421 replies to this topic

[kersley]

Hey Parallax, do you think there is a way to fix the GBA emulator to make it work correctly on our spvs? You think it is not possible or you did not have time for it?If ever you think that it is not possible, i'll be really sad  :cry: but if you didn't have time for it, then hope is still there

[Parallax20]

kersley, on Dec 13 2005, 00:17, said:

Hey Parallax, do you think there is a way to fix the GBA emulator to make it work correctly on our spvs? You think it is not possible or you did not have time for it?If ever you think that it is not possible, i'll be really sad  :cry: but if you didn't have time for it, then hope is still there

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't think I can fix it to run any faster.  The core of VBAdvance emu wasn't designed to run on slow processors currently in smartphones.  They were written for pocketPC with 500Mhz+ cpus.  Plus I don't think the core of it is very optimised and I'm not an emu expert so I just can't delve in and write bits of it.  Its not really worth wasting time on it as I have other projects to work on.  

I'm sure if there's another programmer out there wanting a challenge they will try and improve upon whats there.  

Parallax.

[Parallax20]

ninjaw, on Dec 12 2005, 15:12, said:

I love your work i was disapointed with no answers on the volume keys, didnt  you notice u can use them on Snes ? unfortunally they work only on "push but release" i need them to enjoy a landscape mode, i was asking if there was  a way to trick that as this is the first emulator that can use volume keys.

I mentionned Pocketgear just to say you what the phone could do so far, assuming you are working on a way to play GB on C550+

Btw i tried ScumVM it doesnt work also on qvga ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ninjaw - Apologises if I seemed a little ratty at you before.  I've not been well lately so feeling a bit cranky of late.  Anyway, I've had a play with PicoDrive again to see if I could get the volume buttons working for you.  I did get it to half work, but it became too frustrating to use so I decided to leave it out.  

I'll tell you why....1st, the standard call to check keypresses in PicoDrive is GetActiveKeyState() which checks for the key state when its called (keyUp or keyDown).  This works fine with buttons that have 1 function, e.g numeric keypad buttons.  Other keys such as VolUp and VolDown have double functions and GetActivateKeyState() can't detect these for some reason.   VolUp sends a VolUp event if pressed quickly and a Record event if held longer (voice recorder).   If you tried to use these in games you would only be able to use the VolUp button by pressing it quickly, holding it down will do nothing as this would be detected as a different button type.   So in the case of Sonic, you would only be able to do short jump and not high ones, which makes the button close to useless in game.  Similar for any shoot'em type games that allow rapid fire when button is held down, you won't be able to do it with Volume buttons.

2nd, the hack I put to get it to work relied on events and this causes a delayed reaction, less than .5 sec but still a delay making the game slow to react.  

I've not found a solution to the volume button issue yet, but if I do...I'll consider updating the code.   This is for the C550...I can't speak for other models.

Parallax.

Edited by Parallax20, 13 December 2005 - 02:45 AM.

[ninjaw]

Wow thx for the effort parallax I'm glad to see I am not the only one disapointed... seriously you cannot play any landscape mode games on this phone without these damn buttons !

[efishta]

Parallax20, on Dec 11 2005, 22:50, said:

Hi all,

OK, for all those who requested non-QVGA versions.  I have amended the source to automatically detect and switch to using the appropriate screen res.  So this should now work for all smartphones.  Bearing in mind I tested this on my C550, I can't gurantee if it will work 100%.  So for those who do have a low res phones, please let me know of any problems you encounter. 

PocketSNES users - I fixed a bug related to directional key remapping when changing screen modes during game play.  In the old version the cursor keys remained the same regardless of screen orientation.  This has now been fixed.

Right, I'm off to port something else to smartphone.

Have fun!

Parallax.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Once again, thank you for the efforts that you are putting forth to help a lot of smartphone users get more out of their phone.

I realize you're busy with other projects and you're basically donating free time to devote it to porting these apps - so what I'm going to say shouldn't come off as requesting you do anything but if you have some free time then maybe you could look into it.

I asked earlier to see if it was possible to get a version of the new PocketSNES  to work with older smartphones with non QVGA resolutions, though I did test the new file you put up and it simply goes back to the File Explorer window, it basically crashes. I dont' know if it's because it was compiled against Windows Mobile 5 SDK and that makes any difference or not, or another error in the file. Did you try running it in the Device Emulator debugger in Visual Studio? (This is of course assuming you're using VS 2005) If so, you could try the Smartphone 2003 SE emulator images since you don't own a previous generation smartphone.

[Parallax20]

efishta, on Dec 13 2005, 13:34, said:

Once again, thank you for the efforts that you are putting forth to help a lot of smartphone users get more out of their phone.

I realize you're busy with other projects and you're basically donating free time to devote it to porting these apps - so what I'm going to say shouldn't come off as requesting you do anything but if you have some free time then maybe you could look into it.

I asked earlier to see if it was possible to get a version of the new PocketSNES  to work with older smartphones with non QVGA resolutions, though I did test the new file you put up and it simply goes back to the File Explorer window, it basically crashes. I dont' know if it's because it was compiled against Windows Mobile 5 SDK and that makes any difference or not, or another error in the file. Did you try running it in the Device Emulator debugger in Visual Studio? (This is of course assuming you're using VS 2005) If so, you could try the Smartphone 2003 SE emulator images since you don't own a previous generation smartphone.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi, I'm using embedded vc++ 4, so its mainly developed for WM2003.   I've known the emulator to not load certain ROMS because of compatibility problems or ROMs size limitations.  This emu is based on snes9x 1.39 so anything that doesn't work on that emu won't work on the phone, you'll need to try a few ROMS.  If it crashs on all ROMs then thats a different matter.

Anyone else having this problem on low res phones?

Parallax.

[kjhoran]

Jamma14, on Dec 1 2005, 15:35, said:

Well I only really used the saving and loading features. The auto save/load at the moment is annoying if I muck up something, so I have to back up my saves. Any chance maybe to configure another few buttons for saving and loading?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

DO u have the Picodrive file..??  Couldn't see it atached to ur post..

Cheers
K

[Parallax20]

ninjaw, on Dec 13 2005, 04:02, said:

Wow thx for the effort parallax I'm glad to see I am not the only one disapointed... seriously you cannot play any landscape mode games on this phone without these damn buttons !

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'll have to disagree with you there.  I don't play games in landscape right, but I do use landscape left.  This way you have the cursor and all 16+ buttons to choose from.  Granted it can be a little like playing twister with your fingers but its the next best alternative to using the volume buttons.

Parallax.

[Parallax20]

kjhoran, on Dec 13 2005, 14:47, said:

DO u have the Picodrive file..??  Couldn't see it atached to ur post..

Cheers
K

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Its on the first post.

[kjhoran]

Parallax20, on Dec 13 2005, 13:52, said:

Its on the first post.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

CHeers.
K

[ninjaw]

Parallax20, on Dec 13 2005, 13:50, said:

I'll have to disagree with you there.  I don't play games in landscape right, but I do use landscape left.  This way you have the cursor and all 16+ buttons to choose from.  Granted it can be a little like playing twister with your fingers but its the next best alternative to using the volume buttons.

Parallax.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Lol i just found that myself yesterday left button+Home+Call ?

Yeah it works great altough volume key were really cool back in SPv1 btw i noticed the Home key got this famous push problem ? when you put mario jump on it it cant jump as long as he would

[efishta]

Parallax20, on Dec 13 2005, 07:46, said:

Hi, I'm using embedded vc++ 4, so its mainly developed for WM2003.   I've known the emulator to not load certain ROMS because of compatibility problems or ROMs size limitations.  This emu is based on snes9x 1.39 so anything that doesn't work on that emu won't work on the phone, you'll need to try a few ROMS.  If it crashs on all ROMs then thats a different matter.

Anyone else having this problem on low res phones?

Parallax.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hopefully it's not something that I'm missing - I tested two of the ROMs that I know work with the original PocketSNES for smartphone, because I'm halfway through Final Fantasy II with the older version, and I just created a new folder, placed the ROM and the new PocketSNES and file selector DLL and it just crashes, no hard lock or anything.

[Parallax20]

efishta, on Dec 13 2005, 21:29, said:

Hopefully it's not something that I'm missing - I tested two of the ROMs that I know work with the original PocketSNES for smartphone, because I'm halfway through Final Fantasy II with the older version, and I just created a new folder, placed the ROM and the new PocketSNES and file selector DLL and it just crashes, no hard lock or anything.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are you saying it just crashes on start up?

PocketSNES and FileDialogsp.dll should be in the same folder.  ROMS can be stored anywhere.  What phone do you have?  No one else seems to have reported this problem...

Is anyone out there using a non QVGA phone experiencing this problem too?

Parallax.

[fuku]

tried 2 roms: super mario allstars and super mario kart, both return to the file explorer on a low resolution phone..

Edited by fuku, 15 December 2005 - 11:39 PM.

[Parallax20]

fuku, on Dec 15 2005, 20:15, said:

tried 2 roms: super mario allstars and super mario kart, both return to the file explorer on a low resolution phone..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OK guys,  I've run PocketSNES through the emulator and have detected what I think may have been the problem.  So if someone can try out the new file and let me know if it works or not on an actual device?

Parallax.

[efishta]

Parallax20, on Dec 15 2005, 19:24, said:

OK guys,  I've run PocketSNES through the emulator and have detected what I think may have been the problem.  So if someone can try out the new file and let me know if it works or not on an actual device?

Parallax.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OK I tested it, and it now runs but only on Portrait and Landscape left, but not on landscape right. If I set it to Landscape Right, it crashes back to the file explorer window. I did notice however, that if you run it with landscape left and then switch to it in landscape right while the program's still running, the game itself will load and run with no problems. However, when you run it the next time and it loads the game in landscape right by default, it crashes.

One more thing - what's the actual function of the CPU speed setting. What does it change in the emulator that you said makes it run faster?

[Parallax20]

efishta, on Dec 16 2005, 07:10, said:

OK I tested it, and it now runs but only on Portrait and Landscape left, but not on landscape right. If I set it to Landscape Right, it crashes back to the file explorer window. I did notice however, that if you run it with landscape left and then switch to it in landscape right while the program's still running, the game itself will load and run with no problems. However, when you run it the next time and it loads the game in landscape right by default, it crashes.

One more thing - what's the actual function of the CPU speed setting. What does it change in the emulator that you said makes it run faster?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

efishta - thanks for testing it out.  I could only rely on the emulator for testing this change.  I'll take a look at the landscape right problem...sounds to me like an initialisation problem when first run.

Update: Landscape Right mode has been fixed. See first post for new file.

I didn't delve too deeply into the PocketSNES core code, but the CPU cycles is a percentage value and I can only assume it to be the number of cpu instructions it processes per cycle.   Changing this value can make games quicker but the value you use will vary depending on the game.  I tried it on a few games....some went faster and others stopped working, so you'll have to play around with its acceptable for you use.

Parallax.

Edited by Parallax20, 16 December 2005 - 02:57 PM.

[efishta]

Parallax20, on Dec 16 2005, 07:56, said:

efishta - thanks for testing it out.  I could only rely on the emulator for testing this change.  I'll take a look at the landscape right problem...sounds to me like an initialisation problem when first run.

Update: Landscape Right mode has been fixed. See first post for new file.

I didn't delve too deeply into the PocketSNES core code, but the CPU cycles is a percentage value and I can only assume it to be the number of cpu instructions it processes per cycle.   Changing this value can make games quicker but the value you use will vary depending on the game.  I tried it on a few games....some went faster and others stopped working, so you'll have to play around with its acceptable for you use.

Parallax.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thank you very much for the work you put in this - I can now say it works perfectly and in portrait mode, in which the original did not work in, it's great for some text games where the text was barely readable in landscape mode. The games also run faster due to the CPU cycles feature, so once again thank you very much.

[muff]

harrysaab, on Dec 17 2005, 20:32, said:

rude people here, im going to close my a/c and look for other sites.
cya

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

you mean people who observe both copyright law and the rules of the forum ?

well please be my guest to find somewhere else to steal cash from some developers pocket

[awarner]

Previous posts removed, please remember guys read the site rules before posting and keep the forum replies friendly or at least straight to the point ie suggest reading the rules etc.

Now let's have a good Christmas/holiday season