#27592 - sgeos - Sat Oct 16, 2004 5:36 am
It seems to that with the two screens and touch screen some really nifty tools could be made that would run on the DS. A few questions potentially relevant to tools development-
Do you think the DS has an OS?
Do you suppose it will be possible to write to files on the file system?
Can we we type into the touch screen with the keyboard dealie, or do we have to do one finger typing with the stylus?
-Brendan
#27594 - LOst? - Sat Oct 16, 2004 7:11 am
| Quote: |
| Do you think the DS has an OS? |
Too complicated for Nintendo I guess. They want a game console, not a computer.
A year ago i started to work on a Windows like GUI for the GBA in Mode 3, but it didn't finish updating the frame during VBLANK. I can continue that project on the DS is it is faster. The mouse was emulated and very smooth. on the DS we can probably use the touch screen as you said.
| Quote: |
| Do you suppose it will be possible to write to files on the file system? |
Harder to answer this question. I don't know but why would it need one?
| Quote: |
| Can we we type into the touch screen with the keyboard dealie, or do we have to do one finger typing with the stylus? |
If there will be an OS for it, it will probably have the same technique as other handheld PC
#27599 - mymateo - Sat Oct 16, 2004 11:31 am
Mr. sleepy again...
OS? No, PictoChat and the built-in clock/calendar/alarm are probably the best you'll get.
Write files to the system? Most likely not. Best guess, someone will make a PDA-style interface to load from a card (like a game but less fun), and let you save to the SRAM. Anyone know what the SRAM limit is on the carts that are capable of holding more than 1 gigabit of info?
Type on the screen? Have to try first. Yes, you can use your finger, but the keyboard will be way too small to type normally. I think the DS ships with 2 styli, so maybe you can at least do half-decent chicken pecking with a stylus in each hand, but not two-handed typing. A peripheral keyboard would be good, and it could use the GBA slot too, since the slot is in the front... good possibilities!
I think the DS, once home devrs get their hands on the necessary hardware & software, will become a major-used utility.
- 2d/3d graphing calculator
- Organizer
- Note taker (not just notepad, but microphone too people!)
- Internet browser, email client, MSN/Yahoo/AIM compatible chat
- VoIP (Voice over IP, ie. talk on phone using internet)
- Portable dev for GBA? Put blank GBA cart in GBA slot, write code with GUI, compile, and flash with progs on a DS cart? Ooh, I drool...
- 16-track music recording, D/L tracks from 'net or PC (Mic not good enough to record, guaranteed!)
- Daily newspapers posted online, use wireless router to retrieve on the DS? On that idea, have the "Find 6 differences between these two pictures", one on each screen?!
- If all else fails, and you're rich, use your DS to beat up your siblings.
Indeed, many uses... but, alas, so many of them will probably never see the light of day unless someone cracks the DS...
#27616 - originalself - Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:00 am
as for the built in screens heres some screens from cubeerope http://www.cube-europe.com/news.php?nid=7075
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#27617 - LOst? - Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:06 am
Looks like an OS to me.
One thing I like is the analog clock. To draw that you need to be able to draw lines. And that's not tile mode you draw lines with, so I guess an improved mode 3/mode 4! Hopefully.
#27650 - FluBBa - Mon Oct 18, 2004 11:53 am
| LOst? wrote: |
| Looks like an OS to me. |
Um, what exactly does a OperatingSystem look like?
| LOst? wrote: |
| One thing I like is the analog clock. To draw that you need to be able to draw lines. And that's not tile mode you draw lines with, so I guess an improved mode 3/mode 4! Hopefully. |
I'm sure I saw somewhere that the GBA was able to rotate both tiled backgrounds and sprites, or?
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#27662 - Mr. Ploppy - Mon Oct 18, 2004 3:18 pm
| LOst? wrote: |
| Looks like an OS to me. |
Then I think you're a bit myopic ;) The gamecube has a bios with fancy graphics and an options menu, but I would hardly call it an OS.
| LOst? wrote: |
| One thing I like is the analog clock. To draw that you need to be able to draw lines. And that's not tile mode you draw lines with, so I guess an improved mode 3/mode 4! |
Again, there are inumerable ways that particular effect could be achived. I hardly think one screenshot is indicative of an "improved" BG mode. The BG modes are likely to remain largely unchanged, in order to keep GBA compatibillity. And besides, the bitmap modes are so basic, there's really nothing that needs improving. Unless the DS allows 8-bit writes, that would be very handy for mode 4.
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#27663 - dagamer34 - Mon Oct 18, 2004 3:23 pm
An OS is a layer between the hardware and a program (game) itself in the case of the DS. Since the DS directly accesses the hardware without using the "OS", the DS doesn't have a OS. All it has is a very fancy BIOS. Windows is an OS because it is an interface between a program and the hardware. There is no bypassing it.
Does it really matter anyway whether the DS has an OS or not? Most of us will be buying one regardless!
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#27685 - mymateo - Tue Oct 19, 2004 2:40 am
Indeed, I have to agree with dagamer34, Mr. Ploppy, etc. that the DS does not have an OS.
But let's not flog this issue, let's think about the future. If/when the DS is cracked, both hardware and software --- well, both hardware if you think about it, I really mean blank cartridges and programming --- do yous think that someone will make an OS? Something with all that API stuff handled so people can write games more easily without needing all these libraries 'cause the OS will handle it?
Gee, that'd be cool.
#27717 - tepples - Wed Oct 20, 2004 12:26 am
The DS game storage medium is block addressed in the NitroROM filesystem. There has to be something to read and write files on the card. If MS-DOS is an OS, then whatever the DS uses for file access is an OS as well.
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#27791 - PhoenixSoft - Thu Oct 21, 2004 7:04 am
There won't be much work to do to get an OS running on the DS. You can already get ARM9 ports of the portable Windows editions, as well as of Linux/Palm OS/etc... On the topic of Palm OS, anyone know what kind of licensing fees would be involved in getting permission to do a port for the DS? Not Nintendo's, just PalmOne's.
#27795 - Mr. Ploppy - Thu Oct 21, 2004 8:50 am
| tepples wrote: |
| The DS game storage medium is block addressed in the NitroROM filesystem. There has to be something to read and write files on the card. If MS-DOS is an OS, then whatever the DS uses for file access is an OS as well. |
I disagree. It's most likely that access to the new cart will be via some BIOS function, because the MS3D carts are paged devices like PCMCIA storage, not linearly addressed like traditional game carts.
Thanks StoneCypher.
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