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Topics - gameblabla

#1
PC, Mac & Vintage Computers / [CW10AGJ] Blocks 3D (WIP)
November 09, 2024, 01:46:55 PM


Description

Blocks 3D is a variant of 3-D Tetris for web browsers/WebGL !
I thought just having a 2D puzzle game with 3D graphics (which Cascade FX was) was boring so felt to mix it up a little bit.
You can move, rotate the puzzle piece and move the camera in full 3D.

Our hero wants to challenge a few opponents at puzzle games and be the very best at it.
Prove your skills !

Note that the game is still in development so there are some placeholders and missing elements.

How to play

QEADWS keys to rotate the current piece
Cursor key to move it
F for Fast drop
Space to drop piece

If these aren't to your likings, you can remap them in the menu.

Screenies







Play

Link : https://gameblabla.github.io/Blocks3D/
#2
Hello guys,
so let's assume we have a display refresh rate of 144hz and i want to display a sprite with 9 frames in 0.25 second.
Now if it was 1 second instead, it would take 16 frames to update the sprite's frame by one.
In this case, it would take only 4 frames before it updates the sprite's frame by one.
I also want it to also work for a display refresh rate of 60hz.
So in the case of 60hz, it would take 1.66666666667 frames instead to update it.

My sprite function looks like this :
void Put_sprite_top_left(uint_fast32_t a, double top_left_x, double top_left_y, int w, int h, int frame_start, int frame_end, int loop, double seconds)
{
 SDL_Rect position;
 SDL_Rect frame;
 
 position.x = (int) (current_internal_resolution_width * top_left_x);
 position.y = (int) (current_internal_resolution_height * top_left_y);
 position.w = w;
 position.h = h;
 
 if (!(sprites_current_frame_[a] >= (double)frame_end && loop == 0))
 {
 if (sprites_current_frame_[a] < frame_end)
 {
 sprites_current_frame_[a] += ((seconds)*(double)(frame_end-frame_start)) * (1.0/Get_Refresh_rate) ;
 }
 
 if ((sprites_current_frame_[a] >= (double)frame_end && loop == 1) || (sprites_current_frame_[a] < 0.0 && sprites_current_frame_[a] == 0.0))
 {
 sprites_current_frame_[a] = (double)frame_start;
 }
 }
 
 printf("sprites_current_frame_[a] %f\n", sprites_current_frame_[a]);
 
 frame.x = (int)(sprites_current_frame_[a])*(w);
 
 frame.y = 0;
 frame.w = w;
 frame.h = h;
 
 SDL_RenderCopy(renderer, texture_library_memory[a], &frame, &position);
}

Of course it is wrong...

See this line in particular
sprites_current_frame_[a] += ((seconds)*(double)(frame_end-frame_start)) * (1.0/Get_Refresh_rate) ;
How can i fix this ?

Thanks
#3
Consoles / Hardware revisions for video game consoles
January 01, 2020, 04:49:48 AM
Consoles over their lifetime are getting new revisions with often improvements or in some cases downgrades compared to their earlier motherboard.

For this thread, I thought I would take a look at several consoles and their hardware revisions.
Many of which had been infamous for these and I want first to take a look at the Playstation 3 first.
(Next will be the Megadrive/Genesis)

Playstation 3

The PS3 had many board revisions with 3 significant ones : "PHAT" models, Slim, and Super Slim.
We'll start with the PHAT models.

Phat / Fat


These were the very first major revision released by Sony and the first minor revisions featured some sort of backwards compatibility with PS2 games as well.
The downside is that the PS3 had enormous power consumption, even compared to the first Xbox 360.

CECHAxx



This was the first model released in Japan in November 2006.
It features all of the bells and whistles : OtherOS support (until it was later removed), Full PS2 backwards compatibility, Super Audio CD support, onboard Wi-fi, 4 usb ports and an MMC reader.

It came with a 60GB hard disk that can be upgraded and has an onboard NAND chip of 256MB.

The Cell and RSX chips have a die process of 90nm. As a result, this is the most power hungry PS3 out there, which can max out at 380W and 200W in average.

CECHBxx

Also released in November 2006, this is similar to the A revision but it does not have Wi-fi or an MMC reader and its HDD is only 20GB. Power consumption is similar. (if no Wi-fi is being used)

CECHCxx



This is the PAL revision that appeared at the PAL launch of the PS3.
Gone is the Emotion Engine, which is now being software emulated instead.
These consoles are known as "Partial compatible" consoles and according to an analysis by My life in gaming, they feature better graphical output than the full backwards compatible models in PS2 games.
The downside is that more games are incompatible and flat out won't work or will have more issues.

These models still retain the MMC, Super Audio CD support, and other features from the A revision.

CECHExx
A later revision that came with a 80GB hard disk in North america and Japan. It is otherwise similar to the A revision.


CECHGxx

This is the last major revision to the Phat models and features several changes.
Gone is the PS2 backwards compatibility, Super Audio CD support, MMC reader, and 2 of the USB ports.

The Cell processor die shrank to 65nm. (RSX chip still unaffected)

As a result, the power consumption drops to about 40W and much lower when in load (280W).

It also came with a 40GB hard drive and still comes with the 256MB NAND chip.

CECHHxx



Similar to the G revision except that it now comes with a NOR flash chip of 16MB with most of the firmware now stored on the HDD.

CECHJxx / CECHKxx / CECHLxx / CECHMxx / CECHPxx / CECHQxx



Similar to the H revision but features a 65nm RSX chip. Power consumption drops by 50W in normal usage.

K revision up to Q are identical except for the HDD which ranges from 80GB to 160GB.


Slim Models


Sony then announced a new major redesign with a new case in 2009 : the slim models.
These models are overall more reliable (we'll go into details) and consumes less power than the phat models. None of the slim models feature OtherOS, SA-CD or backwards compatibility with the PS2.

CECH-20xx



Features a 45nm Cell processor, which significantly drops the power consumption to 100W in normal use. This is the last die shrink of the Cell processor.

It still has the 16MB Nor chip as well as 2 USB ports only.


CECH-21xx


The following year, Sony released another revision to the CECH-21xx.
This is the first revision to feature a 40nm RSX chip, which further drops the power consumption to 85W.

It was also later discovered that this was the very first Slim model to fix the YLOD issue for good by swaping them with different capacitors versus the NEC/Tokin capacitors which were found to be the culprit to the YLOD as they were defective (made during the Capacitor plague) and were causing unclean current to be provided to the chips.

The CECH-20xx can also suffer from the YLOD issue (it still uses the NEC/Tokin capacitors) but is less likely to happen due to the die shrink of the Cell processor. However, it can still happen and some people reported to have YLOD on their Slim models. (most of them 2XXX models)

CECH-25xx



A minor redesign change that caused power consumption to drop by 5W. For a while, all slims (and early Super slims) were using a similar motherboard.

CECH-30xx



Later released in 20111, this is the last Slim revision and is nearly identical to the 25xx models except for a different NOR chip.
This is the first model to disable analog output for blu-rays. This was previously used before as to go around HDCP being enforced and making screen capture of blu-rays disabled. It is still possible to play back standard BD-Roms via Analog however.

Super Slim



As the PS4 was approaching and the PS Vita being already released, Sony made the last redesign of the  PS3 series : the Super Slim.
It features a much smaller, compact case with greater efficiency for some of the later models.
The press was also hyping up a die shrink for both the Cell and RSX chips to 22nm/28nm respectively. However as it turns out, it was not really the case.

CECH-40xx



The first and most common model. Features either a 16MB Nor chip or a 16MB eMMC memory.
Also seems to feature a different PSU which is rated lower. (75W)
Some later models of the 40xx series also feature a die shrink of the RSX chip, down to 28nm.
As a result, consumption drops by 15W.


CECH-42xx



This revision features the die shrink of the RSX to 28nm.
Note that there seems to be conflicting information saying that only 42xx models featured the die shrink while others still used a 40nm RSX.
As a result, power consumption drops by around 15W and the RSX chip is noticeably smaller on the board. Those can be identified by the use of 2 chips on the RSX versus 4 on the 40nm ones.

CECH-43xx



This is where things really get strange. This model was released in Japan only.
Teardowns of the motherboard show that only the RSX had changed (still 28nm) : the planned switch to the 22nm process for the Cell never seemingly happened.

However, there are other reports that it did switch to a 22nm process.
It would mean that the chip size stayed the same but internally, the die shrank.

It's entirely possible that Sony did this as to not design a new motherboard while still shrinking the cell to 22nm but this is unlikely.
Nobody has measured its power consumption or confirmed it was a 22nm cell processor via a microscope or the likes.

If true, a 22nm Cell processor and a 28nm RSX chip would bring significant power saving and an overall power consumption under 40 watts.

This is the only model to completely close the Analog hole when it comes to blurays : Analog output is disabled for BD-ROMs. (in addition to standard blu-rays)

Best hardware revisions to stick with

Best power consumption :
CECH-43xx

The CECH-42xx is good too, especially if the 22nm bit turns out to be false.
Consumption for it should be less than 62W.

Best model for backwards compatibility with PS2 games :
CECHAxx, CECHBxx, CECHCxx

The partial compatible PS2 models are also worth mentioning because they have sharper graphical output for PS2 games, especially with smoothing on.
However, make sure to do the NEC/Tokin capacitor repair even if you don't have YLOD because the caps are defective !

