#1193 - jstrout - Wed Jan 15, 2003 5:37 pm
I'm very new to the GBA dev scene, so please be patient and use small words.
I know that the common way to get your app onto a real GBA is to use a flash cart. But these seem to cost about $150 -- at least, they do in the kit with a USB cable and (useless to me) Windows software. That's OK for my own development, but suppose I want to give copies of my game to my 20 closest friends? Can I:
1. Buy just the flash cart, on the cheap? Where?
2. Find some other (cheaper) way to produce cartridges, perhaps with EPROM instead of flash RAM or some such? Are there any services that will do this for me if I order sufficient quantity?
Many thanks,
- Joe
#1197 - Lord Graga - Wed Jan 15, 2003 6:00 pm
Well, to test your software on the GBA you could use a XBOOT cable.
To get the instructions of how to do it look here:
http://www.work.de/nocash/gba-xboo.zip
#1202 - jstrout - Wed Jan 15, 2003 6:15 pm
Hmm, thanks for the link. But it says that you can only transfer programs up to 256Kb. That's a pretty serious limitation, given that cartridges are usually at least 10MB, aren't they?
I presume this is because that's just how much RAM the GBA has built into it. So there's no way around that, is there? But on the other hand, does this mean that you can disconnect the cable and continue to play until you shut your GBA off?
Thanks,
- Joe
#1210 - tepples - Wed Jan 15, 2003 6:47 pm
| jstrout wrote: |
| Hmm, thanks for the link. But it says that you can only transfer programs up to 256Kb. That's a pretty serious limitation, given that cartridges are usually at least 10MB, aren't they? |
Yes, commercial GBA carts run anywhere from 2.5 MB to 16 MB, but it's possible to do a heck of a lot in 256 KB. Heck, Zelda 1 and Metroid for NES were each 128 KB. My own TOD for GBA is only 160 KB, but several people have e-mailed me back congratulating me for the amount of polish it shows.
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#1227 - Splam - Wed Jan 15, 2003 8:51 pm
tepples is right, 256k is quite a lot if used correctly. Using compression for example, you can compress your whole program except for some boot code then decompress all of your graphics to vram and your code over itself in the ram, of course your decompression software needs to work backwards for this else it'll overwrite the data it's trying to decompress but that method has been used from the c64/spectrum days and probably long before.
#1233 - jstrout - Wed Jan 15, 2003 9:08 pm
OK, I can believe that 256K is plenty. So, imagine I'm no good with a soldering gun. Does anyone sell these cables (or an adapter) pre-made?
Also, am I correct that once the app is downloaded I can unplug the cable, and continue to play until the GBA is turned off? Or does the GBA maintain its RAM even when off?
#1246 - ampz - Wed Jan 15, 2003 10:30 pm
There are a few 'el cheapo' cart projects in the works, intended for independent publishing, betatesting, development, ...
I'am working on one or two cart designs that will be way cheaper than carts intended for piracy (visly, flash extreme and all thoose other).
#1250 - jstrout - Wed Jan 15, 2003 10:42 pm
Good, I'm interested in development, not piracy. For all I care, the cart could have some special requirements that make it incompatible with "real" ROMs -- as long as it's not too onerous for a developer to meet those requirements, that's fine with me.
I look forward to seeing what you come up with!
#1251 - ampz - Wed Jan 15, 2003 10:49 pm
They will not be very compatible with commercial games.
Might be possible to get some of the commercial games to run, but far from all.