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Pokemon Platinum PC port gets a surprise release

platpc.jpg

Seemingly out of nowhere a PC port for Pokemon Platinum has surfaced online, bundled alongside the source code for those interested in building and developing it for themselves. The game in its current state appears to be fully playable with only minor graphical bugs noticed in my few minutes of playing, not requiring any kind of ROM or additional setup to get started.

The readme file in the source code download outlines a full list of features:

Feature List said:
  • Graphics
    • Internal resolution of the 3D graphics can be increased throught the config file. By default this is 10x.
    • A 60fps patch is enabled by default with some speed fixes, though some things will still be double speed
    • There may be some graphical issues with the 3D
    • Screen layout can be adjusted through the config file or IMGUI
  • Audio
  • Touchscreen (simulated with mouse)
  • Both the PC port and the NDS ROM can be built and debugged from the same source tree
  • Playing the game from start to finish
  • Poketch
  • Battle frontier
  • Contests
  • Debug features (this build by deafault has PM_DEBUG turned on)
  • IMGUI (press TAB)
  • Saving
    • The save file is just the raw data that would be written through SDK backup APIs, and is currently not compatible with emulators.
  • Local multiplayer over LAN or internet (press tab and select NET in the IMGUI)
    • Union Room
    • Underground
    • Local multiplayer is over port 2009. You can port forward or use a VPN like hamachi to play over the internet
  • Some WiFi features (WiFi plaza, WiFi club, GTS is only partially supported and has bugs)
    • Voice chat (libVCT) is NOT supported
    • By deafault, the Poke Classic DNS is used. You can go to the wifi settings from the main menu of the game to change to whatever DNS you want.
    • In my testing, I was able to trade and battle with a real DS using the WiFi club but it is very finnicky and can be difficult to get both devices to connect to each other
Click to expand...

The port is available to download via Archive.org for both Windows and Linux users, though with me not being certain where it stands in terms of larger legality and it including all of the original game's assets, I won't be providing the link. In line with the site's rules, I'd ask people refrain from sharing or requesting such links in the comments below.
 
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Click to expand...
People can use this port to make a "clean" port, it's fine. The new code isn't Nintendo's.

DeadSkullzJr said:
As a cheat developer, I don't approve of cheating by using source material to make stuff like this.
Click to expand...
You think it's unethical or something to make cheats by looking at the real source code lol? Get a grip
 
Last edited by cearp,
AlexMCS said:
I'd never trust anyone, not even family, with my unencrypted files on their drives.
And that's not only a matter of privacy, but integrity and availability.
just use Kopia, Restic or something just as secure for it.

Also, use Hetzner Storage boxes if you want online access @ 98%+ availability.
Click to expand...
Looking into Proton storage as well.
 
cearp said:
You think it's unethical or something to make cheats by looking at the real source code lol? Get a grip
Click to expand...
Yes, it is unethical to make cheats by using illegal source material, especially as it jeopardizes the legality of any project that consists of them. Just because you think you are entitled to do whatever you want, doesn't mean that's how reality works. I think it's you that needs to get a grip, and a reality check.
 
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DeadSkullzJr said:
Yes, it is unethical to make cheats by using illegal source material, especially as it jeopardizes the legality of any project that consists of them. Just because you think you are entitled to do whatever you want, doesn't mean that's how reality works. I think it's you that needs to get a grip, and a reality check.
Click to expand...
But it’s perfectly fine for devs to take donations and open Patreons for system hacks and things? Or is that unethical too?
 
DeadSkullzJr said:
Yes, it is unethical to make cheats by using illegal source material, especially as it jeopardizes the legality of any project that consists of them. Just because you think you are entitled to do whatever you want, doesn't mean that's how reality works. I think it's you that needs to get a grip, and a reality check.
Click to expand...
Branching off of stolen / leaked source code is one thing, and redistributing the altered game + code, sure, I can agree that's "bad".

But using it to find memory offsets / understand how the game works, and then creating a cheat code from that knowledge... It's a different situation and feels fine to me (personally) - at the end of the day you're not redistributing anything you shouldn't be.
 
littlemisskittn said:
But it’s perfectly fine for devs to take donations and open Patreons for system hacks and things? Or is that unethical too?
Click to expand...
Never even mentioned these things, so I'm not even sure why you bring this up. "system hacks and things" are way too broad. Specifics are absolutely required as it varies depending on how you handle a system or a piece of licensed software. There are legal ways of handling both, different paths to take. Generally speaking, majority of solutions leverage off the original materials in some capacity. You generally can't make money off stuff like a ROM hack, or for contents that contain any original materials (hardware, software code, etc.). It ends up being borderline unethical, if not entirely unethical, as at that point, you are making profits off of not just the custom materials, but the original materials too (stuff you don't own). I've made multiple posts in the past pertaining to the bad idea of accepting donations for projects that bring more questions and genuine legal concerns. You are playing with fire, you will get burned. Obviously when it comes to the law, there's a lot of pot holes, broad terminologies, and general confusion to go around. We have had more than enough evidence and situations occur though that proves how much of a bad idea it can be to try and make money off projects that may not be 100% custom / your own. We are dealing with closed source materials, even legal reverse engineering efforts have rules / boundaries that should be respected. Otherwise these things potentially end up as a court case, and there's no telling what ruling we get. It also spreads to other categories like general homebrew for example.

