Tutorial  Updated

Remove the dark filter from Wii U GBA VC titles.

fulldozer.gif

Introduction

Like other Virtual Console platforms, Nintendo's Game Boy Advance Virtual Console releases on the Wii U have reduced brightness. In the GBA's case, this is somewhat more defensible than with home consoles, as the original GBA model did display quite dimly.

Still, later in the handheld's lifespan, multiple successive frontlit and backlit models were released. Between the Game Boy Advance SP 001, SP 101, Game Boy Micro, Nintendo DS, DS Lite and even the Game Boy Player, the vast majority of ways to play GBA games don't involve a dim screen.

As such, many of us don't really have nostalgia for the dim old original GBA display and would prefer to see the vibrant graphics as they naturally appear on more modern screens. This thread is about doing that on the Wii U, so you can play your games with full brightness, or indeed change the brightness to any value you like.

Tutorial

  1. Download the command line tool MArchiveBatchTool, available for Windows and Linux. Extract the archive wherever feels right to you.
  2. Get the alldata.bin and alldata.psb.m files from the GBA VC title you're modifying. The obvious way to do this is to connect to your Wii U over FTP (using either ftpiiu_everywhere or WiiUFtpServer) and navigate to /usr/title/00050000/YourGame/content. Copy the two alldata files to the same place where you extracted MArchiveBatchTool.
  3. Open a command prompt or terminal window. If you're on Linux, I'll just assume you know how to do this. For Windows users, open the folder where you extracted MArchiveBatchTool in Windows Explorer and click inside the address bar. Delete the text in the address bar, replace it with just cmd, then press Enter. A command prompt window will open.
  4. At the command line/terminal prompt, enter the following command. If you're on Windows, you can copy and paste these commands, but note that several of them will need to be changed depending on what game you're modifying. If you're on Linux, remember to use forward slashes (/) instead of the backslashes (\) seen in the following commands.
    Code:
    MArchiveBatchTool archive extract alldata.psb.m --codec zlib --seed MX8wgGEJ2+M47 --keyLength 80
    This will extract the contents of your alldata.bin into a directory named alldata.psb.m_extracted.
  5. For the next few commands, you'll need a unique number for each GBA VC title. e.g. Drill Dozer USA is 1021, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 USA is 0141, etc. In your file explorer, you can open the alldata.psb.m_extracted directory to see your game's unique number, as the name of the first directory underneath it. Remember to replace the #### marks in the next few commands with your number.
    Code:
    MArchiveBatchTool m unpack "alldata.psb.m_extracted\####\config\title_prof.psb.m" zlib MX8wgGEJ2+M47 80
    MArchiveBatchTool psb deserialize "alldata.psb.m_extracted\####\config\title_prof.psb"
  6. Back in your file explorer, browse to alldata.psb.m_extracted/####/config/ and open title_prof.psb.json in any standard text editor.
  7. Toward the beginning of that file, under "m2epi", locate where it says ...
    Code:
          "brightness": 0.75,
    ... and replace that value with ...
    Code:
          "brightness": 1,
    ... then save the file.
  8. Return to your command line window and enter the following two commands (again, replace the ####s):
    Code:
    MArchiveBatchTool psb serialize "alldata.psb.m_extracted\####\config\title_prof.psb.json"
    MArchiveBatchTool m pack "alldata.psb.m_extracted\####\config\title_prof.psb" zlib MX8wgGEJ2+M47 80
  9. You've just re-encrypted your modified config file, so delete your modified title_prof.psb.json now. Your final, encrypted config file is title_prof.psb.m; do not delete the wrong file!
  10. Back at the command line again, enter the following command:
    Code:
    MArchiveBatchTool archive build --codec zlib --seed MX8wgGEJ2+M47 --keyLength 80 alldata.psb.m_extracted alldata
  11. You now have your modified alldata.bin and alldata.psb.m. Upload these files back to your Wii U, replacing the original versions and exit from your Wii U FTP server.
And you're done! From here on out, you can just fire up your GBA VC title as you normally would and see it in full brightness.

Additional Notes

Not much else to say here, but what the hell.
  • Full/maximum brightness is 1, anything >1 just gives you 1 brightness. I didn't bother testing, but anything between 0 and 1 is probably an acceptable value.
  • M2 has used this same basic setup (alldata files) for ages and have continued to use it on later systems. Lucky for us! They have periodically changed their encryption seed, but they're pretty easy to find; just extract the main executable (and if appropriate, decompress it--on Wii U, you can do this with 0CBH0's wiiurpxtool) and search the file for a thing that looks exactly like a secret encryption key. strings -n 13 is a great start.
  • I know this tutorial is kind of a lot. @NicoAICP is interested in adding this feature to UWUVCI for GBA injections, so if you're patient you can just wait for that. Don't hassle them about it though, just be cool.
 
