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I love ROM hacks. They're a great way to dive into the creativity of another user without having to buy another game that you don't use any other way (Super Mario Maker, LittleBIGPlanet, WarioWare DIY...).
However, when it comes to Super Mario games, I have a problem with how they're normally distributed: patches.
Patches are a way to play ROM hacks "legally" by patching them to games you've got.
However, notice how I said "legally", with the quotation marks. Sure, that's the intended way to use them, but there's still the fact that most people aren't gonna buy a Super Nintendo, a copy of Mario World, and a bulky ROM copier just to play the Second Reality Project. Most people, if they have to put up with patches, will just download them from places like Emuparadise and LoveROMs. So there's no real point in patches unless you're one of the 2% of people willing to shell out $100 for Kaizo.
This, however, is only a minor issue. The real problem is everything else.
There are so many types of patches that I don't even know all of them. IPS, BPS, Xdelta, Xdelta3...the list goes on! You're gonna need so many programs, on top of the space that you need to reserve for the SMW ROM and all the patches, that you're better off buying an SDXC, which kinda takes away the whole 'free' aspect.
THEN you need to download the patch, copy the ROM, open the right program, OOPS! you opened the Xdelta program, close out of that one, open up Lunar IPS, click the patch... zzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZzzzzzZZzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...
OOPSIES! All you will ever be able to find is an unheadered ROM, so have fun with your craption! (crap and corruption)
Oh wait, here's a program the converts unheadered SFC ROMs into headered SMC ROMs, but not the other way around!
Dang it, BSNES only works with unheadered ROMS! Time to go get a different emulator!
SNES9X...too mainstream.
ZSNES...no sound.
Super Everdrive...check the first paragraph.
Welp, you'll never get to play Kitiku Mario!
So yeah, patches aren't good. Other places, like Sonic Retro, know patches aren't good, so they just straight-up use the ROMs for Genesis hacks
Did I mention that I make comics?
Please excuse the HTML at the top of my posts.
I love ROM hacks. They're a great way to dive into the creativity of another user without having to buy another game that you don't use any other way (Super Mario Maker, LittleBIGPlanet, WarioWare DIY...).
However, when it comes to Super Mario games, I have a problem with how they're normally distributed: patches.
Patches are a way to play ROM hacks "legally" by patching them to games you've got.
However, notice how I said "legally", with the quotation marks. Sure, that's the intended way to use them, but there's still the fact that most people aren't gonna buy a Super Nintendo, a copy of Mario World, and a bulky ROM copier just to play the Second Reality Project. Most people, if they have to put up with patches, will just download them from places like Emuparadise and LoveROMs. So there's no real point in patches unless you're one of the 2% of people willing to shell out $100 for Kaizo.
This, however, is only a minor issue. The real problem is everything else.
There are so many types of patches that I don't even know all of them. IPS, BPS, Xdelta, Xdelta3...the list goes on! You're gonna need so many programs, on top of the space that you need to reserve for the SMW ROM and all the patches, that you're better off buying an SDXC, which kinda takes away the whole 'free' aspect.
THEN you need to download the patch, copy the ROM, open the right program, OOPS! you opened the Xdelta program, close out of that one, open up Lunar IPS, click the patch... zzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZzzzzzZZzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...
OOPSIES! All you will ever be able to find is an unheadered ROM, so have fun with your craption! (crap and corruption)
Oh wait, here's a program the converts unheadered SFC ROMs into headered SMC ROMs, but not the other way around!
Dang it, BSNES only works with unheadered ROMS! Time to go get a different emulator!
SNES9X...too mainstream.
ZSNES...no sound.
Super Everdrive...check the first paragraph.
Welp, you'll never get to play Kitiku Mario!
So yeah, patches aren't good. Other places, like Sonic Retro, know patches aren't good, so they just straight-up use the ROMs for Genesis hacks
Did I mention that I make comics?
Please excuse the HTML at the top of my posts.