Homebrew [DS(i)/3DS] TWiLight Menu++ - GUI for DS(i) games, and DS(i) Menu replacement

[plasturion]

Does Wood R4 actually rename the save file? If not, then what do you mean?

Well not only, actually it creates another duplicate save file (copy) with .nds.#.sav extension, where # is slot number.

 

[4d1xlaan]

running games from slot 1 using slot 1 sd access does not work with r4i ultra either? (same as acekard 2i)

that is unfortunate, so I guess regular r4 ultra is the only option for this

 

[Jate]

Hello

I am customizing my DSi and I have several doubts. I have tried to look for the answers in forums and in the GitHub of the project (in the issues in case someone had already asked it) but although I find information I don't understand what to do.

Sorry if these topics have already been discussed but I'm quite lost among so much information...

My doubts are:

- when assigning an icon to a folder, this icon superimposed on the "folder" icon showing the two icons Is, it possible to simply change the icon without overlapping?

- the emulators included in Twilight Menu have an icon associated to the file extension (sms, gb, etc) but is it possible to associate an icon to the file extension of other emulators? In the wiki there is a link to Homebrew Menu and .ext files but I don't understand how it works despite the example. Is posible add other emulator alternative yo defaults Twilight Menú (msx p.e)?

- I have seen that it is possible to assign an icon to the option to "back" when you enter in a directory, I have seen that it would be to put as name "....png" but the name of the file is "..." or "..." + .png? This icon goes in the folder "icons" or in the corresponding folder of the skin? I ask this because I have made several tests and the icon does not change...

Thanks and sorry if the answers have already been said more times but I have not found them or the answer did not work for me.

 

[RocketRobz]

Hello

I am customizing my DSi and I have several doubts. I have tried to look for the answers in forums and in the GitHub of the project (in the issues in case someone had already asked it) but although I find information I don't understand what to do.

Sorry if these topics have already been discussed but I'm quite lost among so much information...

My doubts are:

- when assigning an icon to a folder, this icon superimposed on the "folder" icon showing the two icons Is, it possible to simply change the icon without overlapping?

- the emulators included in Twilight Menu have an icon associated to the file extension (sms, gb, etc) but is it possible to associate an icon to the file extension of other emulators? In the wiki there is a link to Homebrew Menu and .ext files but I don't understand how it works despite the example. Is posible add other emulator alternative yo defaults Twilight Menú (msx p.e)?

- I have seen that it is possible to assign an icon to the option to "back" when you enter in a directory, I have seen that it would be to put as name "....png" but the name of the file is "..." or "..." + .png? This icon goes in the folder "icons" or in the corresponding folder of the skin? I ask this because I have made several tests and the icon does not change...

Thanks and sorry if the answers have already been said more times but I have not found them or the answer did not work for me.

• Yes, you'll have to download the custom skin template, and change the icon image.
  https://wiki.ds-homebrew.com/twilightmenu/custom-dsi-3ds-skins
• What do you mean? Also, to use emulator alternatives, you'll have to change TWLMenu++'s source code.
• Try naming it "...png" (three dots instead of four)

 

[Jate]

• Yes, you'll have to download the custom skin template, and change the icon image.
  https://wiki.ds-homebrew.com/twilightmenu/custom-dsi-3ds-skins
• What do you mean? Also, to use emulator alternatives, you'll have to change TWLMenu++'s source code.
• Try naming it "...png" (three dots instead of four)

Hi

By the way, thanks for creating TWLM++, it's an amazing project.

Thanks, I'm following this guide to create my skin. But my doubt is that I want to know if I can only show the custom icon for the folder and not one on top of the other (see image 2) By the way I have tried "...png" (see image 1) and the "icon_unk.png" icon appears on top of the "folder.png" icon (see image 2).

Regarding alternative emulators, I have not explained myself well. I read that to add a new emulator you need the emulator to support command line and include it in the source code.

