ROM Hack Finding offsets(like the black outlines in Pokémon) - how was it discovered?

[tywald]

Just wondering what the process was like to discover the offset for removing the outlines in Pokémon Sun for example.

Reason why is I want to check if it's possible to permanently disable the 3D from the game itself by changing some hex values. Using Parental Control to disable it doesn't seem to prevent it from running. I checked with the fps counter with NTR and noticed that the fps was the same in MH3U with the 3D option set to "On" in the menu even when I launched the game without 3D capablities by Parental Control; when the 3D option was set to "Off" the fps got higher, as expected, but it should've been this fps in both modes(since I launched the game without 3D).

It seems that launching a game without 3D with Parental Control only prevents it from displaying on the screen but doesn't prevent it from running within the game itself, if that makes sense(i.e the "3D code" is still running).

I would like to hack MH4U to disable its 3D capabilities, it should be possible considering games like DQ8 prevents 3D to be enabled at all. Maybe it's possible to find this in the romFS? Hm...

 

[jockep]

Use something like IDA Pro to disassemble the code.bin and analyze it. Requires assembly language knowledge.

 

[tywald]

Ah ok, I'll will look into it. The only assembly I know(somewhat) is the one used in MIPS.

Digged a bit in that code.bin and found this string: mMode3D.

http://i.imgur.com/VOwbzKW.png

This could be what I'm looking for. I guess I could try disassemble DQ8's code.bin and maybe I'll find the same string to compare it with.

 

[Chakratos]

Don't nail me but aren't there fps limits?
I know that MH3U had one

 

[Zidapi]

Don't nail me but aren't there fps limits?
I know that MH3U had one

Why would there be fps limits?

 

[Dionicio3]

Why would there be fps limits?

So the 3ds doesn't run out of resources

 

[DarkSynopsis]

Hmm, according to 3DBrew the SMDH has a flag for "Allow use of 3D?" but it also says "(For use with Parental Controls. An application can use the 3D affect, even when this flag isn't set)" so many changing that value to disable 3D wouldn't do the trick? might be worth investigating though, doubt many have messed with it.

Keep in mind you would want to remove the game each time you toy with SMDH, if you just reinstall over an older version it won't actually update that SMDH data since its kept in a cache.

 

[tywald]

Hmm, according to 3DBrew the SMDH has a flag for "Allow use of 3D?" but it also says "(For use with Parental Controls. An application can use the 3D affect, even when this flag isn't set)" so many changing that value to disable 3D wouldn't do the trick? might be worth investigating though, doubt many have messed with it.

Keep in mind you would want to remove the game each time you toy with SMDH, if you just reinstall over an older version it won't actually update that SMDH data since its kept in a cache.

If it's about Parental Controls it's probably not it since I tested launching 4U in 2D and the framerate was the same and it was still anti-aliased; in MHGen for example when you turn off the 3D from the menu it also becomes aliased so if this function of the Parental Controls was working properly then the game should become aliased as a consequence for turning off 3D.
Tested in MH3U on the character creation screen launched in 2D with Parental Controls, I can definitely still see anti-aliasing with 3D set to 'on' from the menu while it becomes aliased when set to 'off'. It should have been aliased in both cases if it was working.

I was able to get the assembly code for mMode3D, hopefully I will be able to understand it.
http://i.imgur.com/BYbi9gP.png