Users have asked me many times in the past about what I do to the databases, so to clear things up, I am going to tell the story of how I became a cheat code developer and what I do to maintain the databases.
WARNING:
A lot of reading will be required in this post, if you do not wish to read on, IGNORE IT, then chuck your tower, monitor, laptop, etc. out the window, poor gasoline on it, then watch it burn, just don't forget to bring the marshmallows.
The database is comprised of multiple cheat codes for various DS titles, not every cheat code was made by me obviously, a lot of this work took years to build up from various other cheat code developers over time, however not all of it was applied as time went on, and unfortunately a lot of history was lost. The last official update from the Codemasters Project (CMP) was back in December 11, 2012. An unofficial branch was born afterwards and stemmed on until the year 2014, afterwards, it had died and stayed that way years later. Multiple older cheat database formats were dropped as time went on along the journey of the DS era, leaving the more popular and well known database, the usrcheat.dat, to stand alone. Most flashcarts and software of the like adapted to use the usrcheat.dat, keeping the database barely alive. Throughout the time of flashcarts, cheat devices, etc. multiple versions of the databases ended up floating around all over the place, since nobody was maintaining them anymore, everything was free reign in the scene, and unfortunately left the cheat scene more demolished than it should have been.
CMP was the first group to provide a digital database of cheats for DS flashcarts from popular places on the internet (Datel had their code lists for their physical cheat devices as well), places like Codejunkies for example. They went about the process in the form of automation, which would grab newly posted cheats from popular places and would stick that content in the database. The developers behind the project would go about fixing whatever they could along the way, even providing work of their own for the databases. Unfortunately with the method of automation, came issues that were never fixed, either because the team didn't feel like fixing it or because it was way too much ground to cover just to make it work correctly. In the end we were left with massive translation issues for various languages for certain titles, weird issues with symbols essentially breaking text in ways that it would bug out, the biggest issue of all was the way the codes themselves were managed. Some codes wouldn't even work correctly because either the code wasn't made right, or the code was for a different code engine altogether. Other codes that worked weren't made correctly either, even though yes they worked, their structures were designed poorly or were using unnecessary lines of code, thus taking up more space than needed. Other issues came up as time went on, nothing got fixed, and the database was abandoned.
An unofficial branch spawned shortly after the death of the original CMP database, and was updated to have more content jam packed into the database. The updates weren't as often as the CMP database however, and died two years later with a few extra games and codes to play with. The automated structure of the databases were still intact with this unofficial branch, the issues related to the original CMP database tagged along for the ride. No updates were confirmed to come out, and the cheat scene died soon after and stayed that way for years.
Throughout the time of the DS era I got to see so many amazing things get put out into the public, somethings even behind the scenes, flashcarts, cheat devices, etc. were fascinating to me, and they still continue to fascinate me. Unfortunately I wasn't smart enough to put much of anything together during the DS timeline because I was too busy playing with options and what not on these devices, along with juggling school (which wasn't fun for me at all, bullies/harassment was part of the problem growing up). As time went on I studied some things about the DS and content related to the matter, a lot of which still didn't make sense to me at the time, obviously I had more learning to do. Time passed on, obviously I am grown up now, the year 2017 rolled around the corner and was the year I wanted to achieve something for the DS. I was still a bit inexperienced with a lot of things, but I figured maybe if I throw myself into whatever I wanted to mess with, maybe I could learn. I tried to code and sadly that didn't work out well, I tried looking into ROM hacking and that didn't work well either. I then went back and took a look at cheats, and boy did ideas start swirling. Cheat codes are one of the many things I loved playing with as I got older and was able to understand things related to the devices I ever got. Cheat codes in my opinion is the type of concept that I feel can add a whole new twist and or experience to the game(s) I am playing, while yes cheats are obviously used to gain advantages, I personally liked the way they worked to change the way the game worked. The only thing I never liked was how people would take cheat codes online and ruin the experience for everyone else (it still happens even today on the DS). So I decided to dive into cheats, with the help of a friend of course. He taught me the basics with debugging and disassembling memory, I learned how to port existing codes over to other regions of games. During the process I took time to learn the Action Replay code engine for the DS, my friend of course aided me in knowledge on how certain things worked since documentation for Action Replay isn't exactly decent enough to read off of online. I also learned how certain code types worked by playing with various codes that used a certain type of code format. With all this knowledge in mind, I finally applied it to my very first release of my official cheat database, released on November 8, 2017. The update wasn't entirely huge (actually the smallest update I have ever done), most of the games were ROM hacks requiring attention since tons of them existed and didn't have a code list to work with, at the time I only supported the usrcheat.dat. I grew more experienced along the way, and I was starting to make my own cheat codes for games. My goal that I set earlier in 2017 had finally come to reality.
My goal in making the databases is to improve them in every aspect possible for everyone to enjoy. To keep the legacy of the databases rolling in the right direction this time, in the best quality possible.
Things I have done to the databases so far:
- Reorganized and relabeled games properly (No-Intro format)
- Rebuilt multiple code lists from the ground up with full fledged codes that I made and or ported from previous work
- Eliminated just about every issue that sat in the databases for years
- Translated and fixed a lot of the buggy code lists that weren't properly showing
- Added fresh new cheat codes for tons of newly discovered games in the DS scene
- Added fresh new cheat codes for tons of existing games already documented into the databases
- Fixed various codes that weren't designed right or that weren't working at all
- Removed a lot of junk code data that wasn't even usable for people to play with
- Gave tons of ROM hacks some proper love with their own code lists to play with
- Assembled all the custom work from various scattered databases into my databases (no need to look for a random database anymore)
Last but more certainly not least:
- Put a lot of love and dedication into the databases just so everyone can enjoy new content, the best part is, it's free lol
Things I plan to continue to do:
- Continue updating it with more lost content along with brand new content
- Continue to support as many formats as possible so nobody is left behind
- Continue to help people when they need it
How you guys and gals can support me:
You guys and gals already support me by making requests, reporting issues, etc. The fact you give the time to even speak up about it period is more than enough for me, and for that, I thank all of you!
Thank you everyone for your time and patience, I hope we all get to see a better future for the scene. Maybe by then will I be able to spread my wings in a more advanced direction.
Side Note:
Due to all the experience I have been getting because of this work, I am now able to dabble in GB, GBC, and GBA cheats finally. Game Genie is still a weird situation for me to figure out, but the other formats I understand so far, so take that as a hint for the future alongside the DS scene.
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Psionic Roshambo:
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Xdqwerty:
