To follow this tutorial, you will need the following items:

• A text editor
• A program capable of creating ZIP archives
• fackue’s FileChecker or similar bin unscrambler
• The plain files to a homebrew project

This is an in-depth tutorial explaining how to create your own Selfboot Inducer (SBI) file from the plain files package of any homebrew application, demo, emulator or game you download from another Dreamcast-related site. Neither Selfboot Inducer (the PC utility used to create the disc) nor DreamInducer (the Dreamcast menu utility used to boot the Dreamcast applications) will work with commercial applications. These utilities will only work with applications created with the legal, open-source Kallisti-OS (KOS) Dreamcast development kit.

[caption id="attachment_56" align="alignright" width="133" caption="SBI Directory Structure"][/caption]

1. Download the plain files for the emu/app/demo/game that you want to use. The best places to usually download those files include DCEmulation and DCEmu UK. If you are attempting to make an SBI from something that IMR Technology has created, you should download the files from IMR Technology’s web site.
2. Download Fackue’s 1st_Read.bin file checker and install it. You can download this utility from Fackue’s web site. (For the purposes of this tutorial, I am using Checker 1.2. Fackue has released a new version of his File Checker with a slightly different GUI, but the idea should still be similar).
3. Unzip the plain files of the emu/app/demo/game into their own directory.
4. Open File Checker, and browse to the directory you just created. Open the bin file (most likely called 1st_Read.bin).
5. Scan the file to determine whether or not the bin is scrambled. If it is scrambled, unscramble it.
6. Rename “Unscrambled.bin” (or whatever the name of the unscrambled file is) to give it a unique filename. When you rename it, try to include something unique to the specific version you are using. You want to do this so that you can include several different versions on the same disc without the conflicting with each other. 
   E.G. – Nester_6_Pal.bin is much better than Nester.bin.
7. Create a directory called “Inducer” somewhere on your harddrive. Inside that directory, create the following subdirectories:
   • Emus, Apps, Demos, or Games (depending on which is appropriate for the project you are working on).
   • Readme
   • Images
   • and any other directories that are essential to the specific project. 
     E.G. – Many ports require directories in which to place the shareware files, so you should create those directories and place a txt file in there to explain which files should go in that directory. Emus also almost always require a directory for Roms. To the right, you will see an example of the directory structure.
8. Place your renamed bin file inside the Emus/Apps/Demos/Games directory that you just created.
9. Create a new txt file in that directory and open it (I prefer to use WordPad, but Notepad will work just as well). Arrange the file in the manner shown in the screen shot to the right.
   Here is an explanation of each of those elements: 
   • TITLE – This is the name of the project that will appear on the Apps, Demos, Emus or Games menu. You cannot use quotes in the title. Because quotation marks are used to signify the beginning and end of the title, they will interfere if you place them within the title.
   • DESCRIPTION – This is the description of the project. This is usually where you place information about the project, such as the version number, the creator, etc. You cannot use quotations within this area either (for the same reasons mentioned above). In addition, a number (pound) sign (#) signifies a line break, so if you want to have two or three separate lines of text appear in the description box, simply place number signs in between. For example: “Version 1.1#by: Curtiss Grymala#SBI Tutorial” will appear as 
     Version 1.1 
     by: Curtiss Grymala 
     SBI Tutorial
   • SCREENSHOT – This is where you identify the location of the screenshot. Users of DreamInducer know that the menu displays a screenshot of each project when you highlight the menu item. In order to do that, the menu needs to know where on the disc to locate the screenshot. The screenshot needs to be in png format. Standard size is usually somewhere around 210×140. The only thing you should need to change in this item is the actual name of the image. The easiest thing to do is usually to give the image the same filename as the bin file. Becuase this tutorial tells you exactly where to place the screenshot, you should not need to change the location.
   • TARGET – This is where the bin file is located on the disc. Pay particular attention to which directory you are identifying. If the project is an emulator, you will want to place your bin file in the Emus directory, and you will want to reference the Emus directory in this location. However, if the project is a homebrew game, you will probably want to place the bin file in the “Games” directory, and reference the “Games” directory in the target. 
     An Important Note: When filling in the information within “Screenshot” and “Target”, be sure not to use hyphens or spaces in the filenames. Most burning programs will convert these items to underscores, and the menu will not be able to locate the item you are referencing. You will also want to be sure that the filenames themselves do not have special characters. The only special character you should use to separate words is the underscore.
   • PREROLL – This simply tells DreamInducer where to find the loading information, so that it can figure out where to find the files it should use when someone clicks on the menu item. This should stay exactly as it is typed above. 
     Another Note: Whenever you are dealing with target locations, please remember to treat the “Inducer” directory as the root directory of the CD. Therefore, anything placed within the Inducer directory on your harddrive will eventually end up in the “/cd/” directory on the disc.
10. Rename your new txt file so that it has a unique name, and a “dxl” file extension. For example, Nester_6_Pal.dxl.
11. Find a decent screenshot of the project, and place it somewhere on your harddrive. Open the image in your image editing program. Resize it to 210×140 pixels and save it as a png (portable network graphics) file. Place the new image inside the /Inducer/Images/ directory. Be sure that it is given exactly the same name that you referenced in the above dxl file.
12. Go back to the directory that was created when you originally unzipped the plain files. Find all of the readme documents, and rename them so that they have a unique beginning. For instance, if you have “readme.txt” and “legal.txt” in that directory, rename them both to “Nester_6_Pal readme.txt” and “Nester_6_Pal legal.txt”. Place all of those readme documents in the Inducer/Readme/ directory.
13. Then, copy any extra elements that are in the original directory. These include directories that are essential to the project (Fonts, Pics, etc.), images that are essential to the project (splash screens) and anything else.
14. Once you have all of your elements in place, you need to zip the project. The easiest way to do this is with WinRar or WinZip. If you install these programs on your computer, they will integrate themselves into your right-click menus within “My Computer” and “Windows Explorer”. Neither of these are freeware programs, but they are shareware, and will function rather well forever without buying or registering.

    When using WinZip:

    

    The WinZip context menu

    • Right-Click on the “Inducer” directory, and select “Add to Inducer.zip” from the “WinZip” portion of the right-click menu.
    • Rename “Inducer.zip” to an appropriate filename, with an SBI file extension. For example: Nester_6_Pal.sbi

    When using WinRar:

    

    WinRar Context Menu

    [caption id="attachment_60" align="alignright" width="139" caption="Choosing an archive format with WinRar"][/caption]
    

    Setting the archive name with WinRar

    • Right-Click on the “Inducer” directory and select “Add to Archive”. 
    • When the dialog box comes up, be certain to choose “ZIP” from the “Archive Format” section of the dialog box.
    • Give your archive a unique name with an SBI extension in the “Archive Name” section of the dialog box.
    • Click “OK”

    Important Notes:

    • Be certain that your zip program is set to include the directory information when creating the archive. I am pretty certain that this is the default setting for both of these programs. If they are not set to do so, they will either only zip the files within the Inducer directory (and not include any of the files within subdirectories), or it will zip them all without saving the directory information (so that all of the files would be unzipped into the same directory, instead of extracting them into the appropriate subdirectories).
    • Be certain that you compress them into “ZIP” archives. Selfboot Inducer will not recognize archives that have been compressed in any other archive format (LZH, RAR, EXE, etc.).