gbadev.org forum archive

Quote:

Ok, criteria...

1) You have complete control over the hardware
2) The hardware doesn't change
3) You are working with the hardware, not an API
4) The hardware is designed for games, making it easier to make them
5) The community is very helpful
6) No Bill Gates to create a monopoly (unless Microsoft releases the X-Boy)
7) It's really easy to find source for a complete game/demo
8) You learn a variety of things that doesn't happen on a PC, like optimizing code, profiling it, etc.
9) It's actually possible to create a working engine suitable for games by yourself
10) The minimum requirement for playing a GBA game is a GBA and the game.

The items in your list are more like supporting arguments than criteria. One example of a criterium that seems to fit some of your points would be "How much control the developer has (more is better)". The idea is to define the things that determine what "better" means, in a way that allows a direct (though possibly subjective) comparison.

I agree with all the things you listed except the point about optimization and profiling, as those are very relevant for PC development (and I'm using the term "PC" broadly). Also, about the monopoly thing, OpenGL is platform-independent so it only applies to D3D.

Essentially, all your comments about GBA development versus PC development could be summed up with: "When trying to make a game that will succeed in a competitive market, it's easier to develop for GBA than PC."

And I think that's true. Because PCs are more capable, and there are developers that are trying to exploit those capabilities, it can be hard to keep up. You have to be willing to accept the added complexity that is involved in a more powerful system, and then tame that complexity.

Still, none of that seems to justify using a generic term like "better".

dagamer34 wrote:

10) The minimum requirement for playing a GBA game is a GBA and the game.

And a flash cart, which many minors cannot afford. Somewhat counter-intuitively, it's almost easier for a child to get a parent to buy her a new PC than a GBA and a flash cart. The GBA market seems too crowded for an N-licensed publisher to notice a rookie development team nowadays.
_________________
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-- I think he moved to Tilwick.

Quote:

You misread - he didn't say check the pointer.

Not a misread so much as a complete lack of understanding. I don't know how one checks whether a pointer refers to a valid object, or why such a thing should be necessary. If a pointer can suddenly become invalid, then the program shouldn't have access to it in the first place, and instead should be given (as you mentioned) a handle.

tepples wrote:

dagamer34 wrote:

10) The minimum requirement for playing a GBA game is a GBA and the game.

I said playing, not developing. Most people who want to play 3D PC games can't because their PC is too slow or soemthing else.

Would you rather spend $200 and know that all the games designed for it work very well or upgrade your PC knowing that it may not work at all (because of all those system configurations)? Today's blazing-fast PC will be obsolete in 4 years.

And why is everyone quoting me all of a sudden? I didn't mean to start a war. I just like the GBA better than a PC.
_________________
Little kids and Playstation 2's don't mix. :(

dagamer34 wrote:

I said playing, not developing.

The difference is that on the PC, small development houses can self-publish. If a small dev firm wants to distribute a 3-level demo of a GBA game for no fee on the Internet, the player is going to need a flash cart.

Quote:

Most people who want to play 3D PC games can't because their PC is too slow or soemthing else.

What modern PC is too slow for a basic 3D game such as q3a?

Quote:

Would you rather spend $200 and know that all the games designed for it work very well or upgrade your PC knowing that it may not work at all (because of all those system configurations)?

I'm guessing that parents think an $800 PC is for doing homework and that a $100 GBA is for playing games.

Quote:

And why is everyone quoting me all of a sudden? I didn't mean to start a war. I just like the GBA better than a PC.

No war. I like the GBA better too, but what chance does a small-time developer have of getting anything out of GBA development?
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.

No war here, either. I haven't bought a PC game in a long time -- it's consoles for me for the forseeable future. I intend to get an XBox for Doom 3 and HL2.

Quote:

The difference is that on the PC, small development houses can self-publish. If a small dev firm wants to distribute a 3-level demo of a GBA game for no fee on the Internet, the player is going to need a flash cart.

A game could be distributed on a Xinga Super Memory Stick. I guess many people have seen the Y! group threads, but I think it's a very neat idea and decided to mention it anyway. (Which may make a forked thread veer off-topic again.)

tepples wrote:

I like the GBA better too, but what chance does a small-time developer have of getting anything out of GBA development?

You could create some cell phone games to show that you are capable of completing projects and move onto the GBA from there.

-Brendan

Yes, but the BREW logo qualification (required to publish a cell phone game on some platforms that don't have J2ME) is expensive as well. Even for J2ME, are the J2ME tools as inexpensive as the J2SE tools?
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.

tepples wrote:

Yes, but the BREW logo qualification (required to publish a cell phone game on some platforms that don't have J2ME) is expensive as well.