Best model for capturing blu-rays over Component/RgsB/D-terminal :
CECH-25xx

This is the last model that can do this and is the more reliable. The CECH-21xx can be used for this purpose too.
It's worth noting however that most people will just strip the HDCP signal from the HDMI port and that will get you better video quality. Just keep in mind that owning these devices can be illegal depending on legislation.

Models to avoid

CECHHxx /CECHJxx / CECHKxx / CECHLxx / CECHMxx / CECHPxx / CECHQxx

These models are unreliable and don't feature backwards compatibility.
While they can be fixed like BC models, it is just not worth it to do it on those models as they have very high power consumption compared to Slim models.
You are better off using a Slim or Super Slim models if you don't care about PS2 games.

CECH-20xx

Despite being a Slim model (the very first slim revision in fact), it can still suffer from the YLOD issue due to the use of NEC/Tokin caps. This was only fixed since the CECH-21xx revision.
#4
Hello guys,
i would like to play PS2 games via a SMB share with my Raspberry Pi directly connected to my PS2's ethernet port.
For this purpose, a tool called pi-smbshare was released :
https://github.com/toolboc/psx-pi-smbshare

However, it is ultra slow when it comes to booting up and eats a lot of energy.
Void linux musl ARMv7 boots up much faster and has samba/dnsmasq available.
psx-pi-smbshare uses also samba and dnsmasq.

However, i can't get dnsmasq to work or set up the DHCP server.
It is configured as such in psx-pi-smbshare :
dhcp-mac=set:client_is_a_pi,B8:27:EB:*:*:*
dhcp-reply-delay=tag:client_is_a_pi,2

interface=eth0
bind-dynamic
server=8.8.8.8
domain-needed
bogus-priv
dhcp-range=192.168.2.2,192.168.2.100,12h


When i do so however, dnsmasq does not attribute ip addresses to my PS2.
They also set eth0 like so :
sudo iptables -F
sudo iptables -t nat -F
sudo sh -c "echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward"
sudo ifconfig eth0 192.168.2.1 netmask 255.255.255.0

# Remove default route created by dhcpcd
sudo ip route del 0/0 dev eth0 &> /dev/null


On the other side, the PS2 is configured like that :


The SMB share is configured like so in smb.conf
[global]
workgroup = WORKGROUP
usershare allow guests = yes
map to guest = bad user
allow insecure wide links = yes
[share]
Comment = Pi shared folder
Path = /share
Browseable = yes
Writeable = Yes
only guest = no
create mask = 0777
directory mask = 0777
Public = yes
Guest ok = yes
force user = pi
follow symlinks = yes
wide links = yes


Then i connect the PS2 and raspberry pi together. However, it complains that it can't find the SMB share.
(The SMB share works when the raspberry pi is connected to my router but the latency is so high that it's not worth using over USB when doing it like so)

What am i doing wrong ?
#5
Gaming / Car adapter/USB for video game consoles
December 17, 2019, 07:26:19 AM
Want to play your video game consoles on the go ? Car adapters is one of the best way to do so !
Video game consoles usually accept DC 5V (with some variations depending on the console) so using an AC inverter is usually a bad idea because there will be some losses
and you'll drain your battery faster. (or at least you will be less efficient)
Another use for car adapters is when using a battery backup powered by solar panels : Solar panels usually work in 12V 5DC. (they can be put in series and that will increase the voltage but you get the idea)
So in theory if you power a video game console through a car adapter instead of a huge, inefficient AC adapter, you can save some power and be more efficient.

Here's a list of video game consoles that have either a car adapter or USB adapter available for it :

Portable video game consoles

Atari Lynx


A car adapter was available for the Atari Lynx.
However, you might want to do a USB mod to it (see below) instead as the voltage regulator inside of the Atari Lynx can fail.

Sega Game Gear (with Model 2 plug)

Power consumption (unmodded) : 4.5w

An official car adapter had been made for the Game Gear. There are also 3rd party ones that will work with a Gameboy/Gameboy pocket.
This is also compatible with the MegaJet & Sega Nomad.
It can also theoretically work on the Megadrive Model 2 & 32X (see below).

Game boy Advance
Too many to lists, also many USB adapters available.

Nintendo DS/DSi/3DS
Plenty of car adapters too. USB adapter available.
If you use a solar charger, using the USB cable is preferred.

Sony PSP/Vita/PSTV
Because they output 5V DC, a simple PSP plug to USB can be used.
The PSTV requires 2A however so make sure to provide enough power to it. (You might be able to get away with less with Wifi disabled)

Nintendo Switch


An officially licensed Nintendo Switch car adapter by Hori had been made.
There are also other 3rd adapter ones but most of them are just standard USB car adapters. (and won't charge as fast)
If your solar charger supports USB 3.0 QC or better yet USB type C then it should be preferred over the car charger
as the car charger itself contains a small DC to DC converter.

Home consoles

Yes, there are some car/USB adapters for home consoles too.

CBS Colecovision


A USB Type C external power supply had been released for the Colecovision by Dragonbox for 40$.

https://www.dragonbox.de/en/accessories/power-supplies/colusb-usb-power-supply-for-the-colecovision-power-supplies


Sony PSOne Car Adaptor

Power consumption : 10 Watts
Unfortunately it's very sought after but you won't have trouble to find one.
It can also be used to power on the LCD accessory but you can just plug it into an OSSC and use that on a monitor.
There are also some 3rd party ones that are almost as expensive.

Nintendo Gamecube

Power consumption : 12~23 Watts

There's also another one that can power on a PSOne as well as the Gamecube.

Playstation 2 Slim (70000 and 75000 series only)

Power consumption : 45 Watts

Very rare & uncommon, though not as much as the Wii U one.

Wii


A car charger by Yobo had been released. Unfortunately, it's very uncommon and mostly found only in the US.

Wii U

Power consumption : 34 Watts

Only one adapter was released and it is extremely rare. I was unable to find any online listing for it.
No other 3rd party made a Car adapter for it

Megadrive Model 2 / Sega 32X


Power consumption
Model 2 (without 32X) : 0.3A (3.6W)
Model 2 + 32X : 0.7A (8.4W)
In theory, this can also be used with the Megadrive Model 2 / 32X as the two consoles also use the same power adapter as the Game Gear one (with Model 2 plug).
However, i haven't tried it.


With modding

NES / Famicom

Since the console internally runs at 5V, it's possible to mod it and bypass the PSU. The console can then be powered on by a single USB cable.


A seller was also selling Famicom with USB plugs for power.

Original Xbox

N64freak was selling an ATX mod for the OG Xbox. With the use of a PicoPSU, it is then possible to power the console with a car adapter or DC cable.
The files for the ATX mod had been released :
https://dirtypcbs.com/store/designer/details/7953/6277/xboxatx-zip
https://dirtypcbs.com/store/designer/details/7953/6278/xbox-atx-adapter-for-revision-1-2-up-to-1-5


Dreamcast / Sega Saturn

3rd party internal picoPSU mods are available and output 12V DC. This can then be used with a car adapter or DC cable.

Atari Lynx

Console works internally at 5V so a USB mod is doable.


PS3
It's possible to mod a PS3 so that it uses an ATX power supply. With the use of a PicoPSU, it should be possible to plug it directly
to a solar charger or to a voltage regular + car charger plug.
https://www.psx-place.com/threads/tutorial-fully-working-atx-psu-mod.22214/

Bad offenders

Very high power consumption

Fat PS3
Xbox 360 (before Corona revision)
Any PS4 models
Xbox One (first model)
Xbox One X

AC plug only (external mod impossible without internal modifications)

Fat PS2 (Internal mod is possible as demonstrated by someone)
Xbox One S
Phillips CDi
PC-FX
PS1 (except PSOne revision)


No car adapter/usb/internal mod available

Master System/Genesis Model 1
Super Nintendo

Nintendo 64 (uses a weird format like the Colecovision)
Atari 2600/Atari 7800 (9V DC)


Feel free to correct me if there's any mistakes or missing info
#6
Gaming / Super Smash Bros Brawl running at 120 FPS
November 24, 2019, 03:57:55 AM
The Gamecube and Wii only support up to 60 hz.
In fact, the first video game console to support 120 hz is the Xbox One S & X and only one game supports it.
However thanks to cheat codes, hacks and Dolphin, it's possible to run some games at 120 FPS.

I can safely say that it does make a difference, even though it is minor but it's great enough that it's hard to go back to 60 fps...

