Hackszine.com: Gaming Archives

Archive: Gaming

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November 8, 2008

Play backed-up Wii games

If you're prone to scratching or loosing your Wii games, there's a way to back up your games to DVD and play them later. An alpha copy of Wii Backup Loader was leaked to the public a while back, and combined with the hack to enable your Wii to run homebrew, this will allow your Wii to play burned DVDs without a modchip.

Instructable user thundaboy1047 put together a guide for downloading and installing the necessary software.

Run Backups on any Wii Without a Modchip [via Lifehacker]

October 22, 2008

Use large SD Cards on the Wii

Normally, the Wii normally won't allow SD Cards larger than 2GB, so larger cards such as the typical 4GB variety are completely useless for storing all of your games and save information. It turns out that with a few tricks, you can fool your Wii into accepting these larger cards.

The hack, documented in detail by Knoxximus over at cheapassgamer.com, basically amounts to filling up the card with junk data until the remaining free space is less than 2GB. You first use a PC with the SDFormatter program to initially format the card (since the Wii won't format the 4GB card to begin with). Then you copy some files to the disk using your PC, bringing the free space below 2GB. Then the disk magically works in the Wii.

Though the filler data takes up usable space on the disk, you can remove filler files as the disk fills up. Essentially, you can access all 4GB of the disk - you just need to ensure that free space at any point in time is less than 2GB. Knoxximus has a PC utility that will create a bunch of files on your SD Card with a user specified size, which makes this whole process fairly simple. For instance, you can make a folder with hundreds of 100MB files, and you just delete a dummy file or two whenever you fill up your card with Wii files.

It sounds like the 2GB limit is completely arbitrary, since writing to a 4GB disk works without problem. Somewhere in the Wii's software, it's just checking to make sure there isn't more than 2GB available on the drive. I'm not sure why the developers didn't check the volume size of the disk instead of the just the available space, but thankfully they didn't or this hack wouldn't be possible.

The Inclusive 4GB SD Card Workaround Solution for Wii
SDFormatter

August 25, 2008

Wii Physics

Wii Physics is a clever little homebrew app. You use the Wiimote to rotate, size and place objects on a stage. Pulleys, ropes, gears and joints can be used to connect objects together, and when you press the play button, a 2D physics system is turned on, causing the objects to fall and interact with each other.

You can download this for free and run it from the Homebrew Channel. If you're ambitious, you can also download the source, add new features, or base a new game off of it. It's written using libwiisprite, a library you'll want to check out if you're thinking of doing any 2D game dev for the Wii.

Wii Physics
libwiisprite

August 24, 2008

Roomba controlled by Wii Balance Board

"Ron" Tajima's Wii Balance Board Roomba looks like a fun way to clean the carpet. The idea is that you surf on the Balance Board, leaning forward or back to steer the robot. The video is a little short on details, but he's using a laptop to read the bluetooth data from the Balance Board and then send control signals to the Roomba bluetooth adapter.

You might recognize Ron from some other Roomba hacks he's done. A while back, he showed how to control the Roomba with the Wiimote (similar to the balance board hack), but the real gem of his collection is Rommba PacMan:

"Ron" Tajima's video channel [via Balance Board Blog]

August 14, 2008

Wii DVD player

Team Twiizers is at it again, releasing a Wii port of the MPlayer media player. If you've already added the homebrew channel, you just need to download an install a couple of files to get things working.

You can read more details about the port at HackMii and WiiBrew. There's also a convenient instructable to hold your hand through the install. It seems silly that Nintendo didn't release this as a built-in feature, but at least you can get it working on your own now.

Instructables - Use Your Wii As A Dvd Player
WiiBrew - Homebrew apps/MPlayer
HackMii - libdi and the DVDX installer

June 21, 2008

Twilight Hack for Wii v3.3

It's a good day for Wii homebrewers. The latest version of the Twilight Hack was released, fixing the problem Nintendo created with the Wii 3.3 fireware update. A quick turnaround time on this one:

Changelog for this release:
The Twilight Hack is now compatible with version 3.3 of the Wii System Menu.
Improvements in video configuration. The entire console should now be visible in all video modes, and scrolling has been improved.
For the USA version, the two variants of the hack have been packed into one save file. Just select the save slot that corresponds to your version of Twilight Pricess when you start the game.
New savegame icons by drmr. The new icons now show which region that version of the hack is for.
This version now tries to load boot.dol, and falls back to boot.elf if boot.dol is not found.
???????
Many, many bug fixes.