How expensive?

tepples wrote:

Even for J2ME, are the J2ME tools as inexpensive as the J2SE tools?

It's been a while, but there was a free toolkit last time I looked into J2ME games for cell phones. Here is the link I have. It's a little old:
http://www.gamasutra.com/resource_guide/20010917/fox_02.htm

I think that most of the linux/unix devkits are either free or inexpensive. I think there is a free Java/C++ devkit for some Symbian platform. I don't recall if it was a PDA, or specific cell phone though.

-Brendan

sgeos wrote:

tepples wrote:

the BREW logo qualification (required to publish a cell phone game on some platforms that don't have J2ME) is expensive as well.

How expensive?

For one thing, according to this page and this page, you need to incorporate in your state (commonly three figures plus legal fees), and you need to pay for

a machine capable of running Microsoft Windows (expensive if you're currently a Mac shop),
a license for a recent version of Microsoft Windows (200 USD per three years),
a code-signing certificate from VeriSign (400 USD per year, and it appears to expire instantly should the developer need to reinstall Windows or upgrade IE),
a subscription to a phone that supports BREW (definitely not the pre-paid phones), and
costs for testing each build that you plan to distribute, which are disclosed only to those who have already satisfied 1 through 4.

I have satisfied 1 and 2 but lack the financial means for 3 through 5 until I find some sort of day job in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for which I don't hold much hope in this age of offshore outsourcing.

sgeos wrote:

I think that most of the linux/unix devkits [for J2ME] are either free or inexpensive.

Doesn't help if the printing, image acquisition, and display subsystems commonly distributed with Linux don't support my printer (Canon S520, not listed in CUPS), my scanner (Microtek Scanmaker 4850, not listed in SANE, model 4800 is listed as UNSUPPORTED), or my video card (ATI Radeon 9000; I tried it in Mandrake 9.1 but X started in unaccelerated VESA mode). At this point, if I wanted to preserve the function of my peripherals, I would have to buy a second computer on which to run anything but Windows.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.

tepples wrote:

sgeos wrote:

tepples wrote:

the BREW logo qualification (required to publish a cell phone game on some platforms that don't have J2ME) is expensive as well.

How expensive?

For one thing, according to this page and this page, you need to incorporate in your state (commonly three figures plus legal fees)

I believe one can incorporate in Winsconsin for about $100. I think that gets one 7000 shares. That may not be helpful to people in other states.

Quote:

and you need to pay for

a machine capable of running Microsoft Windows (expensive if you're currently a Mac shop),

Will a windows 98 machine work?

Quote:

a license for a recent version of Microsoft Windows (200 USD per three years),

a code-signing certificate from VeriSign (400 USD per year, and it appears to expire instantly should the developer need to reinstall Windows or upgrade IE),

I don't see how a registered product can expire if Windows is reinstalled or IE is upgraded. I could see a painful set of phone calls involved in getting it up and running again.

Quote:

a subscription to a phone that supports BREW (definitely not the pre-paid phones), and

They don't supply emulators?

Quote:

costs for testing each build that you plan to distribute, which are disclosed only to those who have already satisfied 1 through 4.

This BREW thing sounds like a real rip off. I was thinking J2ME when I said cell phones. I'll stand by J2ME.

Quote:

I have satisfied 1 and 2 but lack the financial means for 3 through 5 until I find some sort of day job in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for which I don't hold much hope in this age of offshore outsourcing.

I wish I could help you there. I will bring up that if you are willing to move, you'll have an easier time finding a higher paying job. Not everyone is willing to move. Furthermore, a higher paying job does not always translate to making more money after cost of living is taken into account.

tepples wrote:

sgeos wrote:

I think that most of the linux/unix devkits [for J2ME] are either free or inexpensive.

Doesn't help if the printing, image acquisition, and display subsystems commonly distributed with Linux don't support my printer (Canon S520, not listed in CUPS), my scanner (Microtek Scanmaker 4850, not listed in SANE, model 4800 is listed as UNSUPPORTED), or my video card (ATI Radeon 9000;

Why do you need to be able to print to develope J2ME games? When I have run linux boxes, they have always been dual boot windows/linux. There are linux setups that can operate on the FAT file systems. (Assuming that is what windows still uses.) I'm not 100% sure if one can access their windows data from the linux boot, but I suspect that is the idea.

Quote:

I tried it in Mandrake 9.1 but X started in unaccelerated VESA mode). At this point, if I wanted to preserve the function of my peripherals, I would have to buy a second computer on which to run anything but Windows.

