Homebrew [DS(i)/3DS] TWiLight Menu++ - GUI for DS(i) games, and DS(i) Menu replacement

[Indy13]

Hi friends,

Here are the compatibility test results of 200 dsiware games performed with a DS Lite.

The choice of games is based on two factors, the region and their performance or supposed performance, I have deliberately excluded games known to have problems related to a RAM limitation (with the exception of games which can be used with a memory expansion pak) and finally, I also excluded Japanese games where the language can be a barrier.

-------------------------
The hardware used for this test is :

- Nintendo DS Lite
- R4 SDHC Gold Pro 2016 (check my post above to see what is the exact model)*
- SanDisk 64gb micro sdxc class 10 A1
- EZflash3in1 (memory expansion pak model)

post mentioned
-------------------------

1. First of all here are the donor roms that I installed, giving priority to Pokemon Conquest (for the VRAM)



Games that do not require a memory expansion pak

Even if these games do not require memory expansion pak, I still tested them with and without memory expansion pak in order to see if any conflicts could be observed, for some conflicts appear (see the list in point n°4)


2. Here are the roms which work without any problem with or without memory expansion pak, depending on the games the region may be important because I noticed that in general US games had better compatibility with a few exceptions



For the G.G series, we could distinguish two types of games, the Genterprise whose save function does not work and the Suzak which do not have this problem.

Suzak games tested are :
- D-Tank
- Dark Spirits
- Horizontal Bar
- Ninja Karakuriden
- Z.One 1 & 2

During these tests, I also noticed that certain games could crash if you clicked on the "Help" option in the game menu, this is the case with the Game & Watch series.


3. Here is the list of games that crashed with or without memory expansion pak, there are two types of crashes, red screens which display either a message saying "Data Abort" or "Unidentified Instruction" and white screens (which do not display any message)

- Red screens



. Fizz crashes at the end of the tutorial (EZ 3in1 need to be removed to launch the game)
. Sudoku crashes on the menu when you click on "Start"
. Working Dawgs Pipes crashes at the end of the first stage

Other games crash just after the NDS-BOOTSTRAP logo appears


- White screens




There is also a third category which does not crash strictly but which does not seem to be able to launch on DS Lite, when launching one of these games in question, TWL++ displays a message indicating that this game can be launched only on DSi




4. Conflicts observed on games that do not require a memory expansion pak, these conflicts can only be resolved by physically removing the EZ Flash 3in1, the conflicts remain even by modifying the TWL++ settings.ini file in order to deactivate or remove the EZ Flash 3in1 option.



Games that require a memory expansion pak

First of all, you must keep in mind that these tests were carried out with an EZ Flash 3in1 in order to define compatibility with this particular device, so it is possible that you obtain another result (positive or negative) with another model memory expansion pak.

As in the previous tests we see two types of crash: white screens & red screens

To activate your EZ Flash 3in1 in TWL++, follow Rob's instructions found in this post :
How to activate EZ Flash 3in1 device in TWL++


5. Games that work with the EZ Flash 3in1



Note : Match Up ! (USA) can crash randomly


- Red screens




- White screens





Conclusion

With this setup :

- 174 games not requiring a memory expansion pak can be run without problems (or with minor problems that do not prevent them from being played) with an EZ Flash 3in1 inserted.

- 10 games not requiring a memory expansion pak can be run without problems ONLY if your EZ Flash 3in1 is not inserted.

- 5 games requiring a memory expansion pak can be launched without problem with an EZ Flash 3in1



Suggestion

After observing that even by modifying the settings.ini file, inserting an EZ Flash 3in1 generates conflicts

An option allowing you to deactivate slot-2 recognition in the TWL++ settings menu or directly from the game settings (when you press Y before launching a game), will add comfort of use and prevention of a deterioration of the hardware (memory expansion pak device and slot-2 of the console)

This would also allow us to maintain the greatest possible compatibility with old generation flashcards known for their instability with TWL++

 

[assassinz]

Hi friends,

Here are the compatibility test results of 200 dsiware games performed with a DS Lite.

The choice of games is based on two factors, the region and their performance or supposed performance, I have deliberately excluded games known to have problems related to a RAM limitation (with the exception of games which can be used with a memory expansion pak) and finally, I also excluded Japanese games where the language can be a barrier.

