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Does anyone out there think it would be difficult to convert Gameboy games to the
Game Gear? To my understanding the Gameboy uses a custom Z80 processor but
couldn't you suplement those codes for other ones and still get the games to run?
Also, how big is the character set, how big is the sprite set, and how many sprites
can be controlled on screen at a time?

I'm assuming the graphics and sound shouldn't be that bad to interpret, just
re-direct all the sound and graphics writes to the appropriate registers and
memory addresses. The two custom sound channels could be played on
Channel 1 and 2 while the bass track is played on Channel 3 and the noise is
played on the noise. I don't think the Game Boy can play digital sound, can
it?

The only major problem would be the missing button needed on the Game
Gear. The game gear has 3 action buttons while the Gameboy as 4. This
is a very big problem. I would have to suplement the start button by making
the game check for two button inputs instead of one, like if it finds that
Button 1 and Start have both been pressed then that would equal the
start button on the Gameboy.

I need opinions. Is this a good idea or a bad one?

Chris :o)

Quote

> Does anyone out there think it would be difficult to convert Gameboy games to the
> Game Gear? To my understanding the Gameboy uses a custom Z80 processor but
> couldn't you suplement those codes for other ones and still get the games to run?
> Also, how big is the character set, how big is the sprite set, and how many sprites
> can be controlled on screen at a time?

> I'm assuming the graphics and sound shouldn't be that bad to interpret, just
> re-direct all the sound and graphics writes to the appropriate registers and
> memory addresses. The two custom sound channels could be played on
> Channel 1 and 2 while the bass track is played on Channel 3 and the noise is
> played on the noise. I don't think the Game Boy can play digital sound, can
> it?

> The only major problem would be the missing button needed on the Game
> Gear. The game gear has 3 action buttons while the Gameboy as 4. This
> is a very big problem. I would have to suplement the start button by making
> the game check for two button inputs instead of one, like if it finds that
> Button 1 and Start have both been pressed then that would equal the
> start button on the Gameboy.

>
> I need opinions. Is this a good idea or a bad one?

> Chris :o)

its a good idea though the opposite would be a more profitable idea
the difficulty would vary Ive written for both systems gb does have
digital sound if youd like to discuss this more Im normally on #gbdev
on efnet

Quote

> its a good idea though the opposite would be a more profitable idea
> the difficulty would vary Ive written for both systems gb does have
> digital sound if youd like to discuss this more Im normally on #gbdev
> on efnet

What's efnet?

Quote

> > its a good idea though the opposite would be a more profitable idea
> > the difficulty would vary Ive written for both systems gb does have
> > digital sound if youd like to discuss this more Im normally on #gbdev
> > on efnet

> What's efnet?

irc server
http://www.mirc.co.uk/ for the software you could use

Quote

> Does anyone out there think it would be difficult to convert Gameboy games to the
> Game Gear? To my understanding the Gameboy uses a custom Z80 processor but
> couldn't you suplement those codes for other ones and still get the games to run?
> Also, how big is the character set, how big is the sprite set, and how many sprites
> can be controlled on screen at a time?

> I'm assuming the graphics and sound shouldn't be that bad to interpret, just
> re-direct all the sound and graphics writes to the appropriate registers and
> memory addresses. The two custom sound channels could be played on
> Channel 1 and 2 while the bass track is played on Channel 3 and the noise is
> played on the noise. I don't think the Game Boy can play digital sound, can
> it?

> The only major problem would be the missing button needed on the Game
> Gear. The game gear has 3 action buttons while the Gameboy as 4. This
> is a very big problem. I would have to suplement the start button by making
> the game check for two button inputs instead of one, like if it finds that
> Button 1 and Start have both been pressed then that would equal the
> start button on the Gameboy.

Porting stuff would be a little more compilcated than redirecting stuff. Porting from the Gameboy to the Game Gear would be easier than the reverse, since the Gameboy processor removes some instructions, and the Gameboy has a sprite limit of 40, whereas the Game Gear supports 64.

Both systems are pretty similar.
I wrote a program that worked on both system. The differences in the 'main' code were quite small. All the differences were in the routines.

Teh source for the Game Gear version is available at http://www.pcisys.net/~cdoty/console the Gameboy version is at http://www.gbdev.org/news/dl/source.html. It's the Frogs assembly language source.

Orphaned console support.

