Our New Machine, Pandora

[Vince2501]

Since this unit will have WiFi, will playing games online through kailler or an equivalent be possible?

 

[atomicthumbs]

Since this unit will have WiFi, will playing games online through kailler or an equivalent be possible?

Online homebrew/normal games: probably.

It would be especially awesome to have online emulator play.

WE COULD ALL PLAY NINJA COMMANDO AND BAD DUDES TOGETHER.

EDIT: SUPER SMASH BROTHERS ONLINE N64 F^&*ING AWESOME!

EDIT: WITH VOICE CHAT!U$#@*(&$#*(@Q

EDIT: haha oh wow

 

[Vince2501]

METAL SLUG!!!!!!~

ROCKET LAWNCHER!

 

[abertalia]

Since this unit will have WiFi, will playing games online through kailler or an equivalent be possible?

Online homebrew/normal games: probably.

It would be especially awesome to have online emulator play.

WE COULD ALL PLAY NINJA COMMANDO AND BAD DUDES TOGETHER.

EDIT: SUPER SMASH BROTHERS ONLINE N64 F^&*ING AWESOME!

EDIT: WITH VOICE CHAT!U$#@*(&$#*(@Q

EDIT: haha oh wow


If things like that were really possible, I'd definitely be getting the device =]

 

[atomicthumbs]

Since this unit will have WiFi, will playing games online through kailler or an equivalent be possible?

Online homebrew/normal games: probably.

It would be especially awesome to have online emulator play.

WE COULD ALL PLAY NINJA COMMANDO AND BAD DUDES TOGETHER.

EDIT: SUPER SMASH BROTHERS ONLINE N64 F^&*ING AWESOME!

EDIT: WITH VOICE CHAT!U$#@*(&$#*(@Q

EDIT: haha oh wow


If things like that were really possible, I'd definitely be getting the device =]


I think they will be, as netplay and voice chat code would probably only take up a little of the memory/CPU power.

ONLINE SSB MATCHMAKING: A POWER NEVER BEFORE POSSIBLE BEFORE UNTIL NOW.

EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaillera

Whoa, a lot of emulators support Kaillera:

1964 (N64)
Atari800Win PLus (Atari 8-bit)
Bliss (Intellivision)
ePSXe (Playstation)
Final Burn Alpha (CPS1, CPS2, NeoGeo Arcade)
Gens (Mega Drive, Genesis)
Jnes (NES)
Kawaks (CPS1, CPS2, NeoGeo Arcade)
Modeler (Sega System 32 Arcade)
Nebula (CPS1, 2, NeoGeo Arcade)
Nemu64 (N64)
NESten (NES, Famicom)
Nestopia (NES) (works with Kaillera client 0.9a, or Anti3D's modified Kaillera client (v1.1) or higher)
PCAE (Atari 2600, VCS)
Project64k, a modified version of Project64 (N64)
Snes9k, modified version of Snes9x
WinUAE (Amiga)
Mupen64K (N64)

In addition, there are several third-party versions of MAME with Kaillera, but these violate the MAME license by not having the source code to the Kaillera client library distributed, even though the source code to the modified version of MAME itself (such as "Mame32k") are always provided.

MULTIPLAYER ONLINE 2600: HELL YEAH

I volunteer to run the official Craiginator Kaillera server! Somebody with more bandwidth than my crappy consumer DSL connection and Linux Pentium III server.

 

[DaveC]

The thing is that the ds way of controlling fps games wouldn't work on the C-nator. This is because the DS has two screens, and to emulate this on the Cnator, you'd need to dedicate a large portion of it's screen to such a method.

Well not really. Since PC FPSs like Quake etc are all 4:3 this means that you will have a 160 pixel wide area that can be used for a "mouse" control area anyway as these PC titles were 640 x 480.

 

[Vimacs]

well, it would be a waste to not render quake at the native resolution of the screen, after all thats where 3d engines shine.

