ROM Hack Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire clock & other patches

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Deleted-236924

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Do you think making a patch for the other languages of the game would be feasible?
 

idyll

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I've edited the above patches with a few small changes. Here's a list of what was modified:

- The location of some clocks were moved for the sake of consistency across all versions and for aesthetic purposes.
- A script event was added to the clock in the Pokemon Center of the Battle Frontier.
- Clocks are now color coded for each version; green for Emerald, red for Ruby and blue for Sapphire.

See the image link below for a better idea of what I mean.

http://imgur.com/rfEegcD

The attached IPS patch files should be applied to the following roms:

Pokemon - Emerald Version CRC: 1f1c08fb
Pokemon - Ruby Version CRC: f0815ee7
Pokemon - Sapphire Version CRC: 554dedc4

The zip file contains no illegal data. It is up to you to find the tools and roms needed if you are legally entitled to do so.

These patches were tested on the VBA-M emulator and GBA hardware with an EZ-Flash IV. I experienced no problems, but your mileage may vary.

Also, for anyone that cares, Emerald gets upset when you edit its existing tiles. I had to enlarge the tileset by 8 and create new tiles to avoid the graphical glitches I was experiencing. This fixed the problem of missing and/or corrupt tiles appearing in game.

All my editing was done in Advance Map and consisted of creating a new palette and editing/moving/creating tiles. Chaos Rush and windwakr are the reason these patches even exist. They deserve all the credit. Many thanks to them both.
 

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vree

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Ok I know this is a longshot.

But could someone make these patches work for the "Pokémon Ruby 2012" version that is quite popular.
It got a day night system and all and is 100% complete.

But can't really enjoy it without the clock changing :S
 
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Deleted-236924

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Bumpity bump, you forgot a spot :3

akJ3Zdm.jpg


(By the way, would there be a way to make the patch work for v1.1 and v1.2 roms of Ruby/Sapphire? It's not that big of a deal, but I prefer using my own dump of the rom and my Ruby cartridge is a v1.2)


Also, did you end up looking into making a patch for the JPN versions?
You don't have to if you don't feel like going through the trouble, but in the previous thread, you said you were working on it, so I was wondering.


(Also, probably a stupid question, but does anyone know if the GBATA RTC patch fixes the RNG? (hen the RTC battery is dead, the RNG always starts from 5A0.) I would assume that the RTC patch would make the game behave normally, but I'm not sure.)
 

Chaos Rush

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Bumpity bump, you forgot a spot :3

akJ3Zdm.jpg


(By the way, would there be a way to make the patch work for v1.1 and v1.2 roms of Ruby/Sapphire? It's not that big of a deal, but I prefer using my own dump of the rom and my Ruby cartridge is a v1.2)


Also, did you end up looking into making a patch for the JPN versions?
You don't have to if you don't feel like going through the trouble, but in the previous thread, you said you were working on it, so I was wondering.


(Also, probably a stupid question, but does anyone know if the GBATA RTC patch fixes the RNG? (hen the RTC battery is dead, the RNG always starts from 5A0.) I would assume that the RTC patch would make the game behave normally, but I'm not sure.)
The Pokedex thing you circled out is compressed graphic data rather than actual text data, the former of which I didn't edit (I would assume I forgot to edit the Trainer Card graphic data as well). It's not that huge of a deal, after all, there's some instances in Pokemon Emerald where the FR/LG font was snuck in (contrary to popular belief, the standard Emerald font is different from the FR/LG font, but the FR/LG font is used for some menus)

And I did not work on one for the JPN versions, and to be honest I don't want to go through the trouble of it either. Maybe I might when I'm really bored and have loads of free time ;)

But in all honesty I don't see myself going back to these patches again, the last update was over a year ago and it's in my mindset that this is done, and has been done for a while. If someone wants to address the problems above, go on right ahead. It's not that hard to edit compressed graphic data, just open the ROM in unLZ and just keep clicking until you find what you want to edit.
 
D

Deleted-236924

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Okie dokie.
I've reverted back to using the original patch that only added the clock + the RTC patch anyway, since the font change did some weird stuff (like the Start menu looked a little bit strange, the "selection" red rectangle was still sized according to the old font, and something that I just noticed, the Pokémon dex numbers kind of overlap with the "No" text in the Pokédex.)

How would I go about trying to make a patch for the Japanese version of Sapphire by myself? I don't know Japanese myself, but I could probably find someone with the relevant knowledge who could help.


(I don't really see the difference between the Emerald and the FR/LG font, TBH. :3)
 
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Deleted-236924

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I'm not sure if that would work, but have you tried patching to a clean Emerald rom and then patching the patched emerald rom with the rom hack's patch?
 

Hucz

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Hey guys.
So everything has been great, only one concern I've noticed while playing this game on an EZ Flash IV and GBA Backup Tool.

When I back up the .SAV file using GBA Backup Tool and then restore that .SAV file back on the EZ Flash IV, it tells me that "The save file has been erased due to corruption or damage".

Regardless of me even touching the .SAV file. I've isolated the problem a little bit more to only happening when the .SAV file is being written to the EZ Flash IV and not when it's being read from NOR mode.

What's even more strange is, even when I "Clear all save data?" by holding UP+B+Select it still comes up, as well as when I initialize the ROM's .sav area. It will only no longer show up when I've started a fresh new game and saved.

Any ideas what may be causing this? I'll tinker around with it more soon and hopefully be able to find a solution or more clues. Thanks in advance!

UPDATE #1: GBA Backup Tool reads the EZ Flash NOR ROM image as "32MB" and not "16MB". Not sure at this point if it's related to this problem.
 
Last edited by Hucz,

Riptide

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Hey guys.
So everything has been great, only one concern I've noticed while playing this game on an EZ Flash IV and GBA Backup Tool.

When I back up the .SAV file using GBA Backup Tool and then restore that .SAV file back on the EZ Flash IV, it tells me that "The save file has been erased due to corruption or damage".

Regardless of me even touching the .SAV file. I've isolated the problem a little bit more to only happening when the .SAV file is being written to the EZ Flash IV and not when it's being read from NOR mode.

What's even more strange is, even when I "Clear all save data?" by holding UP+B+Select it still comes up, as well as when I initialize the ROM's .sav area. It will only no longer show up when I've started a fresh new game and saved.

Any ideas what may be causing this? I'll tinker around with it more soon and hopefully be able to find a solution or more clues. Thanks in advance!

UPDATE #1: GBA Backup Tool reads the EZ Flash NOR ROM image as "32MB" and not "16MB". Not sure at this point if it's related to this problem.

If you are using an EZ Flash IV why do you need GBA Backup Tool? The sav file is on the SD card of the EZF4.

Side question, were you able to get emerald to work? I've tried all of the emerald patches listed in this thread (individually and various combinations/orders thereof) but I always end up with a white screen when trying to boot it from the EZF4.*

*Variables changed in attempts to solve:
Source ROM (no-intro and my own dump)
Patching tool (gbata and lunar)
PC (work and home)
Patch order (with not only the IPS patches but also sram patching and trimming since I was getting desperate)
 

Hucz

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If you are using an EZ Flash IV why do you need GBA Backup Tool? The sav file is on the SD card of the EZF4.

Side question, were you able to get emerald to work? I've tried all of the emerald patches listed in this thread (individually and various combinations/orders thereof) but I always end up with a white screen when trying to boot it from the EZF4.*

*Variables changed in attempts to solve:
Source ROM (no-intro and my own dump)
Patching tool (gbata and lunar)
PC (work and home)
Patch order (with not only the IPS patches but also sram patching and trimming since I was getting desperate)
Hi sorry I actual own a DS Lite compatible EZ Flash 3-in-1 Expansion Pack, hence the need for GBA Backup Tool.
So far, no luck getting it to work with this patch. A copy of the ROM from my USA retail cart works on the EZ Flash 3-in-1 without any problems, no surprise there, and I do get the battery error message as I should. But yeah, so far no changes in my attempts to get it to work, still the same issue as before, which sounds different from the issue you are having.

UPDATE: I do have a theory as to what may be contributing to this problem, and yours as well. I suspect the patched ROM file is larger than 16MB, which when using an emulator such as VBA isn't an issue. However, when transferring the patched ROM file over to an EZ Flash cart, it is recognised and treated as larger than 16MB (32MB). Perhaps when this happens, the GBA Backup Tool .SAV writing feature mishandles the .SAV file when placing it back onto the save area of the EZ Flash. I assume the developer(s) of this patch, and previous patches, were testing and playing this patched ROM on an emulator and not a flash cart. Just a theory :P
 
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Riptide

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Hi sorry I actual own a DS Lite compatible EZ Flash 3-in-1 Expansion Pack, hence the need for GBA Backup Tool.
So far, no luck getting it to work with this patch. A copy of the ROM from my USA retail cart works on the EZ Flash 3-in-1 without any problems, no surprise there, and I do get the battery error message as I should. But yeah, so far no changes in my attempts to get it to work, still the same issue as before, which sounds different from the issue you are having.

UPDATE: I do have a theory as to what may be contributing to this problem, and yours as well. I suspect the patched ROM file is larger than 16MB, which when using an emulator such as VBA isn't an issue. However, when transferring the patched ROM file over to an EZ Flash cart, it is recognised and treated as larger than 16MB (32MB). Perhaps when this happens, the GBA Backup Tool .SAV writing feature mishandles the .SAV file when placing it back onto the save area of the EZ Flash. I assume the developer(s) of this patch, and previous patches, were testing and playing this patched ROM on an emulator and not a flash cart. Just a theory :P

But I thought even with the EZ Flash 3-in-1 that the SAV files were stored in the GBA_SAVE folder of your Slot 1 cartridge?

I can't get any RTC patched version of emerald to run, much less save, and the file sizes are under 16MB, so if you are able to run an RTC patched version of emerald successfully please let me know how you patched it and which patches were used.
 

Hucz

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But I thought even with the EZ Flash 3-in-1 that the SAV files were stored in the GBA_SAVE folder of your Slot 1 cartridge?

I can't get any RTC patched version of emerald to run, much less save, and the file sizes are under 16MB, so if you are able to run an RTC patched version of emerald successfully please let me know how you patched it and which patches were used.
They are, but only when you extract them from the flash cart's save area (flash, eeprom, sram, etc.) using a Slot 1 app like GBA Backup Tool. Another popular method of playing ROM images on the 3-in-1 is by using the Slot 1 app GBA Exploader and PSRAM flashing the ROM on the fly and then using the SAV stored in the GBA_SAVE folder or whatever, or starting out without any save and then copying back over when you reload the app.

With all that being said, there is an option to use the 3-in-1 as a standalone cart (which I believe you can do with your EZ Flash IV as well?) by using the flash cart's NOR memory to write the ROM there (which takes longer to do) but is technically a separate area of the flash cart being used. This is how some people can use their 3-in-1 without the need of a Slot 1 device at all, by flashing to the NOR.

As far as the RTC patching goes, I used Lunar IPS, and the .ips file for Emerald from the latest zipped package posted on this thread.

SIDE NOTE: So just a side note on this whole process. While going back many years ago, I can always recall a time when I really badly wanted a clock patch much like the one available for Ruby/Sapphire with the GBATA tool that also worked for Emerald, due to my EZ Flash 3-in-1 not having an RTC chip. But due to the likelyhood I had felt that no such patch would ever be developed, I bit the bullet and bought a used retail Emerald cartridge instead. Which has been great, and I honestly have to say that I enjoy playing the game on the real original cartridge more.

Now, after some time, I wanted to extract the save from the retail cart to play on emulators and input cheat codes (like the EON ticket) and so forth, and then play it back onto my retail cart. This is where I noticed a really interesting glitch occur. Whenever I copied the save over and loaded it up on an emulator (such as VBA) and then enabling the RTC function in the emulator's menu, I noticed all my berry trees just disappeared. But why? Well, VBA stores RTC data in the .sav file in a different location and different way than the original game does for it's save data. VBA grabs the time from your computer system and can even change the memory addresses on the fly if you change your system time on the fly while playing the game. This is great if you're just solely playing the game on an emulator, and not on a real cartridge. But when going back and forth, two separate RTC data areas are created within the same .sav file. And that's why the berry trees become permanently gone, and I'm sure other bizarre RTC related issues would occur. So how am I able to just follow only the retail cart's RTC clock and not any other silly emulation clock? I disabled the RTC function in VBA prior to loading the save file. Bingo. While it does give the error message that the battery has died, all my berry trees are left intact. Frozen in time so to speak. Which is actually really great. Because when my battery inevitably does die again and need to be replaced in my retail cart, I can view the in-game clock and determine exactly what time the clock had "stopped" and solder in a new battery at that approximate time and continue where I left off! The same can be said about all .sav files that are not being rewritten to via an RTC chip because they might be stored on a different device or transferred to and from a computer.

Why is all this relevant? Because, the patch posted here is essentially solving a problem that really isn't a problem for emulator users that feature the RTC function. But for emulators that don't emulate RTC, it's the only way to enjoy the games' in-game clock events without needing an RTC chip present. As much as I would love to be able to have a version of Emerald that doesn't require me to replace any batteries, and will continue on it's own in-game RTC clock fix/patch, I have the retail cart to manage the RTC. Bottom line, get a used copy of Emerald if you do plan on playing the game on non-emulated hardware, such as a GBA flash cart. It really is worth it.
 
Last edited by Hucz,

Riptide

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They are, but only when you extract them from the flash cart's save area (flash, eeprom, sram, etc.) using a Slot 1 app like GBA Backup Tool. Another popular method of playing ROM images on the 3-in-1 is by using the Slot 1 app GBA Exploader and PSRAM flashing the ROM on the fly and then using the SAV stored in the GBA_SAVE folder or whatever, or starting out without any save and then copying back over when you reload the app.

With all that being said, there is an option to use the 3-in-1 as a standalone cart (which I believe you can do with your EZ Flash IV as well?) by using the flash cart's NOR memory to write the ROM there (which takes longer to do) but is technically a separate area of the flash cart being used. This is how some people can use their 3-in-1 without the need of a Slot 1 device at all, by flashing to the NOR.

As far as the RTC patching goes, I used Lunar IPS, and the .ips file for Emerald from the latest zipped package posted on this thread.

SIDE NOTE: So just a side note on this whole process. While going back many years ago, I can always recall a time when I really badly wanted a clock patch much like the one available for Ruby/Sapphire with the GBATA tool that also worked for Emerald, due to my EZ Flash 3-in-1 not having an RTC chip. But due to the likelyhood I had felt that no such patch would ever be developed, I bit the bullet and bought a used retail Emerald cartridge instead. Which has been great, and I honestly have to say that I enjoy playing the game on the real original cartridge more.

Now, after some time, I wanted to extract the save from the retail cart to play on emulators and input cheat codes (like the EON ticket) and so forth, and then play it back onto my retail cart. This is where I noticed a really interesting glitch occur. Whenever I copied the save over and loaded it up on an emulator (such as VBA) and then enabling the RTC function in the emulator's menu, I noticed all my berry trees just disappeared. But why? Well, VBA stores RTC data in the .sav file in a different location and different way than the original game does for it's save data. VBA grabs the time from your computer system and can even change the memory addresses on the fly if you change your system time on the fly while playing the game. This is great if you're just solely playing the game on an emulator, and not on a real cartridge. But when going back and forth, two separate RTC data areas are created within the same .sav file. And that's why the berry trees become permanently gone, and I'm sure other bizarre RTC related issues would occur. So how am I able to just follow only the retail cart's RTC clock and not any other silly emulation clock? I disabled the RTC function in VBA prior to loading the save file. Bingo. While it does give the error message that the battery has died, all my berry trees are left intact. Frozen in time so to speak. Which is actually really great. Because when my battery inevitably does die again and need to be replaced in my retail cart, I can view the in-game clock and determine exactly what time the clock had "stopped" and solder in a new battery at that approximate time and continue where I left off! The same can be said about all .sav files that are not being rewritten to via an RTC chip because they might be stored on a different device or transferred to and from a computer.

Why is all this relevant? Because, the patch posted here is essentially solving a problem that really isn't a problem for emulator users that feature the RTC function. But for emulators that don't emulate RTC, it's the only way to enjoy the games' in-game clock events without needing an RTC chip present. As much as I would love to be able to have a version of Emerald that doesn't require me to replace any batteries, and will continue on it's own in-game RTC clock fix/patch, I have the retail cart to manage the RTC. Bottom line, get a used copy of Emerald if you do plan on playing the game on non-emulated hardware, such as a GBA flash cart. It really is worth it.


Yeah I actually am currently using a retail emerald cart, but I'd like to start using my EZF4 microSDHC instead so I don't have to carry two carts around.

Unfortunately for me it seems that emerald just doesn't want to work on my EZF4 (with an RTC patch anyway)
My "base" emerald rom (MD5 605b89b67018abcea91e693a4dd25be3) boots fine, Lunar IPS with the patch from post #22 with the base as source generates an RTC patched version (MD5 4017e9883aaa7e8f581964ee9f9a4cc6), but trying to load that results in a white screen. :(
Guess I'm SOL
 

Hucz

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Yeah I actually am currently using a retail emerald cart, but I'd like to start using my EZF4 microSDHC instead so I don't have to carry two carts around.

Unfortunately for me it seems that emerald just doesn't want to work on my EZF4 (with an RTC patch anyway)
My "base" emerald rom (MD5 605b89b67018abcea91e693a4dd25be3) boots fine, Lunar IPS with the patch from post #22 with the base as source generates an RTC patched version (MD5 4017e9883aaa7e8f581964ee9f9a4cc6), but trying to load that results in a white screen. :(
Guess I'm SOL
Have you loaded up the patched ROM in an emulator to confirm it's the EZ Flash that leads to the white screen?
 

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