Romhacks and Homebrew

[SilkSkull]

I love Romhacks and Homebrew for old systems and as I'm slowly making my ideal emulation center (thanks RetroArch) I figured I might as well add some romhacks and homebrew to my rom libraries!!!

To start this off I'll add some of my favorites and some places to find them!

For finding Romhacks I like to use the classic RomHacking.net and although a bit more specific, I love SMW Central, a site that hosts a lot of romhacks for mario games, mostly Super Mario World

For finding homebrew I haven't found many great sites except for Itch.io's Homebrew section, don't get me wrong it does have good games but I'd like to find a place that specializes in Homebrew

For some of my favorites in Romhacking

• Super Mario World Creepypasta Romhack
• The original Kaizo Mario
• Super Mario Star Road
  

I know it's a short list shhhhh

[Vii]

Romhacks truly are wonderful works of passion sometimes.
The most I find myself playing nowadays are simple translation hacks, but back in my youth I loved messing around with random stuff I found on RH.net 

Random PKMN Romhack I remember playing back in the day:
- Pokemon Brown

Romhack that seems to improve the bootleg Sonic NES game:
Somari (Sonic The Hedgehog) NES - Improvement Plus Tracks

[Cele]

I have a hacked Nintendo 3DS in order to play Japanese games. But I didn't dare to mess with it myself so luckily I found someone selling a hacked one haha. It has that homebrew in it and stuff. I'd love to make some fan translations with roms as such.

[BlazingCobaltX]

I don't really play romhacks, because I barely have time to play my usual games! That said I really admire the effort of fans to improve a game they love or even transform it into something new. I'd like to shoutout Pokémon Vega and Pokémon Prism for their really good music mixes.

[TheFrugalGamer]

I'm not super into RomHacks myself (besides the SuperMario6 Randomizer, because that's one of my favorite games), but I LOVE homebrews. I've been making things with GB Studio myself, and I love trying out others. While the gameboy is probably my favorite platform, the Atari2600 is a close second, and it has its own (really big) homebrew scene here:

AtariAge.com

They sell cartridges with all sorts of games, a few of which I've picked up in the past, and there's also a pretty active forum associated with the site.

Speaking of which, I recently came across a no-code game maker for the 2600, which I've been meaning to try out:
https://haroldo-ok.itch.io/vcs-game-maker
Not sure what sort of game I'd make, but I think it's great that smart people are making these things more accessible!

[YoungsterJ4y]

I love homebrew, though I'm not super into ROMhacks. I do have a soft spot for pokemon lost silver though by but that might be an rpgmaker game, not a romhack haha.

Homebrew however: I have many homebrew recommendations for 3ds.

• FTPD: an FTP client for the n3ds that in my opinion is a lot more stable and quick to set up than the native FTP client found in microSD management.
  
• pkmn-chest: a Pokemon save manager, storage service and pokemon generator for 3ds. Can work with save files in gens 3-5 if I recall correctly. Very useful.
  
• NDSForwarder: if you have DS games on your 3DS, this is good to give you a selectable tile on your home menu so you don't have to do multiple steps to get to your game!
  
• TWPatcher: if you're not impressed with the default filters Nintendo puts on DS and GBA games on the 3ds, try this out. Offers many different filters to try to make your games look nicer.
  
• New Super Ultimate Injector 3DS: if you want a retro game on your 3ds that doesn't have an official virtual console release, this can make you a home menu button for it as well as the fun 3d models the virtual console releases have!
  

Lemme know if you want others :)

[Cobra!]

I actually work with homebrew devs regularly, and try to dabble in it myself! I participate in any homebrew game jams there are, most of them I end up being a 3D artist.

I did models for Telocation: Gemini, Spirit Harvest, and Buggin' Out to list the probably most well known ones.

As for games I've programmed, I've ported a game I've made years ago, Rossies Classic, to Sega Saturn, DOS, and an unfinished port to the original Playstation.

I'm partaking in another N64 jam, and I'm learning how to program 3D on older systems on the side! I really enjoy doing this and hope to have released something on every platform out there one day. :P

[bugholder's epiphany]

Romhacks are neat :)
I'm familiar with a fair amount of them, gotten from various places on the internet, like romhacking.com which is... kinda like the .net one but mainly for Mario 64 Romhacks, and Metroid Construction, which is for Metroid romhacks. But in general I have multiple here that I recommend:

