GP32 Just A Random Question


S

sebastian_insua

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Supposedly you can do a port if you have the source code but i was just wondering how much has to be changed from and ordinary windows program to actually make it work on a GP32, obviously controls will have to be remapped, but what else as there must be some sort of reason for thee not being a whole lot more games and programs for the GP32.....
 
  • 1. We do not have enough developers that have enough free time. Plain and simple.
    2. Unless it was an old DOS game, most windows developers, so used to having 32MB RAM + over use the memory making a 8 MB RAM port very difficult.
    3. It would have to have been originally made for a lower CPU like games in the StarCraft era.
    4. Space, alot of PC games, even old ones like Starcraft, take up 200+ MB (harddrive space being plentiful), now for many of those games, the media would have to be downsampled and it would still take an entire 128 MB SMC (or more).
    5. Lack of controls, PC games are designed with the Keyboard AND mouse in mind so some use a hefty amount of keys, (or even require typing), these cannot be easily replicated on the GP32 without losing some functionality.
    6. Alot of windows games take advantage of windows API or free libs, many of which do not exist on the GP32 platform, including things like bink video and the likes.
    7. Screen size, most PC games use 640x480 (only some really old dos games really use 320x240), to use the 320x240 GP32 screen size would require that they show 1/4 of the screen or that the media be scaled down to 50% of its size. Not fun.
And many more...
 
Oh...

...Kay


what i actually meant was what parts of the code have to be added or changed what prevents a simple exe from running on a gampark....

this was not a n00b request for more games (can i have the sims for gp32)or a complaint on the lack of work put in by developers, its just i've programmed a bit with c++ for windows but wanted to know what you have to change when porting games from windows (WITH THE SOURCECODE) onto the GP32...
I didn't even mention porting big games with high specifications so i don't know what that was about
 
you need to change anything that is windows dependant, like using windows graphics libaries and such and change them to the equivilent for the GP32... if it exists...

and also you've got to compile with a special compiler and not borland or visual C++ or any other x86 compiler cus the GP32 doesnt have an x86 processor its an ARM RISC chip :)
 
If the game you are thinking of uses less than 8 MB of RAM, can operate in 320x240 and fit on 128 MB SMC, and doesnt _need_ more buttons then the GP32 has (and is open source), and is written in a portable language like C/C++ then all thats required for a port to GP32 is to make (or use existing from the SDK if available) replacement functions for all of the platform specfic and external APIs. (assuming of course that the game will run on a 133mhz handheld)

Thats alot of IF's, but assuming you find a game that fits into that, then its still alot of work to write replacement functions for the renderer (because it probably uses GDI, DirectX or OpenGL) and for the audio, map the keys, etc..., even more so if you have to write custom functions to manage memory if the game uses more than 8 MB or too many keys, etc...

Not impossible, but _very_ time consuming, and we dont really have enough developers that could devote time to ports, most of the developers want (and rightly so) to write something new, something their own.

Its alot easier if the game was written with portablity in mind, like open source games on sourceforge, or games written for multiple platforms, etc...
 
How much memory does KOF91 require on the PC side? Just as my port of BOR required 24mb of ram on the PC. I've managed to get it down to just under 8mb, but that excludes some of the characters, music and sound effects.

Just wondering if you had some memory saving tips :)
 
You know...it just occured to me...this isnt a random question like the topic says...

A random question would be more like...
How can I eat turtles during an eclipse with a pink shovel?
Just something random, no thought involved at all..

Now your question wasnt random at all :)

(sorry, it must be all that coffee talking...)
 
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