Last edited by Vague Rant,

E1ite007

wierd avatar guy
Member
Joined
Nov 19, 2016
Messages
1,025
Trophies
1
Location
Itchy & Scratchy Land
XP
2,719
Country
Mexico
check how those are configured. I'm not sure myself. I think there's an nes tutorial iirc.
Afak, I've only seen tutorials for the Wii VC, not for Wii U yet.
Last time I saw someone asking about it, there wasn't a definitive answer.

I pressume it's 'cause people had not employ the needed time for that task. If it's something like the Wii VC, I understand the lack of investigation (compared to other parts of the Wii U VC), as it's kinda hard since you have to mess with hex values and stuff like that (thanks @SaulFabre for giving links to condensed info about the topic) in the way that you have to checking specific values and following a guide precisely.

Tbh I don't know how it would work on Wii U VC, I'm just speculating here, but if it's something like the Wii VC I will wait for an automated tool or some injector, since modifying hex data game by game would be pretty trivial and even hard for some people.
 

godreborn

Welcome to the Machine
Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
38,471
Trophies
3
XP
29,105
Country
United States
Afak, I've only seen tutorials for the Wii VC, not for Wii U yet.
Last time I saw someone asking about it, there wasn't a definitive answer.

I pressume it's 'cause people had not employ the needed time for that task. If it's something like the Wii VC, I understand the lack of investigation (compared to other parts of the Wii U VC), as it's kinda hard since you have to mess with hex values and stuff like that (thanks @SaulFabre for giving links to condensed info about the topic) in the way that you have to checking specific values and following a guide precisely.

Tbh I don't know how it would work on Wii U VC, I'm just speculating here, but if it's something like the Wii VC I will wait for an automated tool or some injector, since modifying hex data game by game would be pretty trivial and even hard for some people.
I did this tutorial on my only other purchased gba game, but with that one I noticed no difference. It was super mario advance 3. It had .75 as brightness, but the before looked normal (very bright).
 

Sonic Angel Knight

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
May 27, 2016
Messages
14,395
Trophies
1
Location
New York
XP
12,890
Country
United States
This is nice, I wasn't sure why this was done. Most of the time, I just hear people say "It helps prevent epileptic seizures." I personally never had a history of it, but I understand the safety. Though this is a poor way to do it. Like the more modern emulated versions of the games nintendo has done, they modify the games directly to reduce flashing bright lights which I think is a lot better. (Even though it does kinda reduce the immersion of the effects)

Still, I'm glad there is ways to remove it now. One thing I would hope to see is a way to change the smoothing filter that it has. (Clicking the right stick enables the smoothing filter) I'm not expecting it to be done, a better smoothing filter like xbrz would be nice
 

E1ite007

wierd avatar guy
Member
Joined
Nov 19, 2016
Messages
1,025
Trophies
1
Location
Itchy & Scratchy Land
XP
2,719
Country
Mexico
This is nice, I wasn't sure why this was done. Most of the time, I just hear people say "It helps prevent epileptic seizures." I personally never had a history of it, but I understand the safety. Though this is a poor way to do it. Like the more modern emulated versions of the games nintendo has done, they modify the games directly to reduce flashing bright lights which I think is a lot better. (Even though it does kinda reduce the immersion of the effects)

Still, I'm glad there is ways to remove it now. One thing I would hope to see is a way to change the smoothing filter that it has. (Clicking the right stick enables the smoothing filter) I'm not expecting it to be done, a better smoothing filter like xbrz would be nice
Never heard of that smoothing filter.
Gonna try it later.
 
  • Like
Reactions: godreborn

godreborn

Welcome to the Machine
Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
38,471
Trophies
3
XP
29,105
Country
United States
I don't recall that specific option in the config file. the config file is rather small and has things like game name, brightness, game rom name, etc. it has a few options under brightness, but I forgot what they were (not sure what they do anyway). I'm going to post the before and after with super mario advance 3: yoshi's island. I noticed no difference turning the brightness up to 1, but the game looked normal with it at .75. I think there's a difference with the golden sun one I did above, but I chose a bad picture to use for the before and after.
 

Vague Rant

Deceptively cute
OP
Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2008
Messages
2,463
Trophies
2
Location
Melbourne
Website
vaguerant.tumblr.com
XP
3,289
Country
before:
View attachment 281891

after:

View attachment 281892

doesn't the before look normal? not sure why.
I just had a look at this myself. While it doesn't really show up in your photos, the brightness is changing (fairly dramatically) on my end.

