Tutorial  Updated

Mega Drive/Genesis Virtual Console (NOT Retroarch) Injections for Multiplayer only

Hey fellow Tempers!

I figured I could share this procedure to others who might be interested in this. Basically, this will let you play Mega Drive (or Genesis) roms in local multiplayer between two 3DS systems by injecting the roms into Sega's own 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ported by M2.

NB! DO NOT use this if you want high compatibility and accuracy - the only reason you would ever want to use this is if you want to play some games in multiplayer, since retroarch or picodrive are by far the better alternatives if you are just going to play alone.

Some things to note as well:
  • If your game has ingame saving (like Sonic the Hedgehog 3), this will not work. Every time you restart the game your save will be lost. HOWEVER, save states do work. So if you want to do a coop playthrough of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in more than one sitting I believe you can use the save states to get to where you were, you might have to load the save state before hosting and then return to menu to host.
  • Also you will not be able to use 3D on the games you inject. I repeat this is only for having the multiplayer function.
  • The game will still show Sonic 2 images and have the style of that game. I do not know how to replace this. If it helps you can try to think of it as a Mega Drive emulator with a Sonic 2 theme.
  • Both 3DS' need to have the same game installed - it is not Download Play.
There are two ways of achieving this that I have found: One quick and dirty way through LumaCFW's LayeredFS, and another through modifying and repacking a .cia/.3ds/.cxi.

First method using LayeredFS

Pros and Cons
Pros:
You can easily swap games and test if they actually work. I have not tested this with multiplayer yet, but I do not see why it should not work. Please report if you do, and I will update when I do myself.

Cons:

You only get one title for your game on your home menu and therefore only one game at a time, unless you inject into other roms, like maybe different regions of 3D Sonic 2.

What you need
  • Latest LumaCFW on your 3DS/2DS
  • 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 installed on your 3DS (It is up to you how you want to install it, just don't ask where to get it for free. It's around 4€ on the eshop as of writing this.)
  • The rom you want to inject and play (I cannot provide this either)
  • mdfTools
  • PC
  • Have game patching enabled in LumaCFW. Do this in Luma3DS configuration by holding select and powering on your system. Press A on "Enable game patching" and start to save.
Step-by-step
  1. Find and write down the TitleID (TID) for 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 by opening "Cheats..." in Rosalina menu* while running 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Default: Press L+Dpad Down+Select). The TitleID will be something like [0004XXXXXXXXXXXXX].
  2. Find the rom that you want to use. You might want to check the compatibility list below.
  3. Make a second copy of your Rom.
  4. Name one of the copies: "Sonic2.SGD" and the other copy "Sonic2_USA.SGD". Make sure to delete the .md/.smd/.bin file extension suffix. Both files HAVE to end with .SGD. It is VERY IMPORTANT to do this before step 6!
  5. Extract the mdfTools.rar in a folder.
  6. Drag and drop each of the renamed copies over mdfcompressor.exe. You should get two compressed roms called "Sonic2.SGD.m" and "Sonic2_USA.SGD.m".
  7. Copy your compressed roms in this folder on your 3DS' SD card: "sd:\luma\titles\"YourTitleID"\romfs\system\roms\". Replace "YourTitleID" with the code you wrote down in Step 1.
  8. Start up 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and choose start game to check if your rom injected correctly.
  9. Play multiplayer by chosing Local Play on the start menu before running the game.

*Note: I would have just said to look up online or through FBI for the TitleID, but I found that they differ from the TitleID you get from looking at cheats in Rosalina for this specific game for some reason.
Troubleshooting
  • In case your rom is still Sonic 2 when starting the game then first double-check that you wrote the right TitleID. If it is correct then try changing the TitleID to the one on you can find for 3D Sonic 2 in titles in FBI or from searching online.
  • If your 3DS crashes to an arm11 exception then you probably didn't do step 4 right. Make sure to have the names and extensions exactly that way and before you compress them. Don't change the name afterwards.
  • Try using a clean rom, preferably a no-intro confirmed rom.
  • If the game runs but has problems with input, graphics or sound, then there is no solution I know of. This emulator doesn't have 100% compatibility.

