Homebrew Guide

Thanks to monkey_ninjas316 for inspiring this idea with his PSP Homebrew Guide!

What Is Homebrew?

Homebrew is software that is user made. This software can allow the user to do more than what was originally possible on the DS, such as play music, send emails, or even play homebrew games (the legal ones, of course).

How Do I Get Homebrew?

To run homebrew on the Nintendo DS, you must first get a cartidge that is built to run homebrew. The best kits available are the R4, the M3, and the DSTT. If you buy these, you must also get a Micro SD card to store all of your applications.

In the early days of homebrew, most applications were made to work on a slot-2 device. These fit into the GBA slot and ran using the GBA software. For this reason, many of the applications from the slot-2 devices are not compatible with the newer slot-1 devices which fit into the DS cartridge slot. For this reason, some of the homebrew kits are now compatible with a slot-2 expansion, and some of the developers of the early software have switched their applications to run on the slot-1 devices.

What Can Homebrew Do?

There are many homebrew applications available to run on your DS. Some programs, such as Moonshell, allows you to play movies and music on your DS. Others can virtually transform your DS into a PDA. Some even let you access your favorite Instant Messenger right from your DS!

There are also many games on the DS homebrew scene. Most are remakes of classic games, such as DSLemming, but others are original titles, such as Tales of Dagur.

Where Can I Download Homebrew?

There are many good sites for DS Homebrew, although most contain illegal ROMS that can't be linked to on Neoseeker. The Wikipedia article for DS Homebrew has some links to great homebrew applications.

Part Three: Applications and Games



A

B
Beup Live - Beup Live v0.3e is a Windows Live Messenger (Formaly MSN messenger) clone.*

C
Colors - A drawing program that offers the ability to play back the drawing process.

D
DiagnoSe - A program used to test the hardware of your DS.
DS2Key - Use your DS as a wireless remote for your PC or as a gamepad.
DS-AIM - A port of AOL Instant Messenger for the DS.
DSLinux - A Linux operating system ported to the DS.
DSOrganize - A DS organizer that includes a PDA, web browser, file browser, IRC client, calculator, and more.

E

F

G

H

I
IRCDS - IRCDS 0.3c IRC client with custom skin support*


J

K

L
LMP-ng - LMP-ng Music player, known as the iPod clone.


M

N
nDoS - A huge step towards PDA functionality for the DS. Well-made file manager and alot of tools to work with including Phone Manager, Paint, Reader, Contacts and much more.*
Nitrotracker - A music creation tool.

O

P

Q

R

S

T
Tales of Dagur - An original RPG
TxtWriter - Easy to use text editing program.

U

V

W
Whee! DS - An original racing game with randomly generating levels.
WinDS - A port of Windows for the DS.

X

Y

Z

Special thanks to Pitline810 for inspiring the layout of this post.

* - Covered by Pr3tzals



This message was edited by Tainted on Jan 09 2008.

Thanks for those additions Pr3tzals.

I have a question too. Once I get my DSTT, I have a few programs in mind that I want to get:

• Moonshell (because I don't think it comes on it like it does with the R4)
• LemmingsDS
• DSOrganize
• IRCDS
• Tales of Dagur
• Whee! DS

Any big programs that I am missing? Or any programs that you recommend that I don't have listed?

It stands for DS Top Toy. It's cheaper than R4 and the others, with the same functionality (from what I've read, anyway).

DSTT Review

quote SquirrelLord

Hey it might hav been asked but is there a homebrew web browser 4 the ds that works on the r4 without the expansion pak. :9

I think there are a few. Here are some that I know of:

DS Hobro is supposed to be like the DS Opera Browser
DSLinux has a web browser
OKIWI is a newer one that I've seen

By the way guys, sorry I haven't been updating the guide. I haven't received my DSTT, so I can't give any information on that.

I highly doubt it, since I ordered mine about a week after yours. I am going to check though, since you said that.

Edit: No, it hasn't shipped yet. I got one of those "Sorry for the delay" emails a few days a go though, so it might ship soon.

Thanks special. I'll add those to the first post.

Believe it or not, today I just got a little card that said I had something waiting at the post office. So, guess what it was? My DSTT. And only four months too late!

I'll work on filling out the guide more when I get back from Spring Break.

You also need a MicroSD card to hold all of the downloaded data. I thought that it might be included in the package, but from what I can tell it is not. You might want to consider getting the DS Top Toy, which does the same thing and is about 10 bucks cheaper. Plus, from what people say it's much easier to use (I have the DSTT and it is very easy to set up, but I can't talk about the R4).

It literally took me three months to get mine, but I ordered from a different site. You should get yours within a month though, I'd imagine.

No. It's morally wrong.

But hypothetically, yes.

=/

I kept meaning to do it, and then it got pushed back and I forgot about it etc.

Eventually it will get done. I swear.

Go to dealextreme and see if they still carry them. I had to wait like 4 months after I bought it, but they eventually sent me it.

So I am pulling a thread revival to share with you guys a few cool homebrew games that I found. These apparently aren't new, but I just came across them... so they are new to me. =/

AmplituDS

This is a game influenced by Amplitude for the Playstation 2. As Guitar Hero-style ribbons stream towards you, you hit notes in a sequence using L,R, and X. After successfully completing one ribbon, you switch to a different ribbon, and continue that until the end of the song. It's a very fun little title that is definitely worth the download.

Still Alive DS

My now favorite DS homebrew title, Still Alive DS is a game inspired by the PC game Portal. You must gather all the cake in a level using different colored portals to teleport yourself across the stage. The controls are a little hard to get used to, but once you do they are really intuitive. This game has a lot of depth, especially for a free download.

Super Smash Bros Clash

If you are wanting a Super Smash Bros title for the DS, look no further than this homebrew title. Although still pretty early in development, the game shows a lot of promise, offering up new characters like Kratos (God of War) and Shanoa (Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia). So far, the demos show only one attack button and very limited animations, but this could be a nice alternative to Jump Ultimate Stars when it is finished.

I would give links, but most of them that I have found also have links to illegal things.

Yeah I saw that, and I was a little upset. But I didn't really lose hope just because the game played fine.

Anyway, do you know of any good Homebrew games Link? I downloaded a few flash game ports, but those get old fast.

Anyone know of any good applications that have come out in the past couple months? Or am I the only one who tries to keep up with the homebrew scene nowadays? I don't know much about DSi homebrew, but I think people have made a homebrew channel already.

The apps should work for all homebrew devices, although it is possible that some (like Moonshell I think, but I don't quite remember) may require a patch specific to each card.