This is a followup on my footers thread, I have succeeded in getting back the original colors instead of the washed out/dark/mute colors every GBA VC has.

It's actually quite simple; every string of numbers that go like this: 00 00 00 00 00 00 in blocks of six are now changed to blocks of three until you reach FF FF FF.

I have already gone through the trouble of writing all the values out in a separate file ORIGINAL.bin
Simply go through the process of making a footer, open it in a hex editor and open original.bin as well, select everything in it and copy it to the footer starting at offset 0x24.

Should look like this:

Spoiler

Ideally the GBA footer generator should get updated with this option to avoid hex editing and name the other settings something more accurate than "Memory Config".

Comparison shots

Spoiler

Bonus: Remove or add more ghosting/blur
Edit byte at offset 0x20

0xFF/255 = No blurring/ghosting
0xF0/240 = Very little ghosting
0xC0/192 = Official value, standard ghosting
0x80/128 = Official value, more ghosting, highly noticeable
0x20/32 = Insane ghosting
0x01 = MAX

 

[piratesephiroth]

What about editing (via hex, decompiling, etc) already compiled CIAs to change it?

Well it is a bit of trouble but it is possible.

 

[The Super Other]

Had a a ROM sitting around in a ready to build state so I went ahead and tested with the byte at offset 0x20 set to 0x00. The screen was just black. It ran, but there was nothing visible. I used the same ROM and footer with only the ghosting value changed to build 2 other cias and they turned out fine.

 

[sieroi]

Ghosting is simply a side-effect from the IPS panel used on some on the n3DS'. Because this is a flaw in the 3DS' screen you cannot turn it off.

Just for reference, in case anyone stumbles across this comment down the line - I just tested this on my IPS N3DSXL. The screen might well have greater ghosting issues than TN panels, but it's not enough to make a difference where this case is concerned- rebuilding a VC title with the ghosting flag turned off results in a massive difference. It's shocking just how great the difference is, even.

This definitely works. Remarkable, really- a lot of titles were almost unplayable on this system thanks to the excessive motion blur before.

 

[piratesephiroth]

Thank you! That's so useful! Could you add an option to enable/disable the dark layer? Some games were created with the dark screen of the original GBA in mind (e.g. the second Castlevania)

Added that option now. It has the original color and 2 of the darker palettes.

 

[MegaV2]

Just tried it with Metroid Fusion and it's actually fucking playable now without the goddamn awful ghosting effect. Thanks man

 

[DocKlokMan]

Had a a ROM sitting around in a ready to build state so I went ahead and tested with the byte at offset 0x20 set to 0x00. The screen was just black. It ran, but there was nothing visible. I used the same ROM and footer with only the ghosting value changed to build 2 other cias and they turned out fine.

0x00 is an invalid value. The lower the number the more ghosting. If that value existed it would make the game unplayable (which it technically did). Try 0xFF instead.

 

[Eduardolicious]

this is amazing, and will probably be the last straw that pushes me fully to injected cias instead of retroarch for gba at least

(can't wait to see this rolled into some sorta one-click gba->cia solution someday to really make it all sing)

 

[The Super Other]

0x00 is an invalid value. The lower the number the more ghosting. If that value existed it would make the game unplayable (which it technically did). Try 0xFF instead.

Ah good point. I knew it would be unplayable considering 0x20 is. I've already remade all my cias with the blur turned off. When OP updated his post to include the ghosting value offset, he said he didn't bother testing 0x00. So I figured I'd see what would happen. Might be useful to play a forced-blind speedrun of the Gen 3 Pokemon games.

 

[DocKlokMan]

What about editing (via hex, decompiling, etc) already compiled CIAs to change it?