 

[Vince2501]

If this hand held can do FPS up to Unreal Tournament, then I think we'll be in business. Here's how I imagine FPS to play:

to the left or right of touch screen you have the d-pad for movement, the 1-2 triggers for firing, and alt fire. perhaps the volume or menu buttons to the side could be used to scroll through weapons/items, the tricky part would be which buttons could do jump and crouch.

 

[Squidge]

Woah! A final design before Christmas? PCBs this month? NICE!

Hmmm...time to weigh my options...Upgrade my PC, or get a Craiginator...

I'd be very suprised if the software however is complete before next year, so I'd upgrade your PC.

 

[StealthBagel]

Well not really. Since PC FPSs like Quake etc are all 4:3 this means that you will have a 160 pixel wide area that can be used for a "mouse" control area anyway as these PC titles were 640 x 480.

Having worked with the quake engine I can say the viewport can be set to any size, even something that isn't proportional to 4:3, it can just as easily be 16:9 or something totally arbitrary..... the frame is drawn from dynamically resized content (level geometry and textures) and the 2D elements (HUD etc) are drawn on top and centered accordingly.... no reason it couldn't fill the whole screen. Most FPS'es I know of work the same way... nAnd if there's analog sticks, well, they may as well be used.

But I don't see most FPS'es being too fun on a handheld, any handheld for that matter. They're just something that is, for me, not fun to play without a mouse and a keyboard and a sizable display in front of me... and <17" isn't sizable

 

[StealthBagel]

As far as a GUI goes I would prefer as simple as possible.. all these fancy outlandish things proposed would just be a huge mess and they look childish. I want a serious device, not something that looks like a toy even if you do mostly play games on it.... if it DID use X11 as the basis for the GUI, you can fabricate any kind of interface you want, but it's important we start with something simple and unobtrusive, fast and responsive. The gp2x's default GUI was simple but obtuse and sluggish, and rather ugly.... it's off putting from the very first moments of use. Something to avoid.....

I do have to say I find the idea of a simple X11 environment appealing.... no need for potentially shitty integrated apps like the gp2x media players.... you could easily just run XMMS or whatever media player of your choice, the web browser of your choice, etc. within reason. "Alt-tabbing" so to speak between games and apps would be nice and add a lot of versatility but it's important to remember this is NOT A PC and it's not going to be your desktop computer...

Even with 800x480, a desktop-worthy resolution, text will be very small and hard to read or big and use up a lot of the screen, the CPU isn't going to hold a candle to even a very old PC, just other handhelds, and you're not going to have a physical hard disk..... so let's not get out of hand.....

As for power 1 1500mA pack should be enough, 2 would be unnecessary and a little outlandish. It's important to remember the OMAP3430 is a well designed power efficient chipset built on a modern transistor process with great power saving features, not the primitive power hungry POS the MMSP2 was... assuming the system's internal PSU hardware is efficient there shouldn't be any issue with getting orders of magnitude higher than gp2x battery life if you aren't running the CPU at max speed, working the GPU to the bone and have the backlight up all the way (I pray it will be adjustable.)

But I have a feeling the makers of this handheld didn't pick a Nokia part either way, but the same issues of raw current draw from a well designed handheld from a power stand point still apply.....

this turned into a ramble. My bad.

 

[Tobriand]

I'm going to be *very* interested in what the average battery life on this machine turns out to be.

I remember Craig mentioning 10 hours as an aim for them, but that was before all the SoC changes, so God knows if that's still a reasonable target.

 

[kfuse]

METAL SLUG!!!!!!~

ROCKET LAWNCHER!

Metal slug 2player co-op through wi-fi...the idea is so great it ultimately makes me all giddy inside.

Now that is something I gotta see.

 

[Squidge]

I'm going to be *very* interested in what the average battery life on this machine turns out to be.

I remember Craig mentioning 10 hours as an aim for them, but that was before all the SoC changes, so God knows if that's still a reasonable target.

Maybe Craig will offer a choice of battery with the unit? Say a typical 1800mAh battery for "typical use" and a 3 or 4000mAh battery for "heavy use" ? If we assume a 400mA current draw, that would give 10 hours of use.