If one wants to use thier peripherals under linux, checking for compatability is important when buying them. Assuming you want to run linux, you could try to pick up some older supported peripherals either locally or on eBay, or do your printing and scanning using Windows.

You can get computers cheap these days. I like price watch. This is actually a void arguement, but the only reason I'm not running linux is because I went too cheap on my computer. As an alternative, you could get another hard drive and dual boot that way to avoid general mucking about. If you want to use the scanner to import images, getting them from the windows partition to the linux partion may be a bit of a pain if they can't fit on a floppy, but it can be done.

-Brendan

sgeos wrote:

tepples wrote:

and you need to pay for [list=1][*]a machine capable of running Microsoft Windows (expensive if you're currently a Mac shop),

Will a windows 98 machine work?

Might work, but the only machine I have with a Windows 98 license is an old laptop, probably not fast enough to run the emulator that comes with the BREW SDK. I do have a Windows 2000 machine, but I doubt if even 866 MHz PIII is enough to emulate the phone, given that the PC slows down on some GBA games and the phone's ARM processor is probably faster than 16.8 MHz.

Quote:

I don't see how a registered product can expire if Windows is reinstalled or IE is upgraded. I could see a painful set of phone calls involved in getting it up and running again.

I based that on "Installation: You must apply for, pick up, and install your VeriSign Authentic Document ID on the same computer with the same version of Microsoft Internet Explorer." in the second link that I gave.

Quote:

[*]a subscription to a phone that supports BREW (definitely not the pre-paid phones)

They don't supply emulators?

Do emulators have 100 percent cycle-accuracy, important if I'm doing a software Mode 7 engine and I don't want it to run at two frames per second when I finally get around to testing it on hardware, forcing me to scrap the project as infeasible?

Quote:

I will bring up that if you are willing to move, you'll have an easier time finding a higher paying job.

I have never had a job before. I still live with my parents. On minimum wage, I probably couldn't even save up for the down payment on a house in the geographic areas that have decent programming jobs.

Quote:

Why do you need to be able to print to develope J2ME games?

If my dad interrupts me during a hypothetical J2ME coding session and asks me to make a color photocopy of a baseball card blown up by a factor of 3, I need to use the scanner and printer immediately.

Quote:

When I have run linux boxes, they have always been dual boot windows/linux.

I'd still have to buy another hard drive, as I'm running out of space at the moment.

Quote:

If one wants to use thier peripherals under linux, checking for compatability is important when buying them.

I don't have a time machine. I didn't know that I was going to have to switch to Linux on those Christmases when I received the peripherals as gifts.

Quote:

Assuming you want to run linux, you could try to pick up some older supported peripherals either locally or on eBay, or do your printing and scanning using Windows.

Which is why I'd need a second computer.

I know a lot of my arguments will probably sound like "quit your whining and get a job," but if one cannot help me with the latter, I cannot help him or her with the former.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.

Have a look at my post:
http://forum.gbadev.org/viewtopic.php?t=3070&start=44

If you have a decent computer and a broadband line, you can start coding for 0 dollars, with a very powerful integrated environment (GCC, GDB, Borland) by visiting Nokia.
I have a friend who just setting up a company to sell his game (done in J2ME), and the SDK was free as well, from SUN this time. It cost him the price of a cell phone and a USB cable to transfer the jad file...

So Java or C++, you can go for free on cell phones !

EDIT: my friend also had to pay for registering his game design and all the associated material they generated... not sure about the word "register" here.

tepples wrote:

sgeos wrote:

Will a windows 98 machine work?

Might work, but the only machine I have with a Windows 98 license is an old laptop, probably not fast enough to run the emulator that comes with the BREW SDK. I do have a Windows 2000 machine, but I doubt if even 866 MHz PIII is enough to emulate the phone, given that the PC slows down on some GBA games and the phone's ARM processor is probably faster than 16.8 MHz.

You could take 98 off the laptop and install it on a faster machine. I'm arguing for doing things cheaper in general. Your case will have it's own set of restrictions. It actually sounds like Windows is not an issue for you.

Quote:

I don't see how a registered product can expire if Windows is reinstalled or IE is upgraded. I could see a painful set of phone calls involved in getting it up and running again.

I based that on "Installation: You must apply for, pick up, and install your VeriSign Authentic Document ID on the same computer with the same version of Microsoft Internet Explorer." in the second link that I gave.

Sorry. I didn't look hard enough. I skimmed the page and searched for "expire". That expiration policy is just plain broken. I'd avoid BREW on principle alone. Is BREW a worldwide thing? Or is it area restricted like WAP? (WAP was? I'm not up to date here.)