I think the "???????" refers to a little rhyme that is now embedded in the loader file. Here's a snippet:

Now these quick hack fixes have some beautiful holes, So we found them fast and easily met our goals. And I'm glad we got burned. Think of all the things we learned. For the people whose Wiis want new life! Go ahead and patch it. I think I'd like to have some fun. Maybe you'll find an undisclosed bug. Maybe that huge one.

Sounds a bit like a burn.

Twilight Hack v0.1beta1 (download)
How Nintendo's patch was exploited

June 17, 2008

Twilight trounced - don't update your Wii until further notice

Nintendo's latest Wii update added a new feature that deletes any doctored Twilight-hack savegames that you have on your Wii. Seriously, Nintendo?

The Wii homebrew channel will still work, though you would need to install the channel before updating (since it requires the Twilight hack during its install process). For Wii homebrewers, the current recommendation would be to hold off on updating until a replacement hack method is made available.

The update contains a very specific addition that prevents this exact hack, so it sets up a bit of an arms race scenario. Someone will soon release a new variation of the hack that will bypass this security check and presumably Nintendo will fire back with another update. It's kind of a bummer, but it's pretty interesting to watch the dissection of this latest obstacle. Wii hackers at their best:

Okay, now this is just silly. Three functions have been added to the system menu. Guess what they do:
ipl::utility::ESMisc::DeleteSavedata((unsigned long long, EGG::Heap*))
ipl::utility::ESMisc::VerifySavedataZD((unsigned long long, EGG::Heap*))
WADCheckSavedataZD

We Are Not Impressed.

You can follow the progress over at hackmii.com. My guess is that a new homebrew method will be available in the next few days.

June 16 Wii update - hackmii.com

June 2, 2008

Wii Guitar Hero guitar as a real musical instrument

I've been trying to get better at Guitar Hero and I'm bothered by the fact that you dump so much time into learning a basically useless combination of finger twiddling tactics. At least with DDR you get some exercise, and other video games let you drive fast or kill things. Of course, I say this only because I completely fail at Guitar Hero and I'm jealous of everyone who was born with the appropriate twiddling genes that let you get past the easy level. Back to my point, though, wouldn't it be great if those gaming hours could be spent actually learning to play an instrument?

Josh Breckman posted the above video to Youtube a while ago and has gained quite a bit of notoriety for his hack that turns the Wii Guitar Hero controller into a real instrument. You don't play it like a legit guitar, of course, but by adjusting the tilt of the guitar and flexing the whammy bar, the 5 buttons can be used to toggle a variety of notes and effects.

Anyway, it turns out we get all 5 button states (obviously), up strokes and down strokes (separately), and 11 degrees of movement of the whammy bar.
I took this info and fed it into my handy synthesizer as I played and turned it into a sort of instrument. My keyboard has a pretty decent electric guitar sound, so it sounded sort of realistic. I used the wiimote's orientation and the whammy bar to add different "note banks" to let me play more than 5 notes.

I assume this is using a custom GlovePIE script to funnel commands to the software that's controlling the synth, but I don't really know much more about it than that. Josh says he'll be posting a tutorial soon. Until then, I'll be stabbing buttons while colored dots fly at me in three dimensions.

Wii Guitar Hero Synth Hack

May 29, 2008

Wii Balance Board hacks

A few days ago, this video appeared with Matthieu Deru and Simon Bergweiler showing off a hack that allows them to surf Google Earth using a Wii. Unfortunately, there weren't too many details about how it was accomplished and I couldn't track down any source for the C# application that talks to the bluetooth device.

What I did find was this other clip from almost a month ago (?!?) in which Daniel Schneider demonstrates using the Wii Balance Board to navigate the web in Firefox.

That's right. You can actually surf the web:

He's using the latest version of GlovePIE (v0.3) to accomplish this. As far as I can tell, it's still very alpha, and the WiiLi wiki claims it's buggy, but it does appear to work. Daniel has some pointers to how he's configured things, including the Greasemonkey script that allows you to surf without clicking.

For more information on coding GlovePIE scripts that use the Balance Board, peek at the documentation.rtf file that's packaged with the GlovePIE download. There's information around page 70 that describes how the board functions and how to pull the 4 sensor values from each of its feet.

