DS Homebrew thread

[Noize]

mynameis wrote:

If only PicoDrive had sound support. Street Fighter 2 ost is the dog bollocks

And SnesDS is a total letdown

Well, the DS has limited capabilities. Although I think someone could eventually make working Genesis/MegaDrive and SNES emulators that are usable enough to be enjoyable, with sound. There was a functionning SNES emulator on the GBA for christsake (although limited), can't see why the DS with it's additional power can't do better.

The problem, is that the Nintendo handlheld isn't the only one out there anymore, and is also the least powerful. So most homebrew stuff will be available on the PSP, because it's a more powerful platform and thus, attracts more coders.

Before, there was only the GBA, so there was a lot of homebrew development. Now that there are two competing handlhelds, the number of coders has split between the two, and thus, had a impact on the number of releases on each platform, particulalry on the less powerful one (DS).

[Centy]

Noize wrote:

The problem, is that the Nintendo handlheld isn't the only one out there anymore, and is also the least powerful. So most homebrew stuff will be available on the PSP, because it's a more powerful platform and thus, attracts more coders.

Before, there was only the GBA, so there was a lot of homebrew development. Now that there are two competing handlhelds, the number of coders has split between the two, and thus, had a impact on the number of releases on each platform, particulalry on the less powerful one (DS).

But you have to also note the DS is far easier to code for and has a bigger owner base that and touchscreen great online abilities etc make it probably more fun to code for aswell.

[Noize]

Centy wrote:

But you have to also note the DS is far easier to code for and has a bigger owner base that and touchscreen great online abilities etc make it probably more fun to code for aswell.

On that I agree with you. For example, I think the port of SCUMMVM to the DS is a stroke of genius. Because of the touch screen, the DS is much more suitable to some tasks, like for example, porting games that require mouse input. The touchscreen makes it more interesting if you plan on creating "PC-like" applications, like VNC clients, for example, or any other application that includes a GUI.

As for it being easier to code for than the PSP, I don't know since I don't gravitate in PSP coding forums and haven't heard such comments. What I know though, is that the DS having two processors and two screens to manage makes things somewhat complicated. More than the PSP? I don't know though.

[Centy]

Yep fair point the 2 processors will be harder to code for but what you're coding would be more simple than the psp with its extra power comes extra coding larger scope and sadly more bugs :S hell which ever is best isnt important both scenes compliment eachother and we are seeing some brilliant stuff almost like its gone back to the days when kids who coded their own games were king maybe this generation of homebrew makers will be the next generations game developers.

[SlyEnemy 2.0]

Thought this might be of interest to the rest of you R4 fella's: http"]

With auto-DLDI patching

[retroed]

A sure contender for homebrew game of the week here, even though it is a port, it's superbly done.

Lemmings DS is an open-source port of the classic Amiga action-puzzle game Lemmings for the Nintendo DS. It features all 120 levels from the original Amiga Lemmings, and all 100 levels from Oh-No! More Lemmings. That’s Fun, Tricky, Taxing, Mayhem, Tame, Crazy, Wild, Wicked and Havoc!

Click HERE for more information. Direct download link HERE.

The wife and I have tried the first four levels and it works beautifully, with full touch screen use. The top screen gives you stats, whilst the action is on the bottom screen. You can zoom in/out on the lemmings if you can't see what they're doing too well, and move the screen with Left/Right or Y/A. It also saves your progress which is cool.

If you have an R4 with the latest Kernel (as Sly mentioned above), you don't even have to DLDI patch it, just copy the Lemming folder and the config file and stick them both on your Root. It's an excellent conversion, really impressed with it. Grab it before Sony gets it taken down!

[Centy]

RetroEd wrote:

A sure contender for homebrew game of the week here, even though it is a port, it's superbly done.

Yep this was my homebrew pick of the week even though i hadnt played it :S but i now have and im glad i picked it its awesome i command you to get it though its in the kind of format i don't like where its not just 1 file i hate having other directories on my card but since the only other option is a gamegear emulator and the lemmings rom without touchscreen controls i think this is best and a bloody good coding job.

[retroed]

I've put the nds and sav files in my Homebrew folder, and hidden the config and LemmingsDS folder on the root of the card, so they aren't visible when using the R4.

[SlyEnemy 2.0]

This is absolutely fantastic. It makes me laugh when you see all the PSP-heads going on about how they could flash their firmware and play homebrew etc. But I've played nowt as good as this on my PSP, and I'm sure the emulators will gradually become more adaptive to the DS' hardware.

A sign of good things to come this

[Phooey]

Nnnng. Why must you tempt me so much. :S I came very close to ordering an R4 yesterday, but I pulled myself back at the last minute.

[Centy]

Phooey wrote:

Nnnng. Why must you tempt me so much. :S I came very close to ordering an R4 yesterday, but I pulled myself back at the last minute.

You should just go for it phooey there's plenty of puzzley homebrew going but i must say you take some convincing between here and DSR im surprised you've avoided it this long

[moggymatt]

RetroEd wrote:

I've put the nds and sav files in my Homebrew folder, and hidden the config and LemmingsDS folder on the root of the card, so they aren't visible when using the R4.

