DS(i) mode homebrew and mods may have been in the spotlight a couple of times already, but it doesn't look like they are going to stop anytime soon. @Robz8 has stepped in with a brand new TWiLight Menu++ update, which now includes a much requested feature: on-the-fly AP patching!

A total of 100 AP patches have been bundled in version 9.1.2, including some for popular titles such as several Pokémon games, Kingdom Hearts Re-Coded & 358/2 Days and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. They are stored as standard IPS files located in sdcard:\_nds\TWiLightMenu\apfix\ and will be applied automatically when launching a game thanks to a new feature introduced in nds-bootstrap 0.23.0. Not only does this mean you won't have to scour the web for the appropriate patches anymore, but your ROM will also be left untouched by the whole process as everything happens on-the-fly in RAM! The full list of included patches is as follows:

Total: 100

1000 Cooking Recipes from Elle a Table (Europe)
Cars 2 (USA)
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (USA)
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (USA)
FabStyle (Japan)
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (USA)
Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light (USA)
Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light (Europe)
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn (USA)
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn (Europe)
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (Japan)
Gyakuten Kenji 2 (Japan)
The Idolmaster: Dearly Stars (Japan)
Inazuma Eleven (Europe)
Inazuma Eleven 2: Firestorm (Europe)
Inazuma Eleven 2: Blizzard (Europe)
Inazuma Eleven 2: Kyoui no Shinryakusha: Fire (Japan)
Inazuma Eleven 2: Kyoui no Shinryakusha: Blizzard (Japan)
Inazuma Eleven 3: Sekai e no Chousen!! Bomber (Japan)
Inazuma Eleven 3: Sekai e no Chousen!! Spark (Japan)
Inazuma Eleven 3: Sekai e no Chousen!! The Ogre (Japan)
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (USA)
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (Europe)
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (Japan)
Kingdom Hearts: Re-Coded (USA)
Kingdom Hearts: Re-Coded (Europe)
Kingdom Hearts: Re-Coded (Japan)
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (USA)
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (Europe)
Zelda no Densetsu: Daichi no Kiteki (Japan)
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (USA)
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Europe)
Mario & Sonic at Vancouver Olympic (Japan)
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Korean)
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem (USA)
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem (Europe)
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Totsugeki Mini Land (Japan)
MegaMan Zero Collection (USA)
MegaMan Zero Collection (Europe)
RockMan Zero Collection (Japan)
Okamiden (USA)
Okamiden (Europe)
Ookami Den: Chisaki Taiyou (Japan)
Phineas and Ferb: Ride Again (USA)
Phineas and Ferb: Ride Again (Europe)
Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs (USA)
Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs (Europe)
Pokémon Ranger: Hikari no Kiseki (Japan)
Pokémon HeartGold (USA)
Pokémon SoulSilver (USA)
Pokémon HeartGold (Europe)
Pokémon SoulSilver (Europe)
Pokémon: Version Or HeartGold (France)
Pokémon: Version Argent SoulSilver (France)
Pokémon: Goldene Edition HeartGold (Germany)
Pokémon: Silberne Edition SoulSilver (Germany)
Pokémon: Versione Oro HeartGold (Italian)
Pokémon: Versione Argento SoulSilver (Italian)
Pokémon: Edicion Oro HeartGold (Spain)
Pokémon: Edicion Plata SoulSilver (Spain)
Pocket Monsters: HeartGold (Japan)
Pocket Monsters: SoulSilver (Japan)
Pocket Monsters: HeartGold (Korean)
Pocket Monsters: SoulSilver (Korean)
Pokémon: Black Version (USA/Europe)
Pokémon: White Version (USA/Europe)
Pokémon: Black Version 2 (USA/Europe)
Pokémon: White Version 2 (USA/Europe)
Pocket Monsters: Black (Japan)
Pocket Monsters: White (Japan)
Pocket Monsters: Black (Korea)
Pocket Monsters: White (Korean)
Pocket Monsters: Black 2 (Japan)
Pocket Monsters: White 2 (Japan)
Pokémon Conquest (USA)
Pokémon Conquest (Europe)
Pokémon Plus - Nobunaga no Yabou (Japan)
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (USA)
Professor Layton and the Lost Future (Europe)
Layton Kyouju to Saigo no Jikan Ryokou (Japan)
Professor Layton and the Last Specter (USA)
Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call (Europe)
Layton Kyouju to Majin no Fue (Japan)
Puyo Puyo! 20th Anniversary (Japan)
Rockman EXE: Operate Shooting Star (Japan)
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (USA)
The Sims 3 (USA)
Solatorobo: Red the Hunter (USA)
Solatorobo: Red the Hunter (Europe)
Solatorobo: Sore kara CODA e (Japan)
Sonic Colors (USA)
Sonic Colours (Europe)
Sonic Colors (Japan)
Style Savvy (USA)
Nintendo Presents: Style Boutique (Europe)
My Fashion: Girls Style (Korean)
Tomodachi Collection (Japan) (Rev 0)
Toy Story 3 (USA)
Toy Story 3 (Europe)
Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds World Championship 2011: Over The Nexus (USA)