Here's a video recording of Brawl running at 120 FPS (Youtube doesn't support 120 fps) :
https://gameblabla.nl/files/brawl_vids/Brawl_120fps.mkv

You obviously need a monitor that supports 120hz+ otherwise you won't notice a difference.
For the sake of comparison, here's the same & characters at 60 FPS :
https://gameblabla.nl/files/brawl_vids/brawl_60fps.mkv

60 FPS feels very choppy after playing the 120 fps version for a while...


If you want to give it a try yourself, here's what you need to do :
- Compile Dolphin yourself with an Audio hack applied to the source code. (apply the diff)

--- a/Source/Core/Core/HW/SystemTimers.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/Core/HW/SystemTimers.cpp
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@
 
 void AudioDMACallback(u64 userdata, s64 cyclesLate)
 {
-  int period = s_cpu_core_clock / (AudioInterface::GetAIDSampleRate() * 4 / 32);
+  int period = s_cpu_core_clock / (AudioInterface::GetAIDSampleRate() * 4 / 32) * 2;
   DSP::UpdateAudioDMA();  // Push audio to speakers.
   CoreTiming::ScheduleEvent(period - cyclesLate, et_AudioDMA);
 }
- Add this to your user config (Right click -> Properties on a game entry):

[Core]
EmulationSpeed = 3.00000000
- Use the following Gecko codes :

120HZ (slow mo)
04708d20 3f000000


Disable Vsync (input lag)
04023b88 60000000
04024028 481c4904

Slow Fix v3 (+ Debug c-stick)c2048b70 0000000c
7ccc3378 3cc080b8
80c64eb0 3ce08000
7c063840 38e00000
41800034 88060048
2c000000 41820014
80060040 2c000000
41820008 38e00001
3cc0805c 88c68a0b
2c060000 41820008
38e00001 7c671850
5460063e 7d866378
60000000 00000000

- Enable Audio stretching

The only issues is that the menu is too fast, the timer is double its speed (workaround is playing stock matches) and the cstick doesn't work properly.
All of these could be fixed with Gecko codes but no one seems to be interested to fix those...
Let's hope this changes.
#7
Phantasy Star Online, one of Sega's introduction to online multiplayer games on video game consoles and probably one of the first ones.
It was renowned for being quite addicting and reviving the series, though in a different route than most expected.

The game was first released on the Sega Dreamcast in 2 versions. V1 came out first in late 2000 while v2 came out the year after.
It was later ported to the Gamecube as PSO Episode I and II and also to the Original Xbox.
It was also ported to Windows first in Japan only in late 2001 and later revised as the ultimate version, PSO Blue Burst, in 2004 in Japan and 2005 in North America.

The official servers later died first in 2003 for Dreamcast, then later in 2007 for other versions.
However, all versions (except the Xbox version) are now supported by private servers, whenever it be Sylverant or Schthack.
I prefer to use Sylverant because it's simplier and has less issues. (they insist you on having original keys)

I'm assuming we'll use the Gamecube version here : this version has some graphical effects that are missing in the Xbox/PC version.
Another advantage is that you can use either a Wii or Wii U together with Nintendont and its BBA emulation to go online.

Gamecube version

Preparations

Phantasy Star Online Episode I and II can be very expensive online, at least 20$. The Plus edition (NA and JP only) is even more so and can cost in the hundreds...
I stuck with the non plus edition and it's fine for the most part... you can also download Plus only quests online anyway plus some extra ones.

Just make sure it has the manual ! The serial number and access key is written on it. I learned it the hard way unfortunately...
This is the same for Episode 3 btw.

If like myself you got the game without a manual (i just got the box and disc) then you can attempt to generate your own.
Just make sure to enter it ingame first before putting them in Sylverant or Schthack !
You need to make sure your serial, access and guildcard is valid !

Guildcard is 5 numbers, Serial is 10 numbers and Access key is 12 numbers.

Now you have several ways :
- Use an actual Gamecube along with a BBA.
The BBA can be very expensive (much like the Dreamcast's own BBA) but it has very low latency, which may be ideal for Mario Kart DD.

- Use a Wii with Nintendont.
This is the cheapest way to get PSO GC up and running. A wii can be found for as low as 20$.
Just avoid the Wii mini as it has too many limitations and shortcomings.

- Use a Wii U with Nintendont.
This may be the most ideal solution (especially with HDMI out) and the Gamepad can be used in WiiVC.
However, the output quality for Wii games isn't that great and its very blurry.

- Use Dolphin + OpenVPN.
I would not recommend this because it's tricky to set up and there's Blue Burst which is superior in most ways but it's there
if you want to play with GC players for example.


I'm going to assume that you'll use a Wii with Nintendont installed. Make sure you install the homebrew channel with Mailbomb or a savegame exploit like Super Smash bros Brawl.
You'll also need to dump your disc with CleanRip : it is available for the Wii and will also work in vWii for the Wii U.
You might also want to patch your game especially if you use the european version as it does not support progressive mode :
https://psopalace.sylverant.net/downloads_gamecube.html

Setting up Nintendont

You can choose to put your iso either to an SD card or a USB drive/key. You can also use the original disc too. (although i don't recommend it because you'll end up wearing it down in the long term, you should really use cleanrip and dump it).

Press B on your ISO or the game disc option (depending on your wishes) and make sure the BBA option is set to On and Channel to Auto.
You might also want to increase the emulated memory card size to 2043 unofficial to download plenty of quests and stuff but sticking with the default is less risky.
On the Wii U and Wii Family edition, you must use the Emulated memory card option because they lack Gamecube ports for memory cards.

Once done, you can run the game. If you are using an unpatched US/JP of PSO, you may need to hold the B button for progressive mode.
Using the option to force progression does not work for the PAL version, you must use the patch from PSOPalace for that. (which means you can't use the official disc for forcing progressive mode)

When the game boots up to the first time, it might ask you to fix the calendar. It shouldn't go back to the Gamecube screen especially if you don't have the IPL image !
Just refuse to fix the calendar and boot right up to the game.
Sometimes it could still refuse to boot if you don't patch PSO (PAL version at least) so that's worth trying.


Setting up the server

Nintendont emulates the BBA, which makes things a bi easier compared to Devolution and its use of the modem.
Go to (Titlescreen) Options -> Network Option -> Provider Option and select "YES".

If it asks you to use Slot A then say "YES".
Now go to "Network Setup". Then select a provider from the menu list.
It should be "Provider 4" by default.

Select Edit and make sure it has the following settings :
- Connection settings : Automatically obtain an IP address (DHCP) (if it is static, then adjust accordingly)
- Line timeout (minutes) : Automatically disconnect 99

Then there's the DNS part, which can dependant on your server.
I'm assuming you want to connect to Sylverant but check with your server's which IP you should use.
- DNS Server address :
Primary DNS : 138.197.20.130
Secondary DNS : (Leave blank)

- DHCP Hostname : Not Set

This is sometimes used for the screenshot functionality.
It seems that it doesn't work properly with Nintendont so leave it off.
- Proxy server address : Blank
- Proxy port number : blank

Then you can save your settings.

Setting up the Serial/Access

When you create a new character in "Online", it should ask you for the Serial number and Access key.
See well above about that

After you typed them in, make sure to type them in your profile settings in your server as well.
If everything is done correctly, it should connect to the server and you can choose a ship.

Conclusion

Before the Nintendont BBA branch, there was Devolution which supported this functionality.
However :
- It was closed source. You could not add new controllers, nothing.
- It had a very annoying DRM mechanism, which makes it impossible to use on the Wii U for that reason because the console can't read GameCube disc.
it will be never fixed because its main author decided to be an ass about it. I'm glad Nintendont finally added this functionality.
- It emulates a modem rather than a BBA. As a result, downloading quests is much slower than Nintedont.

It does however support USB keyboards as well as the screenshot functionality. The former may not be an issue if you have the ASCII gamecube controller but few people do.

Anyway, Nintendont has many other advantages (and options) so it is safe to say that you can throw Devolution to the garbage and enjoy PSO for real.
#8
Gaming / Video game youtube channels worth watching
August 08, 2019, 12:38:21 AM
I thought it would be nice to compile a list of quality video game channels for those who are procrastinating.
Here are my favorites :

Must watch

Modern Vintage Gamer

Very technical, focuses on implementation of software & hardware as well as the hacking story and others of video game consoles.
He's also a programmer who ports homebrew to CFW enabled consoles.
Recommended.

8-Bit Guy

Focused on Retro gaming and old computers. Quality editing with some interesting content, he tends to make long videos.
Like MVG, he's also a programmer, though he has a focus on old hardware. He made the Planet X series for the C64 and MS-DOS computers.
Recommended

Game Sack

A show with each episode focusing on a theme. It used to be hosted by Joe & Dave but Dave has since left the show.
It's still great though, even with Joe alone. I was afraid it was going to be him streaming all day.
Recommended.

Fairly good

MetalJesusRocks

Frequent videos about retro gaming and sometimes new games with other related news as well.
He's not as knowledgeable as the 8-Bit guy or MVG though but he's not a noob either.
He likes to share his opinions about video games (especially obscure ones !) and is somewhat optimistic.
His hidden gems series in particular is very interesting to watch.
I would recommend most of his videos.

JohnRiggs

His repair videos (Open Cart Surgery) are interesting, though it kind of gets boring after a while.
I would recommend you still give it a shot though.

AVGN

The main show is, of course hilarious, but outside of that it's a mixed bag.
I'm not a huge fan of most Matt Matei's videos for example.
I also not a fan of them sitting around and playing games because well, playthrough in themselves are pretty boring.
Still, most of it is quality.


HappyConsoleGamer

The opposite of youtubers like 8-Bit Guy or MVG.
Little to no technical details, very focused on emotions regarding video games and the quality behind them.
He also likes to share his old memories and is a fan of the Ys series.
If you like that kind of content though, it's pretty good.

John Hanc
Similar to MetalJesusRocks, though more focused on retro games. He frequently releases content.
He's a huge video game collector (has plenty of rare items) and sometimes talks about current events related to video games;
Worth a watch in a while, especially given that he was involved in some events.

Nintendrew

Obviously a huge nintendo fan with interesting top videos, tutorials, rebuttals and news about on going events.
Some of his videos are worth a watch.

