11 replies to this topic

[ryanzec01]

I was wornding is anyone know of a 2d language that works on both pc and Gameboy Advance or a site on how to port a 2d game to Gameboy Advance or Nitendo DS. also does anyone know if the Nintendo DS is going to come out with anything like the gameboy advance cartridges so you can copy your game to a cartidge to play on the nintendo DS.

[choffstein]

Because the PC and GBA (and DS) are different hardware, you cannot write games that will automatically work on both. However, if you program in C++, and make your classes abstract enough, all you would have to change is how you render your information.

I recommend you check out gbadev.org. That will set you on the right path for GBA development.

Also, GBA carts will work on the DS, so you can just buy a flash-cart from lik-sang or wherever.

[teamonkey]

You can use C or ASM to program the GBA (and the NDS too, I imagine). It's a little different to PC programming though - try gbadev.org.

The DS has slots for GBA cartridges and it's own media cards. You can play GBA games on the DS and I imagine that you can use GBA flash linkers on the DS. No-one's managed to write to DS media cards yet to write DS-specific games, AFAIK, nor have they managed to hack the wireless link so that you can upload games from your PC to your DS. It's only been a week, give it time :)

[ryanzec01]

I know its only been a week, just curious if anyone knew of any plan to make one.

I have been looking and found 2 that i might like to get one is EZ-Flash 2 PowerStar which seems ok and say to have a 5 hour longer like than the old card or the X-ROM 512Mb SET which seems to say nothing about memory. now when the EZ_Flash say 5 Hour longer battery life does that meen i have to charge the cartridge its self or does that just me it draws less power from the whole game unit? thanks for the help

which one would you buy??

[choffstein]

Personally...I would wait for an emulator to come out. Flash cards are really only good if you are downloading games illegally (tsk tsk!), or plan on showing your game as a demo. And considering the system just came out, im assuming you dont have your game as a demo yet...

Save your $$$.

[darookie]

Quote:

Original post by visage Personally...I would wait for an emulator to come out. Flash cards are really only good if you are downloading games illegally (tsk tsk!), or plan on showing your game as a demo.

I beg to differ. Though emulators are good to start with, flash cards and linker cables are essential for testing real-hardware. For instance most emulators have timing problems with DMA transfers and similar issues that prevent your demos/games from running as intended on the real thing.
Nevertheless flash cards are not required for starting GBA/DS programming.

OP: I'd start with GBA development first, as there are tons of tutorials, good emulators and home-brew SDKs out there that will help you getting started. Since I imagine the 2D functionality of the DS being very close to the GBA, I won't hurt working with the GBA first.

Good luck,
Pat.

[ryanzec01]

Quote:

Original post by visage Flash cards are really only good if you are downloading games illegally (tsk tsk).

Well that is one reason i want them but i thought it was legal if i owned the oringal cuase i have over 50 nes games and i do really like a few of them and it would be nice to beable to play me on the DS.

[choffstein]

Quote:

Though emulators are good to start with, flash cards and linker cables are essential for testing real-hardware.

Well said. I forgot about my MBV2 cable. I take back what I said, buy a cable if you are serious about dev.

By the way, NES roms wont work on a GBA.
I would recommend you do some research on the laws surrounding emulation and owning ROMs.

[jackdeck]

when i code gba, i use an emulator for immeadiate test, then flash cart to see the real thing. before you try and develop, either wait for those things, or crack it open, and try making them. you can only code for what is know to code for. if it's not emulated yet,and at least working with one commercial game, then the brew community has no clue what to do to make it work. being a new console, i would be supprised if there was any real info out there(other than the bland specs by the big 'N')

I wouldn't be supprised if at heart it was a souped up gba. that's where i would start, then look for the differences.( easier said than done!)

[Arek the Absolute]

Not all emulators behave alike, and not all emulators agree with one another on how things should work. If nothing else it's good to have a flash card so you can tell when you're at fault and when the emulator's at fault. In just the process of making a simple RPG I managed to find errors in most of the GBA emulators I've seen, but if you can set your sights on one as "correct" (that is, the real hardware) then you're not forced to debug everyone else's software too.

[jsharbour]

It seems to me that Nintendo was MUCH more thorough in keeping the DS architecture under wraps this time, compared to the GBA specs, which were leaked over six months before it was released. So, while VBA was working before the GBA hardware was even available to anyone, I doubt if we'll see any sort of "VDS" (or any emulator) for a while.

Unfortunately for the hobby community, the only information we're likely to get will be illegally shared by someone privy to the DS SDK. Whereas, the first GBA emulators were created based on an early demo ROM that was reverse engineered, we aren't so lucky this time.

The bottom line is always cost. No company today is really building proprietary hardware any more because of the extreme cost. Rather, most video game systems are being built out of existing components, along with a little encryption (i.e. the Xbox bus).

Sooner or later, someone is going to tap into the DS's wireless signal and decrypt it, at which point it will be possible to use the multi-boot support that comes with GBA compatibility in the DS.

Jonathan S. Harbour
http://www.jharbour.com/gameboy/