Nintendo Ds Emulation On Pandora

[borgqueenx]

So basicly i have been searching for a topic about DS emulation, and i could only find one on the temporary forums when this forum was down some months ago.

So here it is

I have alot of DS Roms i wanna play on pandora, and it seems like ds emulation is possible. (according to the other thread)

So how does dsemu run on the pandora for example? can someone try it out?

 

[Prometheus]

There is a thread more suited to asking this question just a few posts below this one.

 

[Trevsweb]

would be too fiddley anyway. holding the pandora on its side. unless it was brain training or something that relied solely on the touch screen

 

[Paradox]

would be too fiddley anyway. holding the pandora on its side. unless it was brain training or something that relied solely on the touch screen

holding it on it's side what, isn't the screen res big enough to fit both screens on side by side?

you could also turn it sideways if you want and use a usb gamepad?

or use the TV-out for the upper screen and the pandora's for the lower.

not all games require both screens to be looked at simulataneously, you can flip between them with a button or something.

 

[zhasha]

[quote name='Paradox' date='02 November 2009 - 02:31 PM' timestamp='1257165102']
holding it on it's side what, isn't the screen res big enough to fit both screens on side by side?
[/quote]

DS Screen: 256 x 192
The Pandora can show them on top of eachother if that's what you want. It'll just be hella small.

 

[john4p]

[quote name='Paradox' date='02 November 2009 - 02:31 PM' timestamp='1257165102']
holding it on it's side what, isn't the screen res big enough to fit both screens on side by side?

DS Screen: 256 x 192
The Pandora can show them on top of eachother if that's what you want. It'll just be hella small.
[/quote]
Someone already suggested to do one screen in double resolution and the other one in original resolution.
So for example 256x192 pixels in the upper left corner and 512x384 pixels in the lower right.

Since 512+256=768 that'd fit on the Pandora's screen (800 pixels wide).

The DS emu could just let you swap between:
- 2 original "resolutioned" screens above each other
- upper screen small & lower screen big (double resolution)
- upper screen big & lower screen small

 

[wermy]

[quote name='Paradox' date='02 November 2009 - 02:31 PM' timestamp='1257165102']
holding it on it's side what, isn't the screen res big enough to fit both screens on side by side?

DS Screen: 256 x 192
The Pandora can show them on top of eachother if that's what you want. It'll just be hella small.

Someone already suggested to do one screen in double resolution and the other one in original resolution.
So for example 256x192 pixels in the upper left corner and 512x384 pixels in the lower right.

Since 512+256=768 that'd fit on the Pandora's screen (800 pixels wide).

The DS emu could just let you swap between:
- 2 original "resolutioned" screens above each other
- upper screen small & lower screen big (double resolution)
- upper screen big & lower screen small
[/quote]


This could actually work pretty well -- especially if you had a keystroke for switching which screen was bigger, and maybe switching the layout.

 

[Shaun199three]

The bottom screen can just be made smaller as its not really that important. For example its used as a Map in Mario Kart, a radar in Metroid prime hunters, useless gadgets in Pokemon games, it is used as a progress map and coin tally in new super mario bros and would probaly only be a real burden to games played on the side of the ds like brain training and guitar hero. Basicly I'm trying to say all the real gameplay usually occurs on the top screen so it wouldn't matter if the bottom screen is a bit smaller. To be honest I don't think it would be such a good idea making the 2nd screen on the T.V because it would be pixelated like crazy and I would prefer to keep the Pandora's portability.

 

[lulzfish]

The screens are not an issue at all anyway.

 

[borgqueenx]

Im curious if dsemu is already been tested?
When i got my pandora, ds emulation would be great
and im not searching for full speed

 

[Tokiopop]

Why not just get a DS? Sure it'd be great, but it's not gonna be fantastic if it does happen. Now I know someone's going to say "well if you want N64, why not just get one?" And my answer to that would be they aren't portable, unlike the DS.

 

[chocoboy]

And my answer to that would be, so that I don't have even more devices I have to carry around.

