Disclaimer: This is a Wii hacking article. All is Brawl will hold no responsibility for consequences that occur from users' modifying of their hardware. Users visit links and download files at their own risk.

ongratulations! Just by opening up this article you have become 25% more patriotic, and one step closer to helping make Brawl Hacks mainstream! You've also just made a huge decision that has the welcoming power, and the shocking sense of surprise, equal to that of walking in on Captain Falcon in the shower! What is that decision? You, as the reader, have now successfully agreed to consider expanding your horizons when it comes to making Brawl better for everyone, and you have also been hypnotized into giving me a dollar.

"But... who are you?" Indeed, a good question.

So there I was one night sitting all alone in my underwear, eating some "Spicy Sweet Chili" Doritos, sipping on a glass of sweet tea and scratching my itch for some company in AiB's social chat room (I wasn't going to say Krotch; get your mind out of the gutter) when all of a sudden Neal showed up and joined in on the conversation about my recent interest in hacked characters. After about 30 minutes, he told me that once I got my work finished, he would see about getting it posted on the front page of AiB.

Well, that didn't happen. Instead, I was talking about it a couple of days later when Staindgrey appeared and got in on the conversation. He took immediate interest in the situation, one thing led to another, and he told me to submit an application to the Content Team and his seeing about getting me on (then I asked him for Badge powers and he shot me down like a Pit main looking for arrow kills to put in their combo video)!

And here I am! TheEnigmaLiesBroken, at your service: Hax forum mod, regular visitor in Social Chat, Ex-Administrator of Wifistadium.com, Mewtwo, and apparently the deciding factor on whether or not the Brawl community of AiB gets the necessary information to possibly make hacks mainstream O_o (gulp).

For reasons that now escape me, I wanted to be the Administrator of a large gaming website like Neal. Who knows, maybe I thought it would be fun, or possibly the idea of actually being the OWNER of a digital sausage fest appealed to me at the time. A year and a half after I opened the website I discovered that there were way too many requirements to qualify as a successful Admin and that's when I decided to shut down Wifistadium and just come over to AiB and be a writer of sorts. There are no requirements to being a writer! All I had to say was, "Hay look! I'm a writer!" and BAM, I was a writer! I didn't even have to write anything. Now I can just take my laptop to any random coffee shop and stare into space. As you can see, you can be completely full of **** and still be a writer! Ok, maybe that's the one requirement.

So, without further Adieu, I give you...




My first intention for this article was going to be a lot more elaborate, but after some careful consideration, I decided that putting the readers on information overload for their first endeavor into the world of Brawl hacking would be a horrible idea. Since that is the case, I just want to give you guys a basic rundown of what I intend to do on the Content Team with this section, and give you a little information about what will be available to you as potential hackers in the Brawl community.

Over the course of this "for dummies" series (if my articles are successful enough to carry on), I intend to teach you about homebrew, the benefits of hacking your console, and give you details on how to carry out basic hacks that will effectively make your Brawl experience a whole lot better overall. I will be performing various tasks, gathering files, and detailing processes to help make your experience at hacking your Brawl game as easy as humanly possible. And finally I will be here to inform you of any major breakthroughs that happen within the hacking community.

Information Station

First of all, the risks of homebrew! I know that the majority of you have a huge phobia of destroying your Wii in the process of trying to hack it and believe me, I know exactly why you feel this way. I was extremely skeptical about the whole process to begin with, but after some reading and reassurance I learned everything that was necessary for me to be able to do it safely.

Originally, hacking the Wii console was complicated, and it involved a lot of time, effort, knowledge and concentration -- four things that most people either lack, are too lazy to put forward, or are unsure of themselves to the point that they'd just rather not bother with the whole process. The risks involved were much higher in those days and since there were so many reports of people bricking their console, it had so many people worried that they would also befall the same fate so they turned their back on the idea.

These days, however, installing homebrew has been dumbed down to a simple "put file on your SD card, go to SD card through the systems channel menu (in your Wii options area), install process that has a 99% success rate." And even if you ARE in the 1% that failed, your absolute biggest risk is that your Wii freezes during the installation process, in which case all you have to do is unplug the console and everything goes back to normal.

So, let me be the first person to tell you, a hacker newbie, that basic homebrew is safe, easy, and super beneficial.



So, for today, we will be discussing the easiest way of installing the Homebrew channel on your Wii console. Now, please allow me to inform you that it is safe, fast, easy, and is just as LEGAL as Action Replay, GameShark, Game Genie, and all of those other wonderful cheating devices available at your local Best Buy retail outlet.

I do want to apologize in advance for the images below. They show a particular series of modifications that I've done to my own personal Nintendo Wii console that I will NOT be giving tutorials for in Methodical Madness articles at any time. You are to know that such advanced modding of your console has many risks and I do not wish to be held responsible if you decide to take your modding to the next level unsuccessfully.