NOTE:
* Only works with clean/dumped ROMs, as well as trimmed ROMs.

AP patches by Rudolph, and RetroGameFan

Keep in mind, however, that this feature is only compatible with unmodified ROMs, so be sure to verify your dump if it doesn't appear to work for you. On the other hand, pre-AP patched ROMs will also work as usual with no extra steps needed. The AP message will be hidden for the supported games, however, a bug can still make it appear if you're using the Acekard theme: as such, it's recommended to use another one for the time being.

A few other notable features have also been added or updated, such as adding support for more games in widescreen. Here is the full changelog:

9.1.0
What's new?

• AP-patches (up to 99, list here) are now included, so you no longer need to manually AP-patch some of your ROMs.
  If the ROM you launch, includes an AP-patch in TWLMenu++, the AP message isn't shown.
  (May still show in the Acekard theme.)
  AP-patches are applied on-the-fly by nds-bootstrap, so your ROMs will stay clean!
• Number of supported ROMs for widescreen has been increased from 202 -> 358!
• GBARunner2 has been updated to this build.
• DSi/3DS/Saturn theme: Box art paths are no longer stored in memory when loading the ROM list. Speeds up loading the ROM list.
• DSi/3DS/Saturn theme: ???
• Settings: Acekard theme is now marked as Buggy!

You no longer need to hold L for the following game to work

• Bakugan: Battle Brawlers

9.1.1
What's new?

• GBARunner2 has been updated to this build.

Improvement

• GBARunner2 is now booted (by nds-bootstrap, ofc) with TWL clock speed.

Bug fixes

• The Gen 4 Pokemon games as retail carts should hopefully work now.
• Fixed Guru Meditation Error and/or white screen booting Slot-1 cards not supported with widescreen, if enabled.
• Fixed last-run widescreen game not booting, if starting last-run game on boot is enabled.

9.1.2
What's new?

• If nds-bootstrap isn't found, TWLMenu++ now shows which build isn't found.
• Added AP-patch for Gyakuten Kenji 2 (Japan).

Bug fix

• If Bootstrap is set to Release in TWLMenu++ settings, launching a game will no longer boot the Nightly nds-bootstrap build, and vice-versa.

If you want to get TWiLight Menu++ 9.1.2, follow the instructions in the official thread linked below. Be sure to update both TWiLight Menu++ and nds-bootstrap if you already had installed an earlier version on your console!

NOTE: The AP patching feature has been introduced in version 9.1.0, however, two hotfixes have been released shortly after to address some bugs. It's not recommended to keep running a pre-9.1.2 version, as you may encounter crashes or other miscellaneous issues. Thus, the article refers to the latest version instead of 9.1.0 to avoid any possible inconvenience derived from running earlier builds.

Source
Official GBAtemp thread

 

[AdenTheThird]

Great job, @Robz8 !! Keep up the awesome work, and never quit!!

 

[SuperDan]

Ive recently Hacked my 3DS XL ..with help from a buddy ! ... so im new to
TWiLight Menu++ & i was wondering can i play hack roms using this i have many dsi NSMB hack roms ..this would be my main interest really & a few other of course .. ( sorry about the massive letters ) lol

 

[NoNAND]

Heh, I take a few days off the temp and all of the exciting things seem to happen while I'm gone. First we had Widescreen patches for the old and boxy resolution of DS games, and now AP patching on the fly without doing anything extra.
But if my memory serves me weren't all of the DS games on the wild in various ROM sites already pre-AP patched? Suppose a game has said patch already applied this won't do any harm I guess?

