NOTICE: This thread is NOT ABOUT RETROARCH or other fan emulators. Please do not discuss them here. Search for the other threads that ARE about it. This is just for the Nintendo Switch Online apps, CaVE, SFROM Tool, etc.
We don't care if or when it's better. We don't need you to tell people RA exists every time some game doesnt work. Assume people know as much, and just stay on topic.
Also, don't use pre-made game packs. I work to hard on these things for my work to be bastardized, and for my efforts to be completely ignored and obscured to the people benefiting from my work with such packs. Those existing are an insult to both me and my work. Instead, I would encourage you to ask for sites to remove those pieces of garbage, and stop catering to lazy entitled idiots.
At the very least, do not ask for help support here for them. Period!
We don't care if or when it's better. We don't need you to tell people RA exists every time some game doesnt work. Assume people know as much, and just stay on topic.
Also, don't use pre-made game packs. I work to hard on these things for my work to be bastardized, and for my efforts to be completely ignored and obscured to the people benefiting from my work with such packs. Those existing are an insult to both me and my work. Instead, I would encourage you to ask for sites to remove those pieces of garbage, and stop catering to lazy entitled idiots.
At the very least, do not ask for help support here for them. Period!
CaVE Database Manager
Description:
CaVE Database Manager is a tool to help you use custom chosen games with official Switch apps.
It's primary focus is to help you add (or "inject". A familiar term, but incorrect... so DON'T USE IT!) a custom selection of games to your Nintendo Switch Online NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, GB/GBC and GBA apps via LayerdFS substitution. With it, you can quickly add many games with default values/settings/art that will at least allow the game to boot up and play. But beyond that, you can customize the values/settings/art to your liking!
It supports both both the Western app, and the South East Asian apps.
In addition to NSO support, CaVE allows you to make custom NSPs using the emulator files in various other apps NSPs. Like a custom Sloop database and app, and NSP's focused on a single game for GB/GBC (Hiyoko), N64 (Hovercraft via SM3DAS) and SEGA Saturn (ZebraEngine, via Saturn Tribute titles).
In the future it will be expanded to support other Switch apps, Classic Consoles, WiiU, 3DS and Wii too.
Download:
- CaVE Database Manager - v1.5 Beta (Exclusive to my Discord community.)
- CaVE Database Manager - v1.4 (Will no longer be updated.)
V1.4.6.0, 03-08-23
- Added support for NSO-GBA v1.1, and a SRAM conversion tool for GB/GBC.
V1.4.5.0, 02-14-23
- Added support for NSO-GB/GBC v1.0 and NSO-GBA v1.0.
V1.4.4.0, 01-27-23
- Added support for NSO-N64 v2.9 and the new "icon_process" parameter.
V1.4.3.0, 11-01-22
- Added support for NSO-N64 v2.7 and the new "control_opt_layout_pattern" parameter.
- Adjusted the automatic update system. (Will take effect with future releases)
- Added support for NSO-N64 v2.8 and the new "launch_caution" parameter.
V1.4.1.0, 09-20-22
- Added Hovercraft support.
- Added ZebraEngine support.
- Added a automatic database update feature.
- Updated the default NSO databases to what is the latest at the time of this release.
- Misc other fixes/changes. To many to list here.
V1.4.0.0, 06-13-22
- Merged in code and functionality from Slip Database Manager.
- Merged in premise and functionality from Custom Hiyoko NSP Creator.
- Various improvements to the Sloop+ Setup wizard.
- Added a few more minor hacks to Sloop+.
- Creating Hiyoko NSP's uses a similar wizard.
- There are now more options and greater customization paths for creating Hiyoko NSP's.
- Fixed an issue with creating a NSO database, not creating the proper folder structure or adding stock games to the new database.
- Improved the Update Database option to also update titlesdb info in addition to the strings file info. This will reset ANY customizations you have made to the stock game's info.
- Added support for NSO SNES/SFC v3.3.0.0. With it, if you do not use the above Update Database option to update your existing database to v3.3, stock games will crash when you try to load them.
