Hacking M3 Game Manager for Mac

[DDRFan2006]

I would like to know how many people would be interested in having the M3 Game Adapter rolled out for OSX. And if there is anyone in the community who knows a bit of programming to help us in the port of this tool.

Thanks

DDRFan2006

 

[nunofgs]

Ok, I'm a purely-mac user these days. I have some experience programming with Objective-C/Cocoa (I sell a small shareware utility).

I've been thinking about making a ROM manager for the mac. I've done some work as you can see from the screenshot, but I've stopped working because of exams right now.

I didn't want to announce it now but I need to know if there is any interest on this project, otherwise I'm going to drop it. The main reason why I'm not putting serious work into this software is because without support (and source code) from the major flashcart companies I will never be able to make my ROM manager actually patch games.

Here is a screenshot:

Things worth noting in this screenshot:
The ROM list you see is actually fetched automatically from the gbatemp's release website (sorry in advance if that is not permitted btw... I was just messing around. I would of course never release this without express authorization from gbatemp).

The "playlists" functionally implied in the screenshot works as expected. My initial idea was to allow for "smart playlists" so you could have playlists like: "the 10 latest unplayed ROMs with USA language" or something.

Also, managing a flashcart would be pretty much like iTunes and iPod. When you insert a flashcart the software would ask you if you'd like it to manage it. All you'd have to do is drag ROMs onto the flashcart icon and it would automatically backup savegames (in case of corruption), copy the ROMs to the correct location and patch them (if I had official source code). One of the ideas I've been playing around was to have an "Autofill" feature. That way the software could copy only games that you have not tried yet and make sure to put the maximum amount possible on your cart.

Those are just a few of the ideas however my time is becoming increasingly limited with college exams so if there is no interest in this project I will be dropping it.
The reason I see this project failing is the lack of patching functionality that, realistically, the flashcart companies will never release.

 

[mthrnite]

I'd buy something like that for 10 dollars!

I'd be willing to bet a lot of Mac people use a PC just for their flash kit.
Honestly I don't use mine for much more than that.

 

[nunofgs]

Yeah, I'm reduced to using VirtualPc on a Powerbook with 512mb of RAM. Takes 3 or 4 minutes just to start it up. :/

By the way, if I do end up developing this software it would obviously be free. The NDS community has given me so much there is no way I could charge for this, but thanks mthrnite, that means a lot to me!!

 

[DDRFan2006]

Yesterday we were talking about this. I asked him if we needed to talk to the "hardware" in the M3, to be able to patch the roms. If we need to, then we need the map of the chipset in order to get it to work.

I know my hubby has sent a formal letter to M3 asking them the sourcecode to the M3 GM, but he has not gotten response yet.

I am a programmer myself, but I dont program on Objective-C nor Cocoa. I have all the books but I have not been motivated to start learning, because I code all day at work, so when I touch a computer at home its to relax. My hubby is the one that is very interested in working with a port of the M3 Game Manager. I am tagging along until I gain some confidence that I can help him. But I can tell you that he is very interested in starting to work out a project that takes you guys close to developing an M3 Game Manager for OSX. His e-mail is [email protected]. Email him there, although he reads the forum every day.

We also think of releasing this app for free to the community. So I guess we are all in the same track...

 

[kildjean]

hello all!

I thought I had an account here but i didnt.. weird...

nuno: could you send me to my e-mail link to the shareware app you sell? and a link to check out the rom organizer you made it looks sweet!

my e-mail is [email protected]

Thanks and hope we can keep talking. I am very interested in designing this app as a community release, hopefully my wife will hop on board and we can do it in no time.

Kil

 

[Costello]

Yes actually, you can make your program patch roms (DS and GBA).
It is very easy, although long for you to build a database.

Take any rom, say, New Super Mario bros (nsmb.nds).
Open the M3 Game manager, and write the NDS rom to your SD card.
Here, the M3 will have it patched and copied to the SD card.
Now, just compare the difference between the original DS rom and the patched rom. Make your program apply the same changes to the original file and it will work.

Repeat this for the whole DS rom set and you get your M3 game manager for MAC.

 

[nunofgs]

Yes actually, you can make your program patch roms (DS and GBA).
It is very easy, although long for you to build a database.

Take any rom, say, New Super Mario bros (nsmb.nds).
Open the M3 Game manager, and write the NDS rom to your SD card.
Here, the M3 will have it patched and copied to the SD card.
Now, just compare the difference between the original DS rom and the patched rom. Make your program apply the same changes to the original file and it will work.

Repeat this for the whole DS rom set and you get your M3 game manager for MAC.

Yeah I thought of that too but it's just too much work. Remember that every version that the M3/G6 team puts out, they change the patching code so you'd have to keep a version of the patch for every game/M3 software. It's just too much.

Also, I was designing my ROM manager to be flashcart-independent. I really don't think it's fair to make an M3/G6 solution when it can be so easily adapted to all flashcarts

kildjean: I'll be e-mailing you in a few hours... it's my dad's birthday today.

 

[DDRFan2006]

Yeah I thought of that too but it's just too much work. Remember that every version that the M3/G6 team puts out, they change the patching code so you'd have to keep a version of the patch for every game/M3 software. It's just too much.

Also, I was designing my ROM manager to be flashcart-independent. I really don't think it's fair to make an M3/G6 solution when it can be so easily adapted to all flashcarts

Well i suppose that once its made for one (the m3 for example) it can be made to work on the rest. I just thought it could be made for one model and if it worked we could make it for the rest.

I'll be waiting your e-mail...

Happy B-Day to your Dad

Kil

 

[DDRFan2006]

Yes actually, you can make your program patch roms (DS and GBA).
It is very easy, although long for you to build a database.

Take any rom, say, New Super Mario bros (nsmb.nds).
Open the M3 Game manager, and write the NDS rom to your SD card.
Here, the M3 will have it patched and copied to the SD card.
Now, just compare the difference between the original DS rom and the patched rom. Make your program apply the same changes to the original file and it will work.

Repeat this for the whole DS rom set and you get your M3 game manager for MAC.

This is a great idea for a team of people to do. But for maybe 3 or 4 that would be working on this on their spare free time, I guess its a little too much work. But if you would be interested to help I guess between some 3 or 4 people more we could have a group that scan the roms and sent us the different strings for each patch and it can be added to the db.

Remember this is a team work...

Kil & DDR

 

[gryto]

Please don't forget us linux using folk.

 

[ryuhosuke]

very cool software.... i am pretty much switched from PC to Mac also.... i hope you end up finishing... it is a waste if the work goes unfinished... too bad that i am not a programmer...