Rerez

He makes good videos for the most part, although it's a far cry from his older days in my opinion...
He also should do some more research at times because some of his info can be inaccurate.
(or at times, he does not in depth to much. Probably to avoid getting his ass bitten)
Despite this though, it's still decent for the most part.

(But i dare not to watch his souilja videos as i've been involved in the software of some of the handleds in question)


Inactive (or somewhat/changed focus)

Game Dave

His famicorner videos were very good but his videos outside of that are less interesting sadly.
He since became a father so i'm afraid we won't see more videos of that kind.

Obsolete Geek

Videos on old obscure hardware (and sometimes not), decently made. Sadly, he stopped making videos a year ago.


GameHut

Former traveler's tales worker, with very technical videos on old consoles, weird tricks and so on.
He does not release videos often sadly.


Let me know if i forgot some of them
#9
Consoles / My CFW for the Retrostone
June 26, 2019, 02:09:35 AM
Thought i would share to you this since i've been working on this for a while.

What is the Retrostone ? It's a 150$ handled device that aims at being basically a portable emulation machine.
It competes with the likes of the LDK/RS-97 on the lower end as well as home made projects like Raspberry pis etc...

However, the Retrostone 1 has one major flaw : the screen is composite only due to a Soc hardware limitation.
Another issue i had with the device was the firmware itself RetrOrangePi : it's bad.
It's overly complicated to use, its bulky & bloated, and it's very slow to use too.

This is the reason why after 2 months of working, i've released my Opendingux-like CFW for the Retrostone.
It tries to minimize the scaling when shown on the composite screen (although it still looks crap) and i've made sure to tweak the emulators and port them individually.

You can check out my CFW here :


I also managed to improve the boot times from 1 minute and 30 seconds from RetrOrange Pi to 13 seconds (0.1 was 30 seconds) :
#10
Project Veritas has released a video on Google and how they seemed to actively change search results.
According to the Insider and one google executive, they did so as to influence the 2020 elections because they were dismayed by the 2016 election results.

The video was originally published on Youtube before Google quickly took notice of it and removed it on privacy complaint grounds.
A few days later, it was also removed from Vimeo... this time on hate speech grounds.
Video is still on bitchute :
https://www.bitchute.com/video/re9Xp6cdkro/

I'll try to summarize what's important but basically on certain search like men can, it will only suggests things like men can cook, get pregnant, have periods.


Sometimes, it will even not suggesting anything for some search results, like Hillary's Clinton lost emails for example.



According to them (the executive & the insider), Google is doing so as to change the narrative and possibly influence the 2020 elections.
The insider proves this by using Google trends and comparing the results with another search result like Donald trump's emails.



Both are now getting low search results yet even then suggestions work for donald trump emails but doesn't for Hillary clinton's emails. (as seen above)
Amazingly enough, Hillary's email controversy is in fact suggested in Google Trends as i noticed myself, just not on Google search.



I've also noticed inconsistencies for search terms myself, even in Google France, as you can see below.
Search for "couple", which also means the same thing in french, gets you this.



However, search for "white couple", or in french "couple blanc", and this happens :



You get a bunch of mixed race or black couples.
You also get similar search results from Duckduckgo and Qwant so it looks like they are taking in full or part of Google's search results.
This does not happen if you search for arabic or black couple, as Google accurately returns back results for those.


What is Project Veritas ?

Project Veritas is a non profit founded by James O'Keefe exposing secrets and doing leaks through undercover work.
The last few weeks, they also covered how Pinterest would put Christian & liveaction and put them in the c blacklist.
The whistleblower got fired from Pinterest for revealing this.
Project Veritas was criticized before in the past for the failed Washington Post sting, where a woman allegedly fed them with false information.

Reception from Google executive and others

The Google executive responded to Project Veritas video by saying that she was just casually talking to a bystander in a cafe and she was being tricked by him.
She also said on the claims that it is ridiculous to suggest that Google would seek to influence the elections and that she was not as important as they thought.

She deleted her twitter and instagram account following the video. (it was all done very quick : I suspect Google must have ordered her to do so)
Oddly enough, she liked a comment on her medium page saying that she was a liar.

Another oddity is that no Republicans, except for two (Cruz and another one), publicly denounced this.



Project veritas reddit account also got banned after they attempted to post a video link.
So far though, most outlets seem to remain silent on the matter.

My opinion on this ?

I'll admit that i strongly dislike the likes of Ben Shapiro among others.
However, i fail to see what Google are going to achieve with this and they hurt a lot of people when they made it pretty much impossible to get monetized on Youtube.
(it's impossible to swear, whereas it was possible to do so before)

I still use Amazon, ebay and watch some other youtube channels like the Quartering among others like the 8-bit guy but i use google search less and less because each time
i'm being set back by inaccurate search results. Even duckduckgo is guilty of this but at least they don't spy on me or sell my personal info.

It's very suspicious they would go out and delete the video as quickly as they did. (they also did the same thing for Pinterest's story, even though both companies are unrelated)
In the video, they showed snippets of internal documents on how they proceed. It would be nice if we could get full copies of these like what happened with Pinterest.

Pretty much the only website where you can talk about it is on Twitter and i guess Discord.
#11
So a few years ago, i had made a post in the Switch thread about the Nintendo's Switch future.
...I'm glad to say that i wasn't fully accurate.

Nintendo did some changes to their policies, which explains why some of my predictions were wrong.
For example :

QuoteIndie devs starts releasing games for it and they also complain about the tedious approval process, which has not changed much.
They did end up smoothing out the process of releasing indie games on their platform, so much in fact that it has become much easier to release an indie game on the Switch than even the Xbox one or now the PS4.
(which i'll talk about it later)


QuoteTo some, Switch's future already becomes predicable.

Even after Nintendo releases games after games, this again does not translate into better third-party sales
To be fair, Nintendo still does this on the Switch and that led to some complains from some people.
But with the new influx of indie games as well as quality games from Nintendo,
this does not really matter even though they still have their tendency to pump out Wii U ports or in some cases 3DS ports to the Switch.
(Looking at the Donkey Kong games, Captain Toad, Yoshi's Wolly World and more)

Quote...only hardcore fans ended up buying it and the Switch sales does not translate into third-party software sales.

AAA developers are already complaining about the lack of power to the device and how poorly the Switch version sold.
It's surprising to see how Nintendo still ended up selling that much Nintendo Switches despite it coming with absolutely no multimedia features and having a still somewhat subpar hardware.
In response to the Switch's success, some developers attempted ports of AAA games like Doom as well as the FIFA games.
While these worked great, it was not always a smooth transition, as Ark Survival Evolved showed.
In the end though, it seems that most people on the Switch are content with the exclusive games on it as well as indie games,
even though they lack some of the AAA games.


QuoteMeanwhile, Sony and Microsoft keeps improving their devices by making VR yet even more cheap than before and bringing it to the masses.
VR is still at its infancy, even now. Sony made a few baby steps with PSVR but that device unfortunately has a lot of drawback and isn't as immersive as the other VR devices.
Microsoft made no real attempt at a consumer VR device for masses yet.
The other VR devices for PC are way too expensive, while the Googles for phones are literally useless and provide no immersion.
So far, it was a huge blunder on my side.

QuoteThe PS4 and Xbox One S were already inexpensive a few months ago (230$ and 250$) and on top of that, they got a huge library of games.
This is true and it's even possible to buy an Xbox One used for less than 100$ if you're lucky.

While they are still popular machines for playing their respective exclusive titles and games like Fortnite, i already feel like they are at the end of their lives.
And this does worry me about the next generation as they will literally bring nothing new of values to consumer.
I hate to say but Nintendo absolutely got it right by going portable, even if they too made questionable decisions.
(Nintendo LABO for me at least. Great marketing gimmick but no real use/value)


QuoteIn addition to that, games suffers from horrible frame-rate drops when the device is undocked.
They are also quick to realize the Switch has a bad battery and it's not practical as a portable device.
The media capabilities are limited and the environment is very closed, making very hard to watch movies easily.
Streaming on the device is disappointing and they are stuck with Netflix at 1080p, no 4K available.
Nintendo also crippled the internal browser so gamers can't play HTML5 games with sound.
The one thing i could predict right, in fact the Nintendo Switch has no internal web browser !

(other than the one that is used for hotspots requiring a password)

There are no way of watching movies locally and not even Netflix is available there.
Sucks for Nintendo as it would make their device even more attractive and they would absolutely destroy Microsoft & Sony should they change their mind.

(It's possible though they are not against it and that legal issues are preventing them to do so across regions)

QuoteHowever, gamers who own the device are quick to point out how disappointing the games look on an HDTV :
games are stuck at 720p and look awful on 1080p/4k Television.
This was another mistake on my part, as i would assume that games/OS would take the cheap route of not allowing resolutions beyond 720p over HDMI out.

In fact, this is not the case and some games like Super Smash Bros Ultimate run at 1080p over HDMI out.
Other games are more conservative and use a wide variety of resolutions, still slightly above 720p.

Quote5 years after the Switch, Switch sold less than expected : 25 millions rather than the 100 millions they expected it would sell.
It sold around 35 millions switches in around 3 years of lifespan, which is not bad.

However, it is still disappointing and they only managed to beat the N64 around the same amount of time.
I'm not even among the buyers though but i still look at what they are doing and it's very tempting to get one.

What happens next though ?

What about the 3DS line ?
Right now, Nintendo is in an awkward position of effectively supporting two, different handleds.
The Switch is better supported but has lousy battery life, while the 3DS is on life support, has subpar hardware but has much better battery life.