Metroid: Rogue Dawn - An unofficial prequel to the original NES Metroid, where you play as Dawn Aran on her own zero mission to steal a biological specimen from the galactic federation
MaternalBound - A hack for Earthbound that makes it more like the Japanese version of the game, Mother 2, as well as including what the creator, Shigesato Itoi; intended, and interpretations from a fan translation.
Starfox EX - A massive expansion to Starfox, with custom bosses, stages, and a whole lot more!
V I T A L I T Y - A wonderful, unsettling hack of Super Metroid with it's own creepy story with a lot of custom assets going on.
Super Metroid: Cyrogenesis - An adventure on a frozen planet, been a while since i've played this one but I remember it being rather well made!
B3313 - A very massive, terrifying back-rooms esque Mario 64 romhack that is themed around a massive amount of spooky beta content that came about not too long ago. Although technically unfinished, this is the most up-to-date build.
Super Mario: Beyond The Cursed Mirror - A strange, wonderously made Mario 64 Romhack filled with 15 custom-made courses with a unique story and a lot of new mechanics!
Please Come To The Castle - Please Come To The Castle. This is a short one.
sm64.z64 - A spooky short Mario 64 romhack.
SMASH REMIX - A overhaul of Smash Bros 64, adding a lot of new fighters, mechanics, and a lot of stages!
F-Zero GXTreme - An expansion to F-Zero GX, retweaking the stats of the vehicles and making things a lot faster. A LOT.
Super Mario Sunburn - A Mario Sunshine expansion that allows for continued play after collecting stars, interconnectivity between levels and generally turning the game into a fair bit more of an open-world feel.

[sig]

B3313 - A very massive, terrifying back-rooms esque Mario 64 romhack that is themed around a massive amount of spooky beta content that came about not too long ago. Although technically unfinished, this is the most up-to-date build.

Coincidentally I've been playing some of this just now: it kind of flip-flops between interesting and boring for me because it's not as terrifying to me as it is to some others. I do really appreciate the atmosphere because it really feels like something I could dream up, which it nails.

Another Mario hack I've put a lot of hours in is Super Mario Galaxy 2: Cosmos Collapse:

(The YouTube description is also the link depository)

It's basically a much harder reimagining of the base game themed around black holes which do unnerve me so I'm just playing it like a survival horror. Currently am at World 5 after months of on and off playing, and intend to see it through to the end soon

[SilkSkull]

Romhacks truly are wonderful works of passion sometimes.
The most I find myself playing nowadays are simple translation hacks, but back in my youth I loved messing around with random stuff I found on RH.net 

Random PKMN Romhack I remember playing back in the day:
- Pokemon Brown

Romhack that seems to improve the bootleg Sonic NES game:
Somari (Sonic The Hedgehog) NES - Improvement Plus Tracks

This reminds me, I have so much respect for the people who spend vast amounts of time translating games, especially lesser known games (Mother 3 anyone? :P)

I have a hacked Nintendo 3DS in order to play Japanese games. But I didn't dare to mess with it myself so luckily I found someone selling a hacked one haha. It has that homebrew in it and stuff. I'd love to make some fan translations with roms as such.

I love hacked consoles! I used to have a PSP with so much on it, especially all the emulation that thing could pull off!

Coincidentally I've been playing some of this just now: it kind of flip-flops between interesting and boring for me because it's not as terrifying to me as it is to some others. I do really appreciate the atmosphere because it really feels like something I could dream up, which it nails.

Another Mario hack I've put a lot of hours in is Super Mario Galaxy 2: Cosmos Collapse:

(The YouTube description is also the link depository)

It's basically a much harder reimagining of the base game themed around black holes which do unnerve me so I'm just playing it like a survival horror. Currently am at World 5 after months of on and off playing, and intend to see it through to the end soon

I'm not super into RomHacks myself (besides the SuperMario6 Randomizer, because that's one of my favorite games), but I LOVE homebrews. I've been making things with GB Studio myself, and I love trying out others. While the gameboy is probably my favorite platform, the Atari2600 is a close second, and it has its own (really big) homebrew scene here:

AtariAge.com

They sell cartridges with all sorts of games, a few of which I've picked up in the past, and there's also a pretty active forum associated with the site.

Speaking of which, I recently came across a no-code game maker for the 2600, which I've been meaning to try out:
https://haroldo-ok.itch.io/vcs-game-maker
Not sure what sort of game I'd make, but I think it's great that smart people are making these things more accessible!

I actually work with homebrew devs regularly, and try to dabble in it myself! I participate in any homebrew game jams there are, most of them I end up being a 3D artist.

I did models for Telocation: Gemini, Spirit Harvest, and Buggin' Out to list the probably most well known ones.

As for games I've programmed, I've ported a game I've made years ago, Rossies Classic, to Sega Saturn, DOS, and an unfinished port to the original Playstation.