Second method using GabrieloRomToolsGui

Pros and Cons
Benefits:
You can make an icon on your home menu specific for that game, and most importantly you can install as many games as your home menu allows you to.
If you figure out how to edit the banner then you can customize it to look good for the rom you've injected. I have not looked into making a custom banner yet, but it should be pretty straight forward.

A Noteworthy Disadvantage:
Your 3DS will give an arm11 exception when you power off your 3DS and when you try to load another game or homebrew after leaving the game before rebooting. Yes, it sucks.
What you need
  • Latest LumaCFW on your 3DS/2DS
  • A backup of 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in either of these formats.cia/.3ds/.cxi/NCCH. (I cannot provide it.)
  • The rom you want to inject and play (I cannot provide this either)
  • GabrieloRomToolsGui
  • mdfcompressor
  • PC
General Steps
  1. Extract GabrieloRomToolsGui to a folder and run "GabrieloRomToolsGUI.exe".
  2. Extract the NCCH of your 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 according to what format you have it backed up in (ex. 3ds/cia/.cxi/NCCH), following gaberilde's great instructional video.
  3. Find the rom that you want to use. You might want to check the compatibility list below.
  4. Make a second copy of your rom.
  5. Name one of the copies: "Sonic2.SGD" and the other copy "Sonic2_USA.SGD". Make sure to remove the .md/.smd/.bin file extension suffix your rom might have. Both files HAVE to end with .SGD. It is VERY IMPORTANT to do this before step 6!
  6. Extract the mdfTools.rar in a folder.
  7. Drag and drop each of the renamed copies over mdfcompressor.exe in the folder you just extracted to. You should get two compressed files called "Sonic2.SGD.m" and "Sonic2_USA.SGD.m".
  8. If you managed to extract your 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 succesfully, then copy both compressed files into the folder: ...\"name of folder you extracted into"\romfs\system\roms\", this way replacing the files that are there.
  9. Rebuild and repack your backup using your folder following gaberilde's video from step 2.
  10. Install your backup and check if it worked. If it did you should now run that game when selecting start game from the menu screen. To use multiplayer choose local play and on one 3ds and join on the other.

Compatibility List:

Working
Alien Storm
Altered Beast (Official release)
Battletoads
Battletoads and Double Dragon
Cadash
Crack Down - Some occasional graphical glitches in start menu.
Contra Hard Corps
Double Dragon
Double Dragon 3
Golden AxeGolden Axe II
Golden Axe III
Gunstar Heroes (Offical release)
Mega Bomberman
NBA JAM
Rock 'N Roll Racing
Soldiers of Fortune (known as The Chaos Engine in PAL Territories. Don't use the PAL version.)
Sonic 3 Complete - Some weird graphical glitches occur at times (File select screen and when under water in first stage). Also "Sega" intro sounds very bad for some reason.
Streets of Rage (Official release)
Streets of Rage 2 (Official release)
Streets of Rage 3
Sunset Riders
Super Smash T.V.
The Adventures of Batman & Robin
The Great Circus Mystery Starring Mickey and Minnie
The Ren and Stimpy Show Presents: Stimpy's Invention
ToeJam and Earl
ToeJam and Earl in Panic on Funkotron (Might be set as six button controller which means you lose some functions.)
Two Crude Dudes
Wonder Boy 3 Monster Lair
World of Illusion Starring Mickey and Donald

Playable with issues
Joe and Mac - Works but no background music. Sound effects are glitchy.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Hyperstone Heist - Game plays smoothly, but sadly no sound at all.

Not Working
Blades of Vengeance - Black screen after intro.
The Lost Vikings - Game plays fine but you can't change characters because the gamepad is set to six button controller but x y z aren't mappable... Maybe if you could play 3 player or edit the emulator config some way.
Zombies Ate My Neighbors - Gets to title screen but no button inputs are registered. Might be because six button controller is emulated without button mapping.

