Android Rom Patcher (android)

[bobmcjr]

Just a little app I made a few months ago, thought it might get more use here. It can patch roms/binary files (game roms, not OS's, though those can probably be patched too if patches are created) using most popular patching formats. Supported are what I am pretty sure are all versions ips, ups, bps, bsdiff, ppf, and xdelta
Select a file to patch, select a patch, decide whether to make a backup version, and patch. Larger files may take a while and cause the app to hang. This is normal, just wait for it to become responsive again. AFAIK all patch formats work, bsdiff is the only untested format. If a rom does not work after being patched, verify that the rom is correct and has been 'extended' if needed. The libraries in this app were taken from a mac rom patcher called multipatch and the source is licensed under GPL and is available if anybody needs it.
Edit: probably should've posted in the android subforum, sorry.

 

[bobmcjr]

Celebrating nearly 2000 downloads, here is an updated version that has a spinner while patching and displays an error message if the rom cannot be patched properly. The android launcher name name has also been changed to "ROM Patcher". I may upload to google play soon (still going to be completely free). All patch types (including bsdiff) are now confirmed as working. You will probably need to uninstall the old version before installing this version.

Test patches used:
Animal Forest N64 English Translation (BPS)
Alternate Animal Forest N64 English Translation (XDELTA)
Mother 3 English Translation (UPS)
Hatsune Miku Project DIVA English Translation (PPF)
Rockman Exhaust (Rockman 2 hack) (IPS)
Random Text Files (BSDIFF)

 

[Flame]

how can they be some much downloads and no comments... you downloaders make me sick.

 

[Chocolina]

#1 What does your patcher even do? What specifically is it patching? Anti-piracy hacks? Speed hacks? Compatibility hacks? Glitch fix hacks?
What emulator(s) specifically are you "patching" these games for?

#2 You also have to be specific with things like "English Translations" As many games get multiple fan-made English Translations, some better than others. Pretty sure theres no one-and-only fan-translation for the games listed. For example whose to say my Project Diva translation was by the same group as yours. My Project Diva, Project Diva 2, and Project Diva Extend all have translations from three separate fan teams.

#3 Pretty sure disc-rips are isos and cart-rips are roms.

 

[XiTaU]

#1 What does your patcher even do? What specifically is it patching? Anti-piracy hacks? Speed hacks? Compatibility hacks? Glitch fix hacks?
What emulator(s) specifically are you "patching" these games for?

#2 You also have to be specific with things like "English Translations" As many games get multiple fan-made English Translations, some better than others. Pretty sure theres no one-and-only fan-translation for the games listed. For example whose to say my Project Diva translation was by the same group as yours. My Project Diva, Project Diva 2, and Project Diva Extend all have translations from three separate fan teams.

#3 Pretty sure disc-rips are isos and cart-rips are roms.

isnt it clearly stated its a patcher for rom files u download the patch in ips, ups, bps, bsdiff, ppf, and xdelta formats and it will patch it onto the rom. None of what u wrote seems to make sense to this thread its like u just wanted to post in a thread and didnt read it.

 

[Chocolina]

Patch for what? Why do you need a patch in the 1st place? My Project Diva, Animal Forests, Mother 3 translated work and play without problems in the emulators I tried them with. So why do they need to be patched?
You're supposed to patch a game to fix a problem with that game, but I see no problems with these games that keep them from working on Android Emulators. You patch to address a specific problem, I may be misinformed, but I don't know what problem everyone is having on Android that requires them to patch a file. I've never personally encountered a problem with my emulation, as well as I don't see any threads about anyone having any problem running a specific rom or iso on a specific Android emulator.

Seeing as no one here is making any threads or reporting problems running emulators/games on their Android devices, to me, this patcher seems to address a problem that isn't among my personal awareness, or the problem itself doesn't really exist.

 

[bobmcjr]

As you probably know, those three games you mentioned were originally in Japanese. You need to apply a translation patch to play them in English (or be a filthy dirty pirate and use outdated prepatched ROMs).