That's not to say that the 3DS is bad but given that they have, in my opinion, something better for pretty much everything, this does leave some question.

My guess is that they will streamline everything and just go all out on the switch.
The rumors seem to suggest so, as Nintendo is currently planning on releasing a Slim model as well as a Pro model.
It's possible that Nintendo had managed to increase the battery on the Slim model, to the point that releasing a successor to the 3DS would be pointless.

We can also look back at when they released the Nintendo DS in 2004.
At the time, they said that the NDS was a 3rd pillar along with the GBA and Gamecube.
But what eventually happened is that the NDS took over the GBA and killed it.

In handsight, this made no sense as the NDS had backward compatibility with GBA games. If so, why bother with it ?
On the other hand, it does explain why they would release devices like the Game Boy Micro and the Game Boy Advance SP AGS-101.

I believe Nintendo is back to doing the same thing again, and ultimately they will do as works best.

Beyond the Nintendo Switch... ?

What if they indeed decide to drop the 3DS line, go all out on the Switch.
What would they effectively do in the next 5 years in order to sustain themselves ?
I believe this question is more important now than it was 10 years ago.

Nintendo is no longer into making home consoles, they have to compete with not only Sony & Microsoft, but also mobile and PC games and an ever-shifting market
that is over-satured with games, even more so than it was during the Atari 2600 era. We have never seen the likes of it.

Would there be even a console beyond the Nintendo switch ?

Unfortunately, i do not have answers for you.
They did try to experiment with VR (as part as Nintendo LABO), however the reviews are not positive.
They still have a long way to go and it's possible they might encounter an impasse.
For now though, they keep on doing what they do best.
#12
General Help / Implementing triple buffering
March 14, 2019, 08:34:42 PM
So i'm working on porting an emulator (SMS Plus GX) to using fbdev and i managed to make double buffering work after reading this :http://betteros.org/tut/graphics1.php#doublebuffer
It roughly looks like this (Resolution is 320x240 and bitdepth is 16) :static inline void swap_buffers()
{
    if (vinfo.yoffset == 0)
        vinfo.yoffset = screensize;
    else
        vinfo.yoffset = 0;

    //"Pan" to the back buffer
    ioctl(fbfd, FBIOPAN_DISPLAY, &vinfo);

    //Update the pointer to the back buffer so we don't draw on the front buffer
    uint16_t* restrict tmp = front_buffer;
    front_buffer = back_buffer;
    back_buffer = tmp;
}
static void video_update()
{    //Draw our internal buffer to the back buffer
   upscale_SMS_to_320x240((uint32_t* restrict)back_buffer, (uint32_t* restrict)sms_bitmap, vdp.height);
   swap_buffers();
}

However, double buffering has its issues, as it can halve the framerate if it can't keep up, hence why i want triple buffering.
Wiki says this :
QuoteIn triple buffering the program has two back buffers and can immediately start drawing in the one that is not involved in such copying. The third buffer, the front buffer, is read by the graphics card to display the image on the monitor. Once the image has been sent to the monitor, the front buffer is flipped with (or copied from) the back buffer holding the most recent complete image.
How would this work in my case though, practically speaking ?I've tried to implement it like so :
Quotestatic inline void swap_buffers()
{
    buffer_swap_ready = NOT_READY;
    uint16_t *buffer_ready_tmp = buffer_ready;
    buffer_ready = buffer_render;
    buffer_render = buffer_ready_tmp;
    buffer_swap_ready = READY;
   
    if (buffer_swap_ready == READY)
    {
        if (vinfo.yoffset == 0)
            vinfo.yoffset = screensize;
        else
            vinfo.yoffset = 0;

        //"Pan" to the back buffer
        ioctl(fbfd, FBIOPAN_DISPLAY, &vinfo);

        //Update the pointer to the back buffer so we don't draw on the front buffer
        uint16_t* restrict buffer_screen_tmp = buffer_screen;
        buffer_screen = buffer_ready;
        buffer_ready = buffer_screen_tmp;
    }
}
Obviously it's still wrong... (it's always set to READY)
WalrusRPG was using an interrupt for the buffer swapping.What can i do ? I admit that i'm fairly new to this lol... But i wish to implement it myself.
#13
I thought i would make a list of video game consoles that can be emulated with common hardware, without requiring any extra dumping work other than the games themselves.
Here's the list of consoles that can be emulated without a BIOS copy, with simply a CD/DVD drive.

Sony Playstation 1 (with HLE bios emulation. psx4all, epsxe, pcsx-remarmed and its derivatives... all have this option. Limited Compatibility)
Sega Saturn (Yabause forks have an HLE bios emulation option. Limited Compatibility)
Sony Playstation 2 (Play! is the only PS2 emulator with HLE bios emulation. Very early stages though unfortunately)

These consoles can be emulated without a copy of the BIOS but have very poor emulators.

NUON (Nuance's author died and the emulator is Windows only. Source code was made available but copyright status is unclear)
Jaguar CD (Project Tempest can run homebrew games and some commercial games. Windows only and proprietary)
PC-FX (Only with Magic Engine FX and Windows only, also paid. Mednafen requires a copy of the BIOS.)

Only works under some instances but HLE bios emulation is still available.

Libretro's redream fork (HLE bios is mostly compatible with games except BBA ones)

Can be dumped without any special trickery but no emulators are available

Playdia
Tandy Video Information System (Windows based ?)
Bandai Pippin (would probably require a copy of System 7.6 anyway)
Mattel Hyperscan
V.Smile Pro

Can be dumped easily but requires a copy of the BIOS

3DO (requires a copy of one of the models. No work towards HLE bios)
Amiga CD32/CDTV (requires a copy of the kickstart. An open source one is available but cannot boot CD games from what i gather)
Neo Geo CD (All emulators for it requires a copy of the neo geo bios in addition to the CD one)
Sega CD (requires a copy of the BIOS. In addition, it is also region locked)
PC Engine CD (requires copy of the syscards. Game Express made their own but it is still proprietary)
Philips CD-i (requires copy of the BIOS)

No copy of the BIOS required but can be painful to dump

Gamecube/Wii (some drives can dump those games but most can't. An original console is best)
Sony PSP (no UMD drives in the wild. Requires a CFW and a PSP to dump those games. Digital only games however requires no such things and PPSSPP can run them happily)
Xbox original/360 (Requires either a hacked drive or the original console)

Cartridge consoles
GB/GBC/GBA (Requires a Retrode)
NES/SNES/N64/Virtual Boy (Requires a Retrode)
Master System/Megadrive (Requires a Retrode)
Atari 2600/5200/7800 (Requires retrode)

Requires BIOS/firmware and a special drive or console
Sony PS3 (Can only be dumped with some drives. Tools are proprietary. Firmware is copyright Sony)
#14
Consoles / Super Quartet - Philips CD-i homebrew game
December 11, 2018, 07:44:32 PM


Here's a port of Killminds, Super Quartet, for the Philips CD-i.This is based upon Frog Feast's source code release by cdoty and plays similarly to the 3DO port.

It's a puzzling game  where you must act as quickly as possible to fill one of the 4 slots with a piece of a square given to you.


I've played it on my own CD-i 220 and recorded it here :


There's no sound effects yet because i still have to figure out the CDi... It's not an easy platform.But you can download the game as it is here :
https://gameblabla.nl/files/cdi/Super_Quartet_CDI.zip

Burn it with Imgburn on a blank CD-R. Do it so on a Gold or Silver CD-R preferably.
I would like to thank Cdifan for his assistance and giving me the source code to frog feast.
#15
Consoles / Hardest platforms to program/work for ?
November 22, 2018, 04:23:50 AM
I thought i would share my experience with some of the platforms i've had to deal with and the most horrible ones i had to work with.

Atari Jaguar

Why use a single lame Motorola CPU that is not even 32-bits while use two 32-bits RISC processors as co-processors ?
And it is just the beginning.
For example, the memory controller cannot execute code out of ROM : you must load your game's code in RAM in its entirety.
Then there's the unusual way the Atari Jaguar draws graphics : It is not a framebuffer nor is it tiled-based.
In fact, even when looking at the Remover's Library, it's not clear how the Jaguar draws graphics (scanline-based ?) and it chuggles when you attempt to draw over 256 sprites on-screen.
(This does include things like the map or tiles, at least if you're not going the framebuffer way)

I later learned that you must pull off crazy tricks to even reach 1000 sprites. (Such as Super Burnout)
Meanwhile, the PS1 and Saturn have no issues doing just that. Even the 3DO is much less trickier when it comes to CELs.

I saw some people suggest that the unusual architecture makes it more powerful than a PS1, Saturn or even a N64.
In my experience, this is laughable, as it is very hard to even achieve smooth 2D graphics without the Jaguar outright crash or become sluggish.

So yeah, this is the reason why Evil Australians is still not finished.
While i did manage to make it run at decent speed (finally) by dropping unused objects, i am encountering weird bugs and crashes related to memory.
I have to remind you that the very same C code works fine on other Motorola platforms like the Falcon with no issues.
I do not know if i will be able to solve this. I might release an early build to prove my point.

Sega Saturn

Similar to the 32x, it has two SH-2 processors but they only have one cache shared by the two. (unlike modern processors)
If you thought that would make your task hard enough then you will have to deal with the VDP, because it is not trivial to use !
If you use Sega's official tools, it is surprisingly complex to display a single sprite on-screen because you have to go through so many steps
to convert a single bitmap.
Seriously, even the so-called "new improved tools" were hard to use at the time.