V1.3.8.0, 05-20-22
- Fixed an issue with strings.lng changes that remove entries in the exploded_strings section.
V1.3.7.0, 03-16-22
- Fixed an issue with the "Add Stock Games" list.
- Added a new Update Database option. This option simply updates the strings.lng of the current database to the selected version.
- Added a .srm 2 cartridge.sram option to the Tools menu for N64. This converts a Retroarch .srm that contains save data (not save STATE data) to a save file that NSO can use. It tries to automatically detect what type of save data the game uses, and output that as cartridge.sram.
- Added a Help option to the Help menu that displays a setup guide and FAQ.
V1.3.6.0, 02-09-22
- Support for NES Online v6.0.0.0 and SNES Online v3.0.0.0 databases.
- Fixed an issue where SP titles wouldn't be listed in the "Add Stock Games" menu.
V1.3.5.0, 01-20-22
- Support for N64 Online v1.2.0.0 databases.
V1.3.4.0, 12-25-21
- Support for N64 Online v1.1.0.0 databases.
- You can now sort the list by SortTitle (Info Column), player count (Details Column), code (Advanced Info Column), SortPublisher (Extra Info Column), and TitleKo (Alternate Titles Column). (Sorting WILL be applied to your database when saved. This sorting order only pertains to CaVE. The NSO app is handled its own way.)
- CaVE will now show a simple splash window when loading a database. On boot, or when selected. This is to help with confusion when loading large databases, so you know CaVE is running.
- The "settings" and "changes" files are now automatically generated, and have been removed from the archive so its clearer to users that you dont need to extract those when updating.
- Added option to allow you to set your games images and information to that of the preset database. (This works both as a reset, and for people who have already added their games before installing a preset database.)
- Fixed some minor issues. (.gen file support, changing the Code value, etc.)
V1.3.3.0, 11-27-21
- Fixed some database issues with N64.
- Improved the CPIO code used with dtz's.
- Added a new Settings window for N64 .meta/.cfg./.lua editing.
- Added a log for changes to your database, for use with the Export feature, enabling it to ONLY export the files it has found to be changed since the last time you exported.
- The Machine Country option should now be automatically set for Genesis/Mega Drive.
- Added "Disable Handcursor" and "KeyAssign Type" options to N64.
- The tools menu is now completely hidden when a N64 database is not loaded.
- Changing the code value will now prompt you to change other values that the Code is typically used in.
- Added an option to allow you to change the selected ROM for an already imported game.
- A few misc bug fixes to SPT support with N64.
- Primitive support for working with Super Mario 3D Allstars, available only as an advanced option. "sm3das_enabled": true
V1.3.2.0, 11-02-21
- Support for N64/Genesis/Mega Drive Online v1.0.0.0.
- Ability to delete stock games.
- Remade CaVE own database so it make more accurate NSO databases.
- Improved SP Title support.
- Improved the Edit Description window.
- Improved the database export feature.
- Too many other smaller changes to list.
V1.2.1.0, 10-02-21
- Support for SNES/SFC Online v2.2.0.0-v2.4.0.0 and NES/FC Online v5.1.0.0-v5.4.0.0 databases.
- CaVE automatically adds the game name text to default box arts.
- Added support for importing database extensions. (small database.json files that generally just contain one update)
V1.2.0.0, 12-19-20
- Support for SNES/SFC Online v2.1.0.0 and NES/FC Online v5.1.0.0 databases.
- Added support for in-app conversion of normal images to .xtx.z.
- Added option to auto-scale images down to a more reasonable resolution. Enabled by default.
- Added "Create SP Game Title" option. This is usable with NES/FC and SNES/SFC now too!
- Overhauled the stock database setup. Now refereed to as Update History Database.
All lclassics.titlesdb and strings.lng info from the old setup, are now in a single file.
This single file removes the redundancy of the same data among versions and instead only lists the changes with each update.
As a result, this new Update History Database file will take up around 25MB less disc space.
Updates are more clearly organized using their update version.
