[TheCloudOfSmoke]

01/12/2007 UPDATE
All country versions of the games have been added into the newest version of the vba-over.ini and they are grouped by countries.

Download vba-over.zip in the attachments at the bottom of this post and extract it into the same directory as VisualBoyAdvance.exe. Then go to File>Open (not Open Gameboy...). The names used to describe the roms are based on No-Intro dat.

IF YOU ARE STILL EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WITH YOUR ROMS:

Try deleting the vba.ini and any saves (battery saves and save states) that may have been created by the VBA and start the game fresh with the vba-over in the same directory as the VBA. By default, battery saves will be saved in the same directory as the rom unless the save directory has been manually changed in the directories dialog (Options>Emulator>Directories...). FYI, battery saves are saves that are produced by the game and have a .sav extension while save states are produced by the emulator and have a .sgm extension.

Note: The vba-over does not fix the solar sensor problems that are in the Boktai games. It only enables the Real Time Clock function in the VBA so that the game will use the system time in your computer in order for it to keep track of night and day like it would in the real game.

HOW TO USE IPS PATCHES:

This is for if you found a patch for your game and don't want to use the vba-over and you don't want to permanately patch your roms. Many of them can be found at No Frills. Make sure that you have the correct patch for your rom. Name the ips file as the exact same name as the rom with the exception of of the extension and place it in the same directory as the rom and make sure that Options>Emulator>Automatic IPS Patching is enabled in the VBA.

Example:
Pokemon - Emerald Version (UE).gba
Pokemon - Emerald Version (UE).ips

You can also use an ips patcher to permanently patch it for you. A good ips patcher for Gameboy Advance roms is GBATA. It also has many other useful utilities for Gameboy Advance Roms as well.

I'm almost certain that none of you have taken the time to read all of this either .

 

[TheCloudOfSmoke]

The list above is for (U) roms only.
For a more definitive international list visit:

http://www.gbadat.altervista.org/tools.htm

The list there was created by pandylib.

 

[Cypherswipe]

The idea of the vbaover.ini file is great, but downloading one isn't. Why? Because it only works if all your games have the same names as in the ini file.

 

[TheCloudOfSmoke]

That's not true. The VBA looks for the game code and settings.
For example: [BPEE] for Pokemon Emerald (U).
The name before that is just a label for the settings and is not read by the VBA. As long as you got the same rom thats in the ini (no matter what name it is) it should work.

 

[Cypherswipe]

Ah, that's much better then. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[culubalo]

just a noobish question but does this effect the starting part on poke emerald where it sez internal battery has gone dry? Cos it isn't showing anymore on my emu...

 

[TheCloudOfSmoke]

This was taken from the VBA Readme:

Per game settings
-----------------

Version 1.5 introduced the support for per game settings for GBA games. You
can defined the following settings on a per game basis by using an INI file
called vba-over.ini in the same directory as the emulator:

rtcEnabled=<0 for false, anything else for true>
flashSize=<65536 or 131072>
saveType=<0 for automatic, 1 for EEPROM, 2 for SRAM, 3 for Flash or 4 for
EEPROM+Sensor>

Use the 4 letter game code to separate settings for each game. Example:

[ABCD]
rtcEnabled=0
flashSize=65536
saveType=0

[ABC2]
rtcEnabled=1
flashSize=131072
saveType=0

 

[Cypherswipe]

Just multiply 64*1024, and flash 64k is 65536.

 

[TheCloudOfSmoke]

i was 2 lazy 2 multiply. :???:

 

[Cypherswipe]

Maybe that's why the dinosaurs died out, they were too lazy to multiply....

 

[Cypherswipe]

-Save Type means [1]Automatic, [2]EEPROM, [3]SRAM and so on.

Incorrect. [1] is EEPROM, [2] is SRAM, [3] is flash, [4] is EEPRAM+sensor, etc. Automatic is presumeably [0], although [0] might be "none".

 

[TheCloudOfSmoke]

Sorry. I forgot that automatic started from 0. I corrected post #7 with an incerpt from the VBA readme describing per game settings.

 

[TheCloudOfSmoke]

I've updated the list with a few more games and added the vba-over.ini as an attachment for convenience.

 

[Cypherswipe]

Some tips on figuroing out the settings needed for the games:
Go to this address and search for the game in question:
http://releases.pocketheaven.com/?section=dupecheck_results
When you get to the info page for that game, you will see a lot of info. There are 2 main things you need to look for there, the serial and the save type. The middle 4 letters of the serial are what you put in brackets below the title of the game.
For example: Serial AGB-BPGD-NOE becomes [BPGD]
*Note: If you are uncertain which version of a game you have, open the game in VBA and click file->rom info and you will see the 4 letter code there.

The second thing you need is the save type and (only if flash) size, both are on the same line. Find what save type the game uses, and set saveType=# appropriately ("saveType=<0 for automatic, 1 for EEPROM, 2 for SRAM, 3 for Flash or 4 for
EEPROM+Sensor>")
IF the save type is flash, set the flash size as well. (Figuring out the flash size can be a bit confusing. If the site says 512Kbit, then set flashSize=65536. If the site says 1024Kbit, then set flashSize=131072.)

Lastly, if it's a pokemon game, set rtcEnabled=1. A few other games might use the real time clock, but not very many.



For those who are curious, that site gives the flash size in Kbits, VBA gives it in Kbytes, and the vba-over.ini file gives it in bytes. There are 8 bits in a byte and 8Kbits in a Kbyte. If you divide the Kbits by 8, you will get the Kbytes. If you multiply the Kbytes by 1024, you will get the bytes. A simpler way to figure it out is to multiply the Kbits by 128, that will give you the bytes.
If you're thoroughly confused now, don't worry. You don't need to know this to use the vba-over.ini file, just follow the instructions in the rest of this post.

 

[superpull]

I know this is an old thread, but i didn't want to create a new one.
whenever i beat the Wallace my previous save file is erased. if i do the above and start again will this still be the case (because i cant face another 30-40 hours of gameplay to have the same thing happen).
alternatively, i have this saved in my vba (just before i enter to fight the elite 4), if there is anyway of changing the future of whats about to happen id be a very happy bunny.

Cheers in advance

p.s by above i mean i have changed the save type to 128 and created a vba-over.ini file to which i've copied the contents of the above zip into? - i hope

 

[TheCloudOfSmoke]

I've heard about this problem in some other threads pertaining to Pokemon Emerald, but I'm not sure if what youre trying to do would work. Try looking through some of these threads:

http://www.ngemu.com/forums/search.php?searchid=931702

 

[superpull]

hmmm, i suppose my only other option would be to action replay around the elite four and never actually fight them


p.s that link does not direct me to any other links. i've searched high and low for this as opposed to creating a new thread. please help

 

[superpull]

No? noone able to help?

(apologies for the bump)

 

[Samzam2058]

Iunno but I am wondering how you can do the transformations that require transfers with the pokemons for GB and GBC like yellow, red, blue, gold, silver, and crystal

 

[kokiri]

i need some help for pokemon emerald. but you all get fussy, i did everything that you told me to do, but i still get a white screen when i load pokemon emerald. any idea what is wrong?

im a n00b, please dont hurt me...