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DS development > PALib or DIY?

#131661 - yaustar - Mon Jun 18, 2007 10:47 pm

I am looking at developing for the DS as a hobby. So far I have seen the PALib which looks like it does most if not all of the low level work for me however it feels like I am cheating a bit. While I know I will still use PALib despite what is said here, I would like to know what I am missing out and opinions on using PALib over doing it yourself or visa versa.

Cheers in advance.
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#131662 - Lick - Mon Jun 18, 2007 10:53 pm

Apart from the code, I think it's the experience of working with the hardware's APIs that is most of the fun. Discovering how the 2D/3D engine works, how to use interrupts, manage memory and stuff like that. Sometimes it can be a pain, but it's mostly a lot of fun discovering the hardware that's been sold a silly 40 million times.

It's really about whether you just want your software to run on the DS or want to familiarize yourself with the toy itself.
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#131664 - yaustar - Mon Jun 18, 2007 11:11 pm

That's the thing, I did some minor GBA work years ago (nothing special, it was purely graphical) when I was still relatively new to programming and the GBA hardware, and I remember it being immensely fun.

I may end up doing both, doing small programs directly on the hardware and 'larger' programs using PALib.
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#131725 - Lynx - Tue Jun 19, 2007 2:20 pm

Personally, I see most of the "satisfaction" when the game/app actually runs on the DS.. so the quicker I see that, the "happier" I am. Now, PAlib hinders that satisfaction when you are trying to get something to work, and PAlib is the reason it won't. So, I suggest using PAlib until you are familure with the hardware so that you don't need it anymore.
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