I was able to use Asia81's PackHack to extract a CIA (option CIAE, no to decrypting the code.bin), then opened code.bin in a hex editor, went 360 values from the bottom (the footer) and then made the changes to the x20 byte (FF to remove ghosting) and then overwrote values x24-x324 with ORIGINAL.BIN to restore the colors. Saved the code.bin file and then used the still open PackHack window to rebuild the CIA (option CIAR). Installed that CIA and it works like a charm. Maybe someone can write a small patcher to auto patch the code.bin.

The reason I did this was that I have a lot of GBA VC CIA files already stored and I don't have the graphics to rebuild them, so it was easier for me to do this then get the ROM files, graphic files and remember the title ID's and Serial codes to rebuild them all over again.

 

[DocKlokMan]

Alright, so I made a little something. It's an EXE to patch your code.bin to restore colors and remove ghosting for CIA files you may already have.

Tutorial:

1. Download and install @Asia81's PackHack
2. Run PackHack and type: CIAE to extract your CIA. Choose NO to decrypting code.bin
3. Open Command Prompt and run linked file GBA_ColorGhost_Fix.exe
   • Usage: GBA_ColorGhost_Fix /path/to/your/code.bin
4. After it's patched, go back to the PackHack (which should still be running) and type: CIAR to repack your CIA.
5. Copy Edited CIA to 3DS and install! WARNING: Backup your save and then restore it after re-installing. I will not go over how to do that.

Link to GitHub: https://github.com/AnalogMan151/GBA_ColorGhost_Fix

Click on the ZIP file then click on 'View Raw' to download.

 

[Asia81]

Shit.
IF it work well, thanks a lot!

I will have to redo all my cia xD

 

[Asia81]

Here's a modified footer generator, so you don't have to hex edit anything:

Outputs footers with the proper color settings and has settings for ghosting (a quick hack)

https://files.catbox.moe/nssads.zip

How did you do it, since it's closed source ( ) ?

 

[Asia81]

Alright, so I made a little something. It's an EXE to patch your code.bin to restore colors and remove ghosting for CIA files you may already have.

Tutorial:

1. Download and install @Asia81's PackHack
2. Run PackHack and type: CIAE to extract your CIA. Choose NO to decrypting code.bin
3. Open Command Prompt and run linked file GBA_ColorGhost_Fix.exe
   • Usage: GBA_ColorGhost_Fix /path/to/your/code.bin
4. After it's patched, go back to the PackHack (which should still be running) and type: CIAR to repack your CIA.
5. Copy Edited CIA to 3DS and install! WARNING: Backup your save and then restore it after re-installing. I will not go over how to do that.

Link to GitHub: https://github.com/AnalogMan151/GBA_ColorGhost_Fix

Click on the ZIP file then click on 'View Raw' to download.

IT seems like it work also with a drag'n'drop of the code.bin file on the py script

 

[DocKlokMan]

IT seems like it work also with a drag'n'drop of the code.bin file on the py script

I honestly didn't think of that, but it works with the EXE too, just drag on top of and it will patch it.

 

[Asia81]

Yeah It work, I did it.

 

[tatundria]

Here's a modified footer generator, so you don't have to hex edit anything:

Outputs footers with the proper color settings and has settings for ghosting (a quick hack)

https://files.catbox.moe/nssads.zip

What is the difference between Darker 1 or 2? Which one is the original nintendo dark filter?

 

[Isaac Conrad]

It's awesome ! Is there a way to remove ghosting from NES / SNES VC games too ?

 

[WiiUBricker]

Is there a documentation about stuff you can edit in a hex editor to enhance 3ds vc games?

 

[Sizednochi]

This is amazing. It actually makes the games playable for me!

 

[piratesephiroth]

Alright, I made a quick solution to fix your old GBA Virtual Console CIAs.
Just extract DRAG_AGB_CIA.bat and the "progfiles" subfolder then drag and drop you CIAs onto the bat file.
You can drag and drop multiple CIA files (just don 't abuse it, I'm pretty sure there's a limit for command line length)

The new ones will be placed inside the FIXED_CIA folder.

https://files.catbox.moe/n2gr4m.zip