 

[brunocar]

thats amazing, at this point flashcarts are only superior in that you can use the same SD for more than a single console

 

[codezer0]

Much respect to robz and the group for keeping it going. Looking forward to updating.

 

[Enryx25]

Ghost Trick??

 

[tech3475]

Hang on, could this be used to apply other ips patches?

 

[DuoForce]

Keep up the amazing work! Currently playing through Platinum with your tool

 

[RattletraPM]

Heh, I take a few days off the temp and all of the exciting things seem to happen while I'm gone. First we had Widescreen patches for the old and boxy resolution of DS games, and now AP patching on the fly without doing anything extra.
But if my memory serves me weren't all of the DS games on the wild in various ROM sites already pre-AP patched? Suppose a game has said patch already applied this won't do any harm I guess?

Not really. You may find pre-patched ROMs on warez-focused sites but, for game preservation's sake, a good dump is a 1:1 copy of the game's ROM. Any kind of modification (trainers, cracktros, fixes, etc.) will immediately make it lose that status. Depending on what you want to do, it may even be better to get a good dump instead of pre-patched one (for example, you may get a checksum error if you're trying to apply a patch for a ROM hack that was originally made using a good dump as its base). So, for this reason, several sources (like no-intro sets) prefer to host or include clean ROMs instead.

...But you aren't downloading games from the internet anyway, riiiiight?

As for your other question:

On the other hand, pre-AP patched ROMs will also work as usual with no extra steps needed.

 

[NoNAND]

Not really. You may find pre-patched ROMs on warez-focused sites but, for game preservation's sake, a good dump is a 1:1 copy of the game's ROM. Any kind of modification (trainers, cracktros, fixes, etc.) will immediately make it lose that status. Depending on what you want to do, it may even be better to get a good dump instead of pre-patched one (for example, you may get a checksum error if you're trying to apply a patch for a ROM hack that was originally made using a good dump as its base). So, for this reason, several sources (like no-intro sets) prefer to host or include clean ROMs instead.

...But you aren't downloading games from the internet anyway, riiiiight?

As for your other question:

Well thanks for clarifying Rattle. Yup, most of the time I get 1:1 clean dumps, and I apply ROM hacks manually. because chances are that a pretty patched ROM hack could be outdated.
The thing is that I didn't know that most of the ROMs are AP-patched already but I'd chose the non patched ones over the the patched ROMs.
that's why dumping my own DS cartridges is the safest bet. I'll get a proper and clean dump, as 1:1 as it can get.

 

[simbin]

Absolute greatness, keep it up! Can't wait for this to be completed. Thanks!

 

[DSoryu]

For those unaware (Yes, many people still does not know this) This let's you load NDS roms directly from the SD card, and there's no need for a flashcard anymore, well,except for those games that will have still some issues around, but those are being worked on for this as time goes. Congratulations!

 

[eyeliner]

Well, I guess I'll have to get a 3DS XL or 2DS. I feel bad for selling my 3DS, now...

 

[SuperDan]

For those unaware (Yes, many people still does not know this) This let's you load NDS roms directly from the SD card, and there's no need for a flashcard anymore, well,except for those games that will have still some issues around, but those are being worked on for this as time goes. Congratulations!

Does this include hacked roms at all .. I have a flashcard games are not in wide-screen... & I still have about 10 gig in my 128 gig SD card in my 3DS Xl so this seems very tempting indeed

 

[Andrezin0692]

Isn't it easier to just activate AP Fix cheats in the menu? Most games have them, and it seems to work fine, using the TW++ Updater cheats database. Any cons to this?

 

[RocketRobz]

Isn't it easier to just activate AP Fix cheats in the menu? Most games have them, and it seems to work fine, using the TW++ Updater cheats database. Any cons to this?

Not all users want cheats.
Plus, not all cheats, as well as AP fix ones, work.

It's much nicer to just drag the clean/dumped ROM onto the SD card, and run, without any additional steps.

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

This is one of the best things on the 3DS!!!! Been using it for a long time the DS is one of my all time favorite handhelds!!! So this with mGBA makes the N3DSXL my favorite handheld console so far.

 

[yoshi_nysa]

Do how do i update TWL? Replace extracted files to SD?

 

[NoobCycle]

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn still has black screen on boot...