Okay, you've spent a bunch of effort making a game for an old console; wouldn't you like to try it on that console? Well, you can! It's not free, but you can probably do it for about $50 if you have a little patience to learn.
Two simple options for this are catridges from InfiniteNesLives, and the PowerPak by retroUSB.
The INL cartridge is cheaper and actually closer to real NES hardware - however you likely will not be able to use it for a lot of other NES Games.
In contrast, the PowerPak is a lot more expensive (about double the price) and a little further from real hardware. That said, this is a flash cartridge that will be capable of playing almost any NES game. (Including commercial NES titles, if you have dumped the rom legally.) This will also be compatible if you decide to change things like the mapper for your game. Finally, the PowerPak is a lot easier to work with.
Both are fantastic pieces of hardware; choose whichever one better suits what you want to do.
The engine is built to be compatible with the MMC1 mapper, and by default uses 128k of PRG rom, and up to 128k of chr rom. This makes it a perfect match for the SKRom boards by InfiniteNesLives. I suggest going for the 128kb model with battery backing, but the 256 model can be made to work with some finagling. (That will not be discussed here.)
You will also need to purchase a ROM flashing tool in order to use this. It works like this: you plug the flashing device into your computer via usb, then you plug your NES cartridge into the flashing device, and run a special program to write your game's rom to the cartridge.
Flashing tool on InfiniteNesLives
Once you have these, you will need two pieces of software to do it: a rom splitter, and a flash program. Here are the two I use:
Rom Splitter:
- http://kevinselwyn.com/ReadNES/ (online)
- https://www.romhacking.net/?page=utilities&action=images&id=683&imageid=title (windows)
Flasher:
- http://www.infiniteneslives.com/kazzo.php (Look for the "software/firmware package" link at the bottom)
Got the software downloaded and open? Awesome! First, take your rom from the nes-starter-kit/rom folder
(starter.nes or similar) And put this into your rom splitting program. If you use the online one, it'll
do everything for you, and give you a zip file with a .prg and .chr file. If you use the other one, be
sure to check off the "Remove 16 Byte Nes Header" and "Output CHR / PRG" options, and do "Auto Split
CHR/PRG". The end result should be about the same.
Next, open "INL-Retro Prog" from the Flasher zip file, then follow the instructions in the readme.txt
at the Kazzo link above, past this point. The readme explains the steps rather clearly as long as you
have the split files. Either rename the files from .chr and .prg to .bin, or choose "All Files (.*)"
from the file selector in INL-Retro Prog. Otherwise, the steps there should hopefully be clear enough.
The engine is completely compatible with the PowerPak, as most NES games are. You can get your hands on the hardware from RetroUSB.
You will also need to find a CompactFlash card reader, and either order it with a CompactFlash card included, or buy your own. You should be able to find these on Amazon pretty easily.
Once you have them, take the CompactFlash card out of your PowerPak, and plug it into your
card reader. from Windows explorer, copy the rom from the rom/ folder onto the CompactFlash
card. Now plug the CompactFlash card back into your NES, and turn it on. Just pick your rom
file from the menu, and you're good. Enjoy!