ROM Hack rom hacking

[fice3717]

hi guys today in class a programmer came in and talked to us and i got some info about how to hack roms and i was wondering if it is right? so i need the Nintendo ds sdk and the info on the arm9 and arm7 so i can understand the rom better and how and what every thing does and of cores a hex editor so i was wondering is there anything else i need? and also does any one know were i can get the arm9 and arm7 info from??

much appreciated

oh and were whould i find the official nintendo ds sdk?

 

[I am r4ymond]

I don't know what you're talking about, but I do know that you need DSBUFF along with DSLAZY for Rom Hacking ---> [ Both of these tools can be found in the 'Downloads' section of GBAtemp ] ...And I think you get the Arm 7 from the Downloads section as well

 

[fice3717]

i got told that i need the nintendo sdk and the arm9/7 to be able to understand the rom in the hex editor

 

[Gariscus]

Sounds like that programmer is a noob when it comes to 'rom' hacking...

 

[ShinRyouma]

i got told that i need the nintendo sdk and the arm9/7 to be able to understand the rom in the hex editor

I don't understand what you mean, but if you want to learn romhacking you can read the stickies in this "ROM Hacking and Translation" section, or you can read all documents in romhacking.net/start.

 

[FAST6191]

Nintendo ds sdk- this is a copyrighted or worse item so we can not link it up.
It is a bit useful as it contains formats that are commonly used in DS games (NFTR, narc, carc, NBSMD and sdat are all examples of such formats) but any hacker who knows anything will tell you they can be badly implemented, extended or outright replaced with other formats. Frankly though relying on the SDK is about as bad as relying on premade tools to do the job (you can get stuff done but it will not make you a hacker let alone a good one).

arm9 and arm7- these are the processors in the DS. Generally speaking in official DS roms the ARM9 does the bulk of the work while the arm7 does cleanup/junk tasks and is actually similar enough that you can swap it between games and they still work (or better work on a flash cart where they would not before). Note however homebrew can and frequently does differently.
In addition to this you also have overlays; these are small sections of code that can be loaded at will to spare you from having to have the entire binary in the rather limited memory, thanks to DLDI homebrew does not use this (it could but it is not used). The skill of choice is assembly coding which is justifiably considered hard and realistically most hacks can be performed without knowing it (the very best ones or those with the biggest changes will have to know it mind but for basic translations, sound hacks, model hacks, level hacks, texture hacks, sprite hacks and so on you can get away without knowing it).
If you want info though:
http://nocash.emubase.de/gbatek.htm

 

[hyparx]

Heh ...
I figured out text partly by bashing around with the insides of Megaman ZX with just a hex editor
[HitDwZX thread]

You can get the sdk from the WarioWorld website, but you have to be an
"offical developed with a seucure, non home, office site " ~ good luck with that