List of modification software

The following is a list of common software or tools used to hack and modify the  games.

BrawlCrate


BrawlCrate (formerly known as StageBox) is a tool built off of the program BrawlBox (formerly known as SmashBox) and is used to open and edit various Super Smash Bros. Brawl files. While most well-known for texture and stage hacks, the program's development has blossomed into an armature editor, a model editor, and much more.

SmashBox
On June 28th, 2009, the original version of the program SmashBox – SmashBox v0.50 – was released by the user Kryal. The amount of features included with SmashBox were significantly less than the modern adaptations of the program, being restricted to only viewing & modifying the game’s textures, and viewing the statistics for a minimal amount of data.

BrawlBox
On September 29th, 2009, when SmashBox was at the version 0.58, the program’s name was changed to BrawlBox. On August 31st, 2011, when BrawlBox reached version 0.64d, development of the program was taken over by the user BlackJax96. By the release of BrawlBox version 0.72, the title of lead programmer was given to the user libertyernie. The final version of BrawlBox – BrawlBox version 0.78 – was released on March 20th, 2017.

The final product of BrawlBox introduced many new features that were absent in SmashBox, such as (but not limited to) model viewing & importing, animation viewing & editing, audio editing, stage collision editing, viewing movies, and modifying Classic Mode / All-Star Mode / Event Match data. BrawlBox originally included an integrated moveset editor in version 0.67, but was removed in version 0.68c.

StageBox
Following the discontinuation of BrawlBox’s production, Super Smash Bros. Brawl modder soopercool101 (along with other members of the modding community) started to work on the program StageBox, which was built off of the latest version of BrawlBox. On April 8th, 2018, the original version of the program StageBox – StageBox v0.1 Beta – was released. While the functions from BrawlBox were still present, this program was created with the intention to focus more on modifying stages.

StageBox provided major improvements to things such as updates to stage collision & stage boundary editing, while also making adjustments to other previously existing BrawlBox tools. It also included support for character and stage expansion codes.

BrawlCrate
On August 30th, 2018, when StageBox was at the version 0.10, the program’s name was changed to BrawlCrate. The purpose of BrawlCrate resumed the original direction of BrawlBox, and is used to work in many different manners.

BrawlCrate included many enhancements to previous StageBox tools, along with generating new metal / invisible textures for models, support for color expansion, texture file size compressing, and other quality of life edits. A complete changelog for BrawlCrate (which includes the changelogs from the previous iterations of the program) can be found here.

Open Smash Attacks
Open Smash Attacks is a Brawl moveset editor with the goal of serving as a side tool to BrawlBox by editing and representing files that BrawlBox cannot or can but poorly. Open SA is significantly more advanced than its predecessor, Project Smash Attacks; it can view the actions and hitboxes of most props and projectiles, open character files that PSA has trouble with, and work with files that house general actions for all playable characters. Open SA's major downside is the complexity involved in editing files and there are some facets that cannot be accessed or edited such as Pikmin hitboxes.

Project Smash Attacks
Project Smash Attacks was the predecessor to Open Smash Attacks. While now rendered obsolete by improved understanding of Brawl's code, the program still sees use by those interested in learning how to modify character movesets.

Due to its fame as the first application to allow for the customization of movesets, the term "PSA" is still used today to describe moveset hacks.

Sm4shexplorer
Sm4shexplorer is the de-facto tool used for replacing files for. Functionality with the program is minimal but crucial. It can extract and replace game data via a dump of the game on the computers hard drive. It can build patch folders for use with a SD card to replace anything in-game. The program has no capability to edit files, although a few beta plugins such as Sm4shmusic allow to add new music into the game via a MSBT editor rather than just replace it.

CrossARC
CrossARC is a tool used for viewing and extracting the data.arc file in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The data.arc file contains the sum of the game's internal assets, such as music and models, in a compact compressed filetype. These extracted files can then be modded and placed on the microSD card using either ARCropolis or the Ultimate Mod Manager. CrossARC will also show various miscellaneous data like the internal offset for a file depending on game version, and where the file is shared with others in the game files, such as certain models or textures that are used on all of a characters alternate costume slots.

SaltyNX
SaltyNX is a plugin-based file patching system which was used for Ultimate code-based moveset mods until the advent of Skyline. SaltyNX is less stable in comparison to Skyline and is most commonly seen in older moveset mods.

Ultimate Mod Manager
Ultimate Mod Manager is a mod management tool similar to Sm4shexplorer for use with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The tool lets users dump their game's files to the microSD card, and once this is done, the homebrew allows users to compress and inject sorted mod folders into the game. The edit of the game then can be loaded in using LayeredFS, which is a must as all of the game's internal assets are stored as one large archive. A downside of this method is having to store the edited game copy on the microSD card in order to use any type of mod that requires it, no matter how small the files may be, alongside having to go under or around the same original size of a file when creating mods. It also requires mods to be reinstalled in a new dump every time an update releases.

Skyline
Skyline is a custom executable patch for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate which is designed to allow for runtime code hooking. It achieves this by the use of custom plugins which can be developed for its environment. Skyline is a prerequisite for Skyline-based code and moveset mods, which are stored as individual plugins.

ARCropolis
ARCropolis is a plugin for Skyline which serves a similar use to the Ultimate Mod Manager. It allows for the replacement of individual files as they are loaded in memory rather than by injecting them into a dump of the game, which in turn allows for larger file sizes. Due to this, some mods require the usage of ARCropolis to function as intended. It supports most major file types, and could be considered an alternative to the older Ultimate Mod Manager. ARCropolis is quickly becoming the primary mod loader of choice over Ultimate Mod Manager, mostly due to the previously mentioned features and benefits it has.

ARCadia
ARCadia is a separate homebrew application used for managing mods installed using ARCropolis. It currently lets its users turn individual mod folders on and off at the press of a button.

SSBH Editor
SSBH Editor is an application for viewing, editing, and validating models for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It is able to view models, textures, animations, shadows, post processing, helper bone constraints, etc. It can also edit skeletons, materials, and vertex data along with validating said edits or custom imports to allow for proper compatibility with the game. It can be considered a replacement/upgrade to Cross Mod and StudioSB as it has many of the same features as them as well as a few extra features and optimizations