Does The Arrival Of Pandora Mark The Death Of Gp2x Development?


Parkydr said:
I will continue developing for the GP2X. I wont be getting an F-200 or Pandora because I can't justify the cost while my mark 1 GP2X still works.
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That's the way I'm making entry for GlBasic's compo
To win F200 and write 3D action for it :)
 
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Also note.. there will be huge overlap on the devices too.

ie: Similar dev and runtime environment; differing versions of things for sure, but still Linux and SDL for most people, and ARM based for ASM and so forth.

ie: A lot of GP2X code will run pretty quickly on the Pandora (minor porting issues), and vice versa.. clever devs will use a simple machine HAL layer so code will run on both.. just faster on the Pandora.

Obviously folks might use OpenGL/ES, or do more features on the Pandora, or do lazy easy ports since it is so much faster.. but the point is.. a lot of people who have a GP2x and a Pandora wll dev for both.

After all.. it is easy, so why not?

jeff
 
I have a couple of projects on the go for the 2x, and I don't plan on getting a Pandora, so will continue to dev for the little black/white beast :)

I don't have the time/inclination to learn 3d coding, so for my needs the Pandora would be massive overkill. Like skeezix said, the overlap means that I may well port stuff I make to the new system. If there's any demand ;)
 
kevcal said:
Personally I will be sticking with the gp2x for at least a year - I never take up new hardware as soon as it's released - I value my money too much :)
Time will tell - there are still a fair few releases coming on a weekly basis (new mame(!)) and loads of stuff already available to make your F200 purchase worthwhile I think.
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Yes, the Pandora won't be stable for a while, it is still in development. To save money I buy used GP2xi (I sell them when I am bored or need the money), so I won't have the touchscreen.

skeezix said:
Also note.. there will be huge overlap on the devices too.

ie: Similar dev and runtime environment; differing versions of things for sure, but still Linux and SDL for most people, and ARM based for ASM and so forth.

ie: A lot of GP2X code will run pretty quickly on the Pandora (minor porting issues), and vice versa.. clever devs will use a simple machine HAL layer so code will run on both.. just faster on the Pandora.

Obviously folks might use OpenGL/ES, or do more features on the Pandora, or do lazy easy ports since it is so much faster.. but the point is.. a lot of people who have a GP2x and a Pandora wll dev for both.

After all.. it is easy, so why not?

jeff
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Ah, very good point jeff. They are similar machines and if you have a prog running why not have it on both :).
 
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kevcal said:
With respect to the firmware, I had hoped that open2x would be released, but I think those guys have jumped ship (at least temporarily) to get the pandora up and running - I may be wrong though.
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Not exactly, we did make a lot of progress recently, but DJWillis doesn't have a working GP2X and I suddenly got snowed under with work.
 
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Thought that I would just pop in and say no, it certainly does not mark the death of the GP2X

I still continue development of my projects ( yes, I know that I'm a little slow at times, but I've been suffering all sort of interruptions and problems - nothing code-related though lol ).

As a side note, Project T.I.M. has seen a speed increase of 2x and in some sections 3x since the code rewrite. I'll be posting an update in the main thread in a couple of days.
 
Interesting thread,

I tend to agree with skeezix. Both Pandora and the GP2X (and many other platforms we like to hack with) are ARM and similar in structure. A number of my little apps implement a simple per-device HAL so I can't see any reason to stop supporting the GP2X.

Hell, I still maintain ScummVM for the GP2X and work a little on Open2x without a GP2X (testing code on other devices like my n770 and various ARM dev boards then 'blind' coding for the GP2X). It really is quite a small proportion of code that is truly tied to a device.

Yep, as skeezix suggests you may not get the most out of every platform if you choose to take the HAL sort of approach but with some thought any talented dev can implement per-device optimisations easily enough without upsetting the rest of there code base.

Anyway, is the GP2X scene dead, no way ;). Is it on a low ebb at the moment, yes. People also seem to forget that the GP2X has a massive software library. Why not spend some time exploring what is out there and taking the pragmatic view that what is to come is a bonus.

Slightly off topic, I also never ceased to be amused by the number of people who by something solely based on 'potential' with no means or capability to exploit that potential. Something like the Pandora, GP2X, historically the GP32 etc. should be bought in the full knowledge of what they are and with the old question "what will it give me now?" firmly at the back of your mind. With that in mind the GP2X still represents a very strong option for the keen independent gamers and/or dev/hacker.
 
The development of software for the GP2X hasn't reached yet its limits.

Trenki and the Payback team demonstrated that the GP2X is capable of running HDRI / Shader capable 3D engines.