Another flaw of the Saturn is the two RAM chip configuration.
It is divided into two different ones : a slow bigger one and a fast small one.
This means that if you need to use more than 1MB, then you basically can't do it easily. Good luck with that.
It also forces you to manually manage memory, as if dealing with two SH-2 processors was not enough !

The flaws would have been soften somewhat if the Saturn was a cartridge system like the 32x.
While it could in theory do that, all games so far use the CD-Rom format. And that means dealing with memory is even more painful,
because you also need to worry about slow disk access time and you can't cheat like you would do on carts by loading and unloading graphics from RAM.
This is the perhaps the reason why many arcade games on the Saturn require the 4MB cart :
because it is much more straightforward to deal with.

All of this makes it a horrible system to program.
On the plus side, there are new libraries since then though that now soften the blow somewhat.Still, this was enough for me to run away from it, not to mention there's no way to boot unofficial software through the CD drive.

Android

Why is it even on this list ? Well, it's simple.
Supporting the more than 10000+ different phones out there is a nightmare.
In some cases, you are required to use hacks and weird permissions to even use basic features like sound support.
In some other instances, updates to software like SDL fix weird issues on new Android versions but also introduces others on phones with crappy GPU drivers.

How do you deal with this ? The short answer is you can't.
Making a whole operating system around Java and requiring all the other programming languages to use the JNI (worthless piece of c btw) is a mistake.
And don't tell me to use Java for Android especially after Oracle sued Google over it.
It was a terrible idea to begin with and the implementation is even worse.

Getting something trivial to work on all phones might be child's play but it becomes more painful as your project grows in scope.
Add to that ads pay nothing but scraps as well as the Google Play environment discouraging paid apps in general (made worse by the numerous phones out there to support)
and you have a recipe for disaster.

Honestly, I've given up on it and it's just not worth it given that there are also millions of other apps out there.
You will never stand out among the crowd and censorship is rampant on the Google Play store anyway.
(I had gotten complains about one of my games, Rubby Bird, briefly mentioning feminists and nazis, really !)

iOS is somewhat better on the programming aspect but they also have other issues, like the fact that Apple forbids numerous apps over non-sensical reasons and
asking for a huge annual fee. No thanks.

Good examples

GBA : This is actually a very straightforward platform to work with, i've been very surprised by it.
The bitmap modes are especially easy to set up and are very suitable for 3D engines.
Sprites are a bit finicky to use though.
But other than that, it is relatively easy to get some work done.

Dreamcast : Kallistios is really a pleasure to use on the Dreamcast, all things considered. It's no Windows CE, but it is much better performance wise while
still being POSIX compliant. However, mastering the GPU does require a learning curse but if you wanna go the software renderer route, then it is very easy
to setup a framebuffer.
Did you work on any difficult platform at some point or another, whenever it is modern or old ? Share your thoughts and opinions here
#16
Hello guys,i'm currently working on a PS Vita game (still in early stages though !) and i would like to (eventually) publish it on the PSN.
However, while becoming a dev on the Ouya, Firefox marketplace (both now dead) and Google Play store was fairly easy,
Sony asks for much more information than either those so i'm not sure where to begin first.

I heard that @Juju became a Nintendo dev though, so perhaps if you or anyone else could help me certification, that would be nice.

For example, Sony asks for a document describing planned projects for PlayStation platforms. How it should be written ?

I saw mobile ports on the PS4 PSN store and even RPG maker-like games on the PS Vita store so i wondered how those people got in... Any ideas ?
#17
Gaming / Rare games : Part 2
September 09, 2018, 01:14:38 AM
So 2 years ago, i made a post about me being unable to find Combat Wings : The Great Battles of World War II...

I consider the US/PAL release of that game to be the holy grail of video game collecting along with NBA Elite 11.
The game also eventually released physically in Japan and digitally under another name elsewhere but it seems like physical copies in PAL/US regions got recalled very quickly...
However, i did manage to find a shop that *might* have it :

http://www.micromania.fr/combat-wing-the-great-battles-of-world-war-ii-48200.html

There's no image for the box though. That's not unusual, because i found another game (Yu-gi-Oh Tag force 2 actually) like that and i've been told by the shop that had it that they had the game.
However, there's no way to know if the shop actually has it without going to a micromania store and ask for their inventory... A huge bummer.
It's possible that they may have the japanese version instead but that would be rather unusual for them (i think they have a policy of not stocking imports).

I'll do that Monday and if i get any positive answers then i'll surely grab this game.

Collecting games for the PSP

So far, most psp games are fairly cheap. There are a few exceptions though and i though i would cover them here.
Note that prices can vary at pretty much any time and it also depends across regions or even vendors.
I mostly check the prices on Amazon, ebay and some other obscure places too.

Class of Heroes 2



The US physical version of this game was released in very small quantities : only 3200 of them !
It probably didn't help that the first game was not received well and it seems that this sequel didn't learn much from their past mistakes either.
Still, that doesn't drop this game's value and it's the closest thing you have to a Limited run PSP game.

Currently, it's around 80$-200$. It pretty much depends on whom you have to deal with.

Hexyz Force



As far as i know, this is the only western physical release of that game and it was only released in the US in small quantities by Atlus.
As a result, it's price remains fairly high, and i suspect it will get much worse... So grab it if you can to give it a try.

Castlevania : The Dracula X chronicles Best of



I guess you could say that it's one game that never really dropped its price...
That game is really expensive on the PC-Engine or even its SNES version...

So compared to them, it's a fairly cheap alternative to them. (if you can get past beyond the average 3D graphics that is)
Sadly, it remains one of the most expensive PSP games and the US version is notoriously hard to get below 35$...
If you live in a PAL region, then you can get it for a slightly more reasonable price but it's still more expensive than most PSP games.

Metal Slug Anthology



Metal slug anthology is a game that remained very expensive over it's lifetime and that, despite being a multi-platform release...
All the Metal slug games up to 7 on one disc ! So it's no wonder that metal slug fans are doing their best to get their hands on it.

Due to the fact that it is the only portable platform that got a port of Anthology, prices for the PSP version are higher
than the cheaper Wii version. If you have to get it, i would advise that you get the Wii version instead.

Around 30$-60$ for a boxed copy.

Ys Games



Ys I & II Chronicles is very uncommon and it's not the cheapest either.
Xseed released limited quantities of it and it seems that people are hoarding it.
To make matters worse, it was only released in the US and Japan...

Critics didn't like the primitive graphics and the fact that it did not last very long, sealing its fate.
Spend at least 30$ to get your hands on the game.



Ys Seven is another uncommon physical release. Even though it did get a European release,
it was only over the PSN, not on physical...

This did not affect the price of that game and you may have to spend at least 30$...
Though at least it seems a little more common than Chronicles, ha...

Gitaroo-man



Gitaroo Man is a rhythm game by iNIS and published by Koei for the PS2 and PSP platforms.

The US/PAL PS2 version are infamous for being released in low quantities and were never reprinted.
As a result, it is one of the most expensive games on the platform.

What about the PSP version though ? Well, it depends on where you are getting it...
See, it's not too hard to grab a PAL version of it for less than 20$ complete.

However, should you try to grab a US version of it then prepare to pay a lot of money...

Even though the PSP port did end up getting a reprint, it was still far lower than most PSP games and it seems that the US reprint was smaller than the version for Europe.


Yu-Gi-Oh Tag Force games



Uggh ? Yu-Gi-Oh, on this list ? Why, yes ! I was just as surprised as you...
The first Tag force game can be gotten for fairly cheap, especially as it was also released for the PS2 (as Tag for Evolution) and PSP.
They are still more expensive than they should be though...

Unlike the US version, the PAL version is actually fairly cheap. It's usually doesn't go for more than 10€.
But it really gets off the rails starting with Yu-gi-oh GX Tag force 2...



The US version of that game was already notorious for being very expensive in 2009. (It was featured by pricecharting)
It became much, much worse since then... Even a used copy can go for as low as 40$ !
However in Europe, it is much more common and it can be gotten for 5-15$ unlike the US.
Then came Yu-Gi-Oh Tag force 3...



It simply was never released in the US, and it also was the last Tag force game based on the GX series.
So if you thought Tag force 2 was expensive, then prepare to pay a lot because importers will make sure you'll pay a lot for it !
Again, while it can be fairly expensive in europe too, it's possible to get at a decent price.
In fact, i got my copy for 10€ and i also managed to another find one for 5€.



Tag Force 4 and 5 were then released in the US and PAL regions. Those were the first games based on the 5D's series.
Again, same scenario here, US versions are much more expensive than it should be while the PAL version can be gotten for even cheaper than Tag force 2...



Tag force 6 was only released in Japan. The Yu-gi-oh franchise was becoming less popular and konami were scaling back on porting its yugioh games for the west.
Games like the 3rd Birthday and Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker sold less copies than expected and more games were either becoming PSN only or completely axing the PSP, preferring to release games on the DS (and 3DS) instead.
Thankfully, its prices aren't too crazy and you can grab it for 30$. Still not a great deal and the game's in japanese only.

