DuckStation Cheats and Patches Database

This repository contains a collection of cheats and patches for PSX games, primarily intended for use with the DuckStation emulator, but can also be used by other emulators that support GameShark codes.

Patches show in the UI in a separate section to cheats, and are intended for modifications to the game that do not provide any "advantage" to the player, including:

• Improving performance.
• Fixing game-breaking bugs.
• Unlocking the frame rate (e.g. "60 FPS patches").
• Widescreen rendering where the built-in widescreen rendering rendering is insufficient.

If a modification makes the game "easier" for a player, or provides a clear advantage, it should be filed under cheats, not patches.

Repository Format

A patch file for each game is located in either the patches or cheats subdirectory, depending on the category.

Each file is named either SERIAL.cht, or SERIAL-HASH.cht, where HASH is the XXHash hash provided by DuckStation. The hash variant of files should only be used where multiple revisions of the game exist, and the executable has different offsets which result in codes for one version not working with another.

File Format

Files follow a syntax similar to the "INI" format, with the code body following any options.

Lines that begin with a semicolon (;) or hash (#) are comments, and ignored by the parser.

Each code should be preceded with its metadata, including the name of the code in square brackets. After all options are listed, then the code body should be written without any escaping or additional characters. For example:

[My Patch Code]
Type = Gameshark
Activation = EndFrame
Description = Additional text about what the code does, displayed as a tooltip.
Author = Name of patch author, optional.
A7001234 = 12345678

Activation can be Manual or EndFrame, with manual codes requiring explicit one-shot triggering by the user, and end-frame codes applying automatically at the end of the frame ("vsync").

User Choices

Cheats can now allow users to pick a specific value for a given code, either between a developer-specified range, or from a list of pre-determined options. The former will display as a spinbox on the UI, and the latter a dropdown box. The idea of the choice option is to reduce the number of codes required for a game, as multiple codes can be replaced by a single dropdown/choice.

To create a range option, add the OptionRange key to the metadata, with the range specified as min:max. For example: OptionRange = 0:255.

To create a choice option, add a Option key to the metadata, with the displayed name and value separated by a colon. For exmaple: Option = NameOfWeapon:50. The option values are in decimal by default, 0x or 0b prefixes can be used for hexadecimal or binary values respectively.

To utilize the user's choice in your code, simply replace the nibbles in the value with question marks. DuckStation will shift the chosen option into the correct bit position if the ? does not appear in the least significant bit position. For example:

[My Patch Code]
Type = Gameshark
Activation = EndFrame
Description = Overrides the number of lives.
OptionRange = 1:100
80001234 = 00??

This would write whichever value the user chose in the spinbox to the memory location 0x1234.

Overriding Settings

Patches can apply settings to the game, including CPU overclock parameters and aspect ratios. These options should be specified before the code body (e.g. OverrideCPUOverclock = 200).

• OverrideAspectRatio: Sets the display aspect ratio to the corresponding value.
• OverrideCPUOverclock: Sets the CPU overclock percentage to the corresponding value.
• DisableWidescreenRendering: Disables the widescreen scaling for the GTE, if the user has it enabled.
• DisallowForAchievements: Prevents the patch being used in RetroAchievements hardcore mode.