NES ROM Hack Patch Tutorial


To play most NES ROM hacks you will need to patch the game yourself.
The patches are usually IPS format but can be BPS.

Required Files

To apply the hack to the ROM you need three things:

  • Patching software
  • The correct ROM
  • The .ips patch file

When downloading ROM hacks you need to look at which version of the game the ROM hack is for.
For example: Super Mario Bros. 3 (U) (PRG0) [!].nes
The (U) is for the North American version (USA), (E) is European, and (J) is Japanese.
(PRG0) means it's the first version of the game. (PRG1) would be a later version that has some changes.
[!] just means it's the best quality ROM.

IPS files

Patching steps

To patch IPS hacks the software you need is: Lunar IPS
Once you have the right files here are the steps to patch the ROM:

  • First make a copy, and rename the game ROM you are going to patch.
  • Extract and run Lunar IPS.
  • Click Apply IPS Patch, then find the ROM patch.
  • Then it will have you find the ROM file you want to patch.
  • It should say it was successfully patched.

BPS

Patching steps
The software for patching .BPS hack is beat
Once you have the right files here are the steps to patch the ROM:

  • Extract and run beat.
  • Click Apply Patch, then find the .BPS patch.
  • Then it will have you find the ROM file you want to patch.
  • Next will have you name the newly patched ROM. Make sure to give it the right file extension.
  • Then It should say it was successfully patched.

Delta Patching

Some ROM hacks like Donkey Kong: Pauline Edition are a little more tricky to get working.
This ROM hack is for the 2010 Donkey Kong NES ROM. This is the ROM that comes with the UK release of the Super Mario Collection.
To patch this hack you will need Delta Patcher or any other utility for encoding xdelta3.
The version from ROMhacking.com comes with two patches.
First, if any of the patch files extensions are .xdelta3 rename it to .xdelta
Next use DeltaPatcher to patch the "Donkey Kong (U) (PRG1) [!] to Donkey Kong 2010" onto the Donkey Kong (U) (PRG1) [!].nes ROM.

Delta Patcher Screenshot

Then change the patch to "49AEC658 to F6DB268C.xdelta" and apply again.

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