How to Install the Homebrew Channel on your Wii Console

What you need:
SD Card (Any one from 512MB to 32G will do for the installation)
The following UNZIPPED downloads:
Bannerbomb
HackMii Installer

Now, before going any further, I've done this enough times to know that there are those of you who actually do NOT know how to "unzip" a folder. This is really a very basic computer skill, usually involving little to no effort, but there are a few of us that have just never come across a zipped folder and do not know how to handle it.

So, if you are one of these people, please FOLLOW THIS LINK.

For those of you familiar with unzipping, please continue the tutorial.

Steps:
Open up your SD Card on your computer.
1. If you already have a private folder, rename it something like "privatebkup" or something.
2. Place the "private" folder that came from the bannerbomb download here in the root of the SD card. The root of your SD Card refers to the very first folder that shows up when you open your SD card. Think of it like a tree, meaning that the card itself is the root, and each folder inside the card is a branch.
Now that you have put the new "private" folder on the root of your card, the SD Card should contain the following directory:

Private->wii->title->aktn->content.bin



NOTE: It is recommended that you do not have ANYTHING besides the "atkn" folder in the "title" folder - if there are things in the title folder already, be sure to back them up.
3. Open up the "hackmii_installer_[insert version number]" folder from the HackMii Installer download. Look for the file that says "boot.elf" and place in the root of the SD card (the place where the folder "private" is).

4. Place to the SD card in your Wii.
5. Click the "Wii Options" button in the bottom left of your screen.

Go to Data Management, then pick channels, then there will be a button called "SD Card" in the upper right of your menu. Click that now.


DO NOT ATTEMPT TO GO TO YOUR SD CARD FROM THE CHANNEL LIST - 4.0 Wii and up - THIS WILL ALWAYS FAIL.

6. A message should pop up asking you to launch boot.elf. Say yes. If the message does not pop up, go back to the bannerbomb site and download one of the other bannerbombs and repeat these steps.
7. Select "Install Homebrew channel" then follow the on screen instructions (meaning, press the 1 button on your wiimote about 9 times) and your done.
Optional step.
If you wish to install Bootmii you can do that now. But make sure you install it as boot2. What Is Bootmii? Bootmii is a safety net designed to prevent your Wii from becoming a brick in case something horrible happens to your Wii.

FEAR NOT:
The Homebrew channel CANNOT do anything like that to your Wii. This is only a precautionary measure in case you attempt, in the future, to install things other then the homebrew channel (like the red and black re-skin for my system menu).

8. The Homebrew Channel should now be in your System Menu.


Congratulations, you have just installed the Homebrew channel!

Aftermath Steps:
1. You can now delete the new "private" folder and replace it with your old one. You will no longer need the new private folder or anything in it.
2. The "boot.elf" that you put in your SD card is the launcher for the Homebrew channel. The channel itself doesn't actually do anything except launch that boot.elf file. You should keep this on your SD card.
3. If you DID install bootmii, this list is for you:

• There will now be a "bootmii" folder in the root of your SD card. Don’t delete it if you wish for your safety net to still be there.
• Your Wii will boot regularly from now on as long as your SD card is NOT in your console.
• However, if the card IS in your console, you will get the new bootmii loading screen.
• 
• This screen is your safety net. This screen can not be controlled with a Wiimote. You will have to use a GameCube controller to navigate this menu. First option sends you to your Wii menu. Second option automatically boots your homebrew channel from your SD card (this is how you fix things you've broken, with homebrew). Third option lets you see what’s on your SD card. Fourth option is the settings menu for bootmii. I recommend you don't bother the fourth option too much.
• If you don't have a GameCube Controller you can still navigate the menu. Your Wii's power button will move the cursor to a different option, and the reset button will select it. If you don't wish to launch bootmii to begin with, simply take your SD card out before you turn on your Wii Console. (Also a good idea for those of you with young children.)

This will be the only tutorial that I provide for today's article. I want to make sure that those people who want the channel can at least get it on their console before I bother going into any detail about using applications on it!



Originally I'd planned to concentrate solely on Brawl hacking in my articles and nothing else, but I thought that it would be fun to share some of the other things about AiB that make me want to continue to be a part of this community. This idea is what spawned the name "Methodical Madness." So, on occasion, I'd like to throw in some of the random Madness on this site that I happen to come across.

So, on this episode of "Social Chat is an intelligence-sucking vampire and it still owes me a dollar" I'd like to post a few things, directly quoted, from members of AiB who have made me smile =D

This account is being used to cheat on the ladder entered the room.
This account is being used to cheat on the ladder: Anyone want to ladder match?

