BGNG
New member
Well, I've been piddling around with the Nintendo DS for the past week or so and I must say: I'm thoroughly impressed. I can hardly wait until enough information comes through in regards to its CPU Memory Map and the introduction of flash cards so I can begin developing for it.
So... Knowing all the things that I know... I have decided to undertake quite a humongous project that many will rebuke me for even considering, and many will give me their utmost support to the best of their ability (aka cheer me on)
I propose a series of emulators written for the Nintendo DS. Something similar to the PocketNES for Game Boy Advance which allows the user to make a GBA ROM out of NES ROMs and play the on a GBA. Except this particular project will incorporate a number of different emulators; including those for NES, SNES and the Game Boy series.
These are the systems I am confident I can create emulators for to use on the DS:
NES
Game Boy
SNES
Super Game Boy
Game Boy Color
Game Boy Advance (see "Wireless VS", "GBA Slot 2" and "Cheat Support" below)
And these are the features I intend to have in the system:
Debugger
Each emulator listed above will have a debugger complete with breakpointing, disassembler, sprite memory map and perhaps a few other things. These exist solely for the purpose of having them, as debugging one's programs with a PDA actually seems like a cool idea.
Wireless VS
The emulators will incorporate the NDS's wireless capabilities to play the games in multiplayer mode wirelessly. For the NES and SNES, this feature will cause all (probably just two) of the communicating DS units to respond simultaneously, where each unit corresponds to a controller plugged into the console.
For the Game Boy series, including Game Boy Advance, the wireless communication will form a substitue for the link cable. Even though the Game Boy Advance is supported directly by the DS hardware, it only supports single-player mode. With said emulator, all those 4-player games for Game Boy Advance are now wireless, including newer games like F-Zero Climax (Japan only).
GBA Slot 2
In addition to housing a menu of all ROMs loaded into the emulator suite, this project will also support loading the ROM out of a GBA card inserted into slot 2 of the Nintendo DS, and emulate it from there. Why bother? Because it will provide use of the wireless multiplayer feature that the Nintendo DS does not readily support.
Save Backups
All other projects of the like in the past allow you to make a ROM out of other ROMs, but if you want to change the list of games built into it, you lose ALL your save data. And if you have NES RPGs like Final Fantasy or Earthbound, you might want to be able to back these up. I plan for this particular project to be able to connect to a host server via the Nintendo DS's 802.11 support and upload individual (or all) saves from the DS card to a local computer or internet site. It will also be able to transfer the saves back into the DS card to resume play as-is.
Upgradable Emulation Cores
I will design the binary ROM file to have seperate cores availible for download and upgrade, in order to configure the DS emulator to one's heart's content. After all, if you have only NES ROMs in the thing, why bother taking up space with Game Boy and SNES emulator cores that won't even be used?
The cores will be provided as seperate files and can be upgraded independantly in order to construct a new ROM for the DS flash card or emlator that will be used to play it. Information about the current version of any given core can be seen in the main menu of the emulator project on the DS; including options supported (like iNES mappers or SNES expansion modules).
Cheat Support
These emulators will also come complete with the ability to import cheats, such as Game Genie, Action Replay, GameShark, etc. They will also make use of a trainer to be able to search for codes (the prize feature of all GameShark devices) as well as convert between different formats.
That means that for the GBA emulator, one can use this project as a substitute GameShark for the GBA; one that does not require special GameShark hardware. Since the Slot 2 feature will save memory to the game card instead of the emulator's battery, it is a full-fledged cheat device in itself.
__________
Like I said: some people will call me the stupidest person who ever lived, and other people will extol me and sing my praises throughout the day.
I have done my research. If I did not believe I am able to do this, I would not have brought it up. I cannot currently code for the DS, as there is not yet enough information available for me to do so, nor have I found any flash cards available for it. However, when such information is found, I will begin the programming for the DS in this project.
Until then, I will be writing emulators for each of the different consoles I mentioned so that I will have a good understanding of how to operate them and incorporate them into the Nintendo DS.
__________
As for this thread... Give me your feedback. Tell me I'm an idiot. Tell me I'm your new hero. Do whatever. I believe it can be done, so I will do it. This ought to be quite some news on the DS scene in the future.
So... Knowing all the things that I know... I have decided to undertake quite a humongous project that many will rebuke me for even considering, and many will give me their utmost support to the best of their ability (aka cheer me on)
I propose a series of emulators written for the Nintendo DS. Something similar to the PocketNES for Game Boy Advance which allows the user to make a GBA ROM out of NES ROMs and play the on a GBA. Except this particular project will incorporate a number of different emulators; including those for NES, SNES and the Game Boy series.
These are the systems I am confident I can create emulators for to use on the DS:
NES
Game Boy
SNES
Super Game Boy
Game Boy Color
Game Boy Advance (see "Wireless VS", "GBA Slot 2" and "Cheat Support" below)
And these are the features I intend to have in the system:
Debugger
Each emulator listed above will have a debugger complete with breakpointing, disassembler, sprite memory map and perhaps a few other things. These exist solely for the purpose of having them, as debugging one's programs with a PDA actually seems like a cool idea.
Wireless VS
The emulators will incorporate the NDS's wireless capabilities to play the games in multiplayer mode wirelessly. For the NES and SNES, this feature will cause all (probably just two) of the communicating DS units to respond simultaneously, where each unit corresponds to a controller plugged into the console.
For the Game Boy series, including Game Boy Advance, the wireless communication will form a substitue for the link cable. Even though the Game Boy Advance is supported directly by the DS hardware, it only supports single-player mode. With said emulator, all those 4-player games for Game Boy Advance are now wireless, including newer games like F-Zero Climax (Japan only).
GBA Slot 2
In addition to housing a menu of all ROMs loaded into the emulator suite, this project will also support loading the ROM out of a GBA card inserted into slot 2 of the Nintendo DS, and emulate it from there. Why bother? Because it will provide use of the wireless multiplayer feature that the Nintendo DS does not readily support.
Save Backups
All other projects of the like in the past allow you to make a ROM out of other ROMs, but if you want to change the list of games built into it, you lose ALL your save data. And if you have NES RPGs like Final Fantasy or Earthbound, you might want to be able to back these up. I plan for this particular project to be able to connect to a host server via the Nintendo DS's 802.11 support and upload individual (or all) saves from the DS card to a local computer or internet site. It will also be able to transfer the saves back into the DS card to resume play as-is.
Upgradable Emulation Cores
I will design the binary ROM file to have seperate cores availible for download and upgrade, in order to configure the DS emulator to one's heart's content. After all, if you have only NES ROMs in the thing, why bother taking up space with Game Boy and SNES emulator cores that won't even be used?
The cores will be provided as seperate files and can be upgraded independantly in order to construct a new ROM for the DS flash card or emlator that will be used to play it. Information about the current version of any given core can be seen in the main menu of the emulator project on the DS; including options supported (like iNES mappers or SNES expansion modules).
Cheat Support
These emulators will also come complete with the ability to import cheats, such as Game Genie, Action Replay, GameShark, etc. They will also make use of a trainer to be able to search for codes (the prize feature of all GameShark devices) as well as convert between different formats.
That means that for the GBA emulator, one can use this project as a substitute GameShark for the GBA; one that does not require special GameShark hardware. Since the Slot 2 feature will save memory to the game card instead of the emulator's battery, it is a full-fledged cheat device in itself.
__________
Like I said: some people will call me the stupidest person who ever lived, and other people will extol me and sing my praises throughout the day.
I have done my research. If I did not believe I am able to do this, I would not have brought it up. I cannot currently code for the DS, as there is not yet enough information available for me to do so, nor have I found any flash cards available for it. However, when such information is found, I will begin the programming for the DS in this project.
Until then, I will be writing emulators for each of the different consoles I mentioned so that I will have a good understanding of how to operate them and incorporate them into the Nintendo DS.
__________
As for this thread... Give me your feedback. Tell me I'm an idiot. Tell me I'm your new hero. Do whatever. I believe it can be done, so I will do it. This ought to be quite some news on the DS scene in the future.