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Originally Posted by Jaredvcxz
Offtopic post is offtopic. Don't make warnings unless they're necessary.
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Painful though it is to say, I really have to agree with Jared here. Hacking tools aren't illegal, nor are what you call ROMs. ROMs are perfectly legal, can be distributed legally, and are a great way to spend your bored days. ROMs that are of copyrighted games are illegal if distributed by the non-copyright holder, such as a game dump of Pokémon Emerald distributed by me, but only then. A ROM is more or less a file format, what it contains can be a top secret document, or it could be something of no harm.
Fun fact: ROM stands for read only memory, which is exactly what it is. It is what is used to store the game's code so that it can't be corrupted by the save file, which is how the game dump got its name (which is not technically a ROM). Your Pokémon HeartGold game contains an actual, and perfectly legal ROM, while a .nds file of the same game downloaded from the internet is illegal, and not in fact a ROM at all, but just a file on your harddrive.
Finally, its a more complex question whether downloading a ROM is actually illegal or just uploading. It falls into the same category as putting music files on Napster (ask your parents), where the courts still have decided in more recent cases what the law is.
I have broken so many rules just now...
I should clarify not to comment on this or to do so in a PM, 'cause this is really off-topic and is against the forum's rules.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaredvcxz
Are these programs cross-compatible?
Like I can edit the map in Advance-Map, save it, then edit the stats in YAPE, and it would work?
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Yes and no. I don't have much experience with game hacks; I have used Advance Map to get the in-game maps numerous times, as well as to make certain edits for the now defunct ZamFights. However, when you are done with one, you should be able to export the .gba file and then open it up in the subsequent editor. To distribute this hack legally, however, you'll need to get a little more advanced with .ips and .ups files, which I have little experience with. Distributing the .gba game is illegal because it contains everything copyrighted by Nintendo.