Hacking Save files not working?

[katiesam]

I've just been updating Style Boutique for a young family member so they can have the download items before Nintendo switch off the wifi connection service for DS games.

After playing the game for a while and using the save option in the game multiple times, I was finally able to access the download feature and downloaded the items.

However, the game then turned off the wifi and took me back to the main game menu but the only option was to start a new game. I can't continue with the game we already saved.

I've tried switching the console off and back on again but there still isn't an option to continue.

One thing I noticed is that when I check the microSD card in windows, there is no 'modified date' for the save file.

Am I doing something wrong?

How should I exit a game to make sure the save files have worked correctly?

 

[Sora de Eclaune]

You're not doing anything wrong, but I would run a few tests...

1. Make sure it isn't an anti-piracy measure to delete the save when you try to download items. Some games do have save corruption/erasing as an anti-piracy measure.
2. Take your save file and the ROM and try them out in either another flash cart (not of the same brand as the one you've got; i.e. if you have an R4, try a Supercard DSTWO) or an emulator on your computer. This is testing to see if it is your flash cart that is the problem.
3. Take your save file and try it with a different ROM. This is testing to see if it is the ROM that is the problem.
4. Make a new save file and save it, then download some items. This is testing to see if it is the online features that are the problem.

If you do #2 and can click continue, but the other two do not allow you to click continue, you will need to play the game in either a different flash cart or an emulator. If you do #3 and can click continue, but the other two do not allow you to click continue, you will need to play the game with a different ROM. If you do #4 and can click continue, but the other two do not allow you to click continue, it was a fluke.

To make sure the save files have worked correctly after you save, do not turn off the DS or use the soft reset button combination until after you get back into the game after saving. Once you see the "game saved" message and go back to the game, it is safe to exit the game. Whether or not a save file has a 'modified date' is somewhat moot, as far as I know. I've got save files I've saved recently and the modified date stayed as whatever date the save file was created as. Some don't have modified dates at all.

 

[katiesam]

What's the best way to exit the game?

I've been using the soft reset button combination then choosing reset to take me back to the list of games on my supercard

 

[Sora de Eclaune]

This depends on a few things, actually.

• Whether you're playing the game on a flash card or on a legitimate cartridge.
• Whether you're going to play another game after exiting the current game.
• What you would prefer to do.

If you're playing the game on a legitimate cartridge, there's only one way to exit the game: turning the system off. Because that's the only way with a legitimate cartridge, it's the best way to exit the game.

If you're playing the game on a flash card, however, there are two ways: turning the system off or pressing the soft reset button combination. If you want to play another game after exiting the current game, then the best way to exit the game is via the soft reset button combo. If you're NOT going to play another game, however, then the best way is determined by which way you would prefer to exit the game.

For example, if I'm going to play another game, I press the soft reset button combo. When I'm done playing games on my DS, though, I simply turn the system off once the game has saved.

 

[katiesam]

Thanks, so I'm not doing anything wrong by soft-resetting once I've saved.

With regards to test 1 - how do I know if it's an anti-piracy measure?

 

[Sora de Eclaune]

Usually you can google the name of a game plus the name of the system and the phrase "anti-piracy". It's actually very easy to find descriptions of what the anti-piracy does or patches to fix it (i.e. Michael Jackson: The Experience's anti-piracy is to not show any notes and have a Vuvuzela constantly buzzing behind the music).

I've looked it up for you and found that there are very few results about this game's anti-piracy, for some reason. However, one forum post I found mentioned freezing after certain events, so that's probably all the anti-piracy does. It's most likely not anti-piracy in your case, unless there's an issue with freezing that you haven't mentioned...?

 

[katiesam]

No, there doesn't seem to be an issue with freezing. At least not for the short amount of time we've played the game.

 

[Sora de Eclaune]

Did anything seem to go wrong with the game when it was downloading the content (i.e. error codes, strange messages that imply nothing was downloaded, lost connection, etc)? If yes, this could be a case like Jam with the Band. Basically, when a game is dumped, and everyone uses that same dump, it's all got the same internal ID that identifies the game to the server. With Jam with the Band, Nintendo figured out which ID was the one where people were downloading songs with pirated copies of the game and blocked it, so when you try to download a song in that game it gives you an error code.

If not, it's possible it was just a random glitch, which does happen sometimes. I found yesterday that my SaGa 2 save file was entirely gone for no reason when I booted the game up.

You'll have to start over this time, by the way. Once a save is deleted or overwritten, you can't get it back unless you have a backup.

 

[katiesam]

No, there didn't seem to be any problems with downloading the content.

I had a problem with Picross 3D yesterday though. I could download the extra puzzles to fill 240 out of 240 slots but when I went back into the game, approximately half of them had gone but there didn't seem to be any pattern to which ones were missing - e.g. it wasn't the first ones, or the last ones but a random selection.

Having said that, I don't seem to have and any problems with the Professor Layton download content.

Maybe I'll just have to give up on Style Boutique and Picross 3D