Wii homebrew just got simple!!

witnessmenow

Came accross this website, haven't used it myself but it looks very good.

Lots of stuff i'm dying to try out on it!

Just a note: you dont need a modified console to put the homebrew channel on your wii, you can do it by using the Twilight hack (explained on the site).

AFAIK: There is no way off getting this on if you have the 3.3 firmware

EDIT: actually it seems it does work with 3.3

Mr E

:eek:

Holy moley, thats cool... let me know how you get on!

Retr0gamer

Yeah did the twilight princess hack to install the homebrew channel at the weekend. very slick, can't wait to try SCUMM emulator should work great with point and clicks. Emulators are supposedly really advanced.

Anyone have a link to a website that has all the homebrew programs (of course no copyright material). I'm desperately trying to find a region free program that will allow me to play smash bros. brawl. I know there is one out there but can only find older versions that don't work.

red_fox

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Yeah did the twilight princess hack to install the homebrew channel at the weekend. very slick, can't wait to try SCUMM emulator should work great with point and clicks. Emulators are supposedly really advanced.

Anyone have a link to a website that has all the homebrew programs (of course no copyright material). I'm desperately trying to find a region free program that will allow me to play smash bros. brawl. I know there is one out there but can only find older versions that don't work.

You can get Gecko OS from here that I believe works (although I haven't tried)

Or you can now downgrade (more info) your wii's system menu and freeloader should work again. I would say Gecko would work better as a more permanent solution.

There's some more stuff on wiibrew.

Mr E

Time to blow the dust off the Wii then.... Monkey Island 2 and DOTT on a big screen TV? I'm there....

Niall0

holy crap this looks like fun ! Ill try this the weekend.

Mr E

OK... some feedback.

First of all, the Homebrew Channel is SLICK! Really professionally done.
Secondly, who do I contact in Nintendo to get back the €120 or so that I've paid for VC games? Anyone know?

Stuff I've tried:

SCUMM: Flawless. Tried Monkey Island 2, Simon The Sorceror and Fate of Atlantis. STS and FOA were full speed, full talkies. Perfect. Works great with the Wiimote too.

Visual Boy: GBA Games on the Wii. Also perfect. Tried SMW, SMW2 and Mario Kart. You have a GBA screen stretched to TV size, but it still looks damn good. SMW and SMW2 were great, but Mario Kart's controls seemed really sensitive too, pretty much making it unplayable. Otherwise very impressive.

MAME: I just get a message saying "Unable to locate mamefs-fs". I'll google it later.

Genesis Plus: Tried Sonic (a tiny tiny bit jerky, but perfectly playable) and Castle of Illusion (perfect).

Very impressive. My Wii is now back and dusted down.

By the way, everything I played (apart from SCUMM) was done with the wiimote on its side. Very simple.

Syke

this looks cool.

Does it invalidate the warrenty?

Also, are the game savailable on that site?

Ohh to play DOTT and Monkey Island again

Retr0gamer

It doesn't invalidate your warrantee since you don't have to tamper with any electrical equipment or open the console. Nintendo may give you hassle about it if it does come up but they haven't a leg to stand on.

Those games are not available on the site and linking to sites with the games is not allowed unless they are freeware and I think a few SCUMM games are. There are some nice homebrew games available though like tetris.

witnessmenow

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Yeah did the twilight princess hack to install the homebrew channel at the weekend. very slick, can't wait to try SCUMM emulator should work great with point and clicks. Emulators are supposedly really advanced.

Anyone have a link to a website that has all the homebrew programs (of course no copyright material). I'm desperately trying to find a region free program that will allow me to play smash bros. brawl. I know there is one out there but can only find older versions that don't work.

This seems to be the latest version of that region free homebrew, but i dont think smash works on this either

EDIT: and we're back

Star Lord

Tried this last night, works amazingly well, the site is fantastic in how it allows you to bundle everything together!