Capcom Dual Pack



Here's an oddity i've never heard of... It's a pack combining two already un-common compilations into one.
Turns out that compilation is fairly uncommon (US-only release it seems) and can fetch for a lot of money too...
In fact, getting those games separately will be cheaper !
Still, that's not the first time that a compilation is rarer than the actual games themselves.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable



Seriously, prices are not reasonable for this game, it's a hell lot expensive.
100$ for the single game only ? 60$ for a UMD ?
Not to mention it was released by Atlus in very short quantities, in addition to being popular. (again...)

This might be among this list the most expensive non-limited edition PSP game ever.
You might get the Japanese version for much cheaper but you won't be able to play it in english !

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky


High demand and limited quantities in both Europe & USA... A hell lot expensive too on the PSP.
Heck, the price increase even carries over the other physical ports !
Unlike those outrageous prices though, digital is actually much cheaper.

Like Persona 3, give up getting this one...

The Hilton Family

The Hilton Family is a hotel simulation game for the PSP by the Hilton hotel group.

Only 500 copies were made and the game came only in UMD form (with no boxes or manual).

This makes it the rarest officially licensed PSP game and i doubt that most of those 500 copies will be found !

Rerez managed to find a copy of it with the necessary memory stick files and reviewed it :

Other mentions

Gurumin
Low quantities and higher-than-normal prices. PAL version even more expansive.

Breath of Fire 3
Sony refused to allow a US release and PAL version only got a limited release.

Final Fantasy 3 (Japan release)
The japanese version also has an English option !

Twinbee Portable
Not sure why it's that expensive but there you go... (almost rivals Persona 3 !)

========================================================================

That's pretty much it. If you find those games at a good deal then by no means grab them.
Most of them (with a few exceptions) are also still decent games.
#18
Oi guys, so a bit of backstory.
Basically, it all kickstarted when Henkaku got released for firmware 3.60.

This CFW allows more for possibilities including :
-  Editing the whitelist for PSTV devices
- Run homebrew games
- Run games with DRMs stripped (backups in other words)
- Software modification for games (like overclocking, theming etc...)

So yeah, after this happened, a new exploit got released for firmware 3.65 and firmware 3.68.
Unlike the previous one, which was only temporary though still not too much trouble, it's possible to have a permanent CFW on firmware 3.65.

The new CFW brings in PSN spoofing, as well as a proper plugins system allowing for more possibilities.
For example, increasing/decreasing the internal resolution for some PSVita games or overclocking GPU/CPU.
And of course, still run homebrew games... Endless possibilities.

One of the nice surprises for the PS Vita was a fully fledged port of... AM2R, the metroid 2 remake that was released for Windows and now Android !
A bunch of hackers apparently took the Game Maker studio Vita runtime and managed to make it run with AM2R.
It is shockingly good and actually a decent game on the PS Vita/TV, it almost made me wish for a Limited run release !



There's also a port of Retroarch for it, though it is not the best speed-wise but should be sufficient for 16-bits consoles and below that.
And of course, it's now possible to play PSP games with better dual analog support via the Adredaline PSP CFW for the Vita.

Be warned though :

it is very hard to run the payload on linux (you need to have samba fully working) so i ended up using Windows for that temporarely...  You also need to create a PSN account but it's not needed to activate it. (i'm afraid it could raise Sony a few eyebrows, ugh)

But given that this device is dead and that they even stopped manufacturing cartridges, it's worth violating the terms and conditions.
#19
Consoles / My own custom firmware for the RS-97
July 14, 2018, 05:47:19 PM
Hello guys,Last month, two people have donated to me 2 RS-97, a chinese knockoff console with an Ingenic JZ460 SoC clocked at 600Mhz with a horrible screen of 320x480. (but with an aspect ratio of 4:3, kind of like the much infamous CR4 Ti-nspire...)
Anyway, after working almost a week on it, i have released a custom firmware for it using buildroot & steward's work.
It uses musl-libc rather than uclibc, a standard compliant libc library with backward & upward compatibility. (which uclibc does not, binaries will crash unless you recompile them)I have released two videos that shows how games & emulators run on that thing :



If you happen to own such a console then grab a build here :

https://boards.dingoonity.org/ingenic-jz4760-devices/uselessrs97-internal-firmware-for-revision-2-1/

Here's the relevant source code :

https://github.com/gameblabla/buildroot-rs97
https://github.com/gameblabla/handy-rs97
https://github.com/gameblabla/ecwolf
https://github.com/gameblabla/dumbsnes
https://github.com/gameblabla/rs97-fixesgames

And more on my github repo. (i need to sync them on my gitlab account again)
Do let me know what you think of the RS-97 console : A lot of people are talking trash about it.
Well, some of the criticism is deserved i suppose. (such as the device being under-powered, having a weird screen...)
#20


After trying to resubmit my game Rubby Bird 100 for not complying with their COPPA rules;
Google rejected it again... for not being mature enough.
They say that the ads much match the game's content. This rule is actually very new and it's the first time it hit me.
So what are my solutions :

       
  • Forbid mature content. I would get much less money if i do that...
  • Remove ads altogether. I won't get any money at all
  • Make the game more violent. Might turn off some people but then again, my hands are tied...
Since i have no choice, i'm making my game more bloodier. So thank Google for that...
Expect bleeding birds and horrible screams of pain in the future !
#21
https://github.com/gameblabla/Genesis-Plus-GX
So ekeeke in 2011 or so made his emulator based on Charles's Mcdonalds's one non-free.
Why fork that emulator when we have MAME, Blastem or Mednafen as GPL alternative ?
Well... it's the only GPLv2 Megadrive emulator that can run Virtual Racing !
EDIT: Just realised notaz made his SVP code non-free... However, he does seem to be open to free his code ? i'll contact him

I also ported it to the RS-97 : It's kind of slow unfortunely at 528 Mhz but i made some improvements for that platform so i need to try that again.

It would be nice if someone could help with this :
https://github.com/gameblabla/Genesis-Plus-GX/issues/1

There are more issues with the SDL backend that can be fixed easily thankfully.
#22
https://www.androidauthority.com/huawei-bootloader-unlocking-869169/

Huawei stopped allowing unlocking the bootloader for devices released after May 24.
As for devices before that date, well they'll stop unlocking the bootloader 60 days after May 24.

It's unknown why Huawei would decide to do this, as devices like the Honor 10 were constantly advertised and recommended on XDA as Custom ROM friendly devices.
Looks like it's about to change now however...
Huawei was also accused of spying for the Commies by the US Gov and that ultimately resulted in them not selling devices there anymore.

My bro actually bought one of their phones and thankfully i unlocked it and installed Android 7.1 on it (LineageOS) rather than the Android 5 it was stuck with.
Of course, he told me he wasn't going to buy their devices anymore after learning this.

So yeah, i guess you can add to your blacklist of devices not to buy Huawei, Lenovo, Motorola, any locked phones etc...
#23
Look at what i've found :
https://github.com/github/dmca/blob/master/2018/2018-04-24-MediaTek.md

Someone from Mediatek issued a DMCA claim to some github repositories.
They claim in the DMCA latter this :
Is the work licensed under an open source license?...Are the allegedly infringing files being used under the open source license, or are they in violation of the license?
Mediatek : No, all are Mediatek's proprietary

They also claim this :
Mediatek : I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above on the infringing web pages is not authorized by the copyright owner, or its agent, or the law. I have taken fair use into consideration.

Upon looking at the "infringing" repositories however, you can see that two of them are... the source code to the Linux kernel ! (Especially version 3.10.61)
The linux kernel is licensed under the GPLv2 and any modifications to it must be shared to the public and under the same license.
It does not grant you rights to the linux and re-license it at will.

In effect, not only Mediatek infringed on it, they also claim to own the whole linux kernel !
I've tweeted Mediatek about it and i'm now awaiting an answer from them.
EDIT: I've removed the tweet and decided to contact the Software Freedom Conservacy about it instead.

To be fair, violation of the Linux's license is commonplace... It really became infamous in the Android world. However, this really takes it to the next level...
What do you think about it ?
#24
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Microsoft-GitHub-Reported-Deal

Github, the biggest open-source development platform, is apparently being bought by Microsoft.
Neither Microsoft or Github have confirmed this but it does seem to look likely...

This still raises a bunch more questions :
Github was not that harsh as far DMCA claims are concerned, even keepîng a Halo's mod source code because well, it was not violating the DMCA. But with Microsoft on board, it looks like it's going to get worse.
There's no guarantee that Microsoft will keep it for free for that long. Or maybe they'll find other ways to screw over us,
like treating tor users like 2nd citizens and put more features behind paywalls. (like discord did with emojis)

Even before that, i had already doubts about Github because it was not fully open source and it did not mind cooperating with Roskomnadzor... Speaking of Roskomnadzor, i'm afraid it's about to get worse under microsoft.

Already before that, i had migrated my github repos to Gitlab :
https://gitlab.com/gameblabla

Gitlab is a very nice alternative to github : you can build your own instance and it has other features too such as setting icons for projects !
Sadly, the interface doesn't provide an alternative for "github releases". Oh well.
There's Bitbucket too and i could try that but with gitlab around, i feel like it's not necessary.

Despite this, i'll still update both my gitlab & github. I'll have to decide myself when i should drop github. (or maybe drop both but i hope not...)
#25
So you might remember this.
My device was (and still is...) completely unknown to the outside world and i had only found one working custom recovery out there.
But i really wanted to have at least a custom recovery working on my phone.