-midna-: ppl who hate on 360games cant afford them
-midna-: its true, cuz Nintendo gives u, horrible online while Xbox live doesn’t, no fc's just a gt
Enigma stole neals love from mango: What does that have to do with being poor? O_o

Angel Sonik: if I think about if i think what he said it meant it means hes a freak
Enigma stole neals love from mango: ........
Faketime: ....
Faketime: lol, wut?
Enigma stole neals love from mango: i think...
metal knuckles: holy ****
Enigma stole neals love from mango: .....my brain just 'sploded o-o



For today, the spotlight is at the bottom because it's relevant to the "Final Words" section below. In future articles, the spotlight will be at the top before the 'for dummies' section. This way, I can provide something useful for the hackers who already understand the basic mechanics of hacking. Eventually, everyone who follows my articles will find use in these spotlighted items!

So, for today's spotlight I'm featuring a character texture and a stage texture.

Download Hydrocity Zone: created by Midnite. ----------------------- Download Wolverine Falcon: Created by Unai.



Please, if you have a request for the "for dummies" section that you'd like to be put into an upcoming article don't hesitate to leave me a shoutout. If I think it's worth mentioning, I will definitely take note of it and make sure that it’s available for the readers. Knowledge is power, and information is crucial to making this series work for me! I will do Question and Answer sessions in my next article as well, if I get any questions that are on topic.

Some notes about requests: For now, I'm doing the basics of homebrew. I'm pretty sure that the first wave of requests that I get will be "can you teach us how to texture/music hack" and yes, I have every intention of getting that article ready and available for you all. But for the first few articles, I would really like to set a foundation for potential hackers before getting into those advanced hacks. Textures and music are possibly some of the most complicated hacks there are for Brawl until you're used to them.

Also some other notes about textures. No, I will not be posting tutorials on how to create your own textures. It’s a painfully long process and would require me to post links to some material that is technically illegal to own (a few .exe files that have Nintendo’s official encryption keys in them). I will not be linking anyone to anything that is illegal. Everything that I post will be within any legal boundaries that GameShark, Game Genie, or Action Replay also falls under.

If you have anything that you want me to spotlight feel free to give me a shoutout about that too. I'll look through them and if I like what I see, I'm all for giving it a spotlight in my article.

Spotlight Suggestions:

• Texture Spotlight - A link to the file, AND a screenshot of it, or I won't consider it.
• Music Spotlight - Link to the file, AND a link to the song on YouTube, or I won't consider it. I'm not downloading every piece of music and taking it home just to test it.
• PSA Creation - If you have created something with PSA that you would like in the spotlight, I do request that it at least be more than just a few graphical effects added to the character's attacks. I know that it’s cool to make pikachu's Fsmash freeze your opponent, but a graphic replacement isn't what I'm looking for in my spotlight.

That will be all for today!



In my next "for dummies" section, I'll do a tutorial on how to use "Code Manager" and create your own custom code (.gct) files. Along with that, I expect to be giving a few nice codes for you all to apply to your game in order to get a bit more out of your experience.

What to look forward to in Later Articles

In the future, my "for dummies" section will give details on how to make your Brawl game capable of everything listed below, and more:

Beginner Hacks
Replay Mods

• Infinite Replay Length
• Infinite # of Replay
• Save Name Tags in Replays

Stage Builder

• Infinite # of Custom Stages
• Unlimited Objects
• Unlimited Placement Location of Objects

Other Game Limitation Hacks

• Infinite # of Snapshots
• Unrestricted Pause Camera
• Unrestricted Replay Camera
• Copy and Save the Submit Data
• Pick the Color you want (everyone can be Blue in a FFA)

Battle Modifications

• 1 or 0 Player Matches
• Training Mode - Train Alone
• No Tripping
• Presetting the Default CPU Level
• Adding ZSS & Sheik to your game's 'Random Select'

Intermediate Hacks Customization Hacks

• Custom Shield Colors
• Modifying your HUD
• Custom Character Select Rosters
• Custom Stage Select Rosters
• Default Settings Modifier
• Preset the game's Type (coin, type, stock), Time, Stock, Handicap, Damage Ratio, Method of Stage Selection (choose, random, turns, ordered, loser's choice), Team Attack (on/off), Pause (on/off), Score Display (on/off), Damage Gauge (on/off).

Advanced Hacks Dynamic SD Loader (Also known as the Patch code)

• Custom Character Textures
• Custom Character Select Portraits
• Custom Battle Images
• Custom Victory Images
• Custom Stage Textures
• Custom Music (streamed straight from your SD card into the Battlefield.)

Since I didn't have anything actually prepared for this section (the Idea dawned upon me a few minutes ago), I thought I'd just share one of my own videos with you.

TheEnigmaLiesBroken vs. TheMissingPatient312 KING DEDEDE EPIC COMEBACK

Got a request for an Epic Fail? Give me a screenshot of the fail, a detailed description, or the YouTube link (these things should preferably be "AllIs"-related). And I'll see about putting it up. =D