Quake on my Wii was great

witnessmenow

Lads could we all do what Mr E did and give a short description of everything you tried. Wont be any from me this week though, I left my wii in Athlone

Atomic Pineapple

witnessmenow wrote: »

Lads could we all do what Mr E did and give a short description of everything you tried. Wont be any from me this week though, I left my wii in Athlone

I'm a complete dumbass when it comes to this thing, what actually happens here, the hack puts a channel on your wii the same as other channels like the weather or news channel and you can then search for homebrew there or do you need to search the net from a pc and download the homebrew games onto the sd card as well?

Are the mention programs such as SCUMM and MAME on the channel or do I need to download them too?

Retr0gamer

i'll have a bit more later on.

SCUMMVM works really well, I just copied the files from the CD's of the scumm games I have and they work perfect. All except for the sound which I can't get working. Damn it I want my reggae music in Monkey Island! Still can't until I get this fixed, have been meaning to play these for ever. any help here would be nice.

Tried Mame and it indeed doesn't work which is a shame, was hoping for some mars matrix without having to hook up the Dreamcast.

Going to give some of the freeware and emulators a bash later.

Retr0gamer

draffodx wrote: »

I'm a complete dumbass when it comes to this thing, what actually happens here, the hack puts a channel on your wii the same as other channels like the weather or news channel and you can then search for homebrew there or do you need to search the net from a pc and download the homebrew games onto the sd card as well?

Are the mention programs such as SCUMM and MAME on the channel or do I need to download them too?

It's really easy to do, go to the link witnessmenow gave you and download everything you want from that site. Extract the zip file onto the root of an SD card and plop it in your Wii. Delete the old Twilight Princess save and copy the one from the SD card over. Start twilight princess and load the save game. When it's loaded walk backwards and the program should start and if you follow the instructions install everything for you. Now you'll have a nice homebrew channel there along with everything else and you can run the programs there or off the SD card.

slayerking

Sounds cool, must give it a go.

Is there anyway of doing this without Twilight Princess??

witnessmenow

modified console is the only other way. I'll be trying the homebrew channel iso installer at the weekend to see how it gets on

Mr E

If you want you can backup your old twilight save first to the SD card. When you back it up, it creates a directory structure about 4 deep with a dat file at the deepest level (thats the save file). Just copy the directory structure to your PC and you'll be able to restore it later once you've done the twilight hack.

I don't know if its obvious, but the twilight hack only needs to be done once and thats it. You can then restore your old Zelda save file if you want.

Retr0gamer

Back with more updates. Very impressive so far.

Freeware:

Quake is well worth having a go of. It runs super smooth looks gorgeous and the Wii controls are excellent. A must have.

Duck Hunt: I like the old school graphics and the masking effect when you fire gut think it's bit naff.

Tetris: brilliant

Missle Command: Should have been brilliant but it's far too difficult for it's own good.

Alright on to the emulators

The Genesis emulator is fantastic. It ran everything I threw at it at full 60fps without a hitch. I tried three games which I think push the genesis as far as it could go and it ran them excellently, Rocket Knight Adventures, Sonic and Knuckles and Mega Turrican. Annoyed I didn't try virtua racing.

Snes emulator was equally as impressive. It ran everything even the mode 7 and transparency intensive Axelay at a full 60 fps and I was surprised it even ran custom pack games like Tales of Phantasia and Star Ocean. Framerates drop to about 55-47 fps for Super FX games but Starfox to me was paerfectly playable and the framrate drop wasn't noticeable at all.

The Master System emulator ran flawlessly.

The Nes emulator on the other hand didn't work at all.

I was also prompted to update the homebrew channel. Seems it can auto update through the wii's online functions, very cool.

Syke

I tried it last night, I have a US Wii, here is my feedback:

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Quake is well worth having a go of. It runs super smooth looks gorgeous and the Wii controls are excellent. A must have.

I'm not a hardcore gamer, so I found the controls reaaaaly difficult to get to grips with, oversensitive compared to other Wii shooting games I've played. I wonder can I turn the sensitivity down.