** Note that I've no idea of the actual current draw or supplied batteries, so don't quote me on the above **

 

[sam fisher]

I do wish Craig decides on a Nokia's battery and charger, one of the standard chargers (like the one for most Nokias before the N series), these are the most popular chargers world wide and they're dirt cheap.

:blink:

So you want a tiny, little, wimpy 650mAh cell-phone batery that gives you 3 minutes of battery life?


No way man we need something with a little more ass-kick...its nice idea but seriously...battery life has to at least go the distance hear...has to be close to if not maybe on par with DS if possible.

It will be nowhere near the DS. This is going to draw a HELL of a lot more power, it is going to be an awesome machine. It will need one hell of a good battery, Doesn't the GP2x draw 1Ah under load? And this is going to be much more powerful with far more hardware including wifi and 3d chips. Are we not talking about at least a 1.5Ah drain here?

 

[Dubya']

Found this by accident. Watch the slide show to see the clever battery swap idea:

http://tinyurl.com/2ocuen

I hope something like this is what Craigix meant when he (or someone) said that the Li Ion battery in the Craiginator would be commonly available. The method shown in the slide show may be old news to others, but it's the first time I've seen it in a MP3/game handheld (although I'm certainly no expert in that area).



Man, that thing's tiny! Anyways, I'm pretty sure that's what craig means, but I'm not sure if he's specifically looking at cell phone batteries. I got the impression it would be the type of replaceable battery that you'd be able to find at a Radioshack or something.

-God Ginrai

If the batteries of very popular cell phones are too small in mAh capacity, as I'd suspect they are, a modular battery from some other commonly available portable consumer device would be fine. What device that would be, I don't know. It's just the concept of using easily swapped batteries from a common portable consumer device that I'm suggesting here. If that's not possible, using something like this would be my second choice, but flat pack style if that's necessary for dimensional reasons and with a polarized connector:

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?Page...amp;ProdID=2564

In other words, battery packs built from standard, commonly available cell types that will be available from many different sources for many years to come.

BTW, from experience, I can tell you never to count on Rat Shack to carry any particular item for an extended period unless it's something _really_ generic.

 

[Vince2501]

Okay, I figured out the best way of mapping the controls for FPS:

To the left or right of touch screen you have the d-pad to the left, and 4-6 buttons to the right, these will act like WASD for lefties or righties. The triggers will be mappable, the first can do firing, the second can do either alt fire, reloading, or jumping. The analog stick when tilted left or right will cycle through weapons, tilting up or down for items, clicking the stick will do whatever (use item, jump, reload, etc). Then the two extra buttons on either side will do whatever's left.

I think that'll do it and won't be too uncomfortable to use.

I think the only thing you won't be able to do is constantly bunny hope. Which would make multiplayer more interesting I think.

 

[Magnulus]

The only thing I really want to stress is to be able to play it without using batteries while it's plugged in.

 

[Squidge]

It will be nowhere near the DS. This is going to draw a HELL of a lot more power, it is going to be an awesome machine. It will need one hell of a good battery, Doesn't the GP2x draw 1Ah under load? And this is going to be much more powerful with far more hardware including wifi and 3d chips. Are we not talking about at least a 1.5Ah drain here?

I don't have the specs for the OMAP, but using current consumption from MMSP2, plus TFT+Backlight, WIFI, 3D, etc... I get 3.54W, and the OMAP will no doubt be a lot better (power consumption wise) than the MMSP2, and also will not be running at it's maximum speed with all peripherals enabled all the time.

3.54W would be ~700mA @ 5V, ~950mA @ 3.7V (assuming the battery is 3.7V).

 

[atomicthumbs]

I'm going to be *very* interested in what the average battery life on this machine turns out to be.

I remember Craig mentioning 10 hours as an aim for them, but that was before all the SoC changes, so God knows if that's still a reasonable target.

Maybe Craig will offer a choice of battery with the unit? Say a typical 1800mAh battery for "typical use" and a 3 or 4000mAh battery for "heavy use" ? If we assume a 400mA current draw, that would give 10 hours of use.

** Note that I've no idea of the actual current draw or supplied batteries, so don't quote me on the above **


I know what battery I'll be using: