ROM Hack How to find addresses in 3ds games to make cheats with?

[SirEnder125]

Hello. I am making an ACNL plugin and I want to make a money cheat
that gives you 999,999,999 bells. Does anyone know how I can find the
address to edit the value of to make this cheat? Somone told me that
they did it through debugging, I don't know what they meant. I heard
that there is a way to do it with CTRPF search function, though I do
not know how to use it or what values to enter. Please help!

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[lone_wolf323]

Hello. I am making an ACNL plugin and I want to make a money cheat
that gives you 999,999,999 bells. Does anyone know how I can find the
address to edit the value of to make this cheat? Somone told me that
they did it through debugging, I don't know what they meant. I heard
that there is a way to do it with CTRPF search function, though I do
not know how to use it or what values to enter. Please help!

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-animal-crossing-new-leaf-multi-cheat-ntr-plugin.428522/ the plugin in that thread already has bank mods in it to change how much money you have. https://www.marcrobledo.com/acnl-editor/ also has spots to change how much money you have.

 

[SirEnder125]

I have used that plugin and save-editor. I don't really want the
money hack, I just want to know how to find addresses. I am
sorry for being unclear.

 

[Ich_73]

Have a look at this tutorial which shows you how to use the CTRPluginFramework.
Other than the video tutorial you can input exact values (Equal To) instead of Bigger/Smaller Than which speeds up the search by a lot.
If you have any setup or usage questsions, feel free to ask here.

 

[SirEnder125]

Thanks, I'll be sure to look at the tutorial.

EDIT: I will try the search function on another game where
values are easier to find.

 

[SirEnder125]

Would you by any chance know if Team Kirby Clash Deluxe gem apple amount
is encrypted or not? I can't seem to find the address... I was actually testing the
search function to find an address I already knew from looking at someone's s-
ource code for a plugin for this game.

 

[lone_wolf323]

Would you by any chance know if Team Kirby Clash Deluxe gem apple amount
is encrypted or not? I can't seem to find the address... I was actually testing the
search function to find an address I already knew from looking at someone's s-
ource code for a plugin for this game.

no its not. its rather easy to find that one.

 

[SirEnder125]

Should I have hex mode enabled when I search for it?

 

[lone_wolf323]

Should I have hex mode enabled when I search for it?

its a 16 bit search that will be used if ya got more than 256 apples. You can use known search values, if it requires hex just use the dec to hex converter that ctrpf comes with.

 

[SirEnder125]

Well, I have like 36 right now, so I guess I will just not use hex? lol

EDIT: 1st search: 3976 hits, what next??

 

[lone_wolf323]

Well, I have like 36 right now, so I guess I will just not use hex? lol

that value is going to be in hex when you look at the results. not everything is going to return decimal values. That value is 24 in hex when you search for it.

 

[SirEnder125]

Ok

EDIT: WOW I JUST GOT 3 HITS ONLY!!! WHICH IS IT?!
IS IT 302B05CC???

EDIT (2): I just made my first AR code!! TYVM!!

 

[SirEnder125]

Do you know if, for instance, my ACNL name would be easy to find?
Maybe I put in the exact value, then change it and put in the exact value again?

 

[lone_wolf323]

Do you know if, for instance, my ACNL name would be easy to find?
Maybe I put in the exact value, then change it and put in the exact value again?

Your name when it comes to finding is a set of 2 bytes for each letter of the name aswell as a buffer for any left over spaces not used. Can be a pain to find if your not sure what hex byte is associated to what letter the game is set at.

 

[SirEnder125]

Oh, ok. I don't know what to try in ACNL... What can I find that is a visible number?

 

[Ich_73]

Just to clarify a few things, even if you may have figured it out yourself (not game specific):

• When searching for values, you can input either hexadecimal (0..9,A..F) or decimal (0..9) numbers. It doesn't make a difference. Just use what is more convenient for you.
  
• When you know the exact value (like for example the number of an item in bag), you can directly search for that number, otherwise use the Bigger/Equal/etc. search.
• You can search for values you don't directly see on screen, but you most likely should use the Bigger/Equal/etc. then. For example the amount of hearts left in a Zelda game may be stored in half hearts, so seeing 3 hearts may need the value 6. Or 12 if they store them in quarter hearts.
  
• You can only search for number values. If you want to search for a text, you need to know how each character is stored in memory as a number (e.g. A -> 1F). The same goes for IDs of any kind, e.g. you need to know what the ID of an item is you have currently equipped in order to search for it.
  
• After inputting a number and clicking search, you get a large list of values that happen to have the specified value. To find the address you are looking for, you need to change that value by doing certain actions in game, then search again. Repeat that until in best case 1 match is left. If you have more than 1 match left, try creating a cheat for one of the addresses and see if it works, if not, try the second address and so on.
• If you cannot find a value - even if you see the exact value in game - you may try to search for 1 or 2-byte values instead of 4-byte ones.

 

[SirEnder125]

Ok, thanks. I am not sure when to use "float" setting with search, but I'd guess when it's a bigger size
than 4 bytes? I have actually added a few custom cheats to my plugin, yesterday I didn't know how.
Thanks for the help, I will probably ask a lot more questions in this thread if that is ok. I don't know h-
ow much I know right now, I'd say I don't really know much but maybe I know everything I need to kn-
ow. Anyway, thanks for all your help!

 

[lone_wolf323]

Ok, thanks. I am not sure when to use "float" setting with search, but I'd guess when it's a bigger size
than 4 bytes? I have actually added a few custom cheats to my plugin, yesterday I didn't know how.
Thanks for the help, I will probably ask a lot more questions in this thread if that is ok. I don't know h-
ow much I know right now, I'd say I don't really know much but maybe I know everything I need to kn-
ow. Anyway, thanks for all your help!

float is not going to be something that your going to use much. that function is more for higher know how hackers.

 

[SirEnder125]

Ok, thanks.

 

[SirEnder125]

I'm trying to add a name editor to my acnl plugin, any hints on how to find the address?