The thing I like about JAVA is that it uses Unicode. That facilitates localization. JAVA also runs on an OS independant VM. That makes localization really easy if you know what you are doing.

My argument is that one wants a worldwide potential user base. If one can't manage that, he or she can settle for the English speaking population. =)

Quote:

[*]a subscription to a phone that supports BREW (definitely not the pre-paid phones)

They don't supply emulators?

Do emulators have 100 percent cycle-accuracy,

If one wants to go cheaper, one can settle for a game that doesn't require such a high level of cycle-accuracy.

Quote:

important if I'm doing a software Mode 7 engine and I don't want it to run at two frames per second when I finally get around to testing it on hardware, forcing me to scrap the project as infeasible?

Actually, testing on hardware is important. Thats a very good point, and I was foolish not see it.

Quote:

I will bring up that if you are willing to move, you'll have an easier time finding a higher paying job.

I have never had a job before.

A job or a real job? Do you have a degree? If so, then there probably is not much difference. I don't have a degree. I'd be in sad shape right now if I had never had a job at all.

Quote:

On minimum wage, I probably couldn't even save up for the down payment on a house in the geographic areas that have decent programming jobs.

I realize that you said "could not save up for", and that indicates ability, but I would like to point out another thing. With no other income (in other words one either not married or one's spouse does not work) one will not be able to get a home load. Even if one intends to put 90% of the income towards housing, the bank wants to see that the mortgage can be paid on about 25% of the income. Divide the mortgage payment by four to get the approximate amount you'll need to make a month in order to get a loan. (I don't approve of this system. =)

If anyone is actually looking at minimum wage job, even McDonalds pays more than that at the very worst. My first job was minimum wage plus tips. Thats usually better than plain minimum wage. Phone work actually pays fairly well, although it can suck sometimes. I'm actually looking for work at an inbound call centre right now, failing anything that is actually computer related.

Quote:

Why do you need to be able to print to develope J2ME games?

If my dad interrupts me during a hypothetical J2ME coding session and asks me to make a color photocopy of a baseball card blown up by a factor of 3, I need to use the scanner and printer immediately.

Kind of like a volatile memory location. The state of affairs can be changed by something external to the code. =)

Quote:

When I have run linux boxes, they have always been dual boot windows/linux.

I'd still have to buy another hard drive, as I'm running out of space at the moment.

Buy a bigger one and/or give five gigs to a linux partition?

Quote:

If one wants to use thier peripherals under linux, checking for compatability is important when buying them.

I don't have a time machine. I didn't know that I was going to have to switch to Linux on those Christmases when I received the peripherals as gifts.

Thats fair. They were gifts. My statement was made with an eye to the future. The past is over, we are in the present. You now have some peripherals that are not supported by linux.

For the record, in the past I've had trouble installing linux to my satisfaction.

Quote:

Assuming you want to run linux, you could try to pick up some older supported peripherals either locally or on eBay, or do your printing and scanning using Windows.

Which is why I'd need a second computer.

It sounds like a second computer is your best bet if you want a linux box.

Quote:

I know a lot of my arguments will probably sound like "quit your whining and get a job," but if one cannot help me with the latter, I cannot help him or her with the former.

I disagree. Assuming one is whining, there is no way that person can help me with his or her whining. The only person one can help is him or herself (and potentially others that are actually bothered by third party whining.) Life isn't fair. Whining about it doesn't do anything. If there is will, there is a way and at least a partial solution is always out there for those with drive to take advantage of it. /rant

My point is that if you think you might be whining, your not whining helps you, not me. Actually, getting a job helps you and not me as well. I'm between jobs at the moment. I'm registered with a temp agency that seems to be useless. I have go through the classified ads. I live in Wisconsin, and I'll be checking out Wisconsin job net. When and if all that fails I'll head out and fill out applications and drop off resumes like crazy.

If you have a degree, you can apply for the JET program. You'll make far more than minimum wage even after the difference in cost of living is accounted for, and you'll have a cultural experience at the same time. With a nothing more than a degree you can actually teach English over seas in a bunch of places. My father is teaching English in China at the moment.

Back to the original topic, Bomberman did the research and found out that we can make games for Nokia phones for a very small amount of money. Getting started is even free!

One could also make JAVA games to played in a web browser. It's probably not money making, but it's game making.

-Brendan

sgeos wrote:

A job or a real job? Do you have a degree? If so, then there probably is not much difference.

<shakes head sadly> In this economy, degrees aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Trust me.

Dan.

poslundc wrote:

sgeos wrote:

A job or a real job? Do you have a degree? If so, then there probably is not much difference.