Author	Message
Chris Guest	Gameboy 2 Game Gear Posted: Mon Jul 05, 1999 11:39 pm
Chris Guest	Does anyone out there think it would be difficult to convert Gameboy games to the Game Gear? To my understanding the Gameboy uses a custom Z80 processor but couldn't you suplement those codes for other ones and still get the games to run? Also, how big is the character set, how big is the sprite set, and how many sprites can be controlled on screen at a time? I'm assuming the graphics and sound shouldn't be that bad to interpret, just re-direct all the sound and graphics writes to the appropriate registers and memory addresses. The two custom sound channels could be played on Channel 1 and 2 while the bass track is played on Channel 3 and the noise is played on the noise. I don't think the Game Boy can play digital sound, can it? The only major problem would be the missing button needed on the Game Gear. The game gear has 3 action buttons while the Gameboy as 4. This is a very big problem. I would have to suplement the start button by making the game check for two button inputs instead of one, like if it finds that Button 1 and Start have both been pressed then that would equal the start button on the Gameboy. I need opinions. Is this a good idea or a bad one? Chris :o)

ziggy880 Guest	Posted: Tue Jul 06, 1999 12:00 am
ziggy880 Guest	Quote > Does anyone out there think it would be difficult to convert Gameboy games to the > Game Gear? To my understanding the Gameboy uses a custom Z80 processor but > couldn't you suplement those codes for other ones and still get the games to run? > Also, how big is the character set, how big is the sprite set, and how many sprites > can be controlled on screen at a time? > I'm assuming the graphics and sound shouldn't be that bad to interpret, just > re-direct all the sound and graphics writes to the appropriate registers and > memory addresses. The two custom sound channels could be played on > Channel 1 and 2 while the bass track is played on Channel 3 and the noise is > played on the noise. I don't think the Game Boy can play digital sound, can > it? > The only major problem would be the missing button needed on the Game > Gear. The game gear has 3 action buttons while the Gameboy as 4. This > is a very big problem. I would have to suplement the start button by making > the game check for two button inputs instead of one, like if it finds that > Button 1 and Start have both been pressed then that would equal the > start button on the Gameboy. > > I need opinions. Is this a good idea or a bad one? > Chris :o) its a good idea though the opposite would be a more profitable idea the difficulty would vary Ive written for both systems gb does have digital sound if youd like to discuss this more Im normally on #gbdev on efnet

Chris Guest	Posted: Tue Jul 06, 1999 1:04 am
Chris Guest	Quote > its a good idea though the opposite would be a more profitable idea > the difficulty would vary Ive written for both systems gb does have > digital sound if youd like to discuss this more Im normally on #gbdev > on efnet What's efnet?

ziggy880 Guest	Posted: Tue Jul 06, 1999 3:56 am
ziggy880 Guest	Quote > > its a good idea though the opposite would be a more profitable idea > > the difficulty would vary Ive written for both systems gb does have > > digital sound if youd like to discuss this more Im normally on #gbdev > > on efnet > What's efnet? irc server http://www.mirc.co.uk/ for the software you could use

cdoty Joined: 29 Jun 1999 Posts: 68 Location: Houston TX	Posted: Tue Jul 06, 1999 4:47 pm
cdoty Joined: 29 Jun 1999 Posts: 68 Location: Houston TX	Quote > Does anyone out there think it would be difficult to convert Gameboy games to the > Game Gear? To my understanding the Gameboy uses a custom Z80 processor but > couldn't you suplement those codes for other ones and still get the games to run? > Also, how big is the character set, how big is the sprite set, and how many sprites > can be controlled on screen at a time? > I'm assuming the graphics and sound shouldn't be that bad to interpret, just > re-direct all the sound and graphics writes to the appropriate registers and > memory addresses. The two custom sound channels could be played on > Channel 1 and 2 while the bass track is played on Channel 3 and the noise is > played on the noise. I don't think the Game Boy can play digital sound, can > it? > The only major problem would be the missing button needed on the Game > Gear. The game gear has 3 action buttons while the Gameboy as 4. This > is a very big problem. I would have to suplement the start button by making > the game check for two button inputs instead of one, like if it finds that > Button 1 and Start have both been pressed then that would equal the > start button on the Gameboy. Porting stuff would be a little more compilcated than redirecting stuff. Porting from the Gameboy to the Game Gear would be easier than the reverse, since the Gameboy processor removes some instructions, and the Gameboy has a sprite limit of 40, whereas the Game Gear supports 64. Both systems are pretty similar. I wrote a program that worked on both system. The differences in the 'main' code were quite small. All the differences were in the routines. Teh source for the Game Gear version is available at http://www.pcisys.net/~cdoty/console the Gameboy version is at http://www.gbdev.org/news/dl/source.html. It's the Frogs assembly language source. Orphaned console support.

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