Project - Pokémon Home for emulator save files

[spoonlord57]

Hey everyone! I've lurked on this site for a while while working on this project, and I wanted to introduce myself and gauge any interest. I'm a software developer and huge Pokémon fan, and for probably 6 years now I've been obsessed with learning how Pokémon are stored, how data persists from game to game, and the magic of moving a Pokémon from a GBA game all the way to the modern era.

As for the project, I call it OpenHome, and it's a cross-platform app that lets you move Pokémon between save files across generations (forwards and backwards). The app stores data locally so you never lose Pokémon data even when moving to an earlier generation and back.

I made a site with more information and download links here, and you can find the GitHub repository here. Here are some screenshots:

This is a hobby project so I can't guarantee a response time for bug fixes/new features, but I'd welcome any feedback or collaborators! The app is built with Electron + React/TypeScript. I know Electron isn't great, but this way it's availabile on Windows, Mac and Linux, and can be contributed to by most people with JavaScript experience.

Also, major shout out to Kurt, Matt, and all the other PKHeX developers whose code I used to learn the layout of Pokémon file structures, item index numbers, and pretty much everything else related to research on save data formats. If you guys happen to see this and would like more credit anywhere please let me know.

EDIT: Pokémon modified with OpenHome are not considered legal by Pokémon Home. Don't move pokémon that have been modified by OpenHome into the official Pokémon Home, because you will likely get the 10015 error for a hacked mon.

Edited April 29 by spoonlord57
Adding disclaimer

[mathmagician_nws]

This is a really cool project to see! I was literally looking for something like this not too long ago and disappointed no one had ever considered doing this. PkHeX has a nice pkmdb feature, but something like this is way more interesting to use. I would love to see you continue to give this updates! 

I downloaded it and gave it a go, and it works great. It's very simple and clean, too. Only thing I couldn't figure out was why the save folder option wouldn't do anything (I could open files fine, but that one button didn't have any response).

[spoonlord57]

5 hours ago, mathmagician_nws said:

This is a really cool project to see! I was literally looking for something like this not too long ago and disappointed no one had ever considered doing this. PkHeX has a nice pkmdb feature, but something like this is way more interesting to use. I would love to see you continue to give this updates! 

I downloaded it and gave it a go, and it works great. It's very simple and clean, too. Only thing I couldn't figure out was why the save folder option wouldn't do anything (I could open files fine, but that one button didn't have any response).

Thank you so much! Now that you mention it, I checked and must have broken that feature without realizing it. I should have the fix up in the next few days. I appreciate the feedback and the bug report!

[RodrigoTR]

This is awesome, I'm 100% trying it out.

[james alery]

On 10/10/2024 at 3:11 PM, spoonlord57 said:

Hey everyone! I've lurked on this site for a while while working on this project, and I wanted to introduce myself and gauge any interest. I'm a software developer and huge Pokémon fan, and for probably 6 years now I've been obsessed with learning how Pokémon are stored, how data persists from game to game, and the magic of moving a Pokémon from a GBA game all the way to the modern era.

As for the project, I call it OpenHome, and it's a cross-platform app that lets you move Pokémon between save files across generations (forwards and backwards). The app stores data locally so you never lose Pokémon data even when moving to an earlier generation and back.

I made a site with more information and download links here, and you can find the GitHub repository here. Here are some screenshots:

This is a hobby project so I can't guarantee a response time for bug fixes/new features, but I'd welcome any feedback or collaborators! The app is built with Electron + React/TypeScript. I know Electron isn't great, but this way it's availabile on Windows, Mac and Linux, and can be contributed to by most people with JavaScript experience.

Also, major shout out to Kurt, Matt, and all the other PKHeX developers whose code I used to learn the layout of random Pokémon file structures, item index numbers, and pretty much everything else related to research on save data formats. If you guys happen to see this and would like more credit anywhere please let me know.

wow bro,  This is awesome. I really appreciate it.

[shadowsence]

is there an android version of this?

i would love to be able to play through all the games i have on emulators and then be able to collect pokemon from them all as i go. i would pay money for this android app

[coldheart]

I tried but it seems I can't open PH3 files? Also for some reason my pokemon scarlet save won't load.

[spoonlord57]

9 hours ago, coldheart said:

I tried but it seems I can't open PH3 files? Also for some reason my pokemon scarlet save won't load.

can you make a GitHub issue and attach the files that won’t open? https://github.com/andrewbenington/OpenHome/issues

[Atrius97]

Just some feedback, it might be a good idea to make it clear that bypassing HOME via any methods will result in illegal Pokémon. This will work for singleplayer on Switch games but attempting to use HOME will likely trigger Error 10015 as they lack valid HOME data, and they could be caught by other online anti-cheat measures in the future.

(You did make that clear in the Github readme, but not in your post here.)

[spoonlord57]

4 hours ago, Atrius97 said:

Just some feedback, it might be a good idea to make it clear that bypassing HOME via any methods will result in illegal Pokémon. This will work for singleplayer on Switch games but attempting to use HOME will likely trigger Error 10015 as they lack valid HOME data, and they could be caught by other online anti-cheat measures in the future.

(You did make that clear in the Github readme, but not in your post here.)

Good point, I edited the post to clarify this.