just a few nooby questions
sorry if they are dumb, but I haven't seen a faq that answers these yet! I'd like to get a GP32, but I just wanna check these first...
1) I don't know anything about these cards they use.. do you just connect your gp32 with the card in it to your computer through a usb port and it writes that way? or do the cards themselves just plug into the usb port? also, can games create save data on the gp32? on th gba, I know they have a seperate flash chip or RAM powered by a battery reserved for saving games, but I assume SMCs don't, right? So do games just not save, or do they save directly to the card along with all the other files?
2) every place selling them has a picture of a white gp32, and that's what most sites show too. But I've seen pictures of a green gp32, a black gp32, and a really nice semi-transparent blue, white, and black gp32. is there a store that sells different face plate colours?
3) how's gbc emulation? is it full speed with sound and save support?
okay, thanks a lot for reading!
Hello, first of all I do hope you buy a GP32, it's the best thing you can get if you're into homebrew games and emulation.
1) Well there are several methods. But first of all the card itself doesn't plug to the USB port
You can either (In order of preference): A ) Get a card reader and read/write it from there B ) Use GPDRIVE and the GP32 with the card on it and you'll be able to use it as a Mass Storage Device on windows so you can just drag & drop the files to where you want it inside the card. C ) Use the GP32 with the PCLINK software (the original method) and copy files through Gamepark's software interface.
As for the games saving question, an SMC is just like any other digital-camera-type card, you can read/write at will. And yes, you can save the games. Most emulators have a save function, and I believe if the games have their own save function it will save it too (never tried it though, but they are created for instance on RPG's when you begin a new game).
2) Well the most probable is that you will get a white one. AFAIK the other ones are quite rare. However you can mod your GP and paint it / alter it in any ways you want - if you're careful and minimally skilled to do it of course. Don't expect to find any other model than the white one unless you're really looking carefully on ebay and other auction and selling websites for it (and probably pay quite an handsome amount unless you're lucky).
3) GBC emulation is pretty much near perfect, and it can only get better with the upcoming fDAY and the official fDAY release of Ryleh's fGB emulator. It's pretty much (if not for sure) fullspeed with sound, and DOES support savegames, either internal or external to the game itself - as I explained above - .
Besides that I can only enlighten you on the different models:
NLU: Non Lit Unit (name says it all)
FLU: Front Lit Unit (same)
BLU: Back Lit Unit (same)
and BLU+: New Back Lit Unit model with a Taiwanese screen.
There's a lot of topics on which one is best and all of that,so if you want more opinions on that please do refer to one of those topics.
However, it's more probable you get your hands on a BLU+, which are the latest models, (I'm the happy owner of one of those), however there is some older software that doesn't support this new model. Most of the importat stuff and pretty much every new game do support it though, so it isn't that much of a big issue anymore.
Also if you want to know more on the BLU+ compatibility issues please do refer to the countless number of topics about it around. As for myself I love my BLU+ and have any problems with it.
Also, if you're planning on buying one, I can also recommend you either GP32z.com (in the US) and GBAX.com (in Europe). But if you wanna risk it on eBay, well it's up to you.
Good luck and do hope you join the GP32 scene