2021-10-29_01-28-39_WiiU_screenshot_TV_0156A.jpg2021-10-29_02-06-28_WiiU_screenshot_TV_0156A.jpg

Modern digital cameras (that includes phones) have all kinds of automatic white balance tricks which throw off photos. Judging the brightness can be tough because a camera might automatically brighten up a darker photo, or darken a brighter one.
 

godreborn

Welcome to the Machine
Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
38,471
Trophies
3
XP
29,105
Country
United States
it was bright on my end from the beginning, not sure why. I decompiled the m file again after I noticed that to make sure brightness was set to 1, and it was. doesn't really matter much though as the game looked normal either way. really weird.
 

SaulFabre

I like Yoshis and the Wii/Wii U scene.
Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2019
Messages
3,145
Trophies
1
Age
25
Location
Ecuador
Website
saulfabreg-wiivc.blogspot.com
XP
7,634
Country
Ecuador
I just had a look at this myself. While it doesn't really show up in your photos, the brightness is changing (fairly dramatically) on my end.

View attachment 282067View attachment 282069

Modern digital cameras (that includes phones) have all kinds of automatic white balance tricks which throw off photos. Judging the brightness can be tough because a camera might automatically brighten up a darker photo, or darken a brighter one.
@Vague Rant

Then all GBA Wii U VC games have reduced brightness to 75% (0.75 value)?

Good thing that you noticed that the 1 value is 100% brightness to GBA Wii U VC, so it's a great achievement on the Wii U scene.

Also good thing that Wii U VC saw Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3. It's one of my favorite GBA games, also a good port of the SNES Super FX GSU-2 game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.
_________________
it was bright on my end from the beginning, not sure why. I decompiled the m file again after I noticed that to make sure brightness was set to 1, and it was. doesn't really matter much though as the game looked normal either way. really weird.
@godreborn

Have you saw and taken photos of the original VC release of SMA3: Yoshi's Island with the reduced brightness? For try to see your comparison between these two brightness values
 

SaulFabre

I like Yoshis and the Wii/Wii U scene.
Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2019
Messages
3,145
Trophies
1
Age
25
Location
Ecuador
Website
saulfabreg-wiivc.blogspot.com
XP
7,634
Country
Ecuador
that's what the above is supposed to be. I just took a photo of the game selection screen:

View attachment 282070
Maybe your phone camera IS tricking you with its auto-adjustment of the photo brightness.

Do you have an HDMI capturer for record a short video of each brightness on your Wii U and then make screenshots on your PC for see the real difference?
 

godreborn

Welcome to the Machine
Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
38,471
Trophies
3
XP
29,105
Country
United States
no, it looked normal on the tv screen without the brightness changed to 1. I just decompiled the m file again. it's set to 1, but it was ,75 when I originally changed it:

1635434632091.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: SaulFabre

SaulFabre

I like Yoshis and the Wii/Wii U scene.
Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2019
Messages
3,145
Trophies
1
Age
25
Location
Ecuador
Website
saulfabreg-wiivc.blogspot.com
XP
7,634
Country
Ecuador
no, it looked normal on the tv screen without the brightness changed to 1. I just decompiled the m file again. it's set to 1, but it was ,75 when I originally changed it:

View attachment 282071
Then the TV is trolling you with its screen and colors brightness adjustment.

Have you tried changing the image settings mode to the "Normal" mode with default settings instead of "Vivid", "Sports" or another?
 

godreborn

Welcome to the Machine
Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
38,471
Trophies
3
XP
29,105
Country
United States
I was trying to compile the file with something like .50 or something, but I've encountered a weird problem, and it only happens in this json file. if I put a decimal whatsoever, the text turns white, and it will not compile at all.
 

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    Batman joined the Trans Justice League
    +2
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    based af
    +2
  • Sonic Angel Knight @ Sonic Angel Knight:
    Forget the base, get on the roof.
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    Is that a bat in your buckle or are you just happy to have me
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    Wonder "Woman" lol you wonder if they are a woman?
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    The Riddler has questions...
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    Played a little of snow day glad I didn't spend $30
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    It's asthetic is okay maybe a good $10 grab
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    Lol is it a game about doing cocaine?
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    Probably in pvp
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    I tried Balders Gate II on the PS2 a few minutes ago, not bad lol
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    My back catalog of games is like that scene at the end of Indiana Jones where the arc of the covenant is being stored in a giant ass warehouse
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    At least I can will my game catalog to family members
    +1
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    It's your problem now bitches
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    Put it in your will that in order to receive any money they have to beat certain games, hard games and super shitty games...
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    Say 20 bucks per Ninja Gaiden on the NES lol 60 bucks for all 3
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    People you like "Beat level 1 of Ms Pacman" lol
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    Hello kitty ds is required
    +1
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    Beat Celebrity Death Match on the PS1 omg tried it earlier today .... Absolutely trash
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    Like -37 out of 10
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    One of the worst games I have ever played
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    Make them rank up every cod game out
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    "Now I know why he took his own life"
    K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2: "Now I know why he took his own life"