 

[XiTaU]

its so u get a fixed rom patch or a translation patch and the non fixed rom file and u can merge them together not all roms come prepatched and if u do it this way u can have the newest version of said patch also.

 

[bobmcjr]

Uploaded to Google Play, should show up there eventually: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xperia64.rompatcher

 

[Chocolina]

To any-kind patch my PSP ISOs I use a homebrew for that purpose.
To English-patch roms, translation teams often include the applications they used to easy apply such a patch.


Let me sum up my questions...

"What the hell makes this Android-specific?" Why not PC in general or mobile in general, why Android? Why is it in this sub-forum as apposed to an N64, PSP, NDS, GBA section? Why Android? What part of Android emulators makes it as though English-patched roms and iso's need this patcher or any other patcher? Because I'm having no problem with my translated Mother, Animal Forest, Project Diva...

I mean I'd understand if more than one or two users even made a thread here in the past year (I skimmed the threads since December 2012) asking for a fix for a problem regarding emulating on Android that had anything to do with patching being a solution and I just don't see any. So apparently this app has been downloaded nearly 2,000, no one says "thanks" and also no one has made a thread here regarding rom issues at a reasonable time before and after this very thread was created.

By comparison, in the past, if a game had an issue and needed to be patched, you'd see a noticeable amount of threads or posts discussing the issue for that one thing, and then multiple people would often have a solution or an explanation of the solution needed. So where are all the Android users here that could really use this magical-everything-fixer?

 

[bobmcjr]

The games I listed are simply examples of what can be patched. Lets say you have Pokémon Ruby and want to turn it into something like Pokémon Snakewood, but you don't have access to a PC. With this app, you download the Snakewood patch, and point the app at Pokémon Ruby. You now how Pokémon Snakewood on your mobile Android device. The patches themselves are not at all Android specific. Rather, this app just provides a way to apply pre-made game mods on the go.

 

[Felipe_9595]

What an annoying prick, this app is useful for someone who has a clean rom and an Ips/Xdelta/etc patch and cant do it on a computer or doesnt have a prepatched rom.

 

[Chocolina]

So its an APK. I was under the impression it was something else because the download is a zip folder, implying an archive of Windows files like several other apps that were made for patching. I still refer to the word app as being a short term for application and don't associate it exclusively to mobile.
Now I see where the usefulness might come in, sorry for the commotion.
When it was said that there was nearly 2,000 downloads and no "thanks" or a discussion about it I just assumed it was virus or spam related being distributed among multiple sites.

Now let me find something new to complain about...

Why is it in Zip format? Zipping/archiving is something you do when you're trying to make a single download for multiple files, or try to conserve space. Zipping a single APK file conserves almost little to no space as well as defeating the purpose of archive downloading. So why even zip in the 1st place? You're just adding an extra unnecessary step between downloading and installing the APK with no actual benefit because then you have to extract it with an explorer before you can install it.

 

[ILuvGames]

Bobmcjr, your app will be a welcome addition to my android tablet . Thank you. Yes I understand most people have a PC to do such things (or an emu that supports rom patching), but the only other patcher on android only supports two formats or more if you pay.

 

[bobmcjr]

Now supports the IPS32 patch format (fixes GBA Touhoumon patches). This one was a bit obnoxious to add as no source or documentation was really available for this format.

 

[bobmcjr]

Added an ignore checksums option. Useful for patches like Pokemon Glazed that are based on non-standard ROMs but work fine on standard ones as well.

 

[bobmcjr]

Added DPS patch support (used in Jump Ultimate Stars translation, etc). Thanks deufeufeu

Also added XDELTA1 support (used in StormSilver, etc).

 

[GamerSince83]

Oohhh nice might come in Handy when away from my Desktop.....gonna test out sum SNes stuff

 

[jumpman1229]

Now this is awesome! When I'm away from my PC and feel like playing some Pokemon hacks, this will certainly come in handy. Thanks OP!

 

[GamerSince83]

Just DL'ed it off the Play Store......got a .ips patch......patched the Rom......now playing Front Mission 2 - Gun Hazard translated on Retroarch on my Galaxy S3