Pokémon Fulldex

1. Download pokemon-ds-wide-pc-windows-x86_64.zip (Windows) or pokemon-ds-wide-pc-linux-x86_64.tar.gz (Linux). On Linux there is also an AppImage, the program as one file: add it to Gear Lever (or another AppImage manager) and it updates itself. Its ROMs, saves and settings go in ~/.local/share/pokemon-ds-wide (O in the game list opens its roms folder).
2. Unpack it anywhere (not inside Program Files) and put your ROMs in its roms folder (any names).
3. Start Pokemon Fulldex.exe (Linux: pokemon-ds-wide) and pick a game. Windows may warn about an unknown publisher the first time: choose "More info", then "Run anyway".

It starts in borderless fullscreen at 1080p with 60 fps; F11 switches to a window. In the game list, arrow keys or a controller choose, Enter or A plays, H (or a controller's Y) opens the settings and O opens the roms folder. While playing, Esc (or a controller's Start or Guide button) opens the pause menu; QUIT there goes back to the list.

Controls: any controller (Xbox, PlayStation, Switch Pro and others) plays as a DS; hold its right trigger to fast forward. On the keyboard: arrow keys, X/Z for A/B, S/A for X/Y, Q/W for L/R, Enter for START, Backspace for SELECT, the mouse for the touch screen, Left Shift to fast forward, F5 to save a state and F8 to load it. The README.txt inside has the full list. CONTROLS > KEYS AND BUTTONS in the pause menu (or on the game list's settings page) changes any of them, including fast forward, swapping the screens, save state and load state, on the keyboard and on a controller (the game list follows the ones you change).

Saves go in the saves folder, one per game (black2.sav, soulsilver.sav, platinum.sav, ...). To carry on from another emulator, put its .sav there under that name. Pictures: the list shows each game's box art; for your own, put a JPEG or PNG in an icons folder beside the program, named after the game's code (IREO.jpg for Black 2, see the README.txt).

Settings (all of them: Settings). The ones that matter most on a PC:

Desktop shortcuts: DESKTOP SHORTCUTS on the settings page puts a shortcut for each game on your desktop (on Linux also in your apps menu, and so in the Steam Deck's "Add a Non-Steam Game" list), with its box art; each starts its game straight away.

What it needs: Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), or 64-bit Linux from late 2023 on (Ubuntu 24.04, Fedora 39, SteamOS 3.5 or newer); nothing else to install. For WORLD ON GPU, a graphics card with OpenGL 4.3, which nearly any from 2012 on has with up-to-date drivers; without it, the processor draws the world (that wants a much faster processor).

Steam Deck: in Desktop Mode, unpack the Linux download and put your ROMs in its roms folder; in Steam, Games > Add a Non-Steam Game to My Library, browse to pokemon-ds-wide (file type: All Files); then start it from your library in Gaming Mode with a gamepad controller layout. Set 3D RESOLUTION to 720P for the Deck's 1280x800 screen.

Mac (macOS 11 or newer):

1. Download the one for your Mac. Apple menu > About This Mac: if it says Chip: Apple M1 (or M2, M3, M4, ...), take pokemon-ds-wide-pc-macos-arm64.zip; if it says Processor: Intel, take pokemon-ds-wide-pc-macos-x86_64.zip.
2. Unzip it (double-click it in Downloads; Safari may have done it already) and drag Pokémon Fulldex into Applications.
3. Open it once. macOS says it can't check the app (it isn't notarised by Apple): click Done. Then go to System Settings > Privacy & Security, scroll down to the line about Pokémon Fulldex and click Open Anyway, then Open. You only do this once. Or, in Terminal: xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Pokemon Fulldex.app", then open it as any app.
4. Add your ROMs: press O in the game list. The Finder opens its roms folder (~/Library/Application Support/Pokemon DS Widescreen/roms): put your DS and GBA ROMs in it and they appear in the list. Your own saves go in the saves folder next to it.

The keys and a controller work as on a PC; Ctrl+Cmd+F (or F11) switches between fullscreen and a window. A Mac's OpenGL stops short of what WORLD ON GPU needs, so the processor draws the widescreen world, at 720P to start: a MacBook Air M1 holds 60 FPS at 1080P.

How fast a PC? Not measured on a range of PCs yet, so these are estimates. The Switch runs all seven games at 60 fps, and one core of any PC from the last eight years or so is several times as fast as one of the Switch's. What grows with your screen is the 3D resolution, drawn by the graphics card:

• Minimum: a 4-core processor (Intel Core i5 6th generation or Ryzen 1000 on), graphics built into the processor (Intel HD 520 or Radeon Vega 8 class) at 720p to 1080p, 4 GB of memory.
• Recommended: a recent 6-core processor and a graphics card such as a GTX 1060 or RX 580 for 1440p; 4K wants an RTX 2070 or better.

Tell us how yours runs, with its game.log.

All seven games in one program (pokemon-ds-wide-all-switch.zip):

1. Unzip it to the root of the SD card. It makes /switch/pokemon-ds-wide/ with an empty roms folder inside.
2. Copy your ROMs into /switch/pokemon-ds-wide/roms/ (any names).
3. Hold R while starting any game, pick Pokémon Fulldex, then the game (started from the album there is not enough memory).

In the list the D-pad or a stick moves between games, A plays, Y opens the settings (the pause menu's options, each explained) and + goes back to the Homebrew Menu. It opens on the game you played last. While playing, + opens the pause menu (START BUTTON in the settings can make + the DS's START again, with + and − together for the menu); QUIT there saves and comes back to the list (also when started from its HOME Menu icon). With only one game found there is no list: it starts straight away. Touch screen: tap it in handheld mode; docked, the right stick moves a cursor and ZL touches. Pressing the right stick in shows the other screen.

Coming from the older one-game downloads? Their folders keep working: the list also shows the games in them (/switch/pokemon-black2-wide/ and so on) and plays each with the save already there. Those downloads are no longer updated, so the all-in-one is the one to use.

Saves: each game keeps its save under its own name (black2.sav, white2.sav, black.sav, white.sav, soulsilver.sav, heartgold.sav, platinum.sav), with the GBA games' (emerald.sav...): in the saves folder of /switch/pokemon-ds-wide/ for a ROM in its roms folder, or of an older one-game download's folder for a ROM there. Saves an earlier version left beside the ROMs are moved into saves the first time the list opens (that older download no longer finds them). To carry on from an emulator or a flash cart, copy your save in under that name.

Pictures: each game shows its box art. For your own, put a square JPEG or PNG in /switch/pokemon-ds-wide/icons/ named after the game's code: IRBO Black, IRAO White, IREO Black 2, IRDO White 2, IPKE HeartGold, IPGE SoulSilver, CPUE Platinum (e.g. icons/IREO.jpg).

Recommended: start each game from the HOME Menu. In the all-in-one's settings (Y in the list), HOME MENU ICONS puts an icon for each game in the list on the Switch's HOME Menu, with its box art, which starts that game straight away with no holding R. It is made on your console (no PC or keys file). Like any forwarder, the icons need sigpatches to start. Keep /switch/pokemon-ds-wide/ where it is, as the icons start the program in it; choose HOME MENU ICONS again after adding games. Each game then has its own entry, so sys-clk (below) can have its own settings for it. To remove one: Options on its icon, Data Management, Delete Software.

sys-clk (recommended for full speed), handheld. With a forwarder, start the game, open sys-clk's overlay and set these for that game's own profile: they then apply whenever you play it, and only then. Without one, set them for the game you start the Homebrew Menu from, or as the global profile.

Without sys-clk the games run at the console's normal speeds and drop frames in busy places.

Settings (all of them: Settings). Recommended on the Switch:

The world is always drawn by the Switch's graphics chip, and each frame is shown at an even time, a frame after it is made (smoother in busy towns and battles). The games run on melonDS's FAST JIT. If a start ever fails with it, the next one falls back by itself (hold L while starting for the interpreter).

1. Download pokemon-ds-wide-android.apk on your phone and open it. Android asks to allow installing apps from your browser or Files app the first time: allow it, then install.
2. Put your ROMs in a folder on the phone (any names), for example ROMs in its internal storage.
3. Start Pokemon DS, tap the screen, allow access to files, and pick that folder. Tap a game twice (or press A on a controller) to play.

Controls: on-screen buttons (D-pad, A, B, X, Y, L, R, START, SELECT and MENU at the top) while you play by touch; hold >> beside R to fast forward; tap the picture itself to touch the DS's touch screen. A controller (Bluetooth or USB: Xbox, PlayStation, Backbone, Razer Kishi and others) plays as a DS and hides the on-screen buttons; its Start opens the pause menu and its right trigger fast forwards. CONTROLS > KEYS AND BUTTONS in the pause menu (and on the game list) changes which button does what, including fast forward, swapping the screens, save state and load state.

Saves go in a saves folder inside your ROMs folder (made for you). The settings and game.log are in Android/data/io.github.mamesj.pokemonds/files.

What it needs: Android 7.0 or newer on a 64-bit phone. The 3D world is drawn by the processor at 720P to start (3D RESOLUTION in the settings: Y in the list, or SETTINGS at the top right). Tested on a Pixel 9 Pro XL, where it runs at full speed; please tell us how yours runs (see Reporting a bug).

Apple only lets apps from its App Store install on their own, so this one is sideloaded: a sideloading tool signs it with your own Apple ID (a free one works) and puts it on your iPhone. From a Windows PC or a Mac:

1. Install a sideloading tool: Sideloadly or AltStore (on Windows, also Apple's Apple Devices app or iTunes).
2. Download pokemon-ds-wide-ios.ipa, plug in your iPhone (tap Trust on it), and give the IPA to the tool with your Apple ID.
3. On the iPhone: turn on Settings > Privacy & Security > Developer Mode (it restarts), then trust your Apple ID in Settings > General > VPN & Device Management.
4. Put your ROMs in the Files app: On My iPhone > Pokémon Fulldex > roms (AirDrop, iCloud Drive, or from a PC: the Apple Devices app's Files tab, or the Finder on a Mac). DS and GBA ROMs go in that same roms folder. A .gba opened from the Files app is taken in too. FOLDER at the top of the game list opens that folder. Tap a game twice to play.

With a free Apple ID, iOS stops opening sideloaded apps after 7 days: sideload it again (your saves stay). AltStore and SideStore can do that for you.

Controls: as on Android: on-screen buttons while you play by touch (MENU at the top for the pause menu), or a controller (Xbox, PlayStation, Backbone and others), which hides them. The game list is upright. Starting a game turns an iPhone or an iPad sideways.

Saves, settings, cheats and game.log are all in that Pokémon Fulldex folder in the Files app.

What to expect: iOS lets no app make code as it runs, so the faster way the other versions run the DS (melonDS's JIT) is left out, and a recent iPhone (an iPhone 13 or newer) is the most likely to keep up. The 3D world is drawn by the processor at 720P to start (3D RESOLUTION in the settings; 540P or LOWER RES WHEN BUSY if yours slows down). QUIT in the pause menu may