But I have seen in :

Text files containing the path to a DS homebrew app and arguments to launch it with, see nds-hb-menu’s README for more info ↩

and I thought it was possible to manually add an emulator through nds-hb-menu (I don't know if it is integrated in TWLM++ or if it is an alternative)
I wanted to try to include:
- MSX DS for msx2 games
- Wasabi Ds for Watara Supervision
- system-e, this system is included in S8DS, I have the games in a different folder but they are zip files and it does not recognise them to assign an icon.
- DS994a, Maybe you are already implementing this one from what I have read here:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/ds994a-a-texas-instruments-emulator-for-the-ds-dsi.624156/post-10368434

 

[RocketRobz]

Hi

By the way, thanks for creating TWLM++, it's an amazing project.

Thanks, I'm following this guide to create my skin. But my doubt is that I want to know if I can only show the custom icon for the folder and not one on top of the other (see image 2) By the way I have tried "...png" (see image 1) and the "icon_unk.png" icon appears on top of the "folder.png" icon (see image 2).

View attachment 458008

View attachment 458007

You can only show a custom icon above the folder icon.
As for the "?" icon showing instead of the custom icon, try cropping it to 32x32, so that only the back arrow would be shown above the folder icon.

Regarding alternative emulators, I have not explained myself well. I read that to add a new emulator you need the emulator to support command line and include it in the source code.

But I have seen in :

Text files containing the path to a DS homebrew app and arguments to launch it with, see nds-hb-menu’s README for more info ↩

and I thought it was possible to manually add an emulator through nds-hb-menu (I don't know if it is integrated in TWLM++ or if it is an alternative)
I wanted to try to include:
- MSX DS for msx2 games
- Wasabi Ds for Watara Supervision
- system-e, this system is included in S8DS, I have the games in a different folder but they are zip files and it does not recognise them to assign an icon.
- DS994a, Maybe you are already implementing this one from what I have read here:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/ds994a-a-texas-instruments-emulator-for-the-ds-dsi.624156/post-10368434

Plans to add new emulators are currently at a low priority.

 

[Jate]

You can only show a custom icon above the folder icon.
As for the "?" icon showing instead of the custom icon, try cropping it to 32x32, so that only the back arrow would be shown above the folder icon.

Plans to add new emulators are currently at a low priority.

Thanks, it worked by putting an image of 32x32 pixels.

I leave here noted that the icon that appears in the folder "back" must be 32x32 pixels, the file name will be ".." + extension of the image format (.png in this case) and saved in the folder "icons".

Regarding emulators, when they arrive, they will be welcome.

 

[Jate]

@RocketRobz Can you answer one more question?
I like to have everything sorted in folders but there are Homebrew that need to have the files in the root of the sd to work. It has occurred to me that creating a ramdisk in those cases. I've done some tests and it seems that the idea works.
My question is, is there any disadvantage in forcing a Homebrew to use ramdisk? I hope I have explained myself well.

And I wanted to comment one more thing, I have had problems to make jEnesisDS work, it used ramdisk and although it started it didn't show the roms. The problem was that the roms were in .md format. I put the roms in this format because it is one of those that appears in ds-homebrew that the emulator recognizes, but after reading the readme of the emulator I saw that it supports .smd .gen and .bin. Maybe the .md and .gen formats are the ones supported by your emulator, the picodriveTWL but not the jEnesisDS and that would be good to put it on the DS-Homebrew website to avoid confusion.

 

[RocketRobz]

@RocketRobz Can you answer one more question?
I like to have everything sorted in folders but there are Homebrew that need to have the files in the root of the sd to work. It has occurred to me that creating a ramdisk in those cases. I've done some tests and it seems that the idea works.
My question is, is there any disadvantage in forcing a Homebrew to use ramdisk? I hope I have explained myself well.

The only disadvantages are that the RAM disks are limited to 12MB (or 28MB on 3DS), and you cannot access the DSi SD contents.