I'm partaking in another N64 jam, and I'm learning how to program 3D on older systems on the side! I really enjoy doing this and hope to have released something on every platform out there one day. :P

That's super cool! I'll have to check out a few of those! Any tips for learning to develop for old consoles, ones that are easier to learn than others?

Romhacks are neat :)
I'm familiar with a fair amount of them, gotten from various places on the internet, like romhacking.com which is... kinda like the .net one but mainly for Mario 64 Romhacks, and Metroid Construction, which is for Metroid romhacks. But in general I have multiple here that I recommend:

Metroid: Rogue Dawn - An unofficial prequel to the original NES Metroid, where you play as Dawn Aran on her own zero mission to steal a biological specimen from the galactic federation
MaternalBound - A hack for Earthbound that makes it more like the Japanese version of the game, Mother 2, as well as including what the creator, Shigesato Itoi; intended, and interpretations from a fan translation.
Starfox EX - A massive expansion to Starfox, with custom bosses, stages, and a whole lot more!
V I T A L I T Y - A wonderful, unsettling hack of Super Metroid with it's own creepy story with a lot of custom assets going on.
Super Metroid: Cyrogenesis - An adventure on a frozen planet, been a while since i've played this one but I remember it being rather well made!
B3313 - A very massive, terrifying back-rooms esque Mario 64 romhack that is themed around a massive amount of spooky beta content that came about not too long ago. Although technically unfinished, this is the most up-to-date build.
Super Mario: Beyond The Cursed Mirror - A strange, wonderously made Mario 64 Romhack filled with 15 custom-made courses with a unique story and a lot of new mechanics!
Please Come To The Castle - Please Come To The Castle. This is a short one.
sm64.z64 - A spooky short Mario 64 romhack.
SMASH REMIX - A overhaul of Smash Bros 64, adding a lot of new fighters, mechanics, and a lot of stages!
F-Zero GXTreme - An expansion to F-Zero GX, retweaking the stats of the vehicles and making things a lot faster. A LOT.
Super Mario Sunburn - A Mario Sunshine expansion that allows for continued play after collecting stars, interconnectivity between levels and generally turning the game into a fair bit more of an open-world feel.

This list is gonna be my to play list for the next while! I especially have been meaning to check out the super mario 64 beta romhack! I love the spookiness surrounding that game!

[Cobra!]

That's super cool! I'll have to check out a few of those! Any tips for learning to develop for old consoles, ones that are easier to learn than others?

I've actually been working on a list on my website. I updated it now to list the toolkits I've used ranked from easiest to hardest.

I should also compile a list of things I've done (or tried to do) with all of them.

[akesi]

B3313 - A very massive, terrifying back-rooms esque Mario 64 romhack that is themed around a massive amount of spooky beta content that came about not too long ago. Although technically unfinished, this is the most up-to-date build.

Coincidentally I've been playing some of this just now: it kind of flip-flops between interesting and boring for me because it's not as terrifying to me as it is to some others. I do really appreciate the atmosphere because it really feels like something I could dream up, which it nails.

I watched one of my friends play this for a couple hours and have watched a playthrough on youtube of this one, it's really compelling stuff. I've always been super captivated by dream-like imagery in games -- like, I feel that this follows this very specific tradition of Yume Nikki / LSD Dream Emulator (also, if anyone has recommendations of games in this area, let me know). Tying this back to web-revival, this kind of design is one of my big inspirations for my website (albeit the depths are still underdeveloped). I'd like to make a game like this one day (albeit maybe once the backrooms trend has dissipated a bit, cause I don't really think of it as horror necessarily)

As for other romhacks, when I was a lot younger I remember playing various Pokemon romhacks & a few Earthbound ones, but it's been a while. Lots of good recommendations in this thread though.

[SilkSkull]

Great video about this very topic I found earlier!

[NetherFalcon]

I actually have thought of trying out rom hacks before, i have a steam deck which has some roms on it used with retrodeck and i thought of maybe slapping a super mario world rom hack and some other hacks of other games.. i also had a great idea of playing nintendo wii rom hacks (if they even exist, i heard it's possible but i forgot) on my actual wii since my wii is already modded and has the homebrew channel installed along with some homebrew software and even a neat little custom theme i put on my wii's menu.

[alexela64]

putting a pin on this to come back later as I want to try out some romhacks eventually.
Specifically, theres a few JP games on my 3ds i want to try and find translations for.
Also, I think it's so funny how easy it is to hack a 3ds nowadays. I cfw'd mine a few years ago and i had to actually move files to and from the SD card by plugging it into my computer, moving games or files over, then putting the SD card back into the 3ds etc etc etc. Now with hshop you just scan a qr code or whatever...
it's so much easier