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Duck Hunt: I like the old school graphics and the masking effect when you fire gut think it's bit naff.

I had this on NES, very nostaligic but gets boring after..ohhh 5 minutes.

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Tetris: brilliant

It wouldn't work!!!

Really upset about that!

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Alright on to the emulators

[/quote]

I only tried the N64 as I wanted to compare it to the VC games I had. It fared VERY poorly. Flickery, buggy graphics running very slowly. As far as N64 goes, I would certainly not go the homebrew route. Ocarina and Smash Bros were unplayable.

The media player was very good, doesn't have 3gp audio but for AVI/WMV/Mpg the clarity, audio and controls were excellent.


It should be noted I'm on a 60 inch HDTV, I don't know if this is an issue for homebrew.

I'll be trying SCUMM and the 8 and 16 bit emulators tonight (if the sis lets me steal the TV).

I was also prompted to update the homebrew channel. Seems it can auto update through the wii's online functions, very cool.

Hrmm didn't get this.

Retr0gamer

bah change of heart about Tetris, it won't display in scart.

I've managed to get sound working in all scumm games I have except Monkey Island 1. Was there music in this game? Only the sound effects work for me.

I got mame working. -ish. You need to copy some of the files that come with it to the root of the SD card. IT will then load up and promptly hang on the initializing part of start up :rolleyes:

Mr E

A version of Monkey Island 1 had CD Audio (music played directly off the CD) - I'd say thats the version you have. I believe SCUMM will let you play OGG rips of the audio if you have the audio files in the game directory.

Retr0gamer

Thanks for that. I'm using the CD version I got with the Monkey Island bounty pack. I'll see if I can extract .ogg files off it and give it a try. Really loving the idea of having SCUMM games on the TV downstairs I probably would never have gotten round to playing them on the PC so this is a perfect opportunity to get through the classics. Also could never get the speech to work on my copies of DOTT and sam and max but works perfect on this.

I love using that oggfish program, haven't used it since my saturn days

Mr E

Cool, let me know if it works.

With regards to SDLMAME, I've read that it won't run if you have WC24 enabled. Disable it in the Wii settings and try again.

http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Homebrew_apps/SDL_MAME

witnessmenow

For those too lazy to click links, it thought you might find this interesting (from the page Mr E linked to)

Known Problems
- Loading times VERY HIGH:

- For small roms (2-4MB, CPS1) can take 3-5 minutes to load.

- For large roms (13-20MB, CPS2, NEOGEO) It can take 30-60 minutes to load.

After the loading part, it plays at normal speed (85-90% of original speed without frameskip and without lags).

- No keyboard or Wii joystick support

- Problems using TV in 480p or rgb components

60 mins to load a rom!!??

Star Lord

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Also could never get the speech to work on my copies of DOTT and sam and max but works perfect on this.

"I can't use those things together!"

Retr0gamer

Mr E wrote: »

Cool, let me know if it works.

It does indeed work. Copied the music as MP3's and put them in the game directory and now I'm enjoying the reggae music while I play

Only one slight problem, the music seems to jump a little every so often like the program is struggling with playing it. I think it's because I used a bit rate of 192 kbps, perhaps a lower bitrate would be less stressful on the system.

Syke

Retr0gamer wrote: »

It does indeed work. Copied the music as MP3's and put them in the game directory and now I'm enjoying the reggae music while I play

Only one slight problem, the music seems to jump a little every so often like the program is struggling with playing it. I think it's because I used a bit rate of 192 kbps, perhaps a lower bitrate would be less stressful on the system.

Having trouble would guitar fun, which is the game I most want to use.

Bah!

DOTT runs brilliantly.

witnessmenow

EDIT: Big Update

Just to post up my experiences so far:

Installing:
Used the homebrew channel iso, was as simple as burning it to a DVD, putting it in the wii and pressing "1" 3 times, very easy. Its also the first DVD "app" I've used that the modified how the disc channel sees it (as in had its own preview picture and music).

