Those of you who keep current with
Hentai homebrew appears as real demo
Those of you who keep current with
StarLite blinks out
We all knew it was coming, but that doesn't make StarLite's cancellation hurt any less. The developers behind the unofficial DS port of StarCraft have taken down all traces of the homebrew game, apologizing with a short note: "For legal reasons, we must abandon this project."It's no mystery what transpired -- Blizzard's lawyers
"Didn't we almost have it all?
When love was all we had worth giving?
The ride with you was worth the fall, my friend.
Loving you makes life worth living.
Didn't we almost have it all?"
Gallery: StarLite
[Thanks, Dana!]
'My god, it's full of StarLite updates'
Despite the legal quandaries that often follow these unsanctioned projects, progress continues on StarLite. This update (version 0.03) to the homebrew StarCraft game for the DS introduces two important features to the RTS port: 3D sprites and a local multiplayer mode.This limited build seems more buggy than usual -- we couldn't even get it running on an emulator -- but if you have two sets of DSes and flashcarts handy, you should be able to test out StarLite's two-player setup by following this series of steps:
- Download Starlite.nds and equipe.txt
- Copy StarLite.nds onto both of your flashcarts
- Copy equipe.txt onto the root of one cart, making sure the only text in the file is the number "1"
- Copy equipe.txt onto the root of another cart, making sure the only text in the file is the number "2"
- Boot up the DSes and load the game on both systems
- Mutter with satisfaction, "Excellent," while tenting your fingers
Gallery: StarLite
The DS can be a Mac, too
Not all of us here at DS Fanboy own Macs (this blogger doesn't). Just remembering the times in grade school when everyone would huddle around the only computer in the classroom, watching as one lucky soul got to play Oregon Trail -- that in itself made us nostalgic enough for some classic Macintosh.If you feel the same way, you might be interested to know that you can emulate a Macintosh Plus on your DS and relive the days of yore. Ah, how we loved yore. This is possible with Lazyone's Mini vMac DS homebrew (now DLDI compatible).
We haven't tried to install the application, since the process looks a little daunting. Some users are reporting success while others aren't, so you might want to keep that in mind before you decide to download.
[Via DCemu]
Friday Video: Run 'n tap
GBADev forumer SaruCoder put together this video to demonstrate how platformers -- Metal Slug in this case -- can be played on the DS with the system held sideways.
The sound effects are annoying, and the mocked-up game takes a lot of liberties with Metal Slug's mechanics and pacing, but it's interesting to see someone else besides Tecmo take a stab at this book-style approach for an action-heavy title. We're not so sure how much we would enjoy holding the DS with one hand while moving around with the directional pad and tapping the touchscreen directly above it, though.
Jump Ultimate Stars translation project forked, anxious gamers hoping to spoon with new lead
Localizing Jump Ultimate Stars, the acclaimed 2D fighter featuring hundreds of Shonen Jump characters, would be a licensing nightmare for any US publisher, so don't expect an official announcement for a US release any time soon. We've rested our hopes of ever playing the game in English on the fan-lead translation project instead.But with over eleven months passed since the effort began, we've yet to see any public patches, and many are starting to worry that the project has stalled, doomed to sit around incomplete while interest dwindles. Deufeufeu, the same ROM hacker leading the FFTA2 translation team, has stepped in to kick the effort back into gear, forking the project and bringing some much-needed organization to the process.
Having already created a "working patch system," extracted all the game's text, and readied other elements important to the game's translation -- all within a week -- Deufeufeu promises to deliver a patch this weekend, with regular stable and unstable releases to follow. Bring your koma deck past the break for more Jump Ultimate Stars screenshots sprinkled with English text.
Holiday games for homebrew gamers
We love these homebrew contests, as they always bring out a batch of new games and applications for us to try out. Over 20 programmers entered the 2007 Drunken Coders Christmas Game Coding Competition, an event in its third year running. The entries are currently being reviewed by the Drunken Coders judges, and the winners will receive donated cash and hardware prizes.
Though developers were asked to produce only holiday-themed works for the DS and GBA (several of the submissions have ignored this requirement), the wintry games still manage to span a variety of genres, ranging from Christmas Turkey, a retro-ish collect-a-thon platformer, to VirusDS XmaSS Edition, a Christmas-skinned update of the adult puzzler we've featured previously. All 24 titles are available for you to download and play.
The game that will likely immediately stick out to most gamers is Halo NDS Beta, a very basic release that bears little resemblance to Bungie's FPS. Whatever potential the beta shows seems naught, however, as the programmer claims to have "lost the source code" while explaining why he couldn't add any Christmas cheer to the project. You're better off playing Lily and the Lost Angel, the simple-but-fun shmup pictured above, or Snowman Attack, a Geometry Wars-esque shooter.
