Quickstart Guide
Welcome to ROMhack Heaven. This page details the site’s guidelines and assists new players or developers. Feel free to comment below the article if you still have any questions after reading the Q&A.
General Q&A
Q: Where do I make an account and login?
A: You can register here. You can then login or edit account details here.
Q: Which gaming systems are supported on this site?
A: The full list of supported systems can be found here and it is open to expansion. More modern systems with major commercial support are not currently supported. For now, hacks for systems that released in 2004 and before are permitted, with certain exceptions allowed. Feel free to ask staff for more details, especially if one would like to apply for an exception. The General Inquiries Form can be found here.
Q: Are pre-patched ROMs provided here?
A: Pre-patched ROMs can be hosted here only if the original game was a freeware title. Users are encouraged to acquire ROMs through methods such as using ROM dumpers on their legal copies of games. Linking to piracy sites is not allowed.
Q: What is the process for hacks appearing on the site?
A: Hacks appearing on the site are either submitted manually by developers or they are noteworthy legacy hacks where contacting the original developer was an issue. The latter primarily applies to noteworthy early hacks such as the 1998 Final Fantasy V fan translation. This is not a successor to Romhacking.net with a borrowed database, but an entirely new one. For more details on file approvals, read the “I Am A Hacker/Developer” section.
Q: What sets this apart from Romhacking.net?
A: To prevent further link rot in the scene, files are hosted locally in ROMhack Heaven with a larger upload limit than RHDN had. Currently, it is capped at 600 MB. We additionally offer more leniency with approvals. For example, demos and homebrew games are being accepted without issue, and audio-related hacks such as MSU-1 hacks will face less scrutiny here. Combined with the more modern backend and unique database which is still regularly receiving new hacks, ROMhack Heaven sets itself apart not as a sequel to RHDN but as its own unique alternative in the scene.
Q: Which types of files are hosted here?
A: Translations, documents, homebrew games, gameplay tweaks, graphical tweaks, audio tweaks, utilities, total conversions, and script tweaks. Restorations, QoL hacks, relocalizations, and more are all welcome here. Files can be submitted in a fully playable state, or as unfinished beta releases, abandoned/groundwork releases, addendums, etc.
I Am A Hacker/Developer
Q: I want to submit a hack, document, or homebrew.
A: Please visit the File Submission Form and fill in all necessary information. Your files will be playtested and then uploaded to the site. The process may take a few days depending on how full the queue is.
Q: Can you bulk transfer all my hacks from an old profile such as my Romhacking.net account?
A: Of course! Visit the General Inquiries Form and send us your profile with a request to move all your files onto this site with new pages. This process may take a while.
Q: I want to update a hack, document, or homebrew which is already on the site.
A: Please visit the Page Update Form, include the page URL, and fill in only the fields which need to be updated. The process may take a few days depending on how full the queue is. The update process is currently a WIP.
Q: I want to submit a utility.
A: For now, visit the General Inquiries Form and provide the project page (i.e. GitHub URL) for your utility. Since utilities tend to update more than translations or other hacks, there are 3 options:
- Send the project page and specify you merely want it listed on the site for directory purposes
- Send the project page where it will be listed for directory purposes, and allow us to host a backup download for your most recent version
- Send the project page where it will be listed for directory purposes, allow us to host a backup download for your most recent version, and periodically contact us again with a request to update the version
Please note more in-depth utility pages with improved functionality are still under construction.
Q: Are there any rules regarding submissions?
A: We are very lenient with submissions. Once again, we are open to files such as music-related hacks, demos, relocalizations, difficulty balance mods, fan translations in any language, emulator-specific hacks, QoL hacks, total conversion-styled fangames, pre-patches of freeware games, and more. However, we draw the line on three things.
The first is pre-patched ROMs of commercial games. Freeware games may be pre-patched and hosted here, however.
The second is hacks made for the express purpose of stirring the pot. This generally entails low-quality political hacks with little substance. There is a fine line between a making an accurate Metal Gear fan translation and making a Duck Hunt hack called “shoot Trump” where the ducks are replaced with Donald Trump, or a Mario hack with no changes other than the title’s copyright portion being replaced with a message to vote Republican or Democrat.
Finally, no NSFW content is allowed here. Pornography is illegal in many countries, and as a result we will not be hosting content such as PC-98 eroge translations here.
Q: I want to remove one of my files from the site.
A: Please visit the General Inquiries Form and submit your page or pages with the request and we will contact you with further details.
Q: What is the policy on screenshot submissions?
A: Native resolution + clean screenshot standards are encouraged, but not mandatory. Must be .png or .gif format. For more information on clean screenshots and native resolutions for each system, refer to this file.
I’m Here to Download Files
Q: Where can I find essential tools like emulators and patching programs?
A: Click here for essential tools. This includes easily downloadable recommended emulators, patching software, etc.
Q: I loaded a file I downloaded here into my emulator and it only provided a black screen. What happened?
A: Most likely, you only downloaded the patch file. You must combine it with your own ROM. We locally host a tool to help with this. If difficulty arises with zipped files, unzip the patch and ROM files. Click here to use the online patcher.
Q: How do I know if I’m using the right base ROM?
A: Click here for the online hasher.
Q: The hack still won’t work!
A: Feel free to comment on the issue in the hack page. If it’s not an issue of the emulator in use, a SNES game being patched without respecting the header condition, or a Genesis game being patched without the CheckSum being fixed we will investigate the matter.
Q: Why are some file creation dates imprecise?
A: There are known database issues with some files originally uploaded to other sites (especially for hacks which received updated versions) which makes tracking the exact creation date beyond the year difficult sometimes. All new hacks from the September of 2024 onward will have exact creation and update dates listed.
Q: Can I upload somebody else’s files?
A: If you have permission or it is a noteworthy classic hack where the creator was unavailable to contact, yes.
Site Updates
Q: How to keep up with new hacks?
A: Notably high-effort new hacks will be featured in the sidebar every week. This primarily applies to things like anticipated fan translations and total conversions. However, every single new translation, general hack, homebrew game, document, and utility will be featured from newest to oldest in the Recent Additions page.
