UPS?
rijonAdventures will be using a new patching format called UPS, created by byuu. This format is being used as it supports creating patches and applying them to sizes much larger than 16 MB. In comparison, IPS can only handle 16 MB.
What does this new format mean for rijonAdventures? Do other games use this format?
rijonAdventures will become a 32 MB ROM (or at least, larger than 16 MB). The extra space that UPS allows for means that there will be more content to put in the game. This can include much larger maps, more scripts and text, etc.
The version of rijonAdventures available to beta testers is in the UPS format, too.
The Unified Mother 3 Fan Translation project is already going to utilize the UPS format. For their intents and purposes, their use for the UPS format will further their ability to translate the game (and in their case, Mother 3 is unfortunately a 32 MB ROM, which IPS simply cannot support).
Will UPS files work in VisualBoyAdvance, Lunar IPS, etc.?
No. The UPS format's specifications are different from the IPS format's. However, just as there are patching programs for Lunar IPS, there are programs for UPS.
VisualBoyAdvance does not yet support UPS patches. Whether support will be implemented or not hasn't been documented.
What program do I use to patch with UPS?
There are numerous UPS patchers available today. Windows users can download Tsukuyomi from here. Mac users can download UPS here.