Install P+ — Hackless Method
What is the Hackless Method?
The Hackless Method allows playing Brawl mods like Project+ on console without softmodding (hacking) it. It uses the Smash Stack exploit and is only available on NTSC-U ❔.
Requirements
- NTSC-U Nintendo Wii or vWii ❔
- NTSC-U Super Smash Bros. Brawl Disc ❔
- 2GB SD Card
- Project+ Wii Lite
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages
- Does not require softmodding the console
Disadvantages
- Only possible with a NTSC-U console and Disc
(See Requirements) - Requires a 2GB SD Card, any other size doesn't work
- Requires a Wiimote to launch the game, can't be launched with a GameCube controller
2GB SD Card
The SD Card should be:- 2GB
- Formatted to FAT32
- SDHC or SDXC
SDHC and SDXC cards have a higher capacity and speeds than SD, but Brawl is limited to usage of 2GB SD cards or lower
- Locked
SD Cards often come with a slider on the side of it that put the card in a locked or unlocked state If the slider is in the locked position, Project+ will be unable to load
- Named "project+" or a derivative of it
NTSC Wii
The Wii should be:- Updated to the 4.3 firmware update
- NTSC ❔
- PAL or any other regional encoding besides NTSC ❔
If the Wii is not NTSC, the hackless method will not work for you, and you will need to utilize the USB loader method if you want to play P+ on a Nintendo Wii.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Game
The Brawl disc and game should be:- NTSC ❔
Brawl or any other Wii game must match the encoding system it is being played on (games even on the same encoding system may be region-locked).
- The Brawl game save should have all custom stages removed in order to launch
Brawl comes with three custom stages by default and these must deleted before inserting the SD card with the Project+ files on it.
- The disc should not be excessively damaged
A damaged disc could cause issues with Project+ even will Brawl seems to be loading fine
Installation
To install Project+ using the hackless method, please follow these instructions:
- If you have any custom stages on your save file of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, delete them.
Even if you haven't created any yourself, the game starts with three custom stages by default You can backup your custom stages onto an SD card before deleting them, if you want to use them for Brawl.
- Perform a Full Format your SD Card to FAT32 and with a 16 kilobyte cluster.
This will delete all contents on the SD Card, so if you have files on it already that you want to keep, be sure to save them elsewhere on your computer
- Download Project+ Wii Lite
- Extract the files from the downloaded zip file
- Move the extracted files onto the root of your SD card
The root means the first space you see (lowest level directory) when opening the SD Card. Do not create a folder inside the SD Card to put the files in.
- Insert the SD Card into your NTSC Nintendo Wii
- Turn on your Nintendo Wii and start Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The above steps also work on a Nintendo Wii U as well; however, the Wii U does not natively support Gamecube controllers, so you will have to use Wii U peripherals.
Troubleshooting
If Project+ does not load, please try these troubleshoots:
- Turn the Wii off and back on again
- Make sure the SD Card is 2GB
- Make the slider on the SD Card is not set to the “locked” position
- Make sure the card is not named “project+” or anything similar to that
- Make sure you are putting the files extracted from the zip into the root of the SD Card
- Make sure both your game disc and Wii are NTSC ❔
- Make sure the disc is not particularly damaged, and consider cleaning it
- Reformat the SD Card to FAT32 and do a “Full Format” (not a quick format) and place the extracted files again in the root of the SD Card
You should see apps, private, Project+, boot.elf, credits.txt as soon as you open the SD Card
Still having issues? Join the Project+ Discord to get help.