Newbie Questions Regarding Retail Game Save Editing

[Bloodspectre]

Hello everyone. After looking through all of the guides regarding editing and hacking saves, I've become somewhat overwhelmed. I primarily want to edit my retail save (the actual store-bought game itself) to give me event items and Pokemon that I've missed throughout the years, but the various guides regarding save editing are somewhat confusing to me. Some talk about cheat codes, others about downloading the game off of the internet, others about Action Replay... I don't know where to start. I'll try to form my questions to be as clear and concise as possible; also, if I'm in the wrong forum, I apologize, and would like to be redirected to the correct forum.

1. All of the guides mention different hardware requirements to get a retail save onto the computer for editing; what hardware is recommended for taking a retail save, editing it, and (most importantly) putting it BACK into the retail game? Playing a save game from the hardware itself (for the sake of cheats, etc.) is not a priority for me.

2. Once I get the proper hardware, how do I take the save game and access it with Pokesav/Pokegen?

3. For that matter, what is the difference between Pokesav and Pokegen? Which is better?

4. I've heard that getting Mystery Gift/Event Items isn't done well in Pokesav/Pokegen. If that is the case, what other software should I use?

5. What is the risk to my save file/retail game if something goes wrong?

That's all for now; I may return with more questions as time goes on. Thank you in advance!

EDIT: I just noticed that I didn't post in the Save Game Edit Help sub-forum. Is there a way to move it there? I apologize.

Edited April 10, 2011 by Bloodspectre
Accidentally posted in wrong sub-forum

[Kaphotics]

SMS4 (49$) can read the save file and write it from and to the cart.

It comes with a program (Neo2 Pro Manager)

Use PokeGen.

Pokemon Mystery Gift Editor 1.4.3 by Grovyle91

No risk with PokeGen

[Bloodspectre]

Wow, that was prompt; thanks! SMS4 sound expensive, though; are there cheaper alternatives?

[Kaphotics]

Wow, that was prompt; thanks! SMS4 sound expensive, though; are there cheaper alternatives?

I think so, but I don't own one so I can't recommend.

I think it's NDS Save adapter plus or something

[Bloodspectre]

I've heard of a couple of other cards, like AceKard, CycloDS, and Supercard; are any of those worth checking out?

[CelesteEqwyn]

I think so, but I don't own one so I can't recommend.

I think it's NDS Save adapter plus or something

I have the NDS Adapter +. I got it when HGSS were released, as the ir chip that was added inside the cartridge made them incompatible with the Nintendo DS GameShark save backup device I had been using. After having switched to the NDS Adapter+, I have never gone back to the GS one. I am incredibly happy with this one and would definitely recommend it.

From what I had been reading about the cards you mentioned in the previous post, most (if not all) are used as a game cartridge you put into the NDS in someway. The NDS Adapter+ is basically a special flash-drive shaped USB device that has a slot for the DS game. The back-up/restore program is on the manufacturer's website if I recall correctly. Once you download and install it, you can just plug in the adapter and a game card (doesn't matter if the game card is in the adapter before you plug it in to the computer or not) and run the software. The program is super simple and self-explanatory, plus it saves the data as a .sav file which tends to be the easiest file type to work with, as it's basically the raw save format so almost every (if not every) application should recognize it.

One last note: I ordered my NDS Adapter+ from a website based somewhere in Canada. While it did arrive without any damage, it took a while to actually arrive (I'm in California btw), to the point where I ended up getting one from an eBay seller in Hong Kong as well. And that one arrived before the one from Canada. I have a feeling that the Canada site took so long simply because the need for the plus version probably skyrocketed when HGSS was released, as it was the only compatible save device available for a while (without requiring you to solder any wires to the chips inside the game card, anyways), and so it was out-of-stock for a while. So just be sure to ask customer service (if possible) whether the device is in-stock or not, especially if you don't want to have to wait about a month or so to get it in the case it's backordered.

Edited April 11, 2011 by CelesteEqwyn
Typo

[Bloodspectre]

It looks like I'll be picking up the NDS Adapter +, then. Thanks! By the way, I noticed on a review website that tinkering needs to be done for the drivers to work on 64-bit systems (like my Windows 7 system). The tinkering itself (signing the drivers with an override tool) seems simple enough, but I was wondering if anyone here had experience with it. If so, does the fix work all of the time?

[reiella]

It looks like I'll be picking up the NDS Adapter +, then. Thanks! By the way, I noticed on a review website that tinkering needs to be done for the drivers to work on 64-bit systems (like my Windows 7 system). The tinkering itself (signing the drivers with an override tool) seems simple enough, but I was wondering if anyone here had experience with it. If so, does the fix work all of the time?

I personally use the fix to boot up Win7 in test mode so it can load unsigned drivers. And it works, just has that annoying test mode waterbug going on. I typically use my laptop instead because of that hassle.

It works pretty well for me though.

[pup5115]

Pokegen is better for creating legit pokemon, but pokesav has more tools.

[Syntaxlies]

I've heard of a couple of other cards, like AceKard, CycloDS, and Supercard; are any of those worth checking out?

I've never heard of the Supercard, but I've used both an Acekard and a CycloDS. Both work fine.

My personal recommendation would be an Acekard 2i, as it's extremely easy to set up and much more user friendly, and is very inexpensive. The only drawback is that there are a couple (probably less than 10) of problem games that will lag on it, however I haven't noticed any lag on B/W yet. Be sure to invest in a high quality micro SD card and not the ones that come bundled with the acekard itself.

But be aware that if you plan to use the game on a flashcart, you won't be able to use infared features. This is the only limitation, everything else works fine, including the global link.

[Chargonite]

I've never heard of the Supercard, but I've used both an Acekard and a CycloDS. Both work fine.

My personal recommendation would be an Acekard 2i, as it's extremely easy to set up and much more user friendly, and is very inexpensive. The only drawback is that there are a couple (probably less than 10) of problem games that will lag on it, however I haven't noticed any lag on B/W yet. Be sure to invest in a high quality micro SD card and not the ones that come bundled with the acekard itself.

But be aware that if you plan to use the game on a flashcart, you won't be able to use infared features. This is the only limitation, everything else works fine, including the global link.

those flashcarts don't help u edit retail save, they only let u play downloaded ds games from the internet and edit those save files