-------------------------
The hardware used for this test is :

- Nintendo DS Lite
- R4 SDHC Gold Pro 2016 (check my post above to see what is the exact model)*
- SanDisk 64gb micro sdxc class 10 A1
- EZflash3in1 (memory expansion pak model)

post mentioned
-------------------------

1. First of all here are the donor roms that I installed, giving priority to Pokemon Conquest (for the VRAM)

View attachment 397949

Games that do not require a memory expansion pak

Even if these games do not require memory expansion pak, I still tested them with and without memory expansion pak in order to see if any conflicts could be observed, for some conflicts appear (see the list in point n°4)


2. Here are the roms which work without any problem with or without memory expansion pak, depending on the games the region may be important because I noticed that in general US games had better compatibility with a few exceptions

View attachment 397969

For the G.G series, we could distinguish two types of games, the Genterprise whose save function does not work and the Suzak which do not have this problem.

Suzak games tested are :
- D-Tank
- Dark Spirits
- Horizontal Bar
- Ninja Karakuriden
- Z.One 1 & 2

During these tests, I also noticed that certain games could crash if you clicked on the "Help" option in the game menu, this is the case with the Game & Watch series.


3. Here is the list of games that crashed with or without memory expansion pak, there are two types of crashes, red screens which display either a message saying "Data Abort" or "Unidentified Instruction" and white screens (which do not display any message)

- Red screens

View attachment 397952

. Fizz crashes at the end of the tutorial (EZ 3in1 need to be removed to launch the game)
. Sudoku crashes on the menu when you click on "Start"
. Working Dawgs Pipes crashes at the end of the first stage

Other games crash just after the NDS-BOOTSTRAP logo appears


- White screens

View attachment 397970


There is also a third category which does not crash strictly but which does not seem to be able to launch on DS Lite, when launching one of these games in question, TWL++ displays a message indicating that this game can be launched only on DSi

View attachment 397954


4. Conflicts observed on games that do not require a memory expansion pak, these conflicts can only be resolved by physically removing the EZ Flash 3in1, the conflicts remain even by modifying the TWL++ settings.ini file in order to deactivate or remove the EZ Flash 3in1 option.

View attachment 397967

Games that require a memory expansion pak

First of all, you must keep in mind that these tests were carried out with an EZ Flash 3in1 in order to define compatibility with this particular device, so it is possible that you obtain another result (positive or negative) with another model memory expansion pak.

As in the previous tests we see two types of crash: white screens & red screens

To activate your EZ Flash 3in1 in TWL++, follow Rob's instructions found in this post :
How to activate EZ Flash 3in1 device in TWL++


5. Games that work with the EZ Flash 3in1

View attachment 397971

Note : Match Up ! (USA) can crash randomly


- Red screens

View attachment 397974


- White screens

View attachment 397975



Conclusion

With this setup :

- 174 games not requiring a memory expansion pak can be run without problems (or with minor problems that do not prevent them from being played) with an EZ Flash 3in1 inserted.

- 10 games not requiring a memory expansion pak can be run without problems ONLY if your EZ Flash 3in1 is not inserted.

- 5 games requiring a memory expansion pak can be launched without problem with an EZ Flash 3in1



Suggestion

After observing that even by modifying the settings.ini file, inserting an EZ Flash 3in1 generates conflicts

An option allowing you to deactivate slot-2 recognition in the TWL++ settings menu or directly from the game settings (when you press Y before launching a game), will add comfort of use and prevention of a deterioration of the hardware (memory expansion pak device and slot-2 of the console)

This would also allow us to maintain the greatest possible compatibility with old generation flashcards known for their instability with TWL++

Will the M3 GBA expansion pak offer the same benefits as the EZ Flash 3in1?

 

[Indy13]

Will the M3 GBA expansion pak offer the same benefits as the EZ Flash 3in1?

Sorry my friend but I can't say 'cause I don't own an M3 GBA Expansion pak so I can't make the test but what I know is that to activate the EZ Flash 3in1 with TWL++, you have to modify the TWL++ settings.ini file which implies that for it to work with the M3 GBA expansion pak, it must be compatible with TWL++ and that I am not able to answer you because my knowledge is much too poor about TWL++, you have to ask @RocketRobz

 

[RocketRobz]

Will the M3 GBA expansion pak offer the same benefits as the EZ Flash 3in1?

