Skip to main content
Tags:

Getting Started

Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold & SoulSilver Versions​

Maintainer(s):

Disclaimer​

This page (and the information on it) are subject to change at any point in time, as tools get updated and/or deprecated. Please check back here often for the most up to date recommendations.

Getting Started​

Prerequisites​

To start, you first need to obtain a dump of the game.
This will not be provided for you under any circumstances, as it enables piracy (which is not supported by us); you must perform this process yourself.

For this, you will need:

  • A Generation IV Pokémon cartridge (Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold or SoulSilver Version).
  • A modified Nintendo DSi/3DS.
  • GodMode9i.
  1. Launch GodMode9i on your console.
  2. Ensure the game cartridge is inserted.
  3. Select the NDS GAMECARD option in GodMode9i.
  4. Press A (yes) to dump the ROM.

If successful, your ROM should be dumped to your SD card under the path sd:/gm9i/out.

Known Good ROMs​

The tools to modify the games are verified to work with the following dumps.
If your dump is not on this list, it is not guaranteed to work correctly with our tools, as it may be missing features (such as DSi-enhanced features). If this is the case, redump your game.

We will not provide any dumps, as it enables piracy (which is not supported by us), so do not ask.

There are multiple ways to confirm the filehash of your ROM. Two examples are:

  1. Operating System Agnostic: Use a site such as Marc Robledo's Rom Patcher
    • You may need to select to "Force calculate checksum".
    • All three hash algorithms (MD5, SHA1, SHA256) will be returned.
  2. Windows: Use a command line interface, such as PowerShell (Windows 10) or Terminal (Windows 11):
    • Open PowerShell (Win + X).
    • Navigate to the directory where the ROM file is located* (a basic summary of navigating directories in command prompt is here).
    • Use the following command, replacing "ROM_name.nds" with the exact name of your ROM dump:
      • certutil -hashfile ROM_name.nds
      • The hash will be returned (along with the default hash algorithm: SHA1).
      • A specified hash algorithm can be returned by adding this as a parameter to the command, for example: certutil -hashfile ROM_name.nds SHA256
  3. Mac: Use a command line interface, such as Terminal
    • Open a Terminal
    • Navigate to the directory where the ROM file is located*
    • Use the following command, replacing "ROM_name.nds" with the exact name of your ROM dump:
      • shasum -a 256 ROM_name.nds
      • The SHA256 hash will be returned

*It is possible to run these commands without navigating to the same directory as the ROM by replacing "ROM_name.nds" with the path to the ROM and the exact name of your ROM dump, e.g. /path/to/ROM_name.nds