[Via DCEmu]
Herding cats with Chat Noir DS
Chat Noir DS is not, as we initially assumed, a dark, brutal drama about an A/S/L gone wrong. No, it's a homebrew puzzle game in which you must keep a black cat from escaping the screen by blocking his avenues of escape.The premise and presentation are simple, but outsmarting the restless kitten turns out to be a fun diversion, especially if you attach a ridiculous back story as to why you can't let him (or her) get away. Here are some of the possible plots we came up with for Chat Noir DS:
- Trap the scrappy kitten before he dashes out of the bathroom (he ran right between your legs!) and eats your pizza
- Corner the feline so you can dress him up in a top hat and bowtie
- You really, really want to pet the little guy, but he just wants to run around and mess up your house
- He's the only one who can beat the Ouendan 2 stage you're stuck on
- If the kitty makes it out the door, he'll never come back home :'o(
See also: Critics' top 10: 2007 vs. kittens
I wish I may, I wish I might: Starlite 0.02
We're just as surprised as you are that Blizzard hasn't sent these guys a cease-and-desist letter yet, but the developers of StarLite, the unofficial StarCraft port for the DS, have put out an update (version 0.02) for the homebrew project.While the demo's changes are few -- a new tileset (Jungle), improved collision management, and a bug fix for overlapping buildings -- and it still has its share of early-alpha glitches, it's great to see that the RTS port wasn't immediately abandoned after the first release appeared and showed so much promise. You can download and try out the ROM yourself to see how the port is coming along, or you can check the revised gallery we've embedded below!
Gallery: StarLite
FFIV fan translation patch for spoony bards
Once again, we're delving into the ethically dubious practice of ROM hacking (and ROM having), this time for the Japanese release of Final Fantasy IV. Impatient fans have been translating the game's script since the 3D remake's release last month, and they have already released a "semi-final beta" translation patch with most of the description text now in English!According to the group's progress table, only a few sections still need translation (e.g. monster descriptions, location names), so a full and final English patch doesn't seem too far off. A Translation Wiki is also available for those missing bits or for those of you who'd rather pass on using the patch altogether.
Square Enix has yet to announce its plans for Final Fantasy IV's release outside of Japan. Our best guess? Mid-to-late 2008.
How to turn your DS into a phone
We made some recommendations for you in our recent Homebrew Cookbook, but for those of you unfamiliar with the homebrew scene, actually putting these programs onto your DS can be a little intimidating. One of the more complex applications is SvSIP, which allows you to make and receive calls with your DS.Fortunately, though, the folks over at Portable Video Gamer have made an easy-to-follow guide for installing and using SvSIP on your handheld. If you were too apprehensive to try it before, this guide will hold your hand through the process, so worry not.
While having phone capabilities on your DS is probably not a necessity (we're sure at least 95% of you have your own cell phones), it's still a fun prospect. Yet, ultimately, do you think it's worth the hassle?
Wish upon a StarLite: StarCraft homebrew
Yes, dreams can come true. With no official plans announced for a DS port of StarCraft or any of Blizzard's other PC games, two French homebrew developers have begun working on bringing the popular RTS to the handheld themselves, titling the game StarLite.A limited demo (version 0.1) is available for you to test out in an emulator or flashcart of your choice, and, while it's clear there's still a lot of work ahead for the project, it's impressive how much the two-man crew has already accomplished in just three weeks of development. So far, players can select and direct units via touchscreen, build simple structures, and produce additional units. There are even a few enemy troops to attack.
The team plans to continue their work, eventually implementing the rest of the units/structures and a WiFi ad-hoc multiplayer mode for two players. To do all that, however, they'll need some help from several more programmers, so don't be afraid to volunteer your skills to the effort! Hit the gallery below for more early screenshots from StarLite.
Gallery: StarLite
What you gonna port?
This is kind of hilarious. Not long after the details of the new Ghostbusters DS game were revealed, describing a game that sounds extremely similar to the old Ghostbusters game, a French homebrewer calling himself sephiroth_FF7 released an alpha of a DS port based on the Sega Master System game.In essence, he's beaten Sierra to the punch. This isn't some quick port, either. The game is based on elements of different versions of the game according to sephiroth_FF7's own preference, while the graphics hew closely to the Master System version.
Of course, this raises the question of why someone would go to that much trouble to remake this game. But more importantly, why is Sierra going to even more trouble to do so commercially?
Thirty homebrew apps and games to try out
Looking for some reasons to throw yourself into the homebrew scene? Or do you already have a flashcart, but you're not sure what else to look into after trying out the recommendations in our homebrew cookbook?GBAtemp has put together a list of 30 homebrew releases -- 13 of which are applications, the remaining 17 being games -- that warrant your attention. Videos, screenshots, and short summaries are provided for each downloadable item, giving you a quick synopsis of the notable projects out there. We've previewed most of the mentioned games before, like Setsuzoku no Puzzle, BulletGBA/Vulkanon, and WarCraft: Tower Defense, but having them all rounded up in one place is convenient.
Samus vs Ivy! Cloud vs Chun Li! Link vs Mega Man X!
Before your head explodes, no, this game isn't a planned release, commercial or non-commercial, for the DS. Card Sagas Wars is a homemade PC project created with M.U.G.E.N, a "freeware 2D fighting game engine." The music and backgrounds have been ripped from a variety of popular games, but it looks like the character sprites have been redrawn for a consistent (and totally awesome) look.
If anything, Card Sagas Wars' developers are ambitious, setting out to include a collection of playable characters that would put even Super Smash Bros. Brawl to shame, its posted list of 995 "Blue Series" cards ranging from Killer Instinct's Cinder to Castlevania's Soma Cruz. A demo with four playable fighters is currently in the works, but no concrete date has been set for its release. You can see an older, less epic trailer for Card Sagas Wars past the break.
Continue reading Samus vs Ivy! Cloud vs Chun Li! Link vs Mega Man X!
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