somehow with a small bit of system-specific code, so that the game can't be copied and used on other systems. I figure that if it was known where this modification is made, it would be possible to apply it to all software that I would want to add, and thus avert the issue.
~Secondly, I don't know where said software is stored, and this is probably the bigger (although probably more fixable) problem. I've sifted through the SD card in Finder (mac user) and while I have located some .sav (GBA savestate? My computer tells me to open them with my GBA emulator) files (though I have no idea what games they correspond to) and lots of various binary executables (of whose purpose I am unclear), I haven't found anything that even looks like a file in which a game could be stored, let alone any file big enough to store a full game of any sort. Additionally, almost all folders and binary executables are labeled in hex strings, which make it difficult for me to tell what deals with what.
In regards to the second issue, my question effectively boils down to the following: Is software from the eShop downloaded completely to the SD card, or is it split somehow between the SD card and the system memory? And if the former is true, where on the SD card can I find downloaded software?
Thank you to whoever might be able to point me in the right direction on this.
EDIT: I accidentally posted this thread twice, and upon attempting to edit this I could find no way to delete the duplicate. I apologize for the inconvenience, but ask that someone with power do so, so as to avoid clutter of some sort.