Using GlovePIE and Firefox with the Nintendo Wii Balance Board
GlovePIE

May 24, 2008

Colors: Nintendo DS homebrew paint application

Wired's how-to Wiki ran an article about installing homebrew apps on your Nintendo DS, describing how to install and use Colors, a really pro-looking sketch application. It seems like such a simple application, but its capabilities as a sketch tool (in the hands of someone with artistic talent) are stunning. It uses the pressure sensitivity of the DS touch screen to control the stroke width, much like how you might use an expensive Wacom tablet, except completely portable.

Running homebrew apps on your DS is about as simple as purchasing a compatible flash cartridge, so there's nothing too intimidating about using (and maybe developing) some of the great applications that are available from independent developers.

Colors!
Hack a Nintendo DS to Make an Awesome Digital Sketchbook [via LifeHacker]

April 18, 2008

Tresling - arm wrestling game controller

Meet Tresling, a newfangled competitive sport which combines the physical challenge of arm wrestling with the mental intensity of Tetris. This video has been making the rounds. It's so over the top, I can't help but appreciate it:

The site is scant on details, but as far as I know, this represents the first arm-wrestling human computer interface. The NES brought us guns and running pads. The Wiimote a tennis racket, fishing pole, and boxing glove. If you can get past the initial craziness of Tresling, it's actually an interesting hack in that it's a completely new category of game play made possible by a clever homebrew controller.

Tresling: Arm Wrestling + Tetris

April 3, 2008

Practical fluid mechanics

Mick West from Cowboy Programming posted a two part series to his blog titled Practical Fluid Dynamics. Originally written for Game Developer Magazine, it covers a number of clever (and down-to-earth) techniques for simulating the movement of fluids in games and other software environments where real-time speed and visual authenticity matter most.

Special attention is paid to the simulation of particulate matter being carried around within a fluid volume—think effects like smoke, fire, and bubbles. I know I've seen a number of people using particle systems to do this sort of thing, but the methods Mick describes are all based on a grid model where you represent the system with a velocity field and a density field. Unlike a particle system, these fields represent a continuous fluid surface, allowing you to measure the density and velocity of the fluid at any location on the surface by interpolating the values from the nearest cells in the field array.

Practical Fluid Mechanics

March 27, 2008

Shredz64: Guitar Hero for C64

Toni Westbrook authored a new C64 game called Shredz64, bringing the best game of all time to the best computing platform of all time:

You can use the real Guitar Hero controller using the PSX64 PS2-to-DB9 converter which Toni also created. This takes the game controller input and maps it to the appropriate up, down, left, right and potentiometer lines for the Commodore.

Shredz64 uses the internal SID audio processor to play any of your favorite SID tunes. In addition to the built-in songs, you can import new SID files and even create new levels by editing note tracks (using the game controller, naturally).

I'm speechless.

Shredz64

March 14, 2008

Wii homebrew now works from internal SD Card

It looks like the 0.1alpha3 release of the Wii Twilight Hack now works with the internal SD slot. No USBGecko or other additional hardware needed.

There are 5 versions of the chainloader for the different regions and releases of the Wii console. Follow the instructions to unzip the right one to the correct directory on your SD Card, and then it's as simple as copying your homebrew .elf file to the SD card's root directory and starting up Zelda.

Twilight Hack 0.1alpha3- [via] Link

March 11, 2008

N64 emulation: better than the real thing

Racketboy has a great article showing off some of the capabilities of the modern N64 emulator. If your machine is fast enough, most of the available emulators will really give you a noticeable resolution boost and better looking anti-aliased models. Using the Rice Video plugin with the Project64 emulator, you can even swap out the textures for some games with user-created texture packs.

I still use the real hardware (is the N64 considered "retro" now?), so before seeing this, I hadn't even considered emulation for this platform. That all changed when I saw the Mario64 mod shown above. The selection of available emulators is impressive, and there are open source emulators available for just about every platform. I'm currently playing a game under Mupen64 on my iMac and it's pretty flawless. My only wish is that all computers came, by default, with a nice joystick like they did back in the 80s.

Enhance N64 Graphics With Emulation Plugins & Texture Packs - Link
Project64 Emulator - Link
Rice Video Plugin - Link
Mupen64 Emulator (cross-platform, open source) - Link