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. That's really the lesson here, otherwise, you ruin it for others if things go sour.
 
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DeadSkullzJr said:
Never even mentioned these things, so I'm not even sure why you bring this up. "system hacks and things" are way too broad. Specifics are absolutely required as it varies depending on how you handle a system or a piece of licensed software. There are legal ways of handling both, different paths to take. Generally speaking, majority of solutions leverage off the original materials in some capacity. You generally can't make money off stuff like a ROM hack, or for contents that contain any original materials (hardware, software code, etc.). It ends up being borderline unethical, if not entirely unethical, as at that point, you are making profits off of not just the custom materials, but the original materials too (stuff you don't own). I've made multiple posts in the past pertaining to the bad idea of accepting donations for projects that bring more questions and genuine legal concerns. You are playing with fire, you will get burned. Obviously when it comes to the law, there's a lot of pot holes, broad terminologies, and general confusion to go around. We have had more than enough evidence and situations occur though that proves how much of a bad idea it can be to try and make money off projects that may not be 100% custom / your own. We are dealing with closed source materials, even legal reverse engineering efforts have rules / boundaries that should be respected. Otherwise these things potentially end up as a court case, and there's no telling what ruling we get. It also spreads to other categories like general homebrew for example.

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. That's really the lesson here, otherwise, you ruin it for others if things go sour.
Click to expand...
Figured while we were on sort of the subject to get your take on it as that's been a discussion I been having a lot recently as a lot of PS5 and Switch projects got taken down, mainly because the devs had a Patreon, Ko-Fi, or some other money changing with it.
 
littlemisskittn said:
Figured while we were on sort of the subject to get your take on it as that's been a discussion I been having a lot recently as a lot of PS5 and Switch projects got taken down, mainly because the devs had a Patreon, Ko-Fi, or some other money changing with it.
Click to expand...
While it might seem like I'm being a bubble popper to some, the thing is, I genuinely care about reverse engineering, homebrew, etc.. Money to me isn't worth it if it means I lose the ability to perform or access these sorts of things due to the law. It would be a huge loss if we lost any of this.
 
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DeadSkullzJr said:
While it might seem like I'm being a bubble popper to some, the thing is, I genuinely care about reverse engineering, homebrew, etc.. Money to me isn't worth it if it means I lose the ability to perform or access these sorts of things due to the law. It would be a huge loss if we lost any of this.
Click to expand...
Same here, especially as an archivist for so many years. That’s why I get so up in arms about things like this at times. It’s because I don’t want to see this work for naught and copyright holders already don’t take steps to make sure their work is preserved. Hell, the ESA tried to fight Stop Killing Games in California and they lost. Because eventually, a lot of this stuff will be gone if it’s not saved. So it’s a cause dear to my heart. Especially coming from an industry like film that so many things are lost.
 
Has this stupid, illegal port been taken down yet? Y'all always shit on Nintendo but this is one of the rare cases where they'd be right lol
 
Last edited by Cris1997XX,
Cris1997XX said:
Has this stupid, illegal port been taken down yet? Y'all always shit on Nintendo but this is one of the rare cases when they'd be right lol
Click to expand...
A quick search says that it is indeed still up.
 
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I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon, but it would be amazing if someone ported it to the Wii or Wii U and added connectivity with a real DS or 3DS, considering the Wii/Wii U can connect to them natively.

Also, I can't wait for some crazy person to try porting this game to the PS Vita or Dreamcast.
 
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"Seemingly out of nowhere"
Click to expand...

Pay attention creators of fan games. This is 100% how you should handle everything.

EDIT: Maybe lets not use this example since this was created in a non clean room environment likely from the leaked source code...also this is going to put another target on the Archive
 
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Osakasan said:
Even those are services subjected to their companies' will, if you ever think you own an actual cloud storage unit, you actually dont, the only way is to create your own network storage
Click to expand...

Of course, but I don't have the $ do do my own RAID NAS atm, with storage expensive as it is.
Maybe in the future, but I'll keep the cloud for extra redundancy.

Online storage is just yet another reasonably good, accessible backup method to me.
The main one is local HDDs (A 26TB, 8TB and 5 TB one), but those are starting to get old.

Still, better than nothing, and the main uptake here is to never use anything you wish to remain private unencrypted in any cloud service.

Believing contracts, ToS and the like is just being a huge fool.

On-topic: Let me know if we ever get any high res packages or actual improvements to the game.
 
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