<shakes head sadly> In this economy, degrees aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Trust me.

That depends on what you want your degree to do for you. Do you want a job in your field? Yes. Is a degree going to help you get one? Probably not, although it can get you past the first filter.

People get promoted because they have a degree. People get paid more for having a degree. There are options open to people that have degrees. It doesn't matter what the degree is in.

I think the system is broken, and so far I have not participated. I'm self taught and I don't have a degree. It makes things more difficult. My advice to anyone is if you want to operate in the system, get a degree or formal training of some sort.

I think it's kind of neat that somebody in Toronto is responding to me. I lived there before I moved to Madison, Wisconsin. I was not impressed with the job market there.

-Brendan

Apparently they're worth something to somebody -- almost all the programming job listings I see require a CS degree.

sajiimori wrote:

Apparently they're worth something to somebody -- almost all the programming job listings I see require a CS degree.

They also typically want ridiculous things like more years experience with Java than it has been in existence.

Actually, I can't speak for the American job market; I think if I didn't require sponsorship to work there I'd probably have a job by now. But the Canadian market blows, and a degree (in my case, an engineering degree no less) doesn't even get your shoe on the trim, let alone your foot in the door.

Dan.

sajiimori wrote:

Apparently they're worth something to somebody -- almost all the programming job listings I see require a CS degree.

They are worth something to the people that do the hiring.

poslundc wrote:

Actually, I can't speak for the American job market; I think if I didn't require sponsorship to work there I'd probably have a job by now. But the Canadian market blows, and a degree (in my case, an engineering degree no less) doesn't even get your shoe on the trim, let alone your foot in the door.

A friend in Toronto in a position to hire people told me that he would not hire a person without a degree. I was younger at the time. I think he was trying to persuade me to get a formal education as opposed to an informal one. He's also the guy that made me aware of The Art of Computer Programming, and I'm in his debt for that. If I'm going for an informal edumacation (sic) I might as well get a good one. =)

-Brendan

sgeos wrote:

It actually sounds like Windows is not an issue for you.

It's not an issue for me. I was just pointing this out to get users of Macintosh computers, for whom lack of Windows is an issue, to help back up my anti-BREW position.

sgeos wrote:

The thing I like about JAVA is that it uses Unicode.

So does the Allegro library that I had been using to make PC games. Strings in Allegro are UTF-8.

Quote:

That facilitates localization. JAVA also runs on an OS independant VM. That makes localization really easy if you know what you are doing.

Doing i18n can be easy, but actual L10n for European or Japanese players may need paid help from a fluent speaker.

Quote:

If one wants to go cheaper, one can settle for a game that doesn't require such a high level of cycle-accuracy.

People wouldn't buy plain old Tetris from anybody but Henk and Alexey, but they might buy, say, TOD from me, which is part of why I asked about software mode 7.

Quote:

I have never had a job before.

A job or a real job? Do you have a degree?

I have a B.S. degree in computer science from a highly respected school, but I have never been employed.

Quote:

I'm running out of space at the moment.

Buy a bigger one and/or give five gigs to a linux partition?

I guess I really should burn a few GB of what I have on my HD.

Quote:

Assuming one is whining, there is no way that person can help me with his or her whining. The only person one can help is him or herself (and potentially others that are actually bothered by third party whining.)

Forum moderators "are actually bothered by third party whining." I don't want to get banned from forum.gbadev.org like I've been banned from one forum whose rules ("don't link to web sites containing binaries of programs for game consoles") prohibited me from mentioning anything on my web site.

Quote:

I'm registered with a temp agency that seems to be useless.

I'm actually working with Indiana's vocational rehabilitation service. (I qualify because a psychologist has diagnosed my Asperger syndrome.)

Quote:

I have go through the classified ads.

So do I. The local newspaper outsources its online help wanted ads to CareerBuilder, and I check CareerBuilder once a week, but I turn up nothing but web application development. I don't seem to have the money to learn ASP.NET and MS SQL on my own. Monster doesn't seem to turn up anything that CareerBuilder misses.

Quote:

When and if all that fails I'll head out and fill out applications and drop off resumes like crazy.

I've been cold-surfing, cold-calling, and cold-mailing as well.

Quote:

If you have a degree, you can apply for the JET program.

Would I have to already know some Japanese for that?

Quote:

Back to the original topic, Bomberman did the research and found out that we can make games for Nokia phones for a very small amount of money. Getting started is even free!