NOTE: The homebrew channel wouldn't run anything with my Gamecube memory cards in, worked fine without them.


Wii Physics:

Didn't play with it much but i thought it was pretty crap to be honest. Certainly wasn't easy to use. Might give it another shot later.


Geexbox:

Didn't run for me, said i was missing files from the memory card. Will definitely trying to get it running though as it sounds very promising


Duck Hunt:

Decent but gets boring fast, and the same 3 seconds of music looping gets annoying even faster!


Wad Installer

I dont want to say much about this other than it worked fine.


EDIT:

Quake:

It seems very good to me, I can see what one of the previous posters was saying about the controls being a bit sensitive but no too bad when you get used to it. Can see myself playing more of it anyways.

## Homebrew Browser: ##

I'm taking this from happy_tux over on wiffy

I can recommend "Homebrew Browser"

The Homebrew Browser allows you to download the latest homebrew applications and games all through your Wii. You don't need to take your SD card out. You don't even need a computer! You can also delete homebrew you no longer want.

No more dead links, no more extracting files, no more finding out that the homebrew application doesn't include an icon.png and meta.xml in the zip file!


Homebrew apps/Homebrew Browser - WiiBrew

Slán
happy_tux

Just tried it out myself there, working perfectly! It connects to the internet through your wii and downloads the files straight to your SD card. Descriptions of each program could be better but other than that its top notch

@Retr0: you could nearly change the name of the thread to ".. got even simpler!" :P

more edit:

FTPii

Transfered over a 30mb file to my SD card from my laptop and worked perfectly. There is no username and password so just enter anything for these when your FTPing into it. Was looking at the googlecode pages these guys have, apparently deleting stuff doesn't free up the space on your card so dont delete things using this.

im...LOST

Retr0gamer wrote: »

It does indeed work. Copied the music as MP3's and put them in the game directory and now I'm enjoying the reggae music while I play

Only one slight problem, the music seems to jump a little every so often like the program is struggling with playing it. I think it's because I used a bit rate of 192 kbps, perhaps a lower bitrate would be less stressful on the system.

Did you get Monkey Island III working by any chance? Well, I got it working but I was wondering what you do for the changing of CD's? Did you just rip both of the CD's and stick them in the same directory and did that work?


I'm also having trouble with Guitar Fun. Apparently it's "not a proper homebrew" when I go to load it.

Retr0gamer

Haven't tried monkey island 3, sorry.

Mr E

im...LOST wrote: »

Did you get Monkey Island III working by any chance? Well, I got it working but I was wondering what you do for the changing of CD's? Did you just rip both of the CD's and stick them in the same directory and did that work?

Have a look here: http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/The_Curse_of_Monkey_Island

Looks like you need to copy all files into one directory.

MOH

I'm probably being dim here - most of the things I tried don't recognise the Wiimote, do I need a classic controller for this stuff?

Adyx

For a lot of things yes, you do need the classic controller, such as Snes9x. Some may also work with a Gamecube contoller. The included Tetris game actually only works with a GC controller for me.

Retr0gamer

GC controller works with snes and genesis games but it's a bit duff. Think I'll be forking out on a classic controller.

Syke

Retr0gamer wrote: »

GC controller works with snes and genesis games but it's a bit duff. Think I'll be forking out on a classic controller.

I'm using classic. Works well for most games on SNES and Megadrive.

im...LOST

Mr E wrote: »

Have a look here: http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/The_Curse_of_Monkey_Island

Looks like you need to copy all files into one directory.

Bah, it still doesn't work. I keep getting an error that I'm missing room 52 or something in file comi.la2 when it comes to the bit where the CD need to be changed.

I've tried loads of times now and it's annoying. I'm halfway through the game now and I wanna finish it! :pac:

Any suggestions?

Aidonin

MOH wrote: »

I'm probably being dim here - most of the things I tried don't recognise the Wiimote, do I need a classic controller for this stuff?