Untested
Lots of shmups
A lot of sports games (NBA, NFL etc.)
Fighting games
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
Road Rash games

If you need more games to check out here are some lists:
http://segaclassics.blogspot.com/2012/11/genesis-multiplayer-co-op-games.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/SEGAGENESIS/comments/6s9g5e/multiplayer_games_worth_playing/

Sources

Disclaimer:
I am not responsible if you follow this guide in a wrong way or if your system in any way breaks when following this. You are at your own risk as always.

Also do not ask for any copyrighted stuff or where to get it. Read the forum rules.

Credits:

M2 for their emulator
@Robz8 for a 5 year old post explaining how to do this.
@gaberilde for GabrieloRomTools
@Normmatt for mdftools
Devs et al. of Luma3DS
 
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Retro_Mod_Gamer

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Using the first method with 3 different region downloads of sonic 2 3d is a good way to have 3 different games, then it is a matter of replacing the banners etc. with a seperate program.

Now the question is, what are the 3 best multiplayer games on your list excluding the official releases?

Can you test out a few games? When i get a hold of my PC tomorrow I'm going to start experimenting.

I want to try out:
Sunset Riders
NBA Jam
TMNT Hyperstone Heist
The Chaos Engine
 
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Zense

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Using the first method with 3 different region downloads of sonic 2 3d is a good way to have 3 different games, then it is a matter of replacing the banners etc. with a seperate program.

Now the question is, what are the 3 best multiplayer games on your list excluding the official releases?

Can you test out a few games? When i get a hold of my PC tomorrow I'm going to start experimenting.

I want to try out:
Sunset Riders
NBA Jam
TMNT Hyperstone Heist
The Chaos Engine
Sure thing! Can test them right away. Best multiplayer you say? I do like World of Illusion for it's simplicity, music and presentation. Contra Hard Corps is amazing too, but a slightly bit different. I've always wanted to try Crack Down in coop since it is actually pretty unique as far as multiplayer gameplay of the era goes.

I'll come back when I know how your games play.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Great breakthrough, good luck to all who continue this progress
Haha thanks but I merely gathered what information has been lying online for years. People started doing these injections back in 2015, but they were quickly abandoned in favor of more accurate and compatible emulators, and frankly more convenient ones. The sad thing is that no one gave any attention to the fact that the local multiplayer function was kept in tact when injecting, as thing which to me is very cool. The same goes for VC NES injections which were more popular. So all multi injectors don't have these injections as an option, hopefully they will some day as I'm sure there are others who appreciate this as much as us.
 
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People started doing these injections back in 2015, but they were quickly abandoned in favor of more accurate and compatible emulators, and frankly more convenient ones. The sad thing is that no one gave any attention to the fact that the local multiplayer function was kept in tact when injecting, as thing which to me is very cool. The same goes for VC NES injections which were more popular. So all multi injectors don't have these injections as an option, hopefully they will some day as I'm sure there are others who appreciate this as much as us.

Asdolo was going to be looking into including support in NSUI but he hasn't checked my messages in his inbox since the summer, if anyone can get in touch with Asdolo get him to check his inbox. I imagine many people will have some extra time with the isolation protocols currently in place.
 
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Asdolo was going to be looking into including support in NSUI but he hasn't checked my messages in his inbox since the summer, if anyone can get in touch with Asdolo get him to check his inbox. I imagine many people will have some extra time with the isolation protocols currently in place.
Btw I just realised The Chaos Engine is the PAL version of Soldiers of Fortune so that one does work. I think the emulator is a bit picky with it's region so the PAL version might not work, maybe if you do an NTSC convert of it or something.

EDIT: Also why do you even play the PAL version? You're from Canada :wacko:
 
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Btw I just realised The Chaos Engine is the PAL version of Soldiers of Fortune so that one does work. I think the emulator is a bit picky with it's region so the PAL version might not work, maybe if you do an NTSC convert of it or something.

Also I believe @NicoAICP took over from Asdolo's work and you should check out their discord channel if you want to contact them. It should be linked in NSUI's first post or somewhere.

