The NintendoDS Release Standards 2010   by NDS

The Nintendo DS Release Standards v1.0 The Nintendo DS scene started out as an extension of the Gameboy Advance scene, and carried forward with mostly the same set of rules. However, as the years have progressed, it has become clear that a formal set of rules tailored specifically to the Nintendo DS console would be useful. The goal of this document is to establish a clear and concise listing of what should be expected of a valid Nintendo DS release. Having an official list to reference should prevent needless nuking, and clean up what is at present a cluttered and confused scene. I. Basic Release Requirements A release must consist of at least two things: 1) A Nintendo DS title _OR_ a patch for a Nintendo DS title and 2) An Information File (.NFO) II. Nintendo DS Title Specifics The title must be dumped from a retail cartridge, and the dump must be complete. It is essential that we define "complete", as this has lead to confusion in the past. An NDS title is defined as being complete when all used assets and resources are included. This includes the ARM executable binaries and overlays, all files within the NitroFS, and the banner for the title. The secure area must be decrypted. This excludes unnecessary padding. Needless bytes of 00 or FF at the end of files serve no purpose and may be removed. Header bytes with no game functionality are also unnecessary for a complete dump. The release must work. If a title has protection, it must be cracked prior to release. Non-working releases should be nuked. If a title is non-obviously protected, and it is discovered to need a crack only after an uncracked version has been released, the uncracked release may be nuked. A later _CRACKED_ release will take precedence, and is a valid proper. Groups are expected to release working content, and will be held liable as such. Uncracked titles should be released as INTERNAL or _UNCRACKED_ or not at all. III. Patch Specifics A patch may be either a trainer, crack, language selector, save fix, or some other modification or tool. This definition is intentionally open-ended to leave open the possibility of new types of patches in the future. While .BDF and .IPS are the most common formats, any format of patch is legal, so long as there is a working and publicly available patcher. Including a patcher and .BAT file to automate the patching process is recommended, though not mandatory. Patches must not break game functionality. The .NFO must include which cart(s) and relevant firmware the patch was tested on. If it is later discovered that the patch does not work on the cart(s) listed, the patch may be nuked as broken. If the patch does not work on some cart, and it was not stated that the patch was tested on that cart, this is not grounds for nuke. It is unrealistic to demand that groups purchase every variation of available cart to test their patches, and they should not be punished as if this were the expectation. 1. Trainers Trainers are still subject to dupe rules. If a trainer has already been released, a trainer released afterwards with an equal or fewer number of options is a dupe and should be nuked. A trainer released afterwards with more options is valid. The exception is by game region. If a patch works only with a particular region release of a game, a later patch that works with different regions of the game is valid. Any subsequent trainers for the new region are subject to dupe. 2. Cracks If a crack only partially removes protection, it is incomplete and may be nuked as broken. Cracks should be tested, and it should be stated within the .NFO which cart(s) the crack was tested on. Cracks can not be nuked because some carts can't properly handle the save routines. IV. .NFO Specifics The release must include a .NFO. The file must be a plain-text document and at least include the name of the title (or the name of the title that the patch corresponds to). Other suggested items to include are region, file size, file name, title description, and date which the release is pre'd. While it is not required, .NFO's for patches should include a full description of the function of the patch, and instructions on how it may be applied. The .NFO should make reference to the directory name of the intended release to be patched. V. Packing Releases must use compression. While maximum compression is recommended, any level of compression higher than "Store" is acceptable. The compressed archive must contain the Nintendo DS file or patch. Passworded archives are forbidden. The .NFO must be included within the directory, outside of the archive(s). Releases may be packed in one of two ways: 1) ZIP There must be a single .ZIP, and it must contain the entire game or patch file. The release must also include a .NFO and a FILE_ID.DIZ The .DIZ file is a plain-text document that must contain at least the game name. 2) RAR The .RAR must be split into 5,000,000 byte parts. Included within the directory must be a .SFV file corresponding to the archive(s) and a .NFO file. VI. Directory Naming The directory name must include the full name of the title, the text "NDS", and the group name. As all Nintendo DS releases are region-free, region labelling for the first English release of a title is optional. However, if a release does not contain English as a selectable language, or contains English but has been preceeded by another release that also contains English, the directory name must also specify the source region of the title. Directories may contain the following characters: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz-_. Sample directory names: Game_Name_NDS-GROUPNAME Game.Name.NDS-GROUPNAME Game_Name_USA_NDS-GROUPNAME Game_Name_USA_PROPER_NDS-GROUPNAME Game_Name_JAP_NDS-GROUPNAME Game_Name_JAP_CRACK_NDS-GROUPNAME Game_Name_FRA_PLUS5_TRAINER_NDS-GROUPNAME VII. Valid and Invalid Releases This section should not be necessary, but the recent prevalence of many unnecessary nukes has made it clear that there is some confusion about what is and is not valid. With the exception of flat-out dupes, anything that follows all the necessary clauses listed above is a valid release. What this means is that anything that is not listed is not relevant to whether or not a release is valid. The goal is to release working copies of Nintendo DS titles. Intros and cracktros do not prevent a release from playing, and their inclusion is not a valid reason for a nuke. The same goes for "inaccurate" headers, trimmed releases, remastered filesystems, and any other modification, intentional or not, that does not affect the functionality of the title. Demanding 1:1 copies would lead to games being broken and unplayable. As evidenced by recent movements to redump hundreds of titles to "correct" their headers, it would also lead to countless re-releases of already-working titles. There is no need for this. We hope that this document will make it clear what is expected of releases, and provide some much-needed structure to a disorganized scene. All releases released before this ruleset is not subjet to these rules. These rules have been agreed upon and will be followed by the following groups: DFG, PYRiDiA, SQUiRE, SUXXORS, SweeTnDs, VENOM, XPA