Using Flips Command (with examples)

Introduction

Flips is a command-line tool that allows you to create and apply patches for IPS and BPS files. It is commonly used in the ROM hacking community to modify game ROMs. In this article, we will explore different use cases of the Flips command and provide code examples for each case.

Use Case 1: Interactive Patch Creation and Application

To start Flips and create or apply patches interactively, use the following command:

flips

Motivation

Starting Flips without any arguments opens the tool in interactive mode. This allows users to create and apply patches by following the prompts provided by the tool. This mode is useful when you want to make changes to a ROM and generate or apply patches on the fly.

Example Output

When you run the above command, Flips will launch in interactive mode and provide a menu with options to create or apply patches. You can then navigate through the menu to select the desired actions.

Use Case 2: Applying a Patch and Creating a New ROM File

To apply a patch generated from a BPS file and create a new ROM file, use the following command:

flips --apply patch.bps rom.smc hack.smc

Motivation

This use case is beneficial when you have a patch file (in BPS format) that contains modifications to a base ROM file, and you want to apply those changes to create a new ROM file. The resulting file will have the modifications specified in the patch file.

Explanation for Arguments

• --apply: This flag tells Flips to apply the patch specified in the following argument.
• patch.bps: The patch file in BPS format that contains the modifications to be applied.
• rom.smc: The base ROM file to which the patch will be applied.
• hack.smc: The output file that will contain the modifications specified in the patch.

Example Output

Running the above command will apply the patch specified in patch.bps to the rom.smc file and create a new ROM file named hack.smc. The output will indicate the success or failure of the patch application process.

Use Case 3: Creating a Patch from Two ROMs

To create a patch file (in BPS format) from two ROM files, use the following command:

flips --create rom.smc hack.smc patch.bps

Motivation

This use case is useful when you have made modifications to a base ROM file (rom.smc) and want to create a patch file that includes the changes between the modified ROM (hack.smc) and the original ROM. This patch file can then be used to apply the same changes to other copies of the original ROM in the future.

Explanation for Arguments

• --create: This flag tells Flips to create a patch based on the differences between the two following ROM files.
• rom.smc: The base ROM file that serves as the starting point for the modifications.
• hack.smc: The modified ROM file that contains the changes made to the base ROM.
• patch.bps: The output file that will contain the patch in BPS format.

Example Output

Executing the above command will create a patch file named patch.bps based on the differences between rom.smc and hack.smc. The output will indicate whether the patch was created successfully or if any errors were encountered.

Conclusion

In this article, we explored different use cases of the Flips command and provided code examples for each case. We covered interactive patch creation and application, applying a patch to create a new ROM file, and creating a patch from two ROM files. Understanding these different use cases will help you effectively utilize Flips for your ROM hacking needs.