Sorry my friend but I can't say 'cause I don't own an M3 GBA Expansion pak so I can't make the test but what I know is that to activate the EZ Flash 3in1 with TWL++, you have to modify the TWL++ settings.ini file which implies that for it to work with the M3 GBA expansion pak, it must be compatible with TWL++ and that I am not able to answer you because my knowledge is much too poor about TWL++, you have to ask @RocketRobz

I do not own an M3 Slot-2 flashcard.
I do own a SuperCard MiniSD, which can also be used as an Expansion Pak for DSiWare which require it. I'm pretty sure the M3 will work the same as the SuperCard MiniSD, in terms of RAM expansion.
No setting needs to be changed as well.

 

[nitrozz]

howto go to launcher from twlight
i press select and then X its go to unlaunch and not to the launcher.
”SysNAND Launcher = launcher.dsi

 

[RocketRobz]

howto go to launcher from twlight
i press select and then X its go to unlaunch and not to the launcher.
”SysNAND Launcher = launcher.dsi

You need to set the correct SysNAND Launcher setting. If that is the correct one, then you'll need to undo the region-change.

 

[nitrozz]

edit: solved

8. Enter unlaunch ([A]+[ B]+ Power on) and select "nand:/launcher.dsi" as app to
start on load error. Save the options

 

[_47iscool]

GBARunner is similar to Nintendont, right? As in sort of like hardware virtualization with maybe a bit of emulation?

Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[RocketRobz]

GBARunner is similar to Nintendont, right? As in sort of like hardware virtualization with maybe a bit of emulation?

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Yes, it is similar in that way.

 

[DSoryu]

I'm leaving this here as well, since some people have asked in previous posts:

For those asking about GBARunner3, the project is still on an alpha state, but is progressing well. Currently just me and @/Zense are doing extensive testing, plus other people adding their entries to the new compatibility list.

We are looking for more people that is able to help us filling the compatibility list with the newest alpha commits, so if you are interested, please DM me to give you more details, since for now, GBARunner3 builds are just meant for testing and not for public release yet.

You can also compile the binaries by yourself from the repo using the latest DevKitPRO, if you want to see how is it going.

 

[_47iscool]

What's different about GBAR3?

No disrespect, but isn't GBAR2 open source? Why start new when something else similar exists?

Unless I'm mistaken, and is built off of GBAR2.

 

[RocketRobz]

What's different about GBAR3?

No disrespect, but isn't GBAR2 open source? Why start new when something else similar exists?

Unless I'm mistaken, and is built off of GBAR2.

GBARunner is being remade from scratch using the existing knowledge from when making GBARunner2, rather than just updating GBAR2's source code.
This will ensure better improvements, such as sound and game compatibility.

GBARunner3 is also open-source like GBAR2.

 

[DSoryu]

What's different about GBAR3?

No disrespect, but isn't GBAR2 open source? Why start new when something else similar exists?

Unless I'm mistaken, and is built off of GBAR2.

GBArunner2 used a different approach to make things to work, and its codebase was dependent of old dkp versions, which made it difficult to compile and/or contribute.

GBARunner3 is a complete ground up re-write of GBARunner2 made by the same developer, that now uses a VM (details here) to have more control, and a better debug environment to easily work and collaborate with.

As of now for example, GBARunner3 has improved the following:

-Sound is possible without the need of the DSP (DSi hardware), with no more synchronization issues even on regular DS models, also the pitch issues of some GB channels are gone for good.

Uses a JIT patcher now, leading to benefits such as:
-Games that crashed for unknown reasons have been fixed, such as Zelda Minish Cap, Golden Sun 2, F-Zero GP Legnend and Densetsu no Starfy 3.

-Overall performance, GBArunner3 runs faster than GBARunner2 in some games that had slowdown issues, such as Doom and Duke Nukem Advance.

-Non-used screen is now turned off instead of just being black.

-Can be compiled with the latest dkp, so is easier to compile and open for contributions.

And as how this is advancing, many improvements with compatibility are expected to come eventually, that's why we are looking for help to test even a wider range of games, to catch improvements/regressions easier.

if you want to see some of the planned features that will come eventually in the future, you can take a look here

 

[damex]

hi,
i am using n3ds xl and recently switched to last release to b9s + luma on sysnand.
i have found out that twlight menu does not offer widescreen option when luma3ds is loaded from sysnand.
it works when luma3ds is loaded from sdcard.

is there a way to make it work?
https://wiki.ds-homebrew.com/twilightmenu/playing-in-widescreen here it says that luma3ds has to be specifically loaded from sdcard which does not really make much sense to me (as to why).

 

[RocketRobz]

hi,
i am using n3ds xl and recently switched to last release to b9s + luma on sysnand.
i have found out that twlight menu does not offer widescreen option when luma3ds is loaded from sysnand.
it works when luma3ds is loaded from sdcard.

is there a way to make it work?
https://wiki.ds-homebrew.com/twilightmenu/playing-in-widescreen here it says that luma3ds has to be specifically loaded from sdcard which does not really make much sense to me (as to why).

This is an issue with Luma, not TWiLight Menu++.
Luma only loads SD sysmodules when Luma is placed on the SD card.

 

[DSoryu]

hi,
i am using n3ds xl and recently switched to last release to b9s + luma on sysnand.
i have found out that twlight menu does not offer widescreen option when luma3ds is loaded from sysnand.
it works when luma3ds is loaded from sdcard.

is there a way to make it work?
https://wiki.ds-homebrew.com/twilightmenu/playing-in-widescreen here it says that luma3ds has to be specifically loaded from sdcard which does not really make much sense to me (as to why).

Luma only searches for modified sysmodules inside the drive it is stored in when loaded, so for that to take effect, you would need to create the same directories inside your nand, which is imo not practical and risky.

 

[Trip_Away]

Im not sure if it´s possible, but for DS games, it´s possible to add a "Alternative server" option in configurations like USB Loader to connect to Wiimmfi servers without patching or change DNS?

 

[c2soft]

Hi.
Could someone tell me if neods works with twilight menu in old 2ds/3ds and how it can be done?

I have an old 2ds with Luma3DS v13.0.1.
Twilight menu++ v26.1.1 with nds-bootstrap v1.0.1 installed from Universal-Updater.
I tried run neods, but when I run any game the top screen remains blank and the bottom screen remains black with the following error:

Spoiler: error

In a DSI XL I solved this error configure "Direct boot" set "off" and "Run in" set to "DS mode", and formating the sd with cluster size 4096 kb.

I tried the two first configurations in the 2ds but seems dont work. I didn't try format sd with cluster size 4096 kb, because I have de sd configured with a lot of things, also with that cluster size the sd would be very slow.

Thanks.

 

[Ziko]

I just want to say thanks to everyone who got this to work and that my old R4 which was using WoodR4 is now a TwilightMenu++ beast and I can't fathom why it took me so long to get to this point. I even spruced it up with a Persona 5 skin to boot! I want to know when I'll be able to use my old WoodR4 skins as I saw that it was disabled due to issues with that part of the kernel?

Nonetheless, I kept all of my old WoodR4 stuff on the card as there's plenty of space left over and only deleted what wasn't necessary as I didn't need a GAMES folder as everything I had got sent to the roms folder and a data folder which largely went unused most of the time anyway. TwilightMenu++ came preconfigured with all of the emulators but I chose to keep the ones I already had and deleted the other systems I don't play on. I already had a copy of GBARunner2 so those ones got gone too. I can't wait until GBARunner3 is working so perhaps my old DS Lite can play more GBA games without crashing and framerate issues.

EDIT: I just saw a strange quirk with nesDS in that it doesn't keep my screen settings when I boot the rom but when I moved it out of the emulators folder to the root, it works fine. I tested this with nesDS 1.3c and will do so with 1.4d+ to double check.

EDIT 2: The same behavior happened with the boot of the rom vs. the menu on the emulator. This has to be a thing with TwilightMenu++. It works fine using Gameyob as that's what I'm playing a Pokemon hack on currently.

 

[ichig0]

Hello all, I have a quick question regarding box art on Twilight Menu - I want to use my own images for my gba games for example, not the box art from gametdb but title screens Ive ripped from a no-intro pack. I followed the directions and have tried naming my compressed 208x139 files after the Game ID and the file name, but nothing seems to register. EDIT: actually I don't have a list of GBA game IDs. Ive looked but I can't seem to find a list. I found this but it looks like the serials they have listed are not the same as "Game ID"
z
edit: just tried again with the gametdb files and they work without a hitch. If I rename my own image to a valid game (DS) ID it will show

edit AGAIN: The gba id's are listed on the rom in twilight menu, Im an idiot. So using those I should be able to populate the images but for some reason, no.