Again, Finland saves us, just as it did with the Linux kernel that enables the GNU OS. I'll have to look into that once I get enough money to get a non-prepaid mobile phone. (The prepaid ones are roughly $20/mo; the non-prepaid ones start at $40/mo.)

Quote:

One could also make JAVA games to played in a web browser. It's probably not money making, but it's game making.

In practice, do programs on the Java platform run fast enough to make software mode 7 video with low latency audio?
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.

tepples wrote:

sgeos wrote:

It actually sounds like Windows is not an issue for you.

It's not an issue for me. I was just pointing this out to get users of Macintosh computers, for whom lack of Windows is an issue, to help back up my anti-BREW position.

Thats fair. BREW sounds evil. Clearly the E in BREW is for evil.

tepples wrote:

Doing i18n can be easy, but actual L10n for European or Japanese players may need paid help from a fluent speaker.

The goal is to create a framework that can be localized easily. That way, when and if one has the resources to pay for the translation it can be plugged into the existing framework painlessly.

tepples wrote:

People wouldn't buy plain old Tetris from anybody but Henk and Alexey, but they might buy, say, TOD from me, which is part of why I asked about software mode 7.

You could consider non-mode seven effects, or alter the game in some other way. You could also start with a new concept altogether.

If you are interested I've been thinking about the tetris concept as a special case of another framework. If our game pieces are M block shapes that fit in an M by M grid, and M is 4 we have tetris. One could write a game where M is not 4, or where M can even be set in the options. Here is a routine for growing the game pieces:

Code:

G0. [Start empty.]
Start with a clear M by M grid.
G1. [Initialize - set first cell.]
Fill cell(M / 2, M / 2).
S <- 1.
G2. [Test for completion.]
If S == M, the routine terminates.
G3. [Select a random cell.]
X <- random integer from 0 to M - 1.
Y <- random integer from 0 to M - 1.
G4. [Filled already?]
If cell(X, Y) is full, go to G3.
G5. [Not adjacent?]
If cell(X, Y) is not adjacent to a filled cell, go to G3.
G6. [Fill cell]
Fill cell(X, Y).
S <- S + 1.
Go to G2.

My goal was to provide the routine in a format that can be translated into whatever language and format meets the authors requirements. As M increases, the shapes become more circular and blob like in appearance.

The version of tetris I have for my famicom uses a playing field that is 5 * M high, by 2.5 * M wide.

Quote:

I have a B.S. degree in computer science from a highly respected school, but I have never been employed.

It sounds like you are, and this may be a stupid comment, but I'd do my best to change that state of affairs. What kind of jobs are you applying for? (The best answer here is "everything I'm qualified to do".)

Quote:

I guess I really should burn a few GB of what I have on my HD.

Burn the best to CD and scrap anything extra for space?

I mostly operate on text files and BMPs so I don't need a large hard drive. I've used 5.71 GB on this drive and have 12.9 free. Most of my friends collect "stuff" that happens to reside in large file formats. I'll probably ever be confused by this behavior. /rant

Quote:

Assuming one is whining, there is no way that person can help me with his or her whining. The only person one can help is him or herself (and potentially others that are actually bothered by third party whining.)

Forum moderators "are actually bothered by third party whining." I don't want to get banned from forum.gbadev.org like I've been banned from one forum whose rules ("don't link to web sites containing binaries of programs for game consoles") prohibited me from mentioning anything on my web site.

My point is merely that one can complain about the state of affairs, or one can do something about it. The former is whining by my definition. It is an unproductive activity. One can almost always do something about an unfavorable state of affairs. It may not be a complete solution, but something can almost always be done.

What forum were you banned from? I'd have to describe the particular moderators that banned you as "foolish monkeys". Different people (moderators) and different places (forums) are just plain different. It can be frustrating to figure out how different people and places work, but that is part of life. I don't think you have to worry about being banned from forum.gbadev.org for 'linking to web sites containing binaries of programs for game consoles' so long as those programs are not commercial games or other copywritten material for which you do not hold the copyright.

I have seen others here mention sites that contain GBA programs they have written. They have not been banned and continue to post. I don't think anyone here will mind, moderators included, if you link to or otherwise mention your site.

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I'm registered with a temp agency that seems to be useless.

I'm actually working with Indiana's vocational rehabilitation service. (I qualify because a psychologist has diagnosed my Asperger syndrome.)

How is the vocational rehabilitation service working out? Is it a paying job of sorts, or something different? It seems the Asperger syndrome would explain your exceptional aptitude for technical details.

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I have go through the classified ads.

So do I. The local newspaper outsources its online help wanted ads to CareerBuilder, and I check CareerBuilder once a week, but I turn up nothing but web application development. I don't seem to have the money to learn ASP.NET and MS SQL on my own. Monster doesn't seem to turn up anything that CareerBuilder misses.