I'm having the same problem as you, and it really doesn't make a difference...

If it's not recognizing the wiimote, it doesnt recognize the classic controller either. The wii-mote just cuts out when i go into most things. Anyone got any tips?

Dman001

Anyone having any problems installing the Homebrew Channel? It keeps getting stuck on the black screen with the white writing. I'm using a micro SD and I heard it could be because of writing speeds.

Adyx

Dman001 wrote: »

Anyone having any problems installing the Homebrew Channel? It keeps getting stuck on the black screen with the white writing. I'm using a micro SD and I heard it could be because of writing speeds.

I'm using a micro SD too without any problems. Is there any error message?

Dman001

Nope. It just stays on that screen saying loading binary image. How long did it take ye to get past this screen?

Adyx

Dman001 wrote: »

Nope. It just stays on that screen saying loading binary image. How long did it take ye to get past this screen?

Wasn't paying too much attention tbh. Certainly no longer than a minute. I followed the instructions here and I had no major problems.

Have you another card you could try? Also afaik the Wii won't work with SDHC cards.

Dman001

Okay so I got past that bit but I'm stuck again. When I download the files from the hackmii.com website, there is supposed to be some ELF file but I'm not seeing that when i download it. I've got as far as putting the Homebrew Channel on the Wii but I can't use it and I've only about 1 minute left to use it.

Adyx

Dman001 wrote: »

Okay so I got past that bit but I'm stuck again. When I download the files from the hackmii.com website, there is supposed to be some ELF file but I'm not seeing that when i download it. I've got as far as putting the Homebrew Channel on the Wii but I can't use it and I've only about 1 minute left to use it.

How can you not use it? Is it showing up on the Wii Channel menu? When you download the Homebrew channel and extract it there should be a folder with a readme file, another folder called wiiload and the boot.elf file. This is the only file you need. (I'm assuming you used the Twilight Hack). After that just go to the site linked in my last post and you can get apps, games etc.

Dman001

I do have the Homebrew Channel on the menu but there is a 10 minute timer on it. When I press start, a black screen comes up with writing and I then get an error message.

Dman001

Adyx wrote: »

How can you not use it? Is it showing up on the Wii Channel menu? When you download the Homebrew channel and extract it there should be a folder with a readme file, another folder called wiiload and the boot.elf file. This is the only file you need. (I'm assuming you used the Twilight Hack). After that just go to the site linked in my last post and you can get apps, games etc.

Thanks for all the help. I downloaded those files again and I finally can see those files.

Adyx

No problem, I wish I could have helped more but my little brother has an extended loan of my Wii so I'm working from memory. Hope you get it working.

Dman001

Yep got it all working. I wanted it to play DVDs on the Wii using MPlayer but it's barely useable. It is very slow. Anyone else using it?

Syke

Dman001 wrote: »

Yep got it all working. I wanted it to play DVDs on the Wii using MPlayer but it's barely useable. It is very slow. Anyone else using it?

I have it installed and was able to watch Batman Begins last night. Had some trouble with the Millennium series but it just seemed a slow load.

I believe there is an issue with certain DVDs where the Wii must crack the CSS code key on the DVD to read and process and this can take 1-2 minutes.

I'm not sure if the DVD player here is region set, I must try that today. Otherwise worked fine for me. I do believe there are issues between Wii versions and I know that PAL isn't as stable as NTSC.

Thing to remember bout the DVDx is that this is the 1.0 version and it has been released a little ahead of time by the developers (althoughlater than they initially projected).

Expect updates soon to deal with PAL issues and loading times along with better mplayer and I'm told an N64 emulator for DVD reading.

Dman001

Lets hope that it will work eventually without any problems. The Wii would make a nice little DVD player. I don't understand why Nintendo couldn't have put DVD playback in the Wii from the beginning.

Kernel

Yeah we gotta wait until the software eggheads produce some good homebrew. An xvid player, and something to access mp3 and video files from a PC via wireless would be nice!