EDIT: Also why do you even play the PAL version? You're from Canada :wacko:

I don't know alot about Genesis because I grew up with a SNES but I saw it on a list of recommended games, thanks for the information :yay:
 
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I don't know alot about Genesis because I grew up with a SNES but I saw it on a list of recommended games, thanks for the information :yay:
I finished testing now. All of them work, but TMNT has no music nor sound effects sadly. This seems to be the case for injecting it in Project Lunar on the Sega Mega Drive Mini as well. It was also developed by M2 so the code is probably similar between the two. Some games have fixes for them for the Mega Drive Mini so I figure one might try them with this emulator as well. No fix for TMNT though.
 
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Sure thing! Can test them right away. Best multiplayer you say? I do like World of Illusion for it's simplicity, music and presentation. Contra Hard Corps is amazing too, but a slightly bit different. I've always wanted to try Crack Down in coop since it is actually pretty unique as far as multiplayer gameplay of the era goes.

I'll come back when I know how your games play.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------


Haha thanks but I merely gathered what information has been lying online for years. People started doing these injections back in 2015, but they were quickly abandoned in favor of more accurate and compatible emulators, and frankly more convenient ones. The sad thing is that no one gave any attention to the fact that the local multiplayer function was kept in tact when injecting, as thing which to me is very cool. The same goes for VC NES injections which were more popular. So all multi injectors don't have these injections as an option, hopefully they will some day as I'm sure there are others who appreciate this as much as us.

Just to clarify the only work i took over is Injectiine, the 3ds injectors i have never touched
 
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I was able to get the USA version working with World Of Illusion, with the Europe version what am I supposed to name the SGD.m files?
 

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I was able to get the USA version working with World Of Illusion, with the Europe version what am I supposed to name the SGD.m files?
It should be the same so the Sonic etc. Are you trying to run the European World of Illusion rom? I'm not sure that will work though you can try.
 

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The EUR version of Sonic 2 as a second load option.

So for the EUR version of 3D Sonic 2 it's the same, Sonic2_USA
Yes, I was writing the guide using the EUR version I bought off of the eShop.
I actually wouldn't know what the Japanese one would be since I don't have that one... If someone does and they test it please report back so I can add it to my guide.
 
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Yes, I was writing the guide using the EUR version I bought off of the eShop.
I actually wouldn't know what the Japanese one would be since I don't have that one... If someone does and they test it please report back so I can add it to my guide.
It works for the USA version as well

Unfortunately I couldn't find a copy of the JPN Sonic 2. Perhaps it was only available in the Fukkoku Archives Collection.

I unpacked the CIAs to try to edit the CTPK files but can't find a working app or Kuriimu plugin.
 
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Method of playing retroarch multiplayer on single system with controller connected

Zense

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@Retro_Mod_Gamer Thought I'd let you know that we've basically come up with another way to play genesis and probably all emulators on retroarch in multiplayer by using retroarch's multiplayer function and input redirect to any controller connected to a PC or phone (even a 3DS acting as a controller). I've tested it with a 3DS and a wireless controller and it works pretty well. Didn't notice any input lag either. I had my laptop connected to my controller and to my phone's hotspot which my 3DS was also connected to and it worked pretty well.

Here's a link to the post explaining how it works:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/single-device-retroarch-multiplayer.562822/#post-9019886
 
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@Retro_Mod_Gamer Thought I'd let you know that we've basically come up with another way to play genesis and probably all emulators on retroarch in multiplayer by using retroarch's multiplayer function and input redirect to any controller connected to a PC or phone (even a 3DS acting as a controller). I've tested it with a 3DS and a wireless controller and it works pretty well. Didn't notice any input lag either. I had my laptop connected to my controller and to my phone's hotspot which my 3DS was also connected to and it worked pretty well.

Here's a link to the post explaining how it works:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/single-device-retroarch-multiplayer.562822/#post-9019886
Very cool, playing with a second controller from one 3DS doesn't really suit my needs but cool nonetheless!
 
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