beginners guide???


venturer7uk

Still Fresh
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Messages
1
Im considering getting a GP32 OR a GBA Sp....

thing is, i've been searching around and i can find alot of people talking technical jargon about files types and other stuff, but i cant seem to find an intro (other than tech specs) that actually shows you the different things you can do with it.

I know you can run different emulators on it but how does it work? How do you open files? does it look like a pc - like it has files and folders?

What happens when it boots up? Do you end up looking at a desktop?

If i use a pc emulator does that mean i can just use things like Notepad, wordpad, etc?

So many questions!!

The GBA just plays games and this is understood, but if the GP32 has so much more potential and ability, why isnt it being properly sold?

When i first heard about it i thought it sounded great, now that i've looked into it, the whole development looks a disorganised mess and minefield that will soon tire and cease.

Can someone point me to the right places please? I want to play GBA roms on it and view txt files, pics, and use it for other PDA type of things.

Thanks for your help :)
 
Well... I think you've got a few misunderstandings on what things are...

1) the PC emulator you're thinking of doesn't exist - you're probably thinking of the PC-Engine emu (which you might have heard called a TG-16). So you couldn't use notepad on it - sorry.
2) GBA emu isn't out yet and is a LONG way from a release (to my knowledge). If it came out next week, for example, I'd be very surprised. Elated, but surprised. However, it IS possible, as the screenshots from the recent emu show (as well as the guy who made one but refused to release it coz people bugged him too much).
3) Have a look at Darkfader's site on the INTRO bit to try to find some stuff out about what it first looks like. Out of the box, it vaguely resembles one of the PSX or Saturn Bioses when you turn the machines on without a game - 3 options only, mp3 player, GAME, or PC-Link. To run .fxes (the thing most people release) you have to get the freeloader from their site or the mIRC channel (#gp32dev) first, and .fxes are emulators...

Having said that, its possible to upgrade the firmware at the risk of completely killing your GP32 such that it comes up with alternatives to the default thing - which includes a graphical interface that resembles Windows. Down't get confused though - it can't run PC-software, it just LOOKS like windows.

Viewers for .bmp, .jpg etc... I think it can view them - but the software is in Korean - there's a guide on how to use it on www.gp32news.com though under utilities, but I can't be bothered with something I can't read...
HTML isn't available yet (although you could open the files in the readers in Wind-ups (that windows thing I was talking about) or U-Book as plain text), and may or may not be getting development, same with flash, java, etc.

Having said what it DOESN'T have, you do, hwever, have to remember the things it does. I.E. PC-Engine, SMS/GG, GB/GBC, Plus/IV, C64, Speccy, Nes (albeit not amazingly at the moment)... as well as a host of ports from old PC games (Doom, Heretic, the ScummVM games, Sarien, Wolfenstein 3D/SoD), and a load of stuff that was only written for it - including something that resembles minesweeper, and a solitaire clone... and more tetris games than you can imagine.

Its beyond a GBA, and one day it will (hopefully) play GBA roms, but don't buy it because of that - buy it because of everything else, and hope that that'll happen one day in the future. Trust me, you'll be happy with the system. I don't know anyone who isn't. But its better to be happy from the outset than disappointed about it forever because what you bought it for effectively doesn't exist - yet.

Oh, and the development is a mess to some extent, yes, but that's principally because its all a fan-based thing. Since its done in free time, it isn't organised in the same way that commercial things are, but I doubt it'll die... at least until a better handheld to dev on comes out. Which probably won't be for some time at least. Its been a "disorganised minefield that will soon tire and cease" for about 2 years now... which means you'll be waiting some time for it to die completely.
 
I'm trying to set up a Getting started site, but I still havent got a GP32 myself, when i do my site will be better, at the mo its just a really short intro with pictures (stolen from other sites), and links to other websites.

http://www.gamepark.tk
 
My personal recommendation is the GP32 over the GBA-SP. Honestly, the GBA-SP seems like it's very basic out of the box also - you have to get an addon for the headphone jack (which here in Australia at least you have to actually mail away to our local Nintendo branch to purchase it!) and the battery cell built into it is non-replacable and will probably only work 3-5 years or so. It very much sounds like Nintendo have made a disposable system, much like recent home consoles have very low manufacture cost and easily broken cd drives. My honest opinion: The GBA is better than the GBA-SP in theory. And to be honest, I don't really like the game selection for GBA at all. It's all SNES/other remakes of games I already own and/or have played many times, with a few addons that do not warrant a new purchase, or just games which I personally didn't enjoy (I thought Metroid Fusion differed too much from other games in the series). GP32 is definitely the way to go.

But, for the tasks you wish to do on GP32, you could simply use Wind-Ups, as Tobirand said. It's a sort of Windows clone. It doesn't have a built in picture viewer but you can change the background, and that uses GIFs, so it's always possible it will be made (or you could just make-do with that). It reads TXT files pretty well - I put some of my FAQs on mine for reference, and it's not too hard to scroll through pages (but slower than a PC, admittedly). It's no PDA and it's no GBA, it's a sort of go-between. Less expensive than a PDA, more expensive than a GBA, but it has most (or more!) of the power of a PDA and way more power than a GBA. The GP32's potential is massive and I have no doubt it will get way better - and ultimately, there's bound to be something that you really want for it.

Two things to keep in mind though: The GP32 is more expensive than a GBA (and of course requires a bit of knowledge on the subject), and you probably don't and won't know anyone with one. Don't buy one for multiplayer gaming or impressing your friends or anything - but multiplayer gaming IS possible with the RF module. I think it's safe to say though, for the majority of the world, that is one thing for the dedicated GP32 fans :)
 
Well... you probably COULD buy it to impress your friends (everyone I've shown mine to has been flabberghasted by it). But GurtyGurt's right - you should really buy it coz of all the other stuff its got.
Still..., impressing people is a nice bonus :)

One guy said it was amazing to play sonic again on a handheld, and another that it had "disturbingly good graphics" - referring to the PC-Engine emu... Tis nice to be able to surprise people at every turn :)
 
Remember that you can play full movies on GP32 with MoviePark. It's a great buy!
 
Watching the Simpsons on the beach last summer was truely memorable :)
 
Back
Top