The only window visible on startup, and the most useful by far, is the Information Window: according to the file selected, advanced features and specific options (like multisavers) will be accessible. As customary, the game icon is displayed, along with pleasantries such as its size, release number, saver size and so on. Keep in mind, though, that said info are retrieved from an internal database updated with every OS release: homebrews and newer games will display a substantially reduced amount of details. Also, three additional buttons are shown, which we'll take into account right now.

CHANGE: one of the advantages of an internal ROM database is saver size autodetection. Nevertless, should the need arise, the save size can be changed with this option, which covers all EEPROM sizes used so far by Nintendo.

MULTISAVER: another unique feature of the DS ONE is support for multiple savefiles. Most DS games offer the player three slots for three different savegames, yet some (like Assassin's Creed DS) lack such an option. The multisaver screen allows for creation and management of different .sav files, even including an option for selecting one of them as default. Somewhat useless for those jealous of their console, undoubtedly invaluable for dealing with those pesky siblings.

SET PATCH: a trademark of Supercard products, this menu lists all options for the selected game. It is perhaps the most obscure of them all, being only partially documented. Let's take a closer look:

Enable Patch: needs to be selected for all other options to take effect.

Patch Speed: a legacy option for those using older (and slower) microSD cards.

Enable DMA: another legacy option, which allows Direct Memory Accesses for games that requires it.

Enable Cheat: cheats on the DS ONE work slightly differently than with other flashes; once this option is enabled (and if a cheat database for the game is in the \scshell\cheat folder), a menu will appear when the game is loaded, from where individual codes can be switched on or off. Said screen can also be accessed in-game by pressing L+R+START+UP, while mass activation/deactivation is performed by pressing L+R+START+LEFT and L+R+START+RIGHT respectively.

Enable Guide: if a game guide for the game has been copied to the \scshell\book folder, it can be brought up by pressing L+R+START+DOWN.

Patch Saver: somewhat obscure, we assume it leaves the game save inside the DS RAM when unselected.

Enable Reset: L+R+A+B+X+Y, just like with old Slot-2's. Resets to the DS ONE's menu. Fix Downplay: self-explanatorily, it fixes Download Play in certain games.

Realtime Save: the DS ONE's most unique feature, allows for saving anywhere in the game at just the touch of a button. In-game, the RTS menu can be accessed by pressing L+R+UP+SELECT, and then choosing whether you want to save or load.

GUI & System Software

Beware that some of these options can cause glitches and even freezes during gameplay: using the RTS function, for example, also causes the occasional crash of the console, requiring a hard rest. Which is just a fancy way for calling the POWER button. Another somewhat tricky procedure involves cheats and game guides: while each update includes cheat files for more than 500 titles and counting, manually adding them requires the aptly named cht2supercardcheat program, which is downloaded separately from the manufacturer's website; it also converts text files to the card's proprietary format for game guides.

The lower margin of the screen is taken by Moonshell's trademark digital clock and termometer, which is as inaccurate as we've come to expect from it.

The top screen displays the file browser, which comes in three flavors (a plaintext list and a more graphical one with three icon size settings), along with three option menus and the Online Help, whose icons are aligned along the top margin. This is where a peculiarity of the DS ONE's design comes to the forefront: button shortcuts. Frankly, there are just too many combinations, some of the utmost importance, some not, and the aforementioned Online Help details only a small fraction of them - shortcuts for activating pleasantries such as RTS, soft reset and the like can be learned only via the manual included in the CD. For example, accessing the menu on the top screen would require holding the R shoulder button and using the D-Pad, yet it's more practical to just press L+A to swap the screens, thus enabling touchscreen operation. This, along with a not exactly flawless input detection, is an obvious giveaway of the system software's roots. In any case, let's now detail the various submenus

Saver: sets the default size for save files. Keep in mind that the DS ONE has no onboard EEPROM for hardware saves, and therefore every time you save your game, the microSD itself is used for that purpose.

Other: this is where most game-centric functions are filed. The eight available options are:

1、Enable GBA Union: many DS games feature various unlockables and extras when a specific GBA game is inserted in the second slot. Once said game has been loaded into a Slot-2 Supercard (more on this to follow) and this option enabled, loading the DS game will result in it recognizing the selected GameBoy Advance title as if it was a physical cartridge.

2、Set SC to Rumble Mode: if a Slot-2 Supercard Rumble has been inserted, it will be set to Rumble mode.

3、Set Supercard to Browser: as every Supercard (save the Rumble Series) is equipped with 32Mbyte of RAM memory, this options enables its usage as a RAM Pack for Opera DS.

4、Display Chinese Name: self-explanatory...

5、Save Menu Options: saves current system settings.

6、SuperKey: boots a Slot-2 flashcard in DS mode.

7、AUTO Set SD Speed: auto-detects the microSD's speed.

8、Enable Patch: selected by default, enables virtually everything needed for smooth playing, such as saver patches, soft reset and such.

Option: allows the user to choose the file browser's display mode and sorting criteria, system language, microSD I/O speed and display the file info, clock and "About" windows.

Help: the standard help window from Moonshell, with a few DS ONE specific commands detailed.

While the choice of adapting Moonshell to serve as the DS ONE's system software brings a few, fundamental advantages (such as media playback and text reading straight out of the box), many design choices negatively impact the card's ease-of-use. Most notably, the amount of submenus - and button shortcuts - presented to the user: indeed, the countless and unique functions offered by this flashcard call for an equally complex OS, but this is just too complex. This is due, in no small part, to how the card itself has been designed, that is by taking the older Slot-2 premises and translating them into a Slot-1 environment.

While most flashcards nowadays avoid messing with the ROM's code, along with autodetecting basic parameters such as memory I/O speed and saver size, the DS ONE takes a different approach, where the game code is modified for even the basic premise of saver storage (again, this cart has no internal EEPROM, relying on direct memory accesses) and microSD compatibility. But again, if this is mandatory, why giving the user an option to disable basic patches entirely? Why not displaying only switches for advanced functions, such as RTS, cheats and multisavers?

Also, more than half of the commands/shortcuts are documented in the CD manual only, and not in Moonshell's Help dialog: while a power user won't be troubled by this, a newcomer will (metaphorically) drown in the card's functions and menus. In the end, as much as we enjoy this Moonshell-turned-OS, a little streamlining and fine-tuning wouldn't hurt.

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