Pokémon Diamond (Known Good ROMs)
GameMD5SHA1SHA256
Diamond (Europe) (Rev 13)ca7620b92665a2565b5c1831f5f66ec066d2fbfb0dbc1f86a3d726971196989b950092bc726b2c6b0bdca37bf68881542cf7d1c26f0f8579ae1585491b0c73bc1d3fc63e
Diamond (France) (Rev 5)da0382f57cee0f6807f43a61a68c0520e961e632ca6f72f81e19c5be3d93936772e8544ab0a25fdbd0d9fdf15aa4e0d27b21efd000b5b629ef1aa74b91b0cd931253da91
Diamond (Germany) (Rev 5)0683ef614f0cef8228db7676c074c18e432dbe312bc51e36bb8cb6fcb5e08f6968f124a4e038a2cd5ac3c8ead0798dac729b517dbeb6193480eb3bed77aa1a93323825fc
Diamond (Italy) (Rev 5)1920fc6a66b3bf4bff2062044f61f4ebcd7bcb4de080f3548ca3fb14d946d5ddc717b03b8cf55b022ccb98069fd19533b664789f4434ff0549fb4406a0ec4195fa52f7a3
Diamond (Japan) (Rev 5)b538e7ad308fc793bb9e568faf0ef2df32d9bb56070be14b74c7447c8b46de55cc93ac27cf042e818bbda4f903bbd9b6a3ff8280a3882b122b2129a9ffcc78a8ea3393fd
Diamond (Japan) (Rev 6)c1d66b8d4fbdbfa57ff4868970fe19d285e5f59ea521c1b1d7026db813cca9997ad3269388812309b11978962288fae2ee41c138dd5fb4524d22a2ae3bbcaec072c2b0eb
Diamond (Japan)6f8287c855130e7525cf1789ec3f303cfb0bba9fca12d418c8b430e8950171cc356ee9810acaf112a5a307110fbc1c0cedbd88bc7ab21dbacff6406118cc2363a1c05063
Diamond (Korea)f1ac83c7d2a9368f88ea3848a5e09048d53c22b2e5fd96eed843d3b45eb192c7e9379da029107979650a83825e916d26f1811e303afd5680c2644a032f9766eb60d694aa
Diamond (Spain) (Rev 5)1dea9d321d8413a43dbd6e793bdfdec0ce2595eba1e23eacb37056598319619f81aefc29dffbea2030fd7c9f9f98e84e2a8705484b06e9bc2975c02a810d67e18253fabd
Diamond (USA) (Rev 5)02a1af2a677d101394b1d99164a8c249a46233d8b79a69ea87aa295a0efad5237d02841ee29bc6ebe431d7a6b238267b6b1521fec4a3bc14f2fa348798062f870c738454
Pokémon Pearl (Known Good ROMs)
GameMD5SHA1SHA256
Pearl (Europe) (Rev 13)a80caf9df272106fd36c56efefb3eb98b5652db288c75417de159d93d297689c885dbbd17c8fbfe3b4b87f02bb9a962d1bb5a1332b38508c620b26749693bbba29c16c0c
Pearl (France) (Rev 5)a2c9d259ad7262e5dcd5dd3ff08d798adbe7ff557a2d166038f5294ed82868150fe84442e0e7b6e92d4da87bda329a28807ca2ef6b945c80ce081ae70f343ec7a0e65d7a
Pearl (Germany) (Rev 5)dde6bf2aa2c489e5b0ab65c740e4bba0c13395f2a35bb9d2f8e867d9f504896398f795cbaafd452eb732c52453ba2ef8d6286fa6770accd931f9a39326a3ca74cba5987e
Pearl (Italy) (Rev 5)fb1e480b92771a75eb9f97a36e938fd623c5695662e906d9d57ff6e0b3e7842b9e7a1b84937c3019bdd60b7dbd98928ae5b2beb21382a6ec10dfe117f1b64d7c9b95b405
Pearl (Japan) (Rev 5)5b1a51cb11c3b7a9a833de03566bf2096f7592402cd5f0fb57b219a508df3826d82f75ddaf3ed17c277730ffd7d38ea610741207c4e904fb4e7f0cae9b30ca042c2e81c1
Pearl (Japan) (Rev 6)751d4a0524e4ef38b153ccfb5d21271f2cec46f24c0463350ed7de961dc6d3256a73477282937fcff7a536867f7ddb586881a2ba53954b6d6e268e8ecdb121fde1d9d900
Pearl (Japan)0d509fb3db3266add4504ca5bfeac0bdd2ccb37242a39df000c8be83002a62db126aa5ea2d6c8376dd0b32b4dddfedea268a5ca367356380d5c46b0d0775b677dfb348f2
Pearl (Korea)075e0efbafff7427215d9339f29f303dd1b07c0aec0da5ba865ec1b4bc39a2be4c9fb8fcdf91e96aba3323528ca6635520b844b1588d6d1ff794b096c1802813b2fa3039
Pearl (Spain) (Rev 5)5140e7176063c5a69ccda00ebadc706e3f0e08537c5579c9492d4a9cdff3ae30bb037f3b4dc8f5a4e89db2b7236268563a6ab9121123a3acf9f0ad49914441521def80a8
Pearl (USA) (Rev 5)e5da92c8cfabedd0d037ff33a2f2b6ba99083bf15ec7c6b81b4ba241ee10abd9e80999ac2dcc471033d1757ee572415f5773a77af67b350ad59e2aeb3fc28c1402c3a84c
Pokémon Platinum (Known Good ROMs)
GameMD5SHA1SHA256
Platinum (Europe) (Rev 10)5159324028bff42bf5efdb03ebc8b0518d15cd443d4e83e20493c79d3f9dc408c4f51ae07f703c7911864a6a99e63339c6bb7f7a32aabd5fb7d56a902a949a2d8bfccba4
Platinum (France)0c731deabf0288368f281a2413e65f9141ea92f794560e347cd9509f5ec9e9d479a4bbf11cfd024519116c1c6285d6af2dbdfcec778e9d74c7c18585e22032e81aaa7eb8
