How to Use UPS files

[Zoisite]

The below was written as a basic guide for how to use UPS files for people outside of the hacking community that just want to play hacks. Most of us won’t see much use for it, as we already know how this works. However, my time with Mangs’s projects has shown there are an abundance of people that do not know how to patch UPS files or try to run UPS files on their phone emulator. I don’t think they’re stupid, only ill informed. The tutorial below was written by me to avoid confusions for Ft. Mangs Emblem years ago. The more the community knows how it works, the better.

I encourage hack creators to use my tutorial with proper credit, or write their own tutorial in a .txt file separate from the readme, if any. It is also free to edit, although please make your changes clear, if any.

Hello! I am Zoisite.
I’ve written this guide to show you
how easy it is to patch a GBA ROM
using UPS files. All you need are
three things.

1. A proper ROM.
2. A UPS Patcher.
3. A computer

I personally recommend NUPS, which you
can get at Romhacking.net - Human Verification

As for the ROM, you can get your own
ROM on your own; don’t expect anyone
to do it for you.

---

To use NUPS, do the following:

1. Make sure to make a backup of your
   ROM, as it will be modified by this
   process.
2. Click “Apply an UPS patch to a file”.
3. Select the ROM you want to patch
   in the first box.
4. In the second box, select the UPS
   file you want to patch the ROM with.
5. I recommend setting the “If file is
   invalid” setting to Abort.
6. Click “Patch”
7. Rename your modified ROM to something
   appropriate.
8. Use your favorite emulator and enjoy!

---

If the patching fails, please keep in mind
that it’s unlikely to be an error with the
UPS file or the creator(s) of the file,
and is more likely to be a problem with
your ROM file, or you’re using a ROM
for the wrong game.

Please do not ask the creators of the hack
to patch it for you. They will not
do it 99% of the time.

Lacking access to a computer does not
give you the right for them to patch it
for you either; please ask a friend
or use a public computer if possible.

---

UPS files are distributed rather than ROMS
due to the questionable legality of the
sharing of video game ROMS (which are
protected by international copyright law).

UPS files only contain the modified data
of a ROM Hack, and thus bypasses this.

---

This guide was written by Zoisite#2052

If you want to use this guide with your
ROM Hack, please feel free, I only ask
for proper credit.

[Vesly]

It’s nice of you to make this, but isn’t there already a guide on this?

How to Patch a ROM

Now before we begin I would like to inform you that there are two types of patch files dominantly used in GBA hacking; .ips and .ups. UPS is a better form of patching and this tutorial fully endorses using the UPS format over IPS format. UPS Format As mentioned before UPS is a better format for patching files. Most contemporary GBAFE hacks use this patch format. NUPS (Recommended) TsukuyomiUPS UPS patches allow you to expand the ROM without having to do use the dual patches method like Stea…

I agree that it’s always a good idea to provide info on how to patch a rom with your hack. I’d already linked the above guide in my own project thread.

If your guide has valuable distinctions from the one I linked, perhaps people will find great use out of it. It can be nice to update or improve upon older guides. Perhaps some pictures would help. I use ShareX for taking fast screenshots, personally.

[Zoisite]

Didn’t know it existed, but I suppose the difference is that mine was made to function in a .txt file and be distributed to noobs with zero prior experience. Not saying Arch’s doesn’t, but his intended audience probably understands a lot more. I also attached some extra details explaining things such as “why not just give us the rom” and “why can’t you patch it for me”?

I’m open to suggestions for improvement, but the idea is really to keep it simple, accessible, and format friendly.

[MisakaMikoto]

simpler guide

[blassedot]

You don’t necessarily need a computer to apply any UPS patch, there’s a long list of phone apps that can do it. You can even apply XDelta patches on DS ROMs using some of the same apps.

[7743]

You can create ups with FEBuilderGBA.
Similarly, you can extract ups with FEBuilderGBA.
D&D ups to FEBuilderGBA.exe and it will be automatically expanded.

If you have a vanilla ROM in the FEBuilderGBA directory etc, FEBuilderGBA will automatically detect the vanilla ROM.
You don’t have to manually search for vanilla ROM every time.

If you’re into GBA FE Hack, the gba and ups file extensions It is very useful when associated with FEBuilderGBA.
You can start immediately by double-clicking on the file.

nups has a bug where it doesn’t create the correct CRC32 when it has fractional bytes of data.

[Mr.President]

@MisakaMikoto, this tool is awesome thank you