CTLance
Still Fresh
I think this should be doable:
The GBA features an interesting 'remote-boot' mode - if you turn it on and press and hold start and select it tries to download an executable file through it's cable port. Other GBAs can function as game servers this way - not everyone needs to have the game to play it against others - the same mechanism is used in Gamecube games. Due to the very limited RAM size of the GBA the program has to be very small.
GBA specs:
256 Kbyte WRAM (external of CPU)
32 Kbyte + 96 Kbyte VRAM (in CPU)
That makes for less than half a Meg even in extreme conditions.
I think an emulator would be quite feasible to code for this - with nearly 8 Megs of free RAM the GP32 should easily be able to either host GBA games or even participate as 'slave'. It wouldn't be something big, but it could be fun! Imagine a SMC full with more than 200 minigames that could easily be shared with GBA and GP32 owners alike?
I've seen some pretty fun 'remote boot' games so far.... and they're by no means 'cheap minigames'.
Problems would be the interface. I have absolutely no clue whatsoever what kind of port the GBA uses... and what the exact specifications for the remote boot sequence is. I would volunteer for experiments, provided someone with actual knowledge participates. I have both a GBA and a GP32 and would be willing to sacrifice a link cable and my old mobile phone recharge station (GP32 serial port).
I can code and solder a bit.
Comments? Ideas? Hardware hackers? Anyone?
The GBA features an interesting 'remote-boot' mode - if you turn it on and press and hold start and select it tries to download an executable file through it's cable port. Other GBAs can function as game servers this way - not everyone needs to have the game to play it against others - the same mechanism is used in Gamecube games. Due to the very limited RAM size of the GBA the program has to be very small.
GBA specs:
256 Kbyte WRAM (external of CPU)
32 Kbyte + 96 Kbyte VRAM (in CPU)
That makes for less than half a Meg even in extreme conditions.
I think an emulator would be quite feasible to code for this - with nearly 8 Megs of free RAM the GP32 should easily be able to either host GBA games or even participate as 'slave'. It wouldn't be something big, but it could be fun! Imagine a SMC full with more than 200 minigames that could easily be shared with GBA and GP32 owners alike?
I've seen some pretty fun 'remote boot' games so far.... and they're by no means 'cheap minigames'.
Problems would be the interface. I have absolutely no clue whatsoever what kind of port the GBA uses... and what the exact specifications for the remote boot sequence is. I would volunteer for experiments, provided someone with actual knowledge participates. I have both a GBA and a GP32 and would be willing to sacrifice a link cable and my old mobile phone recharge station (GP32 serial port).
I can code and solder a bit.
Comments? Ideas? Hardware hackers? Anyone?