Yeah that's how I do it with ampulituDS. I also hate having 'random' homebrew folders in root. Do you use DSO to hide the files or something on your PC (or can the R4 do it now?)

Found this great little app called DiagnoSe. It a Testing Tool for the DS in a Wii channels GUI looks cool LINKY

Everyone should check the NEOFLASH summer coding competition for some great DS homebrew over the next few weeks.

I've found a Duck Hunt port, but I can't find the link atm, I'll edit this post if I can find it.

Woot! @ Kernal v1.10 Yay! no more DLDI patching (which I couldn't do on this laptop anyway) Hope it works fine? has anyone had any problems with it so far?

As far as Emulators go Lameboy (GBC emu) is about 98% perfect, I've not had any problems with the romz I used and the last build added sound which is sweet. SNEmulDS works ok with quite a lot of roms now, the latest build seems loads better (if you mess with the .cfg or layers most games run fine) of course its not a patch on SnesX or Zsnes on the Mac/PC, but those great emu's didn't work for quite some time. Give the Dev sometime to work on it, Im sure he'll fix most of the problems.

EDIT: DiagnoSe is great it can fix stuck/dead pixels!!!

[retroed]

moggymatt wrote:

RetroEd wrote:

I've put the nds and sav files in my Homebrew folder, and hidden the config and LemmingsDS folder on the root of the card, so they aren't visible when using the R4.

Yeah that's how I do it with ampulituDS. I also hate having 'random' homebrew folders in root. Do you use DSO to hide the files or something on your PC (or can the R4 do it now?)

I use Windows to do it matt, Right-click, Properties, Hidden. And then I go to Tools, Folder options, View, Show hidden files and folders (so you can still see them when you put the card in the PC).

That DiagnoSe thing was made by this guy who posts at DSR.

[moggymatt]

Just incase people are having trouble with Pictodrive, you can download a plugin for DSO (from the homebrew database inside DSO) and then you can run Megadrive games from DSO.

If you can connect to the homebrew Database I know some people can't due to the USB dongle (there is a fix for that tho), I don't mind emailing the plugin to ya.

[Centy]

moggymatt wrote:

Just incase people are having trouble with Pictodrive, you can download a plugin for DSO (from the homebrew database inside DSO) and then you can run Megadrive games from DSO.

If you can connect to the homebrew Database I know some people can't due to the USB dongle (there is a fix for that tho), I don't mind emailing the plugin to ya.

can you email or link me then matey i havent used DSO in ages i'll also need that usb dongle fix

[mynameis]

is it just me, or is pictodrive really slow? and is the developer working on a sound compatible version?

[Centy]

mynameis wrote:

is it just me, or is pictodrive really slow? and is the developer working on a sound compatible version?

It's not you it runs about 60% of the FPS the original machine or a PC emulator would i belive a sound and 90% speed emu is the overall plan of most devs so keep your eyes peeled but i dont think we'll be seeing it anytime soon.

For anyone who liked Phidias the painting app i game game of the month to a while back there is now a kind of photoediting paint app called colours I havent had a chance to try this out yet but it looks pretty nifty.

Colours

I'm expecting a good amount of homebrew to appear soon as NeoFlash is holding another coding competition for Summer '07

[Sambob]

That looks pretty cool, a great compliment to the DS. I didnt know they held regular events for home...brewers.

Hopefully there will be some great stuff that comes out of that then.

[retroed]

Cave Story DS

http://community.livejournal.com/doukutsu/92406.html

Enjoy! Very sorry it took so long to get this far, but actually between this demo and the last one I completely rewrote the entire graphics engine from scratch; the whole damn thing runs on the 3D hardware now. (Except the far backgrounds, anyway.) But it should look the same; this way just lets me use way more of Pixel's original DirectX code without needing to adapt anything for the DS's 2D core.

Anyway, major things we're still missing: HP, guns, SFX, and scripts! I was tempted to add guns, but rather than open that can of worms I just released it as-is, they'll be in the next one ;P Event scripts are a biggie, of course. Everything else is pretty minor and just needs to be implemented...

Anyway, enjoy! Lemme know if there are problems.. (If anyone can put their finger on why my .NDS icons work on some hardware but not others, please do..)

Oh, and if this demo seems to run slower than previous ones -- you're right, because the old ones were running too fast gigahedgehog caught that... turns out Cave Story runs (graphics AND logic!) 50 times per second, not 60. Feel a little embarrassed that I didn't catch that myself, but hey, that's what you guys are here for ;D

So yes! Enjoy

I haven't had chance to try it yet, but it looks good. Is WIP though, so there may be some niggles.

[Centy]

moggymatt wrote:

Found this great little app called DiagnoSe. It a Testing Tool for the DS in a Wii channels GUI looks cool LINKY

DiagnoSe is great it can fix stuck/dead pixels!!!

I agree saw the post on DSR and NeoFlash and downloaded but only today did I put it on my DS this would be an excellent tool if you were with someone who wanted to buy a 2nd hand DS or for stores to use themselves. I'm gonna drop the guy who wrote it a line if we do a podcast this weeks it gets the homebrew app award hands down.