Questions about RNG abuse on emulators

[Kudan]

This is my first post on here and I do hope I did post it in the correct board and that it doesn't break any rules. Apologizing in advance in case I actually did something wrong without knowing I did.

I've RNG abused on retail carts and R4s before, mostly for legends and shiny/nature of eggs. I haven't done a full blown egg IV RNG yet because NPCs in DPPT hate me (1 frame off when I calibrate for an odd frame, ALSO 1 frame off when I calibrate on an even frame) and I have yet to read up on how to properly abuse egg IVs on HGSS.

So, recently I decided to give RNG a try again, but this time using emulators, because there are plenty of reasons to use them over retail and R4. However, before I start on doing so, I have a couple of questions.

1. For those who have already done RNG using emulators, what emulator is the best for the job (I'm guessing DeSmuME, but I'm kinda unsure on which version to get)?
   
2. Are there any changes in the steps taken for RNG abuse that to look out for? E.g. One slight difference that I know so far is that I have to change the computer's time and date as DeSmuME uses that for the time.
   
3. What are some of the things I can do on emulators that retail and R4 carts can't do (or are much harder to do)? To put it simply, what are the differences between emulators vs. retail and R4 carts that can make RNG abuse easier? So far, the ones I can think of are
   - save states make it easier to hit the correct delays once time is set
   - the option to catch the same pokemon in a different pokeball multiple times without having to hit the same seed plenty of times
   Are there any other obvious advantages that I missed out?
   
4. Do AR codes work on DeSmuME? Where can I find DPPT and HGSS codes that work on DeSmuME?
   
5. I've seen people (KazoWAR in his "How to RNG Legends HGSS" videos to be exact) checking data using the memory viewer. It looks like pretty advanced stuff, but is there any guides or tips on how to make sense (and use) of it?
   
6. Lastly, any tips and tricks in general on how to RNG abuse on emulators?
   

I really appreciate any help given, even talking about your experiences with RNG abuse on emulators would be an eye opener for me. And for all the help given, I wouldn't mind giving back to the community (like posting RNGed pokemon on Bond's "Competitive Pokemon GTS Distribution" thread) if I ever make any good progress with RNG abuse on emulators. And thanks for taking the time to read this! :smile:

[Kaphotics]

http://sites.google.com/site/kaphotics/emurng

1) DeSmuME, any revis is fine that has save states and access to the ARM9 memory. I've included the one I used in the first link.

2) Yep, computer time in addition to knowing how fast the emulator runs at. On the DS the game runs at 60 FPS, on your computer it usually will not be exactly 60 FPS, which might make hitting a seed take one more try (30 seconds at best )

3) Codes, for one. Pretty much all of them work. You also have easy access to a save editor to extract PKMs, import wondercards at your own leisure, and what you already said. You pretty much lock into a delay.

4) Yes. Here's a site I put some codes on awhile ago that I used for RNG.

5) See the first link at the top of my post.

6) See the first link at the top of my post.

If you have questions you really should hop into IRC and talk to me or Bond. We don't bite

[Kudan]

Wow, that one post was more than what I bargained for! Thank you so much for all the resources provided, I'll be spending quite some time looking through all of them. :smile:

I will pop into IRC if I do have any questions (or when I'm bored because I lurk and afk on another irc channel too). Hope I'm able to see you and Bond on there, as living in GMT+8 means I'm asleep when the other half of the world's awake.

[Bond697]

he's on one coast, i'm on the other. i'm sure you'll catch someone on.