645 - How I "fixed" Pokemon Box: Ruby & Sapphire

This was just a weekend project that got out of hand LOL
Info on the sidebar (including a link to the ProjectPokemon page) at: absolsblog.neocities.org/

[@AbsolBlogsPokemon]

I forgot about Italian. That's supported, too LOL. Also, as for why I chose to just compare the first character in the function instead of a more obvious fix, it was the lazier solution lol: 1 small hex number change vs. adding a bunch of new instructions

[@xXAiirRayXx]

U are a genius

[@Rot8erConeX]

Could you check the THIRD letter instead of the first? Looks like it's V for Ruby and P for Sapphire. or if(!gamecode[1].equals("A") || !gamecode[2].equals("X")) { return 2 } else if(gamecode[3].equals("V")) { return 0 // Ruby } else if(gamecode[3].equals("P")) { return 1 // Sapphire } else { return 2 } I don't like the way the first line looks, but I don't know what limitations exist in this programming language (namely, if you can do something like gamecode[1,2].equals to check the first two characters.

[@Chipstopher]

@@Rot8erConeX what's your first if for? can't we just remove that and do: if(gamecode[3].equals("V") { return 0; } else if (gamecode[3].equals("P") { return 1; } else { return 2;}

[@ALTHiR]

Of course your forgot about the bootshaped Spaghetti monster

[@Rot8erConeX]

@@Chipstopher It's to catch non-Pokémon games or games that aren't Ruby or Sapphire but do have V or P as their third letter.

[@duskysomething5411]

your skill and talent as a programmer and pokemon lover blows me away! you bring so much to the pokemon community, always making new things in old games, and posting all sorts of engaging content that you just can't get from other poketubers. i'm always excited to see what you post next!

[@_SirSanj]

Completely agree he’s become one of my fav creators so fast!

[@coruscentia]

"talent as a programmer" 🤔

[@duskysomething5411]

@@coruscentia I mean, he literally coded gen 3 into pokemon Rumble if I'm not mistaken. much more than most people could do, so yeah.

[@coruscentia]

@@duskysomething5411 Ngl, don't wanna be that guy, but did I actually ask?

[@duskysomething5411]

@@coruscentia bro you posted your comment as a reply to mine, if you didn't want me to say anything then don't post?

[@lewisspring35]

Absol, you are a fucking saint for doing this. Box really didnt seem to have many people doing anything for it, but to have a well-known, mainstream PokeTuber actively fixing this game's problems is truly amazing. I happen to own a PAL copy of Box, so I cant wait to try these out.

[@switch1e]

Dude honestly I got the widest grin around 3:03 when you showed off all of your international Pokémon games. You have such a fun type of presentation with your videos, I love them so much

[@absentcorner]

As a programmer myself, it's uplifting to see others putting work and dedication into preserving or fixing old software (or in this case restoring functionality where there was a deficit). Nice video as always Matt!

[@ronk475]

Insanely cool Matt! This might actually get me to use Box more often, it's basically the final resting place for my living dex at the moment. Thanks for all the work you put in for this and Rumble!

[@thisismyaltaccount4195]

As someone whose prized piece in their gamecube collection IS American Pokémon Box, I was THRILLED to see this upload! I ran into all the same hurdles in my time spent with the game, even doing the trade work around for my japanese copy of Leaf Green! I make it a mission to get those necessary 100 dex entries before mass dumping the living dex I have to insta complete the dex in my gen 3 files. I'm always on the lookout for new things being unearthed from this title, and I'm overjoyed to see it come from my favorite Pokétuber! You really went above and beyond with this one. From the raw work in fixing the strange connectivity requirements, to the beautifully organized editing and visual aids, to the transitions! Fantastic video! I'd love to see more content like this from you! Thanks so much for spending this much needed time with my favorite gamecube title!

[@BlueVacktor]

To be completely honest, I didn't even know what Pokemon Box really was until this video! Amazing video as always, looking forward to the next ones!

[@basedobito]

Matt(Absol) truly is a pro grammar

[@ellasorellabrella]

can't wait for what i presume is a maractus-only emerald run!

[@jojo_vegetables]

As someone who’s learning programming right now, this is super cool! You’re really impressive!

[@stgigamovement]

I'm a programmer myself and I'm impressed

[@SaltedNeos]

I need to say it man, I love when I see this sort of work you've done for the series happen time and time again. Infact, your Rumble weekend mod was one of the things that has sparked my ongoing project, which is both a preservation mod, and then a true mod of the 3ds version of Pokemon Shuffle. Fantastic work as always, and thank you for the work you've done, it really is inspiring!

[@The12thGripper]

This is really cool! I hope someone someday does a fan translation into English for the Platinum update of My Pokemon Ranch. As a kid, I had a very odd obsession with it and never quite got over the disappointment of them never bringing the update outside of Japan.

[@KopperNeoman]

This plus a HG/SS compatibility patch would be 👌

[@electrocast]

oh my god I'd kill for this. when I wanted to replay gen 4 I had to reset PLATINUM instead of diamond like I originally wanted to because diamond was the one connected to ranch and I waited for years and the platinum patch never came so platinum was the one that I had to reset when I didn't want to.

[@kathy444]

thank you finding methods to preserve this! i know tools like pkhex and such make it easier but i love doing the pure way of using games like stadium 2, my pokemon ranch, they all have unique features that deserve to be remembered and salvaged! as a kid it was always cool to see hardware interact in neat ways so having more ways to store pokemon is always welcome. can't wait for the platinum update for ranch! it will come someday!

[@the7569]

This is genuinely so cool, it's pretty insane that you were able to do all of this. I actually just picked up a Japanese copy of box around a month ago for my region modded GameCube. I also picked up some Japanese gen 3 games (with the excuse of using them for box when in reality I just wanted more for shiny hunting) either ways this is a really cool video and I never thought I'd ever see something like this, thank you for your contributions to the community over all these years man

[@sapnupua5]

its thanks to people like you that i feel like those of us who enjoy replaying dont feel afraid of getting attached to our pokemon

[@AbsolBlogsPokemon]

It's because I myself am too attached to my Pokemon! I remember spending a whole day as a kid trading everything off my Ruby version so I could restart the file

[@ludwig2822]

What a fantastic video! I had no idea Pokémon Box even existed until now, but I'm immensely impressed by how you managed to improve it! Your work in researching and patching these games is endlessly commendable, and I'm very sure it's very useful for anyone using this service. Terrific work as always, Matt!

[@Chrystalials]

This is amazing! You've made Box so much better with these modifications

[@ShankMods]

Great stuff. Huge upgrade! With a few more tweaks this could become the straight up definitive version of box.

[@AbsolBlogsPokemon]

Thank you!! Even further down the road, I want to look into making Emerald/FRLG compatible with adventure mode to make it even better to use

[@stgigamovement]

@@AbsolBlogsPokemon ooh

[@MegaOwy123]

Incredible work Absol, can’t wait for part 2 to see what other changes are in store!

[@JLMetak]

I was just finishing watching the Scarlet movie after I put it on hold for a month (as I hadn't beat Scarlet yet and finally have done so today), and this appears!

[@MagiCarson08]

Epic. The fact that you cared to fix this is very commendable, I am impressed. I can’t think of a better way to spend a weekend lol. Good work Matt!

[@ksternberg7407]

Its people like you who give me hope that i will be able to play my older pokemon games in a way that i enjoy long into the future. Thanks to people using their own time and skill for passion projects like this. With the e-shop closure just around the corner this makes me optimistic 💕👏

[@CannedWolfMeat]

Always cool to see new workarounds and software being made for these older games, i'm definitely gonna look into patching my copy of Box.

[@slateportraichu5416]

Your programming skills impress me! Love how passionate and dedicated you are=)

[@gamenor1015]

I wonder how AbsolBlogsPokemon "fixed" Pokemon Box: Ruby & Sapphire.

[@xmangomelon3969]

Boy do I have a video for you

[@silenzio31]

Does anybody have a already pre-patched rom I don't have a PC

[@SecretScubaSteve]

Just F'n Amazing!!!! Thanks so much for all your uploads, man! Brings a little joy to my life every time you post a new video! Keep up the great work, man!

[@spimtmot733]

(nodding my head throughout the entire code part as if i understood it) great video as always

[@gearsofwar2497]

I love how dedicated people like you are to helping fellow pokemon fans. Thank you so much 🙏🙏🙏

[@EnigmaBarry]

Excellent job making the ultimate Pokémon Box. While there are shortcomings this is still amazing.

[@Michael-wc9ux]

I use my modded GameCube and use box ALOT, this is AMAZING!!! There’s so many new ways to start a new playthrough and this has so many uses, thank you so much absol! 😎

[@thatcloveplant]

love these videos! its so cool seeing people fixing these older pokemon games is just so great and pretty cool for game preservation

[@dr_doritotf2305]

Bro this guy may be the coolest KZbinr to exist, I seriously love this guy

[@dracoheart4122]

Bro that is pretty sick. I would love to see more stuff like this from you.

[@SpeedTwister96]

Great stuff! Thanks for that work, will come in handy for the surfing Pichu hunt eventually!

[@krisaatv]

In the recent time, I don't think I've ever clicked so fast on your video. Amazing work Matt, I’m very impressed and proud and thankful of your dedication and commitment to the project and the community, thank you for what you do! ❤🎉👌

[@shadowfurret]

This is absolutely incredible and a total game changer!! I will be using this SO much thank you so so so so so soooo much from the bottom of my heart for your hard work. I didn't even think this could be possible!

[@illusoryphoenix5178]

I had no idea Pokemon Box had all these issues, but I'm glad you where able to fix them!

[@girlwithoutafairy]

Honestly thank you so much for making the different language games compatible. As someone who has all 5 games in all 6 languages, it's a big relief to not have to do all that trading lol

[@ScottE-2]

That's fascinating. I sadly never got to own Pokemon Box because... sweet mercy it was expensive. No one I knew owned it and I am convinced it never reached my neck of the woods. Glad to see more things covered about this game. Didn't even know about those restrictions, at least now most of the heavy lifting has been done for those who have modified their consoles to be able to work around some language barriers and these ridiculous requirements.

[@TheRealMicheal]

in NA it was only ever sold in NYC to my knowledge, so if you didn't go to the Pokemon Center in NYC in the early 00s you've got no option (we love when companies force you to resort to piracy because they literally don't offer the goods or services you want to pay for)

[@pepperedmoth726]

This is seriously so impressive. You've done a service to this game, thanks absol!!

[@jacobbunea3131]

Thank you Absol, not only have you made Rumble better you saved so many people thousands of dollars and hours. You are truly a legend 🙏

[@GhostsSoup]

LOVE these types of videos!

[@ahamjax]

That was the quickest sub ever. You're awesome for this!

[@benni5245]

I see Absol video I click Absol video No but srsly I'm so hyped for this

[@verymelonman12]

You have a talent for sure, but more importantly than that, passion for decided to work on a project lik this when most others wouldn't even look in the direction of Pokemon Box.

[@YYangles]

I had no idea pokemon box existed until now your videos always make my day :D awesome video as always matt

[@bainhardt]

absolutely love this under-the-hood stuff. reminds me of the Rumble weekend edition video. technology has come a long way

[@_SirSanj]

Another banger absol video I hope it never ends

[@ceep5082]

Happy to have someone like you in the Pokémon community, would love to nickname my eventual extreemspeed zigzagoon after you

[@tcbite1]

THIS IS AMAZING! The last couple of months I started some mod projects including my GameCube (picoboot install with swiss) and my GBA (IPS mod). I mostly wanted to check out the GameCube Pokemon games I never got to experience, that are also priced insanely high second hand. After getting it all setup, I played though Colosseum first and then XD. This got me on the kick of wanting to complete the 3rd Gen Pokedex. Turns out this is way harder than it needs to be. I then started a new save through my old English Fire Red to start cracking down on the OG 151...but I needed Leaf Green to get the rest. Checked eBay for the English version and noped out because of the prices, so I bought a $20 Japanese version. I thought this would be an interesting change up anyway, considering I've played Gen 1 countless times. Soo I speed run through my Japanese Leaf Green and then can't even get the National Dex because I have ~30 Pokemon and you need 60. I thought, oh well, this is a good time to try Pokemon Box. It Doesn't work. Then I research....duh I need to finish the Sevi Islands and I'll just have to finish getting the 60 on my own in game. Did that, and it still didn't work. Well....I'll try the Japanese version of Pokemon box....even though this won't help me in the long run. This leads to me to discover that Japanese GameCube memory cards are different and I also need a block 59 card. But, I have swiss so I'll just emulate the card. Then I run into the issue that swiss's MC emulation for whatever reason does not want to work with Japanese Pokemon Box. UGH So I start researching Pokemon Box and stumble on your video uploaded 1 day ago! THANK YOU! This is a good solution For anyone thinking I could just use a link cable to trade from my GC player to my GBA, yes this could work, because the GBA games are not region locked, but like you mentioned in the video this is very slow, and my old Crusty GBA link cable from my child hood refuses to work even after my attempts to repair it. Originally I didn't worry about it because I could trade with the GC/GBA cable with Colosseum and XD, but this won't work for my Japanese version. I do have a link cable on the way now though. Eventually I would like them to all be in Pokemon Box so I can transfer everything to my US Ruby/Emerald versions. Also, yes, PKHex is an option, but I try not to use hacking tools to get the best streamlined experience. The whole point of modding the GameCube, buying a GBA to GC adapter, Gameboy player, and all the other random accessories was to get a mostly legit experience. Emulators are great also but there is a fun factor that is lost. You could argue all this region locking and gatekeeping were part of the original experience, but fuck that lol. 3rd Gen is crazy

[@Ddddddddddd381]

Mad respect. This is super cool and would probably look dope on your resume

[@beanhurst]

Amazing work, Matt!

[@Im_Your_dad]

Bro Matt, no joke I just started a huge play though of all gen 3 games including the GC games. This box patch is about to change everything.

[@FelixAyada]

This is awesome. I love the dedication to fixing this and rumble. The community is lucky to have you out here working on these projects. Also, those seem to be some curious Pokémon you're showing off at the end there. They seem like shinies one might find during the course of an upcoming video or something 🤔

[@rutrop]

This is AWESOME. This level of dedication to something that 99% of platyers would overlook is what sets you apart from other content creators. I love this channel, unfortunately I am not able to find original versions of any GBA or DS game here in spain but I still love watching your content.

[@just_a_pkmn_guy7666]

this is very cool to see! i hope you continue to do more things like this

[@Takoto]

Dude that's awesome, I have a soft spot for Pokémon Box for how much time I spent organizing my Pokémon as a kid across cartridges. Had no idea you were into programming, but will definitely use this patch at some point in the future, I have a lot of Japanese Gen 3 cartridges lying around but my copy of Box is PAL.

[@AbsolBlogsPokemon]

Thanks! I'm not too much of a hobbyist programmer, but it is what I do for a living lol

[@KingCornWallis]

I have a physical US Pokemon box, and I have been putting off going for the Special Eggs because of the cumbersome requirements. This changes everything, thanks!

[@courtneymertz4596]

This is really cool in general! You just made R&S Box up to date!

[@BroseidonLive]

Pro grammer Matt to the rescue! Good to know my Italian Leaf Green version is in good hands in the off chance I need to connect it to a Pokemon Box that I don't own (yet 👀)

[@PakaManDraws]

Literally the exact video I was looking for! Thank you!

[@j1t176]

This is so cool! I've never done any moding to a console before, but once I obtain a copy of pokemon box I just might have to try it.