So, I foresee a flood of good 3D games for the GP2X, soon.
 
xhyldazhk said:
The development of software for the GP2X hasn't reached yet its limits.

Trenki and the Payback team demonstrated that the GP2X is capable of running HDRI / Shader capable 3D engines.

So, I foresee a flood of good 3D games for the GP2X, soon.
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How do you know? Does it not seem likely that those things *are* about the limit given that nobody has got anything better?
 
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xhyldazhk said:
The development of software for the GP2X hasn't reached yet its limits.

Trenki and the Payback team demonstrated that the GP2X is capable of running HDRI / Shader capable 3D engines.

So, I foresee a flood of good 3D games for the GP2X, soon.
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You f$$king right, dude
 
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Somebody has to create some good 3D libraries first for people to get started with. If everyone has to code asm from scratch in order to get decent 3D, then I don't see this happening without much incentive. Still, with Pandora on the horizon everyone will probably use that for 3D.

But sure, imo it wouldn't be wishful thinking to expect at least PS1-quality 3D from the GP2X.
 
Pandora is almost a niche within a niche.

If your a dev' and you want your work to be seen and used by lots of people, youve got way more chance with the GP2X... or PSP, for that matter.
 
I'm a bit shocked to see people speak about the "death" of the gp2x when I only just bought the F-200 back in january this year!! (after my F-100 died, stick broke off) Surely there's a lot of life left in the device, I for once am hoping that uae4all will improve a little bit more and gets touchscreen support, and I'm looking forward to some more cool homebrew games too ... stuff that will keep you busy still for a long time to come, even if a new handheld is on the horizon. And as said above, don't forget the existing software library, it's huge and while not everything is complete, there's some real gems in there :)

By the way, anybody interested in developing a native RPG style adventure game for the gp2x with deep storyline and good, long term playability? I'm not a coder myself unfortunately, but I'd be able to contribute a quality soundtrack to any project that you may take on, as well as some graphics work and of course plot-writing ... think about it, a good adventure game exclusive to the gp2x could become a favorite title if done well, the icing on the cake sorta ;)

Long live geepee toooo X! :D

"SunSpire"
 
The GP2X won't die that quickly, I doubt loads of people are going to chuck out their GP2Xs and buy Pandoras.

The price difference means they're not directly competing in the same market.
 
Parkydr said:
The price difference means they're not directly competing in the same market.
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They will however appeal to the same audience (where the GP2X's audience could be a subset of Pandora's). It will be interesting to see how things will turn out a year or so after Pandora comes along.
 
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BadAstronaut said:
A 20mhz 386 with 8mb of RAM, VGA graphics and a Soundblaster is all I am after :)
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You know its coming...

Ive just fixed some memory hogging things and have 8 mb working, maybe more havnt tried.
I dont know if I can get 20 Mhz. But I just added the MMU hack.
 
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IMHO the GP2X has a lot going for it.
I show and tell friends and co-workers alike all of the things it can do and how well it does them
and it REALLY hasn't been out that long.

If I can get my F200 on my local network.. ssh into it and run vi or an irc client
it will be worth its weight in gold to me.

I'm just now starting to learn to dev for it.. and from what I've seen so far I think
that there are thousands of unexplored things for homebrew for the gp2x.

The pandora has a ton of amazing things about it but I think it is far from killing the gp2x.
Especially considering that people still dev for the NES ;-).. heh some people ENJOY limitations.

the gp2x is just a great device, I don't care what the haters say.

and there are also things people may not prefer about the pandora

-clamshell design
-non-classic key layout (start and select are in the center of the device)
-crowded keys
-battery life.. I'm pretty sure if they keep the size they are advertising.. and the internals they want
the battery life won't be as good as the gp2x. (GPU, wifi, cpu (as fast as a gamecube when pushed!?
) fully powered USB, two SD slots.. that sucks juice!)
-speakers aim inward (I play music out of my pocket walking around sometimes.. I LOVE that feature!
 
No one knows if the Pandora will be a pile of poop or a good system. There is just so much hype for hype sake on this site, with one poster trying to out-do the others about something they haven't even used.

The GP2x supports lots of emulation, however it has its share of problems, as we all know. Given the history of GPH products, expect lots of issues with their new model too - if there are too many issues, the product will be a dead duck, so all this hype is for nothing until the system is actually tested. Until that happens, you have your GP2x!

There is no reason to get a new system just because it is new - if it offers little extra benefit then there is no point having it.
 
The Pandora has smart people designing it. I doubt they'll screw it up.

I just got my F200. If I thought GP2X development was coming to an end, I'd have saved up for the Pandora. :p

Truthfully...I enjoy optimizing my novice code. I look at the slower ARM processor like a challenge more than an obstacle. :D
 
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