#44830 - Shade - Sun Jun 05, 2005 9:35 pm
Hey GBA gurus,
This one is meant for people who are today professional (ie., licensed) GBA developers -- assuming such people do loiter around here, and I guess some would.
How similar is development with official tools to DevKitARM work? Specifically, how helpful is it to have worked with the free/open stuff by ourselves before we get licensed for official development?
If it's a stupid newb question, sorry. I'm just wondering.
Thanks in advance (no pun intended),
Shade
#44832 - strager - Sun Jun 05, 2005 9:38 pm
Actually, official devolpers do the same thing we do, with a little help from the NSDK, of course. Developers use whichever tools they chose, weather it be GNU or some other toolchain.
#44835 - Shade - Sun Jun 05, 2005 9:48 pm
Cool, that's good to hear. But how far do the NSDKs go? Meaning, the way I see it, I'll have to implement my own sprite/tile/VRAM managers, etc etc.
Isn't there a solid general-purpose standard library around for that end? From what I gather stuff like SGADE isn't maintained anymore... Or is it?
Cheers
#44836 - strager - Sun Jun 05, 2005 9:54 pm
You wouldn't want to be poking around with the NSDK -- you might get caught in a legal dispute. O.o
And yes, it is best to code yourself than to use others' code. I do this because I can say that this was coded entirely by me (even the crt0). :-)
#44881 - Kyoufu Kawa - Mon Jun 06, 2005 2:57 pm
If it ain't okay to say this, just give me a shout.
/me dons the Asbestos Underpants.
The NSDK is effectively a load of headers, documentation and a nice (but unfortunately nonoptimizing afaict) bitmap converter. The only really interesting thing is the Sappy engine.
I'd use DevKitArm, but fare better with the ProDG chain.
Disclaimer: I am not an official developer, just a lucky bastard with contacts. I have taken an oath not to redistribute the NSDK by myself, but am not responsible for the actions of my team members. Yes Interdepth, I'm looking at you.
#44884 - strager - Mon Jun 06, 2005 3:02 pm
The Sappy engine (for those who don't know) is a multi-functional sound player. The main goal is to play converted midi files on the GBA. Some example commercial games are Mario Kart Super Circuit and the Advanced Pokemon series.
Just so you know, I do not have the NSDK, but I have a friend who does. So don't yell at me!
#44910 - sajiimori - Mon Jun 06, 2005 6:35 pm
I don't think it breaks any NDAs to say: homebrew is better.
#44913 - poslundc - Mon Jun 06, 2005 6:50 pm
| sajiimori wrote: |
| I don't think it breaks any NDAs to say: homebrew is better. |
;)
Dan.
#44922 - Kyoufu Kawa - Mon Jun 06, 2005 8:26 pm
| strager wrote: |
| Some example commercial games are Mario Kart Super Circuit and the Advanced Pokemon series. |
...just about every single originally-Japanese game I've seen so far. Exceptions seem rather rare.
#44980 - Shade - Tue Jun 07, 2005 1:36 am
| strager wrote: |
| You wouldn't want to be poking around with the NSDK -- you might get caught in a legal dispute. O.o |
Oh -- didn't mean to. Was just curious to know how much of my code would have to / should be rewritten in case I ever got to the point of using the official SDK. My question also extends to DS development, of course -- I would presume the answers hold.
| Quote: |
| And yes, it is best to code yourself than to use others' code. I do this because I can say that this was coded entirely by me (even the crt0). :-) |
I'd agree to a certain point, but... C'mon! It's so much stuff in common! I know when we're talking games we're dealing with a need for *lots* of custom optimizations, but all the same...!
BTW: thanks for all the replies people, learning a lot over here. >: )
Cheers
#44996 - wintermute - Tue Jun 07, 2005 2:56 am
| Shade wrote: |
Was just curious to know how much of my code would have to / should be rewritten in case I ever got to the point of using the official SDK. My question also extends to DS development, of course -- I would presume the answers hold.
|
For what it's worth there are authorised developers using devkitARM.
Using the official SDK isn't absolutely necessary and your code may not have to be rewritten. This depends mainly on the attitudes of your employers but, for the most part, as long as your final ROM passes Nintendo testing all is well. devkitARM can be used quite happily with the official SDK.
In the case of DS, homebrew is at a much lower level than official development and use of the SDK is probably mandatory. devkitARM's compatibility with this has yet to be determined.
#45082 - poslundc - Tue Jun 07, 2005 3:49 pm
| wintermute wrote: |
| In the case of DS, homebrew is at a much lower level than official development |
I wouldn't expect things to stay that way, though.
Dan.
#45095 - Kyoufu Kawa - Tue Jun 07, 2005 5:52 pm
...Funny. Now that you mention it, the last official DS kit I saw (please don't ask) had no sound support, among other things :P
#45098 - wintermute - Tue Jun 07, 2005 6:05 pm
| poslundc wrote: |
| wintermute wrote: | | In the case of DS, homebrew is at a much lower level than official development |
I wouldn't expect things to stay that way, though.
Dan. |
by lower level, I meant closer to the hardware rather than less advanced.
#45106 - Miked0801 - Tue Jun 07, 2005 7:07 pm
Yes, there are lots of professional GBA developers that hang around here. Yes, Nintendo supplies an SDK if you want to call it that. Yes, the homebrew stuff around here in almost all aspects is as good as the SDK - sometimes much better. Yes, you are better off writing your own stuff or grabing off the internet than lusting after then SDK. Trust me, you aren't really missing all that much. Heck, we use Krawall for our sound stuff as it's superior to the SDK in abilities and (especially) CPU utilization. All those BIOS functions there and we use almost none of them anymore...