 

[Tokiopop]

I doubt there's ever a time when somebody would want their Pandora AND DS... Anyway, like you said you've got lots of ROMs, so you must be playing them on your PC at home anyway? So it's not like your losing out on anything by not having DS games on the go.

 

[Drack]

I've done some research into this. My conclusion is "Not gonna happen for a good while" I'm sure emulation experts like Exophase can say this much more eloquently than I can, but there are a few issues we're looking at.

First, let's look at what EVERYONE thinks of first, just to get it out of the way: The screens. These aren't a problem AT ALL. You can have 1:1 pixel for pixel screens, one over the other on a regularly held Pandora. You can even have the ~90 pixels between screens if you want to simulate the space the DS's hinge takes up between screens. If you want other configurations (Side by side, sideways vertical, stretched single screen, whatever) Pandora can do that too. This is NOT a significant issue.

What IS a problem, though, is actually coding it. There exists one open source DS emulator, DeSmuME, which runs on x86 and without a complete rewrite would run at maybe ~5fps on Pandora. With the amount of work a rewrite would take for an optimized build, it's more likely that an emulator that would satisfy the masses would have to be written from scratch and highly optimized not just for ARM, but for Pandora in particular. This takes such a great amount of time and effort over a port that we're probably not going to see it happen for a while to come, especially since none of the major developers have expressed interest. I've looked into doing it myself, but not having written anything in the field of emulation, this is far out of my league.

 

[Shock-Socks]

I doubt there's ever a time when somebody would want their Pandora AND DS... Anyway, like you said you've got lots of ROMs, so you must be playing them on your PC at home anyway? So it's not like your losing out on anything by not having DS games on the go.

have you ever heard of a flashkart? google "cycloDs Evolution"

 

[WizardStan]

And my answer to that would be, so that I don't have even more devices I have to carry around.

And my response to that would be, why don't you just pick one thing to play at a time then? If you're playing a DS game, you take your DS with you on those short trips. If you are playing something else, you take your Pandora. If you're going on any sort of extended trip that may actually require both, then you probably have (at least I would) some sort of luggage in which you could store the second device anyway, making the point moot.
Unless you can come up with a scenario where having both (or more specific to the argument, have a Pandora with DS emulation) is necessary?

 

[calc84maniac]

And my answer to that would be, so that I don't have even more devices I have to carry around.

And my response to that would be, why don't you just pick one thing to play at a time then? If you're playing a DS game, you take your DS with you on those short trips. If you are playing something else, you take your Pandora. If you're going on any sort of extended trip that may actually require both, then you probably have (at least I would) some sort of luggage in which you could store the second device anyway, making the point moot.
Unless you can come up with a scenario where having both (or more specific to the argument, have a Pandora with DS emulation) is necessary?

'Cause it's trippy. h34r: But why does nobody say this stuff about the PSP emulator?

 

[Tokiopop]

And my answer to that would be, so that I don't have even more devices I have to carry around.

And my response to that would be, why don't you just pick one thing to play at a time then? If you're playing a DS game, you take your DS with you on those short trips. If you are playing something else, you take your Pandora. If you're going on any sort of extended trip that may actually require both, then you probably have (at least I would) some sort of luggage in which you could store the second device anyway, making the point moot.
Unless you can come up with a scenario where having both (or more specific to the argument, have a Pandora with DS emulation) is necessary?

'Cause it's trippy. h34r: But why does nobody say this stuff about the PSP emulator?

Because someone is working on that

 

[guizm]

I really think it would be awesome to have ds emulation, but after lot of reading, i still think that ds in 1 screen = madness

 

[puppydee]

I'm all for emulators for the older systems that have been put to bed a long time ago or wheren't portable but I think a ds emulator is pointless since you can pick up a ds pretty cheap nowadays and plus it aint gonna be great playing ds games on the pandora even if it is possible. I'm getting a little sick of hearing about emulation on the pandora, people seem to forget that the pandora is actually it's own console not just an emulator. If you want to play ds games or psp games just go to your local electronics store and buy one. Oh and remember it's just my opinion, do whatever you want on your pandora, it's non of my business.