#8812 - Kyuusen - Sun Jul 20, 2003 6:21 pm
I am new to GBA development, and some questions have come up that hopefully someone can answer for me :)
First off, I am using C++ to program right now. I saw in the table of contents in the sticky note post at the top of the forum said, "Learn C." I have already started C++...anyways I have heard that C++ code is compatible with C anyways, and more reliable. What should I do?
What tools besides the C++ programming environment are needed to develop for the GBA? I am, as of now, intending to make a GBA game for personal interest, not commercial use, so I don't think I need to buy an official dev. kit from Nintendo :) I have heard that most people making games for personal use use GCC and they use the sprites from other games like Mario, Zelda, etc...
I am not a C++ pro/certified...most books these days aim towards teaching to develop applications (Which I am not interested in, games are my goal)...should I continue learning from my text book that I have now, or should I look for some game-specific programming stuff?
Last question, I swear :)
WHere are some good C++ tutorials on programming for the GBA? Mostly what is confusing me right now, is how these hardware guides specify that you need to write the sprites to such and such address, or how music must be put in this memory address.
I eventually plan to use the Zelda ALttP sprites to recreate the first Zelda for the VisualBoy Advance emulator. I know it sounds rather ambitous (Or not? :), but with some help, hopefully I can do it?
Thanks for the help!
#8820 - whodoo - Sun Jul 20, 2003 11:18 pm
C code is compatible with C++ compilers. I don?t really think you need to know C++ to make GBA games, I know them both and I?m only using C for the GBA
What tools besides the C++ programming environment are needed to develop for the GBA? I am, as of now, intending to make a GBA game for personal interest, not commercial use, so I don't think I need to buy an official dev. kit from Nintendo :) I have heard that most people making games for personal use use GCC and they use the sprites from other games like Mario, Zelda, etc...
You need a developementkit, e.g. devkitadv(GCC)..and u need a buncha tools for converting images, sounds and stuff (and of course art-programs to make all the graphics and so on)
I am not a C++ pro/certified...most books these days aim towards teaching to develop applications (Which I am not interested in, games are my goal)...should I continue learning from my text book that I have now, or should I look for some game-specific programming stuff?
Personalyt I think there?s a huge difference between applications and games. First of all, you need to know the language.. when you?ve learned that, try to find some game tutorials.. DJGPP and mode13 is great to start making games with..
WHere are some good C++ tutorials on programming for the GBA? Mostly what is confusing me right now, is how these hardware guides specify that you need to write the sprites to such and such address, or how music must be put in this memory address.
GBA is a console, not a PC.. all the hardwarestuff and "put stuff in a memoery adress" is neccesary so I recomend you to read a lot about memory and pointer-stuff and also learn some about the binary system and how to handle single bits with bitshift..
I eventually plan to use the Zelda ALttP sprites to recreate the first Zelda for the VisualBoy Advance emulator. I know it sounds rather ambitous (Or not? :), but with some help, hopefully I can do it?
To recreate the first Zelda isn?t that hard (easy graphics and so) but it?s a very large project and mabye you?ll get problems to structure the code..
sorry for ma bad english
#8825 - tepples - Mon Jul 21, 2003 3:54 am
You can recreate Zelda 1 for VBA using PocketNES.
I'd suggest that if you want to make a Zelda-style game, do just that: make a Zelda-style game, and leave Nintendo's copyrights to Nintendo. If people copy Nintendo sprites into their own creations, Nintendo may be more likely to attack fair-use devices such as the EZF, F2A, and MBV2. Is it that hard to draw your own elf?
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#8840 - Kyuusen - Mon Jul 21, 2003 2:36 pm
You can recreate Zelda 1 for VBA using PocketNES.
I'd suggest that if you want to make a Zelda-style game, do just that: make a Zelda-style game, and leave Nintendo's copyrights to Nintendo. If people copy Nintendo sprites into their own creations, Nintendo may be more likely to attack fair-use devices such as the EZF, F2A, and MBV2. Is it that hard to draw your own elf?
But it's not the same...I want to actually gain experience in programming from this future project--I want to use the SNES Zelda graphics and use them to remake the original, maybe add some new stuff. You mentioned, "Is it that hard to make your own elf?" My response is, for me yes it is, but that is not a good excuse. I could easily get someone like my brother or some of my online friends who are good at art and what not, but even then, the quality I want will not quite be the same. I want to use the SNES Zelda graphics because they are familiar to people and it will cut back on my work load . I have actually heard of people getting permission to do stuff like what I will try to do; back a while ago someone used all the tiles/sprites from Mario RPG and basicly recreated the game using Assembly, no big deal. I am surely going to ask for Nintendo's permission before I start in about a month. I probably won't even release it to the public, but if I did, it would be under the same condition as any other ROM file.
Thanks for the replies!
#8950 - mtg101 - Thu Jul 24, 2003 7:41 pm
I'm not fan of the ever increasing copyright laws that are being used to clamp down on people's freedoms, there are some cases where I think people should stick to the rules.
When we're all sat here programming carts that can be used to pirate copyrighted games, we need to be careful. Niintendo aren't haoppy about these flash carts already, and we don't want to annoy them any more by using their game ideas, graphics, etc.
So if you are going to use copyrighted graphics/maps/plots etc, I suggest you simply don't release the game. As long as you're just doing it to learn how to program the GBA and don't release it, I think everyone's happy.
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Speaker for the Dead
#8962 - sgeos - Fri Jul 25, 2003 1:24 am
| mtg101 wrote: |
| So if you are going to use copyrighted graphics/maps/plots etc, I suggest you simply don't release the game. As long as you're just doing it to learn how to program the GBA and don't release it, I think everyone's happy. |
I agree. I can see how people using "copyrighted graphics/maps/plots etc" could annoy Nintendo at the very least. When making a project, if nobody knows about it, it can't bother anyone. You could always release a version with non-zelda tile set, and make another version for your private use.
-Brendan
#8969 - Kyuusen - Fri Jul 25, 2003 3:26 am
Thanks for the advice guys. Before I begin GBA development I think I'll try either game programming using DirectX or Allegro first--just to get a feel for programming in general.