"Hacking" a .rom file, is it doable?

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12 comments, last by RLS0812 10 years, 10 months ago

I was wondering if any of you happened to have any experience "modding" a NEO-RAGE X emulator .rom. I read in the wiki about expanding a rom, here's the paragraph:

[Generally speaking, a ROM hacker cannot add content to a game, but merely change existing content. This limit can be overcome through ROM expansion, whereby the total size of the ROM image is increased, making room for more content and a larger game. The difficulty in doing this varies depending on the system for which the game was made. For example, expanding an NES ROM may be difficult or even impossible due to the mapper used by the game. For example, if a mapper allows 16 ROM banks and all of them are used, expanding the ROM further is impossible without somehow converting the game to another mapper, which could be easy or extremely difficult. On the other hand, expanding a Super NES game is (relatively) straightforward. To utilize the added space, parts of the game code have to be modified or re-written (see Assembly hacking above) so the game knows where to look. Another type of ROM expansion that is fairly easy is Game Boy Advance ROMs. The ROMs themselves are generally small, but the memory space available sometimes exceeds it by multiples of up to 17.]

Does this apply to NEO-GEO roms too? I need to add content...

Once there was a reason for doing anything. Now it seems we have forgotten it...

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That question would better be taken to one of the many ROM hacking forums.

(sorry, the only spear time I currently got is in between breaks at work) will do a better search in forums thank you. smile.png

Once there was a reason for doing anything. Now it seems we have forgotten it...

This is a tricky legal area. You may not be doing anything illegal if all you do is strictly hack the ROM to make it do what you want, but if you copy its contents (which, BTW, is required to hack the ROM), you're breaking the law.

In the United Stated, it is legal to copy ROMs as long as you own the original game.

It is Illegal to give others a copy of the ROM or modified ROM, unless they own the original game.

I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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