Platinum (Germany)7df356ef2030406b78d4aec30b0e65d1d40f19ac24d67c721a4ab25e1c013154443d75b49ffc28ff2b2d8fab60454548f92e60dd5d44f0dcc456e6e00e756424b3259217
Platinum (Italy)4fab0a9519404a0145da4342e95b01ca19148e7a38e731680fb2a045ed112b115be90fc29738c8fdb1adad1b4209531b692dd0cb7fb86329b30f54a72837128cdb3eb353
Platinum (Japan)8271f64f5c7fb299adf937a8be6d8c885b460ab10358fba74d14a704db0d9517172ee3b6532f3044b58ce5da524abf9b411150b25d445e371dec1b19c5a091376c209182
Platinum (Korea)20b6e4c1cf6a2b7d6ae89790dc0021dea8386c3af4c9c01a9968e39347358ed07ddf7bddb7f37ec3085a8bb468de5ec9478042faadc81632053035bd6c1f335beaf495e7
Platinum (Spain)5f8f877360136120edfe4f0e0669c8f012faf0dbcf0fb558438e464afbfe7c5b5e79e8c6b420059bb0b982e7ddcc9d33f21b85547e443f77f6424ff0ff7522d386d05fab
Platinum (USA) (Rev 1)ab828b0d13f09469a71460a34d0de51b0862ec35b24de5c7e2dcb88c9eea0873110d755cfbce4c4def0c7797f8dd238a3d7a5e48b4a7e3abd86890ac65f6321cef781bdb
Platinum (USA)d66ad7a2a0068b5d46e0781ca4953ae9ce81046eda7d232513069519cb2085349896dec7ede62292aa7f7014ff27d42097e769753380531739889c29b968b67b80f80678
Pokémon HeartGold (Known Good ROMs)
GameMD5SHA1SHA256
HeartGold (Europe) (Rev 10)80c1024a03aa2c1e3d66ba168db97739eb47ab4ba0326ae842135f62c7ec68cf85c9785f86a977f863c87759f4001fdc47182090e0bfd08f52fa7e74d55db705f96bc335
HeartGold (France)1f937c6376a25ff36358ca5819c83f5af09016569ee5dbac9dd0098d04927987c47645b9ee540ea4eff5268e8b7a85bc63db654c627dd82c25ebe921211870646b25356a
HeartGold (Germany)5582a09af4fc2a9873712497c9cd425b13b6853aa93121069df1d17446d3ecb36872aecfcd31f3185db0cba00c388ae67b575f9af5c9a79ec134e7a2a55102e80b12fb68
HeartGold (Italy)7aae450618f86f8d9e6f43aca52ac9196b7f9bff57eb58bc8d6e48e9e5c370719458c721013d04f5512b01ad98735a5f850dc039f0ee80bc57035b3a10e8b650be690ce1
HeartGold (Japan)e3f7933aee8cc2694629293f16c1c0a882451ee0ca9c3b768ba21367b92d8aa0e8defda724aa2207ed9d6f44869197e8c70a580b738ebe4064a68c99105651d88453a0f1
HeartGold (Korea)7d4c656de7baabc455aacdec85b18ad552516d1690d01b59e03c7fe3b1259239f5daea3866e34019c30fb0d77c530ebc254a0ac94b6fba1a73e0a1bd0bfb57dc6f475658
HeartGold (Spain)b101936ad60a33e3c06b72c6ea15a99a237cc2e34e51dc291eb61238b8e75f9e78ba1285c1c6ecfbb602cc7676b277e1c533a1ef0d80af238fca237e6d34ad83d230660a
HeartGold (USA)258cea3a62ac0d6eb04b5a0fd764d7884fcded0e2713dc03929845de631d0932ea2b5a3765f02a56842b75aa92d775d56d657a56fe3fa993550b04dc20704ab82d760105
Pokémon SoulSilver (Known Good ROMs)
GameMD5SHA1SHA256
SoulSilver (Europe) (Rev 10)706a77bb5183a22b8436a46e38f2dd3227a25c23aa1c0ecabe48a30a004b96c9dbc9773094ad298c32bbcc623d042ca20f46cfcaa399a8e814260cc5645dfe5f4c167c17
SoulSilver (France)7aee270f3ce81ccf897badc2307b88a9ba78f6fff3fc1e32aff8fcc4707a2da1ec996f7cbd224ab12e954c6469abcad66415a3dbeda68cebb14f66db4e29f4460f7502ca
SoulSilver (Germany)7f128163a5aff6e67c67a8ec39242166576cdb7eec728c49aed85b9dd7e1e084ba1f08f97d3b9affa155d4a899bdb65deb36d927b733cc5b7cefa0f2064efda90938fd63
SoulSilver (Italy)84e670608d8d70da372a89c3a50f0ecde137acf711e0b14c297abf0254e5b4a9263338e7deae3fa3ffc4456aaf922b5dfe4b238a15d36a821c1f79c9afdce8a7be58e85e
SoulSilver (Japan)a1211b2d44e551197712177e3d50b491facb67d1b6eece6e2b9d5c614427ac6f99b653d3a6abac6b4bada789bddf4a96ff63f1d1f3d99662f0976b088d3d035ac69beaa0
SoulSilver (Korea)65a556d5457feb0d125768813ee632091aa8c3e63f9848d8677c02f96db78d0bfa6aaa7fabb6ddcac6abaa5f99806a636410d21b8648d84fcf0277c826f20929794bdfdd
SoulSilver (Spain)2fca31ec4858b74dd174d0c7bcc87dc6beaae88bb1dc7d09de5f393a67ef0559bde508c8c1573ed5e01051e85310c3210d01629c338dfd12a92b8bfff72e560e62f2cf4b
SoulSilver (USA)8a6c8888bed9e1dce952f840351b73f2f8dc38ea20c17541a43b58c5e6d18c1732c7e58251d0f94a16af7d77c067b4cb7d821ba890a13203a2e2c76049623332c0582e20