Again, what kind of positions are you looking at? The economy is slow right now and there is a good chance you will not be able to find a job in your field right now.

As far as computer skills in particular go... I'm not sure if you have the money to join, but the IEEE Software Society offers various distance learning courses. I see (Microsoft) SQL Server 2000 System Administration in the course catalog. I don't see ASP.NET in particular, but there is some other .NET stuff there. The distance learning course may or may not assume that one already has the tools to 'do the job'. I intend to join after I finish my current books.

As for books, you may be able to find some that contain CDs with versions of the tools needed to learn the material in the book. Head down to the book store and take a look. You should be able to learn a skill for the price of the book if it contains such a CD.

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When and if all that fails I'll head out and fill out applications and drop off resumes like crazy.

I've been cold-surfing, cold-calling, and cold-mailing as well.

I'll keep that strategy in mind while I'm looking for a job.

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If you have a degree, you can apply for the JET program.

Would I have to already know some Japanese for that?

Not if you are applying to be an "assistant language teacher". Clearly, knowing some Japanese and something about the culture is recommended. You will have to be able to make an interview. I'm not sure where your nearest Japanese consolate is. The JET program web site will have all of the details.

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I'll have to look into [games for Nokia phones] once I get enough money to get a non-prepaid mobile phone. (The prepaid ones are roughly $20/mo; the non-prepaid ones start at $40/mo.)

If you have the time, I'd recommend getting a head start by writing "simple" programs and testing them on the emulators.

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One could also make JAVA games to played in a web browser. It's probably not money making, but it's game making.

In practice, do programs on the Java platform run fast enough to make software mode 7 video with low latency audio?

I'm not entirely sure what kind of speed one needs for those features, but I suspect that the answer is dependant on the device running the VM. When making JAVA games, one may actually want to write some games that have lower specs for people running lower end devices.

Actually, seeing as JAVA runs on a VM, and the VM may (will?) be run on multiple devices with potentially different clock speeds, I'm not sure that managing a program at the cycle level is worth worrying about. The notion of a VM is a little odd, and I suspect that writing a program for a VM is fairly different from writing a program for a real embedded device, such as the NES or the GBA.

The JAVA VM is a stack based machine. It's not register based. Information on the byte codes (JAVA machine language), byte code manipulation, and the JAVA VM in general is out there on the net. Due to the nature of byte neutral VMs, programs written for things like the JAVA VM and the .NET platform are trivial to reverse engineer.

-Brendan

sgeos wrote:

tepples wrote:

I have a B.S. degree in computer science from a highly respected school, but I have never been employed.

It sounds like you are, and this may be a stupid comment, but I'd do my best to change that state of affairs. What kind of jobs are you applying for? (The best answer here is "everything I'm qualified to do".)

I'm looking for any IT positions, but I don't see much for which I'm qualified. My employment counselor has asked me not to look into jobs that pay less than double minimum wage.

Quote:

Forum moderators "are actually bothered by third party whining." I don't want to get banned from forum.gbadev.org like I've been banned from one forum whose rules ("don't link to web sites containing binaries of programs for game consoles") prohibited me from mentioning anything on my web site.

My point is merely that one can complain about the state of affairs, or one can do something about it. The former is whining by my definition. It is an unproductive activity.

When I complain about something in a forum, I do my best to phrase it as asking other readers how to do something about it.

Quote:

What forum were you banned from?

Sardius's WWWBoard, run by Spinner 8. The board's hosting company (Parodius Networking) had imposed a policy on Spinner 8 of no ROM links or requests, not even homebrew, because Nintendo had previously cease and desisted another site on Parodius that had been distributing and/or linking to homebrew N64 ROMs and programming information.

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I don't think you have to worry about being banned from forum.gbadev.org for 'linking to web sites containing binaries of programs for game consoles' so long as those programs are not commercial games or other copywritten material for which you do not hold the copyright.

For one thing, if "copywritten" is a word, it has nothing to do with copyright. The term you're looking for is "copyrighted." For another thing, I'm almost afraid to put music in a game that I publicly distribute for fear that I might run up against the Bright Tunes v. Harrisongs precedent holding that subconscious copying is actionable infringement (read more).

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I'm actually working with Indiana's vocational rehabilitation service. (I qualify because a psychologist has diagnosed my Asperger syndrome.)

How is the vocational rehabilitation service working out? Is it a paying job of sorts, or something different?

I will soon be put in "trial work", where I work at a company for five days on the state's dime to see how I'd do in such an environment.

