Lavapulse Mods

Echoe | she/her I post about modding and games

[lavapulsemods]

SOS Grand Bazaar is coming in august so I wanted to play my copy on the ds with a gay mod. The mod doesn't work on my copy so I plan to make on. I saw a comment you made on GBAtemp stating that you found the character sprites in people_pal_databin which is a file I found in GB while exploring the files. You said that you edited the hex with a lot of trial and error to swap the sprites. Could you give me some guidance on what I should be looking for and changing and what hex editor you used? thx

Hey, yeah: the hex editor I used was HxD, which is a free program. When you open a file with HxD, you'll see a big block of hex data on the left and a narrower block of interpreted ascii data on the right, which is typical for hex programs. The left block will also have column and row headers like a spreadsheet, with two characters in each cell. (It's possible to change the number of characters per cell and the interpreter from ascii to another encoding, but that's not necessary for this project.)

You're going to be looking for "headers" in that denote the starts of each block of contained data. A header is just a term that means the part that comes at the beginning of a file and usually consists of metadata like the file's name and filetype and stuff. Basically, this means you're looking for any sort of repeated patterns.

The headers for each character's sprite will probably start sometime after the collection's own header. This means that when you open up people_pal_databin, the pattern you're looking for won't start at the very top because the collection's metadata needs to come first.

Fortunately, interpreted filenames tend to be fairly human-readable, so that should help you find the headers you're looking for.

You'll want to leave the character sprites' metadata unchanged and only swap the file's contents. This means all the code that starts in the cell after the header ends and before the next begins.

The rest is sort of just educated guess work and trial-and-error experimentation.

I hope that gives you the information you're looking for to start!

[lavapulsemods]

What skills do you use to mod 3DS games like this? I want to get into it myself, no matter how much work it is, and it's been discouraging to have everyone tell me I shouldn't bother. The internet contains almost all of human knowledge, I can learn anything I set my mind to, I just need to know where to look. Thank you!!

I agree that it's discouraging how little info there is out there for this kind of stuff, especially considering how vast the internet is. My best guess is that it's due mostly to how much specifics vary from game to game, how niche the hobby is, and, to a much lesser extent, this weird dynamic I've seen in programmer-y circles that causes people to sometimes horde information out of insecurity or elitism.

Personally, pretty much all the useful info I found on the topic came from Romhacking.net or GBAtemp.net, so that's where I'd suggest starting. It also helps to familiarize yourself with adjacent skill sets. Specifically, I'd suggest learning about how 3D models work, how encryption works, how programming works, how data is represented in computers (binary, hex, pointers, metadata, etc.), how debugging works, and how games are structured. This sounds like a lot, but really even basic familiarity will help.

Luckily, this sort of info is way easier to find; there's tons of programming, 3D modelling, game dev, etc. tutorials out there for beginners. For 3D stuff, search for beginner Blender tutorials, and for game stuff, search for tutorials made for any of the popular game engines like Unity, Unreal, or even GameMaker. All those communities are huge and full of info.

I've also found pattern recognition and patience to be the most useful abstract skill sets. It just takes a lot of time to take it all in and can get overwhelming, so be prepared. You've got this!

[lavapulsemods]

just wanted to say thank you so so so so much for making the hv tott queer mod!!!

i just figured out how to run it and im so happy to finally play one of my favourite childhood games without having to pick the female farmer to marry the bachelors!! actually abt to cry!!!!! thank you!!!!!

Aaaaah that makes me so happy to hear <3 When the Mineral Town remake came out and I was finally able to romance the bachelorettes as a woman, I remember having a very similar reaction. That kind of thing is why the mod exists~

I'm glad you got it working! Have fun!

[lavapulsemods]

Hi, im so sorry but the link to download wont show up for me in the download guide. Could you repost it?

Oh, that's because there aren't any links to specific files in the download guide. If you're looking for the Tale of Two Towns mod, check out the Tale of Two Hearts mod release post.

[lavapulsemods]

cmd: homophobia -> delete

ANB Mod Update

Been a minute since I posted about mod progress. I did end up having to use the gender swap method for the main character, and all is going well. Currently in the playtesting/dialogue hunt phase. As before, I've been fixing any preexisting typos that I come across along the way.

Gaia always knows the right thing to say.

Breaking News: ANB Secretly Run by Squirrels

It turns out that A New Beginning is written in a language called Squirrel. This game is the first I've heard of it, but it reads like a hybrid of Java and Lua with minor squirrel-themed syntax sprinkled in, such as how script files use the ".nut" extension. I love knowing that the game devs chose a somewhat obscure language themed after little forest critters.

[lavapulsemods]

Excuse me? How is Gaia treating her sprites?

[lavapulsemods]

[lavapulsemods]

The birds of A New Beginning

I'm obsessed with the sparrows' cheeks. They're so round!

[lavapulsemods]

I play bokumono games for the fantasy that I can befriend a whole town by handing out fistfuls of bees.

[lavapulsemods]

I'm convinced he eats them.

[lavapulsemods]

We're Cooking!

The lesbians are in the frying pan. I repeat: we have achieved lift-off!

[lavapulsemods]

ANB Mod Progress

Good news and bad(ish) news.

So far, I'm able to:

Edit text (UI, dialogue, item descriptions, etc.)

Edit sounds

Edit models and textures

Edit logic in the exposed code

Using the above, I've successfully modded the character creator to use a combined parts list instead of two gender-separated lists. This means more freedom of expression from the start.

I've also been able to edit gendered events to be more inclusive. For example, you should now be able to choose a partner of any gender for the Starry Night festival.

Overall, this game has been way easier to mod than ToTT, likely because it's a true 3DS game instead of a port. Like last time, Kuriimu, CrystalTile, EveryFileExplorer, HxD, and, of course, Notepad++ have been indispensable. New to my toolbox is SPICA, which has been great for 3D model editing with this game's format.

However, I've been unable to successfully modify the compiled core code. I know the names of the methods and their classes that need to be intercepted, so I really wish I could make some sort of injection hook override akin to PC game modding, but alas, romhacks don't work that way.

That means I'll probably have to use the gender-swap technique for this game too. It does mean the mod won't be compatible with unmodded saves and the player will still ultimately be locked into half the romance options instead of the full cast. On the other hand, it's for sure accomplishable, especially since the graphics are easier to edit.

[lavapulsemods]

do you plan to make more mods down the line? ANB could really use one!

Honestly, I'm considering it. ANB's not a bad idea for a second romhacking project since it's also 3DS, so hopefully I'd be able to use what I learned from ToTT to do it. No promises though; I'd have to open it up and poke around first to see if I'm up to it.

[lavapulsemods]

I checked out Harvest Moon: A New Beginning's innards last night and it's got a lot of exposed code. I was able to make some logic edits that theoretically should make dating options altogether gender agnostic. Still far from finished as I need to test and make some text edits to any explicitly gendered dialogue. If possible, I'd also like to un-gender-lock the character customizations.

My questions for anybody interested:

1.

How do you want pregnancy handled?

Medical intervention

Harvest Goddess intervention

Keep it as-is

Voting ended onMay 4, 2024

2. Allen's known to call his lover "princess." Do you think this should change, or is this good as-is for all the babygurls out there?

[lavapulsemods]

Hi can you please do a tutorial with pictures on how to download your mod for havrest moon. I'm very new to this stuff and I wanna be able to enjoy the mod you made but I'm having difficulty downloading it.

Hey, yeah. I've actually gotten a couple DMs about this too from different people. I've just posted a guide here:

Visual Download Guide

If you're new to downloading from Google Drive and MEGA or just want a refresher, this guide's for you. Google Drive Clicking the link

[lavapulsemods]

Visual Download Guide

If you're new to downloading from Google Drive and MEGA or just want a refresher, this guide's for you.

Google Drive

Clicking the link pictured above should bring you to a download page that looks like this:

The download button's the icon in the upper right that looks like an arrow pointing down into a shallow box:

Clicking on that should begin the download. It may briefly open a new tab in order to start that download, so if you get a "popup blocked" notification from your browser after clicking the download button, go ahead and allow that one popup to let the download proceed.

Clicking the MEGA link should bring you to a download page that looks like this:

MEGA

The download button's the green one in the bottom center-right that says "Download." Once you click it, you'll see a progress bar:

Wait for the progress bar to complete. Once it does, that's when the file gets saved to your computer and the download is complete.

Now you're done!

With both Google Drive and MEGA, the file will be found in the default download destination set in your browser. For Windows users, this is the "Downloads" folder found in your user directory.

[lavapulsemods]

do you plan to make more mods down the line? ANB could really use one!

Honestly, I'm considering it. ANB's not a bad idea for a second romhacking project since it's also 3DS, so hopefully I'd be able to use what I learned from ToTT to do it. No promises though; I'd have to open it up and poke around first to see if I'm up to it.

[lavapulsemods]

hi! thank you so much for making tale of two hearts! it’s so awesome to see new gay mods for harvest moon games popping up.

I have a request that I hope wouldn’t be too hard to implement! is there any way to get the dialogue part of the mod without the visual part? (ie, use the default girl character, but have her be referred to as a boy or vice versa?)

You're welcome!

Yeah, that shouldn't be too hard. Basically you'd have to delete the parts of the mod that change the graphics so the character models & textures revert to the originals.

(Instructions below)

In the picture, I've highlighted all the stuff you're going to want to delete. So in the romfs folder, remove:

CTR (and everything inside)

console_bg_data.bin

console_obj_data.bin

item_data.bin

item_palette.bin

people_pal_data.bin

When you're done, you'll be left with:

calendar_data_asia.bin

calendar_data_euro.bin

event_mes_data.bin

mes_data.bin

Everything in the exefs folder stays the same.

Hopefully that helps. Have fun customizing your character's gender expression!