And I wanted to comment one more thing, I have had problems to make jEnesisDS work, it used ramdisk and although it started it didn't show the roms. The problem was that the roms were in .md format. I put the roms in this format because it is one of those that appears in ds-homebrew that the emulator recognizes, but after reading the readme of the emulator I saw that it supports .smd .gen and .bin. Maybe the .md and .gen formats are the ones supported by your emulator, the picodriveTWL but not the jEnesisDS and that would be good to put it on the DS-Homebrew website to avoid confusion.

The emulators bundled by TWLMenu++ are not intended to be launched directly. Just launch the Genesis ROM (.md or .gen) by itself, and it'll start the emulator for you.

Post automatically merged: Sep 17, 2024

v27.8.0
Includes nds-bootstrap's 200th Release (GBATemp thread)

What's new?​

• Due to the game compatibility improvements made in nds-bootstrap, there are now no known incompatible games for B4DS mode!
• On DSi consoles, features related to the BPTWL I2C chip (such as the volume icon, 4-bar battery icon, and brightness changing) are now hidden if the chip is found bricked.

Bug fixes​

• Improved retail/homebrew detection by first checking if it's a retail title, before assuming it's homebrew.
• Pressing D-Pad Left/Right in the Wood UI theme now jumps by the amount of titles displayed.
• Fixed leftover ? icons shown in place of folder icons when exiting/entering a folder in the Wood UI theme.
• Improved rumble detection to not take a long time.
• Optimized touch screen mode switching code to fix where the sound would no longer play on certain DSi/3DS consoles.
• Fixed where switching to the Misc settings page in TWLMenu++ Settings would cause a crash in some cases.
• Fixed where touching the DSi theme icon in the Manual would have no effect.

 

[4d1xlaan]

eventually we wont need to care about which flashcart kernel is for which r4 deluxe mega super edition 1.4 pro, you'll just put twilightmenu with nds bootstrap in b4ds mode on whatever flashcart you have and call it a day

 

[Jate]

The only disadvantages are that the RAM disks are limited to 12MB (or 28MB on 3DS), and you cannot access the DSi SD contents.

The emulators bundled by TWLMenu++ are not intended to be launched directly. Just launch the Genesis ROM (.md or .gen) by itself, and it'll start the emulator for you.

Ok, thanks. I will keep this in mind.

 

[nitrozz]

hi, Robz.
using melonds and i can boot twlmenu but no game running not even homebrew through twl. dsisd.bin is ok everything work except games

 

[RocketRobz]

hi, Robz.
using melonds and i can boot twlmenu but no game running not even homebrew through twl. dsisd.bin is ok everything work except games

Please open an issue at the melonDS GitHub repo, because I have no issues using real hardware on my side.

 

[Jate]

Hi @RocketRobz , sorry to ask again but I have more questions:

- I have tried to locate the icons that are associated with the roms in .xex, .atr (A8DS) .col (S8DS, ColocoDS) format and some more but I can't locate them to put new ones.

- Also I have seen that the files .a52 and .a78 have assigned the icon of the atari 2600, couldn't you put a custom one for each system?

-----

I don't know if it would be better to put it as an issue in github but I put it here first to see what you think. I have something weird going on with the icons associated with the argv files, let me see if I can explain it:

- I have created the "Doom.argv" file and in the icons folder I have put a 32x32 pixels image in png format that I have called "Doom.argv.png" The result is that it shows the "?" icon.

- I tried renaming the same image to "Doom.png" (without argv) and the image is associated to the "Doom" folder but not to the "Doom.argv.png" file (it makes sense)
But also something weird happens, the "Doom.png" image is associated to a file called "HEXDD.argv" which is included in the DualHexen of Hoops (on the gamebrew website) and is used to load the hexen expansion.

- If I create an image named "HEXDD.argv.png" for the "HEXDDD.argv" file, the icon it displays is also "?" or if the "Doom.png" image is present, this image is assigned.