Quote:

Again, what kind of positions are you looking at? The economy is slow right now and there is a good chance you will not be able to find a job in your field right now.

What fields should I be looking at other than fields that typically pay $7 per hour or less? Or should I consider looking into a near-minimum-wage job as generic work experience?

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As far as computer skills in particular go... I'm not sure if you have the money to join

I'll bring it up.

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Actually, seeing as JAVA runs on a VM, and the VM may (will?) be run on multiple devices with potentially different clock speeds, I'm not sure that managing a program at the cycle level is worth worrying about.

I am just afraid of putting days of work into an engine and having it turn out to be a slideshow in the end. I care about cycles only to the extent that I have enough of them in a twentieth of a second.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.

tepples wrote:

I'm looking for any IT positions, but I don't see much for which I'm qualified. My employment counselor has asked me not to look into jobs that pay less than double minimum wage.

That strikes me as a strange and arbitrary request. Why has your employment counselor asked you not to do that? Once you have a job, you can always keep looking and get another one. The best time to look for a job is when you already have one. People quit and find new jobs all the time.

Quote:

When I complain about something in a forum, I do my best to phrase it as asking other readers how to do something about it.

That actually sounds like a fairly good strategy.

Quote:

For one thing, if "copywritten" is a word, it has nothing to do with copyright. The term you're looking for is "copyrighted."

Thanks.

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For another thing, I'm almost afraid to put music in a game that I publicly distribute for fear that I might run up against the Bright Tunes v. Harrisongs precedent holding that subconscious copying is actionable infringement (read more).

You could consciously modify songs that are in the public domain.

Quote:

Again, what kind of positions are you looking at? The economy is slow right now and there is a good chance you will not be able to find a job in your field right now.

What fields should I be looking at other than fields that typically pay $7 per hour or less? Or should I consider looking into a near-minimum-wage job as generic work experience?

I'd consider looking into it as a generic money making experience. I was working full time at $7 an hour. Every week I'm unemployed at this point is a little over $200 I don't have. Phone work tends to pay better than things like retail.

First, get a job that pays "near-minimum-wage". If you want more free time, try to find a higher paying part time job while you work the first one. If you want more money, try to find a (higher paying) full time job. Repeat until you are either happy with the money you are making, or happy with the job you are doing. At that point keep looking for a job. Now you are in a position to be picky about the positions you accept.

Quote:

I care about cycles only to the extent that I have enough of them in a twentieth of a second.

That is certainly practical. If working on something without being able to test it on hardware strikes you as too risky, wait until you can test it on hardware. Learning the basics is not risky and is something that can be done with the emulators. You may already know the basics, in which case you really want to be able to test on hardware.

-Brendan

gbadev.org forum archive

OffTopic > PC/3D dev vs GBA/console/2D dev

#18089 - sajiimori - Sat Mar 20, 2004 5:34 am

#18095 - tepples - Sat Mar 20, 2004 6:52 am

#18110 - sajiimori - Sat Mar 20, 2004 6:08 pm

#18112 - dagamer34 - Sat Mar 20, 2004 6:18 pm

#18114 - tepples - Sat Mar 20, 2004 7:19 pm

#18125 - sajiimori - Sun Mar 21, 2004 3:08 am

#18127 - crossraleigh - Sun Mar 21, 2004 3:57 am

#18253 - sgeos - Tue Mar 23, 2004 5:16 am

#18255 - tepples - Tue Mar 23, 2004 5:40 am

#18259 - sgeos - Tue Mar 23, 2004 5:51 am

#18263 - tepples - Tue Mar 23, 2004 6:11 am

#18268 - sgeos - Tue Mar 23, 2004 7:02 am

#18284 - tepples - Tue Mar 23, 2004 5:49 pm

#18287 - bomberman - Tue Mar 23, 2004 6:02 pm

#18299 - sgeos - Tue Mar 23, 2004 7:23 pm

#18302 - poslundc - Tue Mar 23, 2004 8:12 pm

#18306 - sgeos - Tue Mar 23, 2004 8:44 pm

#18307 - sajiimori - Tue Mar 23, 2004 8:47 pm

#18310 - poslundc - Tue Mar 23, 2004 9:12 pm

#18311 - sgeos - Tue Mar 23, 2004 9:33 pm

#18332 - tepples - Wed Mar 24, 2004 4:38 am

#18336 - sgeos - Wed Mar 24, 2004 8:37 am

#18344 - tepples - Wed Mar 24, 2004 6:00 pm

#18354 - sgeos - Wed Mar 24, 2004 8:31 pm