The "Stock Databases" menu has been removed.
Now, when creating a new database, you can select to do so for clear specific versions. - Added support for remembering a couple basic window/control positions and sizes between sessions.
- Added the ability to edit meta subtitles. (These are used with SP titles.)
- Added option to allow you to suppress the update pop-up.
- Fixed an issue with SFC/FC database selection not properly updating things.
V1.1.1.0, 09-30-20
- Fixed issue with imported games getting assigned the same code values.
V1.1.0.0, 09-27-20
- Updated database to support SNES/SFC Online v1.7, and NES/FC Online V4.7.
- Added support for updating custom databases with games from new stock databases.
V1.0.2.5, 09-04-20
- Updated database to support SNES/SFC Online v1.6.
V1.0.2.4, 07-16-20
- Updated database to support SNES/SFC Online v1.5, and NES/FC Online V4.5.
V1.0.2.3, 05-25-20
- Updated database to support SNES/SFC Online v1.4, and NES/FC Online V4.4.
V1.0.2.2, 02-22-20
- Updated database to support SNES/SFC Online v1.2, and NES/FC Online V4.2.
V1.0.2.1, 12-17-19
- Updated database to support SNES/SFC Online v1.1, and NES/FC Online V4.1.
V1.0.2.0, 11-7-19
- Fixed .sfromsig generation issue for SFC Online support.
- Fixed issues cause by Unicode prefixes in titlesdb.
- Fixed and issue with drag and drop not working for SFC/FC Online databases.
- Added the ability to edit game descriptions. Accessed via selecting a line in the list and either right clicking, or using the Edit menu. To help you properly format your descriptions, this uses the Segoe UI Light font to as closely mimic the Switch Online font. The size of the input area is close to the same size as the view area in the app. This is to help you know when to make a new line, and when text will be on a new page (10 lines per page).
V1.0.1.0, 11-4-19
- Full support for creating and managing Famicom Online/Super Famicom Online databases.
- Some minor tweaks to the Language Info column values to display properly when Language is changed.
- Added Traditional and Simplified Chinese options to the Language options.
- Fixed an issue with the FDS column sometimes showing for SNES/SFC databases.
- Changing Language will now force a reload of the active database, and refresh which Title variant is shown in the main "Info" column and which are shown in the "Language Info" column, as appropriate.
- Fixed an issue where the values for the box art files specified in the settings file were not being used.
SNES Online - Full Unlock
Description:
The SNES Online "Full Unlock" is a modification for the SNES Online app that allows it to support more than the stock list of compatible games/Preset IDs. Additionally, it also enables full support for the traditional .sfroms of the SNESClassic/WiiU format (Traditional SFROM support removed with v1.1).
Notice: In the v1.5 Beta and going forward, this will no longer be considered a separate project. It is simply a mod like the Hide Player Icon and Background mods. And will come included with CaVE, and automatic updates.
Download:
V3.3.0.0, 06-13-22:
- Updated to support SNES/SFC Online v3.3.
V3.0.0.0, 09-02-22:
- Updated to support SNES/SFC Online v3.0.
V2.4.0.0, 10-02-21:
- Updated to support SNES/SFC Online v2.4.
V2.1.0.0, 12-19-20:
- Updated to support SNES/SFC Online v2.1.
V2.0.0.0, 12-01-20:
- Updated to support SNES/SFC Online v2.0.
V1.7.0.0, 09-27-20:
- Updated to support SNES/SFC Online v1.7.
V1.6.0.0, 09-04-20:
- Updated to support SNES/SFC Online v1.6.
V1.5.0.0, 07-16-20:
- Updated to support SNES/SFC Online v1.5.
V1.4.0.0, 05-25-20:
- Updated to support SNES/SFC Online v1.4.
V1.2.0.0, 02-22-20:
- Updated to support SNES/SFC Online v1.2.
V1.1.0.0, 12-16-19:
- Updated to support SNES/SFC Online v1.1.
V1.0.0.0, 11-8-19:
- The "Super Famicom Online - Full Unlock" has been released.