- and a last test, if I delete "Doom.png" and leave in "icons" folder the images "Doom.argv.png" and "HEXDD.argv.png", then:

* the "Doom.argv" file shows "?"
* the file "HEXDD.argv" shows the image ‘DualHexen.nds.png" ¿? (this image “DualHexen.nds.png” I created it in the "icons" folder and it is associated to executable “DualHexen.nds” which is correct)

It's difficult to explain, but I've tried to do some tests to help locate the bug and I don't know if it's well explained.

 

[nitrozz]

Please open an issue at the melonDS GitHub repo, because I have no issues using real hardware on my side.

in real hardware work perfectly

 

[RocketRobz]

Hi @RocketRobz , sorry to ask again but I have more questions:

- I have tried to locate the icons that are associated with the roms in .xex, .atr (A8DS) .col (S8DS, ColocoDS) format and some more but I can't locate them to put new ones.

Check here:
https://github.com/DS-Homebrew/TWiL..._dsimenutheme/nitrofiles/themes/dsi/white/grf
https://github.com/DS-Homebrew/TWiL...sources/dsimenu_theme_examples/dsi/white/grit

- Also I have seen that the files .a52 and .a78 have assigned the icon of the atari 2600, couldn't you put a custom one for each system?

I could not find icons for those systems in the same style as the 2600 one.

I don't know if it would be better to put it as an issue in github but I put it here first to see what you think. I have something weird going on with the icons associated with the argv files, let me see if I can explain it:

- I have created the "Doom.argv" file and in the icons folder I have put a 32x32 pixels image in png format that I have called "Doom.argv.png" The result is that it shows the "?" icon.

- I tried renaming the same image to "Doom.png" (without argv) and the image is associated to the "Doom" folder but not to the "Doom.argv.png" file (it makes sense)
But also something weird happens, the "Doom.png" image is associated to a file called "HEXDD.argv" which is included in the DualHexen of Hoops (on the gamebrew website) and is used to load the hexen expansion.

- If I create an image named "HEXDD.argv.png" for the "HEXDDD.argv" file, the icon it displays is also "?" or if the "Doom.png" image is present, this image is assigned.

- and a last test, if I delete "Doom.png" and leave in "icons" folder the images "Doom.argv.png" and "HEXDD.argv.png", then:

* the "Doom.argv" file shows "?"
* the file "HEXDD.argv" shows the image ‘DualHexen.nds.png" ¿? (this image “DualHexen.nds.png” I created it in the "icons" folder and it is associated to executable “DualHexen.nds” which is correct)

It's difficult to explain, but I've tried to do some tests to help locate the bug and I don't know if it's well explained.

Individual argv files should be able to use their own custom icons in the next version.

 

[Jate]

Check here:
https://github.com/DS-Homebrew/TWiL..._dsimenutheme/nitrofiles/themes/dsi/white/grf
https://github.com/DS-Homebrew/TWiL...sources/dsimenu_theme_examples/dsi/white/grit

Thank you, now I know the name I have to give to the image to associate it with the missing systems.

Individual argv files should be able to use their own custom icons in the next version.

Perfect, thanks again

I could not find icons for those systems in the same style as the 2600 one.

I have a personal collection that I made taking as a reference some icons from the net and drawing from scratch others that I couldn't find. They all follow the same pattern and I'm using them to create my custom dsi theme. If you are interested, I could share them privately to include in the project.
My icons are for each system, although to associate to the roms it would be better an icon of the cartridge or floppy disk of each system, although I don't have that and I have little time right now but I could try it.
My theme is not finished yet and I still want to modify things, but this is a test:

 

[MysticStarlight]

Does anyone know how many roms can be displayed at once? (DSi theme)

 

[RocketRobz]

Does anyone know how many roms can be displayed at once? (DSi theme)

40 ROMs are displayed per page. To see more ROMs, switch the page by pressing L or R.

 

[MysticStarlight]

40 ROMs are displayed per page. To see more ROMs, switch the page by pressing L or R.

Cool I didn't know about that feature! Thanks.