Idea for GBA emulator on DC

[Dawson]

Hey guys I just ran across a GBA emulator build for Windows CE.
Here is the Site.
www.morphgear.com

If this runs on WinCE could it be ported to the Dreamcast?
I thought I read somewhere that the DC ran WinCE as its OS?

I don't know a lot about programing but this was just an idea.
Let me know what yall think.
Could it be done?

Dawson

[quzar]

no source, no port.

[Christuserloeser]

Quzar means that it has to be an open source code project, the coders of that emu needs to offer the source code to the general public, allowing other coders to port it to other platforms such as the Dreamcast. Maybe if you ask the authors to pass over the source code to any of our scene's coders, someone will start working on a port ;)

Chris

[quzar]

doubtable since it is a for-profit commercial product.

[Christuserloeser]

Oops. I see. Too bad. :-/

Anyway, there is a GBA emu port to DC by GPF based on Virtual Boy Advance and Chui's VBA32 for GP32. It is still in early development / beta status so it's slow and on hold atm, but not discontinued. I don't know if that WinCE emu would be faster than the current port.

[Dawson]

I am writting an email to the co. that released this emulator to see if they will give the source code.
They now give the emu for freeware so maybe they might give up the code also.

Its worth a try!
If so is there anyone here that could do something with it?

[Eric]

possibly if its written in C++ or possible if its SDL based

[Dawson]

Sorry I was wrong! They only give some of the modules in the emulator for Free.
The Gba part is still pay.

Well it was worth a try.

[GPF]

Oops. I see. Too bad. :-/

Anyway, there is a GBA emu port to DC by GPF based on Virtual Boy Advance and Chui's VBA32 for GP32. It is still in early development / beta status so it's slow and on hold atm, but not discontinued. I don't know if that WinCE emu would be faster than the current port.


we wouldn't be able to use it anyway without the official dreamcast wince development setup, which requires licensing etc.

[Cap'n 1time]

we wouldn't be able to use it anyway without the official dreamcast wince development setup, which requires licensing etc.



If it were to be made, and some how it were to be licensesed, would it work any better anyway?
In other words, would it be worth it?

[Eric]

lol it might but its going to be a little more tough for the coders i think cause they will have to learn new stuff who knows how this emulator was coded but if it was made for windows it would be a little more tough i think

[Dawson]

Here is what the site said about how the emulator was made.
It said that there is a free tool that was used. ;D

"What tools were used to create MorphGear?
Windows CE uses a subset of the Win32 API with the addition of a few other methods. The primary program used to write the emulator is called eMbedded Visual Tools 3.0. There is a free download of it at www.pocketpc.com. It is essentially a version of Visual C++ specifically designed for Pocket PC devices.

How can I contact you?
If it is a question that everyone can benefit from the answer to, please post it to the message forum. Otherwise, send an e-mail to support(AT)morphgear.com."

[BlackAura]

Wouldn't help.

First off, the Dreamcast does not run Windows CE. A specialised version of Windows CE does exist for the Dreamcast, and that can be used to create stuff. However, we aren't able to use that, mostly because of legal issues. It's the same reason that writing (or, at least, distributing) Xbox stuff using Microsoft's XDK is illegal without a licence, and it's the same reason that we don't use Sega's own development software.

Second, the Dreamcast version of Windows CE is nothing at all like the other versions. It consists of the Windows CE core and DirectX, with pretty much nothing else. Even then, the version of DirectX is nothing much like any other version.

Third, chances are this emulator was developed for ARM-based PPCs. So any optimisations they made are largely useless for the Dreamcast's SH-4. And, believe it or not, many of those handheld PCs are much more suitable for emulators than the Dreamcast is.

[quzar]

Third, chances are this emulator was developed for ARM-based PPCs. So any optimisations they made are largely useless for the Dreamcast's SH-4. And, believe it or not, many of those handheld PCs are much more suitable for emulators than the Dreamcast is.

iirc there was an era of ppcs that were sh-3 based. and im pretty sure at least one of the compatible ones listed is ppc based.

not that that affects the use of the emulator, just sayin...