GP32 Complete N00b Wanting To Start Learning


Steve-O

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2003
Messages
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Ok, Im a complete n00b at this coding stuff and I want to learn so I can make games and enter them into the GP32 Competitions etc...

So, Can anyone give me some info / sites on how to start out, Let me know what I have to try and learn, tell me what Software I will need etc etc.. everything that you guys use to make games :D

Also Im using Windows XP is this ok, or should I set up my computer so I can boot to Linux if I want??

Thanks

hopefully by the end of the summer holidays I will have made something :D hehe..

;)
 
Don't get devkitadv. Get devkitarm, buy some "C for beginners" book, don't try to learn C++ prior to C, read source code, read books, read example code, read tutorials, read, read, read and understand.
 
Hi, I'm a newbie too!

You need to learn C or C++ (I'm told its much easier to learn C first, then C++ isn't much of a leap from it)

Decent guides found here: http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/
Also, check out the "Tutorials" forum on this site. It looks like the thread is empty, but there's an option that says "show oposts from the last 30 days" or something (A drop-down menu on the page). Change this to show all posts ("from the beginning") and you'll see some tutorials for MrMirko's SDK. Read through the thread of the first tutorial and you'll see that someone has posted some other good links for learning C.

Probably easier if you start the basics of C programming for PC rather than leaping straight into GP32. I got an IDE (effectively a posh text editor, where you type in your code) from www.bloodshed.net (or a similar address - google for Bloodshed IDE)

Bloodshed will give you an interface where you can type in your code, press a button and it will be compiled, linked and assembled for you - less hassle than using gcc (the most popular compiler) on its own.

When you want to move to programming to GP32, you'll need to choose an SDK. This is - as I understand it - basically a set of specialised commands that allow you to interact with the GP32 hardware by checking for button presses, displaying on the screen etc. Offhand I can think of 3 SDKs:

Official (produced by Gamepark)
DevkitAdvance - originally produced for Gameboy Advance, but a modded version is avaiable compatable for GP32
Mr.Mirko's - An SDK currently being written (not entirely coplete but rapidly getting there) specifically for GP32. I picked this one simply because the tutorials I found on this site were very clear, and Mr.Mirko himself is on this ste a lot and very helpful!

Compiling the code specifically for GP32 is a little more complex than coding for the console in Bloodshed IDE - You need to learn about makefiles (an excellent guide here: http://www.eng.hawaii.edu/Tutor/Make/, also check out the guide buried somewhere in Mr.Mirko's SDK help documents, available from his homepage http://www.mirkoroller.de/gp32).
It should become much easier in the very near future though (couple of weeks?) when Alessndro publishes the new version of his own IDE - like bloodshed, you'll be able to type code in, use some handy tools and just click a button to compile using whichever SDK you choose!

In my experience, there's always lots of help to be had from the coders on this board. And, better still, they are much more concise than me!

An epic post (bad habit of mine!), but I think that covers everything you need to know. I've assumed you're a total newbie, so apologies if you're some sort of l33t god!


Have fun,
Melville

EDIT: Windows XP is fine
 
Hello!

The first thing I'd suggest it that you'll don't go for GP32 as a platform for your first trys. If you code on Windows for Windows you have by far better way to analyse why things go wrong when things go wrong (note that I'm stating when, not if, because things will go wrong).

Please don't take this as an offence. I'll just want to save you a lot of frustration. All I'm saying is: "You better learn to walk, before you learn to run."

I ported several subroutines from my GP32 projects to Linux (my primary development platform), just to see if they work correct.

Greetings from Germany,
SvOlli
 
I would personally advise that you start by learning how to code for the PC before you try coding for the GP32.

To code try to get hold of Microsoft Visual C (MSVC). You can use this for writing out your code and for compiling your code into executables (.exe files)

Failing that you could write your code in textpad, and get hold of GCC for the PC to compile your written code. This method is more difficult than using MSVC in my opinion as you have to use makefiles.

Get a simple book on writing C, somthing along the lines of C for dummies. You could also get somthing like Idiots guide to C++ if you wanted to get straight into C++. I find books are better than internet tutorials, make sure you try to complete the exercises that are in the book you get as this is where you will learn the most.

When you thouroughly know everything in this simple book you could get an advanced C++ book, and use tutorials on the internet for graphics programming. The advanced C++ book should be about a 1000 pages and cover things like virtual functions, templates and static functions. Don't get the advanced book before the simple book cos it will be hard and offputting!

All of your initial programs will be text based running in a dos box window, ie no graphics. It is important to get this grounding before moving into programming graphics.

At the stage of getting the big book, and programming graphics you could start trying to code stuff for the GP32. At the moment I use MSVC to write out the code and GCC to compile it to an ARM excecutable. I got the GCC for ARM compiler in the Devkitadvance package which is available for download on many GP32 sites.
 
Hehe - you must admit though - the temptation to get something running on that little screen is almost unbearable :D
It is, but I have seen lots of people bite off more than they can chew before and they give up coding cos they get frustrated as they haven't learnt the basics. To be honest though, it would only take 4 weeks for a noob to get through one of the simple books if they got stuck into it.
 
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hhmm only book I can get hold of is C++ For Dummies... is this ok, or should I look around for C For Dummies ???
 
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Damn, I was in PCWorld Today and forgot to look for the C or C++ Book... Damn Damn Damn...
 
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