[@vladventura1928]

"Pro grammer" my humor is so broken, I was laughing for a while with this one

[@Nate-xi4zf]

I love how you can make a video about some Pokémon thing I have no idea about and make me extremely invested in it

[@webbedshadow2601]

You are amazing, can't thank you enough for this, I'm eternally grateful for the work of modders that make old stuff usable in the current day, now I can store some Pokemon without having to beat the entire game first!!

[@theslimelegacy]

He cooked and he served. Well done Absol this is a key piece of software that will assist me in my journey of 100%ing gen 3 :).

[@onthehunt2297]

Great job Absol and keep up the amazing work and I got Pokémon box from a friend when he moved he didn’t want some of his GameCube games

[@jessea9744]

This is amazing! I literally replaced the batteries in my gen 3 games yesterday and was going to put box on my gc useing swiss.

[@bonguy]

Loved the video! You are really charismatic and this was an interesting topic

[@MannMan86]

Of course this patch comes out AFTER i finish all of my work with my gen 3 living dex. That 100 dex minimum was so annoying. Plus all of the other limitations. So glad to find this video and this patch. Thank you

[@nightlygarbagerun7395]

as someone fairly new at coding, this was a very informative and still super interesting. absol does it again!

[@suluturnip]

you pokemon guys are crazy and i love it. thanks for doing all this heavy lifting and sharing it with us!

[@Shadowonshadows]

You're the best dude. You always go the extra mile for the community

[@hotnoodles4u]

really cool video, love code related stuff in your videos, fun to learn

[@3grouch]

This is awesome. I look forward to using it.

[@LuminousLemon]

Matt you're one of my favorite creators, this is so sick

[@AlejaKaiser]

I love you so much, I just bought a setup for shinyhunting and this will help me a lot

[@imablisy]

You weren't kidding about the flags being simple lol.

[@TDAdvocate]

Thank you so very much for everything that you have done for this community. Not only in the past, but even with just this single patch. Much respect to you! Also, any thoughts of making this open source by chance? I would love to actually give this a deeper look in my free time to perhaps learn from. Thank you again regardless for making this!

[@Pigeon3_3]

Love your vids always great when you upload

[@Logicaltaco5]

I love videos like these, keep up the great work!

[@YYangles]

matt you are not only a PRO GAMER but also a PRO GRAMMER

[@fishjackonline]

This is so cool! I’ll probably pick up a copy of box now!!! Thanks Matt!!!

[@fishjackonline]

Not an American one lol incase anyone was wondering

[@_lexi]

matt. i am loving these programming videos, they are very interesting :)

[@chewthysteak]

talk about timing, I JUST snagged a copy of pokemon box myself (JPN), and was just going to trade my US Emerald pokemon to a copy of JP Emerald to transfer them. You’re a godsend for this patch dude

[@amillusion1]

New Absol lore just dropped. Apparently he is hacker man on the weekends!

[@bulbasaursparkles]

always nice to see a pro grammer use their dark powers for good

[@towakun6678]

Man this is so cool, I wish I could do stuff like that! I actually own the Pokemon Colosseum bundle version of Pokemon Box and didn't even know it was also sold as a separate "game" lol

[@giligan1004]

I love your banpresto mother figures. Just finished my set around Christmas!

[@vickington]

This is awesome! I have been wanting something like for a while.

[@playkawaii2104]

Woo! New Absol video :D As someone who is starting to learn to program, i really liked this video! 57!

[@dudeidontreallycare]

Awesome video, Matt!

[@vexivian]

You are the magician friend I wish I had, dude. LOL "just fixed this big thing for all of you. was only a little weekend project." I love you omg

[@murabito6435]

This is awesome! Will try out this mod in the future.

[@n0lain]

Great stuff as always!

[@nathandodd3646]

Any video like this please These are so much fun to watch

[@jacobphillips7962]

This is awesome! If you ever want to take on a similar project, i imagine doing this to bring english platinum compatibility to pokemon ranch would be really neat! Great stuff!

[@loudthump6306]

Saint Absol we thank you

[@azumeow9415]

Can’t wait to play frlg with gen 2 and 3 mon! Thanks absol