NSMB-Code-Template

Custom code patching template for New Super Mario Bros. (DS) (US)

This is essentially just a basic enviroment for the NCPatcher tool to work with and it was created to make custom code insertion as easy as possible for new users.

It also offers a few utilities in the source folder that either make testing faster or allow editing of certain hardcoded parts of the game.

Disclaimer

If you are looking for technical details on how to use the patcher or if you plan on doing more advanced things (such as dealing with the arm7 or manipulating overlays), please refer to the NCPatcher readme.

Please also note that NCPatcher does not support code written for the Fireflower and NSMBe patchers and the process of translating the code from a patcher to another heavily differs from case to case.

If you need support, feel free to join the NSMB Central discord server.

Source

endingscript.cpp shows how you can replace the game ending credits script.

instantboot.cpp instantly redirects to a given stage by "skipping" the Boot and StageIntro scenes.

divisions.s redirects GCC's AEABI functions to the ones already present in the rom.

example.cpp shows some usage examples of the NCPatcher tool together with the NSMB-Code-Reference.

How to setup

Choosing the patching environment setup

The template can be set up in the following ways:

• NCPatcher standalone
• NCPatcher + NSMBe (Recommended)

NCPatcher standalone requires manual ROM extraction and building via nds-extract and nds-build respectively before and after running NCPatcher.

NCPatcher + NSMBe uses an integration of NCPatcher in the editor, implemented by ItzTacos in the MammaMiaTeam fork, and so does not require manual ROM extraction and building.

Requirements

• MammaMiaTeam NSMBe fork [NSMBe + NCPatcher]
• nds-extract & nds-build [NCPatcher standalone]
• NSMB-Code-Reference
• NCPatcher
• ARM GCC
• Python 3
• Nitro SDK 3.0 + Nitro System (These are copyrighted libraries from Nintendo which we cannot give a direct link to)

One legal way of obtaining it would be going back in time and acquiring a legit license from Nintendo

Installing ARM GCC

Download the GCC installer (.exe file) under the AArch32 bare-metal target (arm-none-eabi) section from the link given above.

After downloading GCC, proceed to install the compiler toolchain in a directory without whitespaces (e.g. C:/Programs/arm-gcc).

Once the installing process has finished make sure to toggle the Add path to environment variable option before closing the installation wizard.

Setting up NCPatcher

Download the latest build of NCPatcher and extract it in a directory without whitespaces (e.g. C:/Programs/NCPatcher).

When you're done, add your NCPatcher directory to Windows's system environment variable Path.

Make sure to to reboot your computer after setting the environment variables.

Preparing the template

Create a new folder in a path without whitespaces, this will be the template root.

Download this repo, extract it in the newly created folder, and put your clean NSMB ROM inside it.

Copy the include folder of the Nitro SDK 3.0 and Nitro System in the template root folder.

Run the conversion script by either double-clicking run_convert_sdk.bat (windows only) or executing convert_sdk.py directly (preferably using the command py -3 convert_sdk.py). Wait for the process to complete.

Download the NSMB-Code-Reference repo and extract symbols7.x, symbols9.x and the include folder in the template root directory.

Open ncpatcher.json and change FILESYSTEM_PATH to __tmp if you are using NCPatcher + NSMBe, otherwise change it to a ROM extraction path of your choice.

• Make sure to use forward slashed (/) instead of backslashes (\) for every path you set in the json file.

[NCPatcher standalone] Preparing the template

Open buildrules.txt and change FILESYSTEM_PATH to the same filesystem path specified in ncpatcher.json

[NCPatcher + NSMBe] Patching the game with your code

After downloading the NSMBe fork linked above, open the ROM in the template root folder and go to the Tools/Options tab.

Code patching will make use of the following interactions:

• Code patching method is used to select which patching method will be used, so make sure it is set to NCPatcher.
• Compile and insert extracts the ROM, runs NCPatcher and finally deletes the extracted filesystem.
• Clean build cleans the NCPatcher build by deleting the build folder (backup doesn't get deleted for safety reasons).

[NCPatcher standalone] Patching the game with your code

Run the nds-extract CLI utility and extract the ROM into the folder you specified in ncpatcher.json.

Run NCPatcher from command line in the template root folder to patch the extracted rom with your code.

Run the nds-build CLI tool and build the rom by using the edited buildrules.txt as the build rules file.