The following tools are recommended to use when modifying the game files.

ObjectiveTool(s) / Resource(s)Tutorials
Audio/MusicLocation & battle music editing (and Table Editor for HGSS): Extracting and Inserting Sounds: Obtain Sound Font Data and Extract Midi: Known Commands for Music Sequencing: Playback:
Graphic EditingOverworld Sprite Editing Indexing Sprites (to be accepted by ROMs): Edit Palette Colours: Battle Sprite Editing: Tileset Editing: Sprite Drawing (with Indexing):
Mart/Shop EditingExtensive PokéMart Editing (HeartGold Version only): Universal Pokémon Shop Editor:
  • UPSE (Progressive Mart edits, but badge-gating only applies to vanilla items)
MappingPDSMS (Pokemon DS Map Studio): Tile-based custom map creation/editing tool Texture Editing: Importing Maps to ROM:
Pokédex (Regional) EditingAdd, remove, re-order, edit descriptions & habitats:
Pokémon Data EditingLearnsets, Abilities, Stats, Types, Evolution Methods:
ROM ToolsFile Explorer: Patching Tools:
Save File EditingEdit Pokémon, Bag Items etc.
Script EditingEdit Scripts and Level Scripts: Script Commands Database (Gen4):
Texts EditingEdit Dialogue and More (Location names, move names...etc.):
Trainer Battle EditingTrainer AI, Class, Items & Team Edits:
Wild Encounters EditingEdit Wild Encounter Tables

Wiki Resources​

External Resources​

In addition to the resources available on this Wiki, there are a number of external resources related to the vanilla Generation IV Pokémon games, which are useful when ROM Hacking: