Pathfile Mod 3DS

Pathfile Mod 3DS adds pathfile-based auto-launch support to 3DS emulator builds so a frontend can launch a selected ROM without showing the emulator file picker.

What This Project Does

This repository tracks upstream emulator sources (as submodules) and applies pathfile launch support for:

• DaedalusX64-3DS (N64)
• snes9x_3ds (SNES)
• mGBA (GBA)

A frontend writes a ROM path into a known text file, launches the emulator, and the emulator auto-loads that ROM.

Linked Repositories

Forks used by this project:

• DaedalusX64-3DS: https://github.com/nextcode4u/DaedalusX64-3DS
• snes9x_3ds: https://github.com/nextcode4u/snes9x_3ds
• mGBA: https://github.com/nextcode4u/mgba

Original upstream projects:

• DaedalusX64-3DS: https://github.com/masterfeizz/DaedalusX64-3DS
• snes9x_3ds: https://github.com/matbo87/snes9x_3ds
• mGBA: https://github.com/mgba-emu/mgba

Pathfile Format

Pathfiles live on SD at:

• sdmc:/pathfile/gba_launch.txt
• sdmc:/pathfile/snes_launch.txt
• sdmc:/pathfile/n64_launch.txt

Each file should contain a single absolute ROM path, for example:

sdmc:/roms/gba/Metroid Fusion.gba

If a pathfile is missing, empty, or invalid, behavior falls back to each emulator's normal flow.

Repository Layout

• external/ upstream emulator submodules
• patches/ reusable patch files for pathfile support
• scripts/apply-pathfile-support.sh reapplies pathfile patches after submodule updates
• scripts/build-all.sh builds all emulators and collects artifacts
• scripts/write-pathfile.sh helper to write launch files

Clone

git clone --recurse-submodules <repo-url>
cd Pathfile-Mod-3DS

If you already cloned without submodules:

git submodule update --init --recursive

Reapply Patches (After Upstream Sync)

./scripts/apply-pathfile-support.sh

Build

Build all supported targets and collect outputs in builds/:

./scripts/build-all.sh

Build logs are written to builds/logs/.

Build Outputs

Artifacts are copied to:

• builds/daedalusx64/
• builds/snes9x_3ds/
• builds/mgba/

Status summary is written to:

• builds/STATUS.txt

Write Pathfiles Quickly

./scripts/write-pathfile.sh gba "sdmc:/roms/gba/Metroid Fusion.gba"
./scripts/write-pathfile.sh snes "sdmc:/roms/snes/Super Metroid.sfc"
./scripts/write-pathfile.sh n64 "sdmc:/roms/n64/Star Fox 64.z64"

Optional override for output directory (for testing on host):

PATHFILE_DIR=/tmp/pathfile ./scripts/write-pathfile.sh gba "sdmc:/roms/gba/Metroid Fusion.gba"

Notes

• This repo is intended for frontend-driven launching via pathfiles.
• Some upstream toolchain combinations may produce different artifact sets (for example .elf only for some targets if packaging tools are unavailable).
• Upstream emulator code is maintained in their own repositories; this project layers launch integration on top.

License And Attribution

This project modifies and redistributes code from multiple emulator projects. Each emulator keeps its own license terms:

• DaedalusX64-3DS: GNU GPL (see external/DaedalusX64-3DS/copying.txt)
• mGBA: Mozilla Public License 2.0 (see external/mgba/LICENSE)
• snes9x_3ds: Snes9x license text in source (see external/snes9x_3ds/source/Snes9x/copyright.h)

When distributing builds from this repository:

• Keep all original copyright and license notices.
• Provide corresponding source code for your modified binaries, including your patches.
• Include the license texts above with your release package.
• Follow Snes9x non-commercial terms unless you have separate permission from rights holders.