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/vr/ - Retro Games

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3417315 No.3417315 [Reply] [Original]

Why do so many ROM hacks come in .ips files and require Lunar IPS to patch?

>> No.3417325

it was the 90's

>> No.3417329

>>3417315
Because when you distribute a rom hack, you're also distributing the game's original code, which is illegal. An .ips file is just the hack's new data.

>> No.3417336

Patches aren't illegal.

>> No.3417342

>>3417329
>>3417336
I prefer downloading the ROM file itself, not a patch to put on the ROM file.

>> No.3417360

>>3417315
>>3417242

Holy shit you guys, a hacker can't just release a prepatched ROM. That's plainly copyright infringement so they leave it up the user to patch their copy which leaves their hands clean. Am I really explaining this?

>> No.3417369

>>3417342
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOkadKBLXDU

>> No.3417372

>>3417360
LoL people are idiots although in nearly every case there are portions of the game's code in the ips

>>3417342
How does it feel to want?

>> No.3417375

Because it's not fucking illegal, you retard.

And patching .ips is literally the easiest thing ever.

>> No.3417402

Floating IPS > Lunar IPS

http://www.smwcentral.net/?p=section&a=details&id=11474

>> No.3417405

>>3417372
>although in nearly every case there are portions of the game's code in the ips
How so? Only the most complex of ROM hacks actually move original banks around and even then it's pretty marginal.

>>3417375
>Because it's not fucking illegal, you retard.
This. IPS is literally the anti-ROM.

>> No.3417410

>>3417315
>require Lunar IPS
zero patches REQUIRE Lunar IPS. Lunar IPS is an okay patcher but not the only one.

>> No.3417429

IPS patches aren't "clean" data necessarily, they're just as dubious as ROM files. Same old myth getting passed around, just like the old "ROMs are fine if you delete them after 24 hours!!!"

For some reason it's only the Sonic hacking community that's figured this out; you can grab basically any major Sonic hack from Sonic Retro, no patching required. I know SEGA's cool with ROM hacks now but they were just as quiet as any other company about it up until recently.

>> No.3417463

>I prefer prepatched roms cuz patching is hard.


How the fuck do you idiots even get emulators started when ips patching is too complicated for your underage brains?

>> No.3417469

>>3417402
alcaro pls, nobody likes your shitty tools

>> No.3417504

>>3417315
>>3417342
What the fuck kind of question is that? Developers shouldn't put out .ips files at all? What if you want to tamper with the script itself? What if you want to patch a different version of the rom? Why should the authors risk being slapped with a lawsuit because you don't want to spend 5 seconds clicking a button? Why are you so stupid?

>> No.3417535

>>3417469
What's shitty about his tools?

>> No.3417538

>>3417315
>there are at least 4 IPS patching tools
>expect each of them to work correctly
>download a SMW hack
>assume it needs the clean SMW (U) ROM
>grab it from more than once source
>it's not being recognized

And that's why IPS sucks.

>> No.3417570

>>3417538
you need a headered rom

>> No.3418232

>>3417315
I've never even heard of Lunar IPS and I've patched many an IPS. You one of those crazies that thinks you need Adobe Reader to read .PDF?

>> No.3418238

>>3418232
What do you use then? Lunar IPS is the most popular one.

>> No.3418262

>>3418238
I just built a new computer so I actually don't have an IPS patcher installed right now. Dunno what I used, it was a Linux command and I just typed 'ips patch.ips romname.whatever' and didn't need to deal with a GUI adding extra steps to what should be a simple process. I just tried installing it in my current distro and got an unrelated program 'intelligent process status' instead. I guess that's something for me to work on discovering one day when I can give a fuck.

In the past I've used SNESTL on a old Win98 rustbucket. That was pretty popular, I think.

>> No.3418268

>>3418262
Lunar is pretty simple. Obviously not as quick as command line but you just pick the .ips and then the rom and bing bang boom your done.
I'm pretty sure it's Windows exclusive but I'd be surprised if it didn't work in Wine.

>> No.3418273

>>3417375
It is illegal. When you translate something you're creating a derivative work, without the right holder's consent in the rom's case. In theory they can sue you for this illegal work.

In practice, the likeliness of them bothering to sue or cease and desist your ass over an obscure rom translation is much lower than the chance of them doing that for complete rom distribution.

>> No.3418352

>>3418273
Have you read the file format specification for IPS files? In 99.9% of the cases, IPS files do not contain anything illegal. They only contain the changes made.

>>3418238
SNES9X can do soft patching too.

>> No.3418634

Because rom hackers are retards that couldn't be assed to use existing binary patch formats and utilities.

>> No.3418684

>>3418634
>existing binary patch formats
What patch formats existed before IPS?

>> No.3418697

>>3418684
Binary HEX dumps
That's how cracks were distributed too for programs, could easily patch ROMs too like that.

>> No.3418754

>>3417429
>ROMs are fine if you delete them after 24 hours
Ha I remember that from a few years ago, not sure if it's still a thing.

Did SEGA say something about ROM hacks then?

>> No.3418763

>>3418754
They're officially supporting them for their Genesis rereleases on Steam. If you make a ROM hack you can upload it to Steam Workshop and anyone who has the game purchased can add your hack to their library. So they're essentially taking the same stance as Valve and Bethesda. It's pretty cool.

>> No.3419146
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3419146

>>3418697
>Binary HEX dumps
what the hell are you saying
Binary? Like ones and zeroes?
HEX? You mean hex, like hexadecimal?
Every file is a binary, you can just interpret the bits as binary, hexadecimal, octal, decimal or ASCII or whatever the fuck.
Hexdumps can come from anywhere and ultimately they're just files too. Binary files.

"Binary hex dumps" makes as little sense as "textual ASCII stream"

>> No.3419190

>require lunar ips
mednafen looks for and patches games with a matching ips file automatically.

If you're not using mednafen for any system it supports, you're doing it wrong.

>> No.3419208

>>3419146
The fact he spelt "hex" in caps already reveals he probably doesn't know much what he's talking about.

>> No.3419212

>IPS instead of BPS

Why?

>> No.3419225

>>3419212
Because most hacks use ips
I've only seen one bps hack, Zelda - The Legend of Link
Granted, it was probably the most impressive hack I've ever played...

>> No.3419263

>>3419225
But why do they continue to use IPS for new hacks when a superior format exists?

>> No.3419284

>>3419263
Because it's older and people are used to it.

Same reason people still use ZSNES despite it not being updated in 10 years and being completely inaccurate.

>> No.3419292

>>3419263
Many emulators support soft IPS patching.

The only flaw IPS has really is the small addressing space. You can't use IPS with PSX hacks or anything big really.

>> No.3419304

>>3419263
IPS has limitations, but it works up to 16 MB files and is simple to set up. Since most of the romhacks translations are for SNES and below, there isn't a problem with that.

>> No.3419407

>>3417538
This is why formats like UPS and BPS exist, to tell you what's wrong.

Also your problem is that you most likely didn't grab Tush or something to add/remove the header. Read the requirements next time fucknugget.

>> No.3419807

>>3419292

And you shouldn't really. IPS should have been phased out when they standardized delta encoding with VCDIFF.

Which is why most newer hacks rightfully so use xdelta to patch. Provided you line up the data just right and everything, you can get several hundred megabytes of differences in the modified and changed ROM to be expressed in something like 4-5 MBs. It's pretty amazing.

>> No.3419824

>>3419284
I still use ZSNES because it works pretty good. What irks me as of now is that i cannot find any new emulators for other systems like for the Nintendo DS. I have NoGBA but it seems to be kinda sketchy when i am trying to play the game with a old snes controller. Any ideas where the new emulators are?

>> No.3419851

>>3419824
Use DeSmuMe for DS.
Use either SNES9x or Higan for SNES.

>> No.3419958

>>3419824
>No$GBA
Haha no, don't use it if you can avoid it. The inability to play Pokemon SoulSilver without crashing makes me reminisce about playing through Pokemon White at school as soon as it came out in Japan with no problems at all, because my laptop then could handle DeSmuME no problem.

>> No.3419963

>>3419851
>>3419851
sadly the site for DsSmuMe no longer works.

>> No.3419965

>>3419963
What in the actual fuck are you talking about? I just hopped on and grabbed the latest nightly build.

>> No.3419967

>>3419963
uh yeah it does
http://desmume.org/

>> No.3419969

>>3419967
>>3419965
thanks guys! I was going to some old site that used to be DeSmuMe. didn't know they had a new site up and running.