RF Module experiences

[DrJones]

So, I was curious what any of you have experienced with your RF Modules?

I bought mine at Play-Asia.com plus a second one for a friend.

We've tested the following games:

- GPAsteroids
- Jump 'n Bump
- fsMSX32 (gbax edition)

[ GPAsteroids ]
This one works very well in two player mode, either cooperative play or deatchmatch. Very enjoyable and never loses speed!

[ Jump 'n Bump ]
The game can't be played in singleplayer, so I could not test it alone. However, when we played it, it had very poor framerate, choppy animation. It makes the game unplayable and rather annoying. I guess this port needs some more work?

[ fsMSX32 (gbax edition) ]
rlyeh's MSX emulator works like a charm, and it behaves pretty good during multiplayer games. The first one to initiate multiplayer gets to be player one.

How to do this?

1. Make sure you both have the same game and load it with the same MSX type.
2. One of the two start a multiplayer game from the menu. The GP will wait for the other GP.
3. Once the other is up and connected (make sure you've got the right channel selected on the RF module) both GP's will reset the MSX and start the game synchronized.

It plays well, however the framerate drops down to a crawl. Since fsMSX32 does not support frameskipping (but does support framelimiting for a reason) the animation remains slow.
It is playable, but could be faster.

The reasons for mentioned slowdowns in Jump 'n Bump and fsMSX32 could be:

- The GP needs more cpu time to take care of the connection
- The GP's RF module doesn't have enough bandwith to transfer with
- The RF module gets interference

That's my two cents on multiplayer gaming with the GP32 using the RF module. What's yours?

 

[giffel]

Hi, Im the author of GPasteroids.

Im happy that you liked GPasteroids in multiplayer mode. Not too many people can try it at the moment i guess. I will release a new version in a few weeks or so. It will feature an improved controller setup, better ship physics and some minor bugfixes.

JumpNBump is also worked on as far as i heard and there is good progress, too!

Regards,
Giffel.

 

[DrJones]

Hey there!

Glad to hear that there's a new version coming up. Will it be possible to cancel waiting for another GP? Saves restarting it when one gets 'stuck' waiting for the other.

Perhaps introduce more modes into the game? Obstacle racing and so forth?

Also noticed you can fire up to ridiculous speeds with a ship. Not sure if this applies to multiplayer only.

Eagerly awaiting a new version

 

[giffel]

Hi DrJ,

Ill consider the cancelling thing.

Obstactle racing... Funny idea Well I have some other improvements on the back of my head, so ill do those first.

Yes, the ship speed might become a problem. i never bothered to speed up so much since im no longer able to control my ship then So i thought whoever WANTS to speed up, might as well do so.

 

[Flavor]

Hey guys!

I have been considering getting a couple of the GP RF modules. Do you think they're worth having? I have 2 GP32's. Really, I don't play much for games, but I do like messing around with the stuff. Plus, there's the problem that I am only 1 person (with 2 GP32s). I have to find someone to play with if I want to do multi-player stuff.

So, having said all that, are the GPLinks cool? Are they worth having? Are they easy to code for?

I've asked some others for their opinions in the past. I even heard that there was some kind of bluetooth link planned. Do you know anything about that?

I've been really close to putting in my order at Play-Asia.com but I just haven't completed it yet. I'm not sure what's stopping me, but at the same time, I am not sure what's motivating me to want them.

 

[Octavius]

Hi, Im the author of GPasteroids.

Im happy that you liked GPasteroids in multiplayer mode. Not too many people can try it at the moment i guess. I will release a new version in a few weeks or so. It will feature an improved controller setup, better ship physics and some minor bugfixes.

JumpNBump is also worked on as far as i heard and there is good progress, too!

Regards,
Giffel.

Great! Now that makes me GENKI too!

*points at Giffel's avatar*

 

[rlyeh]

So, I was curious what any of you have experienced with your RF Modules?

I bought mine at Play-Asia.com plus a second one for a friend.

We've tested the following games:

- GPAsteroids
- Jump 'n Bump
- fsMSX32 (gbax edition)

[ GPAsteroids ]
This one works very well in two player mode, either cooperative play or deatchmatch. Very enjoyable and never loses speed!

[ Jump 'n Bump ]
The game can't be played in singleplayer, so I could not test it alone. However, when we played it, it had very poor framerate, choppy animation. It makes the game unplayable and rather annoying. I guess this port needs some more work?

[ fsMSX32 (gbax edition) ]
rlyeh's MSX emulator works like a charm, and it behaves pretty good during multiplayer games. The first one to initiate multiplayer gets to be player one.

How to do this?

1. Make sure you both have the same game and load it with the same MSX type.
2. One of the two start a multiplayer game from the menu. The GP will wait for the other GP.
3. Once the other is up and connected (make sure you've got the right channel selected on the RF module) both GP's will reset the MSX and start the game synchronized.

It plays well, however the framerate drops down to a crawl. Since fsMSX32 does not support frameskipping (but does support framelimiting for a reason) the animation remains slow.
It is playable, but could be faster.

The reasons for mentioned slowdowns in Jump 'n Bump and fsMSX32 could be:

- The GP needs more cpu time to take care of the connection
- The GP's RF module doesn't have enough bandwith to transfer with
- The RF module gets interference

That's my two cents on multiplayer gaming with the GP32 using the RF module. What's yours?

MSX multiplayer is slow because its a preliminary attempt. Next version will feature BLACK's RF Library which runs fast as hell . Thankful Black!

Wait for a new release sooner or later

 

[DrJones]

Cool, I'm looking forward to what the next version of GPAsteroids will run like

Flavor: The RF link is fun, but don't expect to use it constantly unless you have someone else to play with and have alot of software to test. I recall hearing that a few commercial games use the RF link.

rlyeh: That's good news! I'm looking forward to test that lib's implementation. You think your NES port could use this multiplayer mode?
And, same as I suggested for giffel, a cancel option during the waiting for connection screen? So one GP can cancel if the other has connected wrongly (bad channel) or crashed (bad batteries).