- A fix for the "Super Famicom Online - Full Unlock" has been made if you have downloaded it before 11-6-19.
- Made available versions of the Full Unlock in IPS and IPSwitch form. These have not been tested with all CFWs, and as such there is no setup instructions for these until users report back.
Setup
Required:
- A dev.keys
- A prod.keys
- 01008bf00a1c8000.nsp (The original leaked one. NOT THE HACKED ONE!)
Go to the File > New > Sloop+ NSP & Database menu. Follow the setup wizard to create a new "Sloop+_01008bf00a1c8000.nsp" and a new "Sloop+" folder.
Install the nsp to your switch, and copy the Sloop+ folder to the root of your SD card.
Boot Sloop+ and enjoy!
Required:
- A folder containing the files from the hiyoko_unsorted archive, from the leak.
- A game ROM.
- A 256x256 image to use as the app icon.
- A dev.keys
- A prod.keys
NOTE: Saving does not work! Neither Save States or SRAM!
Go to the File > New > Hiyoko NSP Setup menu. Follow the setup wizard to create a new "Game_Name_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.nsp".
Install the nsp to your switch.
Required:
- v1.0 and/or v1.1.1(Recommended) of the Super Mario 3D All-stars NSP(s).
- A game ROM.
- A 256x256 image to use as the app icon.
- A DTZ for the ROM in question.
- A prod.keys
Go to the File > New > Hovercraft NSP Setup menu. Follow the setup wizard to create a new "Game_Name_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.nsp".
Install the nsp to your switch.
Required:
- v1.0 of either Cotton 2, Cotton Boomerang, Guardian Force, or the 3-in-1 Saturn Tribute XCI.
- A game BIN+CUE.
- A 256x256 image to use as the app icon.
- A prod.keys
Go to the File > New > ZebraEngine NSP Setup menu. Follow the setup wizard to create a new "Game_Name_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.nsp".
Install the NSP to your switch.
FAQ
Q: What is Sloop? Why does it need a program like this?
Q: What does the "Failure while trying to extract files from .ncas." error mean?
Q: Can I use save states? How?
Q: How does SRAM saving/loading work?
A: For those that missed it... Sloop is an Official GBA emulator developed by Nintendo. It was leaked after being dumped from a development unit, along with Hiyoko and a version of NSO-NES.
In context to CaVE and this thread, Sloop is an internal Demo app that Nintendo made as a test for a future NSO-GBA.
More than that, Sloop is the name for their GBA emulator code itself. Nintendo has a boat theme when it comes to naming their emulation code for different systems. (Its been suggested that the non-boat named emus are based off hanafuda cards, and that the boat names are used for emus not originally developed in house.)
- kachikachi = NES
- canoe = SNES
- hiyoko = GB/GBC
- hovercraft = N64
- hagi = GC
- sloop = GBA
- etc.
Anyway. When NSO-GBA is eventually released, its emulation code will be referred to as sloop too, just like canoe is referred to when talking about the NSO-SNES emulator.
And as its an official emu, to add custom games with it you need a program like this. Just like CaVE is needed for NSO.
Q: I get the error message "Incorrect NSP detected. This supports the original NSP only. Not hacks or repackages.". But I have the only Sloop NSP that I can find. What is wrong?
A: At the time of this posting, there are 2 NSPs. The good, proper one, and a bad, hacked one. The issue is that the good proper one is not made available on NSP sites, instead in favor of posting the worthless hacked one.
File | | Sha1 Checksum | | Validity | |
01008bf00a1c8000.nsp | | 53100D7CA4103778C0197819AA3F0B99639BBB26 | | Good | |
Sloop [TitsPro v0.7.200819orL8R] [05008BF00A1C8000][v0].nsp | | D4B15DEC0EADFF9F5CBA0E181272DE58115B9A21 | | BAD | |
The hacked one should not exist. Period. It was created and posted by an idiot. The hacking attempt should have just been distributed as a patch, not a pre-compiled NSP. And I refuse to support it for that reason among others, like the fact that its stupid that I would have to specifically alter my code to undo the changes made in that NSP.
Then how can you find the good NSP? This is NOT a question for this forum or project, as it falls under piracy. So I or others can not direct you to any links to it. DO NOT ASK US! Here or on my Discord. You will be ignored at best, banned at worst.
But what I can say is... such sites accept requests. So simply ask them to post the good, original, unhacked version, and remove the bad hacked version as it is now rendered completely worthless and obsolete and only serves to confuse people and waste their time.
(You can do me a favor while you are at it and ask them to remove any custom ROM pack versions of Sloop and NSO that you see too, as those are an insult to me and my work as they bypass the need to use CaVE/SFROM Tool completely, hide attribution and knowledge of me and my work that's used to create them, and in the worst cases force me to field help requests for something I don't support existing in the first place.)
Q: What does the "Failure while trying to extract files from .ncas." error mean?
A: This can be one of several issues. Some understood, some not. But they are all some issue with the tool "hactool" that CaVE uses.
- It may be that you are trying to use CaVE from a Desktop subfolder, like "C:\Users\YourName\Desktop\CaVE\CaVE Database Manager.exe". For whatever reason, this does not work. So move your CaVE folder and try again.
- It may be an issue with your dev.keys. But why, I don't know. Perhaps you have a dev.keys from before September 2020?
- It might be a antivirus software issue? Try disabling it for a moment.
- If you encounter this issue, then solve it, please share so we can better know why!
A: Sloop is not an officially released emulator. Meaning, its un-finished and likely has lower compatibility than could be hoped for. You can't expect it to work as good as the eventual NSO-GBA app. But for the moment I did make a sheet for compatability patches.
Q: Can I use save states? How?
A: Kind of... The emu supports saving and loading states. But not in the UI. In the UI there is a "Save next segment" option. That technically creates a save state file (000.break). But that's not exactly it's purpose. That and the other two options are Rewind features. They save and load states in a sense, but not between sessions. Meaning if you save a segment then restart the emu, "Reload segment" will not allow you to reload that segment.
Reloading between sessions can only be done with the "Resume State:" setting. Which is clunky as it will only load a state on boot. But if that's fine with you, you can try adding "<Code>/exit.break" to the "Resume State:" field, as I have already set the defaults for CaVE/Sloop+ to create a state on exit (for the purposes of extracting SRAM to be loaded on next boot, but it can be used for this purpose too).
Q: How does SRAM saving/loading work?
A: It uses a combination of 3 settings and a little trickery, that are set by default for all games with Slip.
- CaVE generates an empty .sav (the SRAM) file for every game. Without it, trying to tell the emulator to load a .sav file would cause it to crash.
- Sloop+ uses the "Import SRAM" option, with the path set to that .sav file.
- "Save State on Exit" is next. It's been set to create a save state called "exit.break" any time you exit back to the Main Menu. Be warned. Pressing Home and closing the app with X first, will NOT SAVE. You must go back to the Main Menu! Then you can X out.
- "Export SRAM" is selected. It exports .sav data from any save states, on boot. Allowing the "Import SRAM" option to load it.
Information on this process is provided so you know why these options are set by default, and thus why you should not change them.
Q: My Pokemon or some other game, does not save SRAM properly. What can I do?
A: The Pokemon patches I have provided allow the games to boot, but their SRAM type isnt supported.
You CAN use Save States though. How?
- Select the game in CaVE, and right click it.
- Select Edit Game Settings.
- Select the Saving tab.
- Next to "Resume State" type GameName_r/exit.break. (Where GameName_r is the code value of the game. You can see it next to "Import SRAM" a couple fields below that. Example: AstroBoy_e/exit.break)
- Press Save.
Recommended If you have not done this yet:
- Go to Edit > Manage Groups.
- Type in a new group name, like "Save State Games", and press Add. Close the window.
- Select your game you just enabled Resume State with, and change the Groups value to the group name you just made.
Save, copy to your card, and enjoy! The the game will be loaded from where you last were when you exited to the menu before closing the app.
Q: I just loaded my game, and my progress from last time is lost. It didn't save! Why?
A: Saving your progress to the disk happens when you exit from the game back to the main menu. Not when you close the app or when you save in game. If you are using the "Pressing HOME does not end emulation" hack, this can be easier to miss.
To exit back to the main menu you have 2 options without that hack, and just 1 with it.
Option 1: Press HOME to "tab out", then either press HOME again or select Sloop to tab back in. This will return you to the menu.
Option 2: Press ZR, then use the touch screen to press "[Exit game] ESC". The limitation of this of course is that it does not work in docked mode. It requires hand held mode. But... at least, only when it comes time to save.
Q: What Hiyoko Emulator Source should I use?
Q: Should I expect saving support in the future?
A: The default, "Super Mario Land - [Release 3]", is fine.
The differences are minimal, but among the different options are really 4 distinctly different emulator versions. That one is what I have concluded is the most recent, and its one that works without modification.
For testing the Debug emu, "Qix - A - Debug 1" is all I have patched to work for now. But that runs around 10-15 fps.
Q: Should I expect saving support in the future?
A: No. Not really. While it can be enabled with the SLOW Debug version of the emulator, the release version does not initialize the SD Card at all. Saves would require access to a MountSDCard() function, and that simply does not exist in the release build.
I am working on a hack when I can, but can not make any promises of significant advancements towards saving support in the future.
Q: I have Super Gameboy selected as the Machine Type, but I do not see the game using the SGB palette. Why?A: As annoying as it is, it seems that Hiyoko only emulates Super Gameboy as far as emulating what a game would look like with the basic mono-chrome palette. It's not as good, but you can try using Gameboy Color and above to get a palette that can be "mostly" as good.
This sort of makes sense as the internals of a Super Gameboy are said to just be a Gameboy with the screen, controls and sound hardware stripped out. And Hiyoko emulates it as such. The SGB custom palettes were likely done by the SGB ROM code, not hardware. But I'm no SGB expert...
Q: I created a Debug NSP, and its running slowly! What gives?A: Yea. This is why I don't recommend that. While it can save states and sram... it runs at 10-15 fps, and is thus unplayable. I only made it work as an option for CaVE to output so people can mess around with it if they are curious. Clearly stating its issues and lack of practicality for use.
Q: What base games are supported?
Compatibility List (A remake of the original list that was lost)
CD Box Images for use as app icons (Not managed by me)
A: Right now, just the original 3, without the updates. That consists of Cotton2, Cotton Boomerang, and Guardian Force. This also include the Eastern 3-in-1 XCI and NSP versions, and the Western standalone apps.
Notably whats not supported is the updates for these 3, Layer Section/Galactic Attack, Elevator Action Returns, and basically anything else that comes out.
Q: Why are the updates and later games not supported?A: The files in these games are encrypted. The encryption got changed after the first 3 games were initially released. I am not good with encryption hacking. I tried as best I could to crack and adapt the decryption method to the later releases, but failed.
Q: Does ___ game work?A: Refer to the compatibility list.
Q: How do I configure the settings to improve compatibility?A: I don't know every detail of this emu. I just know that its a port of SSF, and shares a lot of settings between them in a strait-forward way. To the point that ini's for SSF should work with this.
Q: How do I swap discs with multi-disc games?A: This does not exactly support that. But in some cases, you can continue your progress on disc 2+ simply by remaking the NSP, using disc 2+ as the game. Install that over the disk 1 install, and your save data should be available to the new install.
Compatibility List (A remake of the original list that was lost)
CD Box Images for use as app icons (Not managed by me)
Screenshots
Discord
IMPORTANT!!! - THOROUGHLY READ THE DISCORD CHANNEL DESCRIPTION BEFORE ENTERING & ASKING QUESTIONS!
Thanks
RadMcFist - For an ton of help with testing, and advice since I don't own a Switch.
Falo- For providing the initial RSA hack for SNES Online.
Last edited by DarkAkuma,
