Homebrew VC titles in .wad format.

[RandomNameAndNumber]

I have a few .wad files of VC games. I have homebrew, and managed to make a system that loads GC from a SD card, and Wii titles from an external HDD.

Wad files is something new to me, and I don't like to download or do anything until I find an easy to read instruction set, which I have not. I need pointers in the right direction. Thanks again!

 

[Ryccardo]

So, what's the question?

WAD files (in the context of Wii, unless it's WiiDoom... ) are installation packages for titles...

They always install using a "wad manager" homebrew (recommended: YAWMM) to internal storage; they can be moved to SD (encrypted for your console) but must be copied back to be run (which requires a trucha-patched system menu IOS; the official "SD card menu" just automates the process)

(the above paragraph doesn't apply to emunand solutions, but I'm not familiar with those)

Installing a defective title (through any method, although a WAD is by far the most common one) may result in a banner brick if the icon/banner are incorrect (easy affair to fix if you installed Priiloader: you go to the HBC directly and uninstall the title),
or a full brick if that was a critical system title (never heard of one, but it's perfectly feasible to make a corrupted Wii Menu, package it into a wad, and rename it "Top Secret Leaked Weeb Game 2012 No Survey No Virus + Crack + Activation + Bill Gates credit card numbers [18+][regionfree].wad" with most users, who don't check the titleids before installation, not noticing)

 

[Cyan]

like Ryccardo said, wad is a container used as "installation package".
you can see them like a .zip or a .rar with all the game's files inside.

There are 2 different methods install and play a game in wad format :
Note that installing the WAD means that the "wad manager" read the .wad file, and extract its content to your console. Once installed, the game appears as "channel" on your Wii system menu, and you launch the game as if you bought it from eShop.

1- install the WAD to your console's internal memory. It's the best compatibility method, but your Wii has limited free space, and is limited to 48 games at the same time.
2- install the WAD to your console's official SD menu. It's the second best, nintendo added a way to extend your console's memory by installing the game to SD card. But you can't launch it from SD. to launch the game, the console need enough free space on its internal memory to copy the game from SD to internal, then launch it. If you play another game, it deletes the "temporary copy" located on your console to make space.
These are using the official console's interface to play the games.


There are another method called "emuNAND", which is using NAND redirection feature.
If you don't know what it is : You can make a copy of your console's file system to your SD card or USB, and redirect all file access to it. the console uses that copy as if it was the real internal memory (called NAND), but it's actually accessing the redirected NAND copy instead.
The advantage is that you are not limited to the console's size anymore, you have up to 16TB of free space to install all your games ! (instead of 512MB)
The second advantage is that this is region free ! you can install more games.

There are 3 emuNAND mode :
- cIOS emuNAND : this is the easiest and most common mode. it's a simple copy, and the cIOS is responsible for redirecting NAND Access to emuNAND folder. Expect 80% game compatibility.
- Neek emuNAND : this one requires a little more steps to setup, but once done it's sharing the same NAND copy than "cIOS emuNAND" so you don't need to setup 2 different copy. the entire console is redirected to the copy, not just the game. Expect 99% game compatibility.
- Hermes cIOS emuNAND : very old, nobody do that anymore. It could play wad file directly from the SD, without installation. I never tried. And I guess nobody did. please, don't ask, you will not get help anyway.

emuNAND guide I wrote : https://gbatemp.net/posts/6592730

 

[RandomNameAndNumber]

I am in the process of finding out about all the N64 games that were on VC, and how many were missed. I want to research VC Injection of N64 games.....It would be nice to be able to be able to box up my n64 and just "emulate" everthing on the Wii. Thank you Cyan for the guide & Ryycardo for the Explanation. I can't seem to wrap my brain around the Ins/outs of the wii