I later found tools called mkboot and split_bootimg that would allow me to split the boot image and build it from scratch again.
Turns out they were very useful and i could figure out how to use the working custom recovery plus my recovery from my device and build something that works on my device.

More details in my github repository :
https://github.com/gameblabla/carrefour_smart_5_4g_cwm

If you actually own such a device, grab the recovery image file here :
https://github.com/gameblabla/carrefour_smart_5_4g_cwm/releases

So what's next ? Well a few wishes :

       
  • Try first to flash a custom ROM for Kitkat from another similar device
  • Find a working kernel from another device, complete with touchscreen support
  • Eventually have something on something newer than Android Kitkat.
If you have anything to say, please do tell. I'm quite unfamiliar with Android custom rom dev and what are the good practices.
#26
So a month ago, Twitter had announced that they are going to require devs to use the new API
for third party clients.
The problem is that it is fairly limited and also very expensive... (over 16$ a month to break even, assuming you have 250 users)

Here's a website talking about it : http://apps-of-a-feather.com/.
And corebird's dev opinion on it : https://www.patreon.com/posts/18921328

In short, Twitter is closing down its own APIs to third party clients.
In the past, twitter has repeatedly attacked third party clients, especially since most of them don't feature ads.

This also means that if you are using a non-supported platform like Linux or just recently Mac OS, you have no choice but to use their website, which is just utterly ridiculous.

I guess an alternative would be to parse the website. Youtube-dl does this to some extent.
Unfortunately, i haven't seen any graphical third-party clients (at least open source ones) that does just that.

Any tips ? Rip corebird
#27
Other / About the whole tibet thing on Piwik
May 05, 2018, 11:32:01 PM
A while ago, i had noticed that Piwik (now matomo), a web analytics software, was trying to remove Tibet from its internal map of database.
https://github.com/matomo-org/matomo/pull/11930

I also had noticed that the issue tracker was filled with request to remove Tibet from the map. (which was refused until now).

They would constantly stone wall me and refuse to even negotiate. (I proposed for example to put Tibet under "Disputed territory" and i was met with anger from chinese users)
The main dev, seemingly tired of hearing about Tibet, refused to comment on it other than "it's the standard".
I also asked the other former dev who added Tibet what he thought of it.
In short, he said that he still disagree with chinese ppl but he also said that he could not resist the pressure from chinese users...

I also had noticed that they were threatening github with DDOS over this single issue !
https://www.zhihu.com/question/62380774

In the end, my complaints were ignored, i was thrown under the mugs and they bowed under pressure.
Very few people defended my position.

After the pull request, China banned parodies, not to mention their useless fight against cography and attempting to ban hints of homosexuality.
I mean, if they see a naked girl, they would bitch about it being against "Socialist's values" and then cry like cing babies.
They do this every time and each time you negotiate, you are met with a wall. (We are better than you, go away attitude)

So yeah i cannot hide my animosity against chinese people because they cing piss me off.
Hence why i did the whole free tibet thing in Picodrive.
I'm not even mentioning the gigantic amount of spam i get from China trying to rip me off.
#28
While i was using Devuan, i ran startx as a normal user (instead of using sudo).
Surprisingly, i was able to get a screen. However, neither the keyboard or mouse would work so i had to reboot.

Fast forward to now, i was very annoyed to see people claiming that you need to have systemd in order to run Xorg without any root rights.
I later discovered it was in fact false, as people were able to do just that before systemd even existed. (back in 2009)

You do need a driver that supports KVM, which nouveau, intel and radeon does. (i heard nvidia's proprietary driver also recently supports KVM)
Also make sure to use libinput for xorg.

It was a simple matter of making a udev script (or using chown on /dev/input*, your choice) and voila, Xorg without any root rights.



It's worth nothing that none of this would work with a window manager. (In fact, i think SDDM still doesn't support rootless xorg !)
So i also had to make it nice and convenient for me to use and i opted for a script in /etc/profile.d which will prompt you if you want to run your window manager. (with xorg of course)

You can give it a try here :
https://github.com/gameblabla/xorg-rootless-devuan
#29


This one took me a while to get it done.
Originally i wanted it to be longer but i was lacking time and Fitbit will close Pebble's servers in a month so i kind of had to rush it...

Western Ideals is a game about your love for Bakaka but also in a somewhat dystopian future...
Go on a journey with him and witness dramatic events !



Unlike my previous game Forbidden Love, it's less focused on sex...
However you will still be rewarded with you know what :P

I also made sure to add multiple branching paths and several game overs as well as one minigame.
In all this shouldn't take you more than 20 minutes grand max. (Several runs)



The game works on the Pebble 1 (with latest firmware), Pebble 2 and Pebble Time.
However, it is best played on the Pebble time (or the qemu emulator, your choice).

The version on the Pebble store is uncensored. However, it will soon be taken down...
Pebble store
Pbw file

And the source code is available here :
https://github.com/gameblabla/western_ideals

See the post below for video. (full of spoilers obviously, do so only if you can't play it on QEMU or real deal)
#30
So right now i'm working on a project for the Atari Falcon (which will also be ported to DOS and other platforms) and that platform has a Motorola 68030 running at 16Mhz.
However, making things worse is the fact that the system bus is 16-bits only... So i need to make sure to optimize my graphical routines as fast as i can.
I want to use the RGB565 mode on this thing, since its the only one that is linear and not chunky/planar. Plus i like more colors :P
(RGB565 also happens to be the color mode the nspire uses so that should be useful too)

I'm also using a custom display mode, 320x180 rather than 320x240 for performance & convenience reasons. (including 1080p up-scaling)

So for a full RGB565 320x180 picture, i can basically just load the file with fopen & fread and just memcpy everything.

memcpy(myscreen_address, mybuffer, (320*180)*2);

Or i can simply use the optimised routines that came with Orion's devkit and use that.
(works the same as memcpy)

FastCopy32(mybuffer, myscreen_address, (320*180)*2);


That's pretty and fast... but how about sprites ?
I initially came up with this (no transparency for now, i have a solution for that) :

typedef struct tagBITMAP
{
  unsigned short width;
  unsigned short height;
  unsigned long tsize;
  unsigned char *data;
} BITMAP;

void Draw_Sprite(u32* framebuffer, BITMAP* bmp, short x, short y)
{
    u32* dst = &framebuffer[((y * (RL_SCREEN_WIDTH)) + x) / 4];
    memcpy(dst, bmp->data, bmp->tsize);
}


However, unless the picture uses the same width as the screen (320 here), the picture is not displayed properly.
If my sprite is 320x32, it will be displayed properly. However, if its width is anything but 320, it won't be displayed properly.
You see what i mean ?

So what can i do ? I've looked online and even n2DLIb but that library just draws every pixel individually.
That is horribly inefficient and i would like to use memory copying if possible.
We'll just assume that we don't want transparency for sprites. (i have a solution for that)
What would be the fastest way to display a moving sprite on-screen ?
#31
Hello guys,
i was having some fun trying to display graphics in all kinds of different graphics mode for DOS.
So far, i've been able to try out CGA, EGA and (ofc) VGA, including the various Mode-X resolutions.

Just recently, i managed to find out how to support and write pixels for the IBM 8514. (I'll talk about it in another post)
However, i encountered some issues. The IBM 8514 is supposed to work with an IBM AT, which comes with a 80286 and that processor is 16-bits.
Making matters worse, arrays/segment cannot be bigger than 64k, even if you have enough memory.
(and even if you are using protected mode, as i found out later. Not to mention, its full of bugs)

Also, IBM never released hardware documentation for it. It only released documentation for AI, a software layer.
And that software layer is very unsuitable for pixel drawing and framebuffer access.
That adapter supports a resolution of 1024x768 with 256 colors. And the only thing i can do is to draw one pixel at a time.
The picture i want to display is that resolution and its like 768kb big.

You can see where this is going...
Here's the relevant C code for it.


typedef struct tagBITMAP              /* the structure for a bitmap. */
{
  word width;
  word height;
  byte *data;
} BITMAP;

BITMAP *bmp;

void drawquad(unsigned long col, short x, short y, unsigned short w, unsigned short h)
{
  static HRECT_DATA quad;
  quad.coord.x_coord = x;
  quad.coord.y_coord = y;
  quad.width = w;
  quad.height = h;

  hscol_data.index = (long) col;
  HSCOL(&hscol_data);    /* set supplied colour        */
  HBAR();        /* begin area            */
  HRECT(&quad);     /* draw quadrilateral        */
  HEAR(&hear_data);    /* end area            */
}

void draw_pict(BITMAP *bmp,int x,int y)
{
    unsigned short  i,j;
    for(i=0;i<bmp->height;i++)
    {
        for(j=0;j<bmp->width;j++)
        {
            drawquad(bmp->data[i+(j*bmp->width)], i, j, 1, 1);
        }
    }
}

void load_bmp(const char *file,BITMAP *b)
{
  FILE *fp;
  long index;
  word num_colors;
  int x;

  /* open the file */
  if ((fp = fopen(file,"rb")) == NULL)
  {
    printf("Error opening file %s.\n",file);
    exit(1);
  }

  /* check to see if it is a valid bitmap file */
  if (fgetc(fp)!='B' || fgetc(fp)!='M')
  {
    fclose(fp);
    printf("%s is not a bitmap file.\n",file);
    exit(1);
  }

  /* read in the width and height of the image, and the
     number of colors used; ignore the rest */
  fskip(fp,16);
  fread(&b->width, sizeof(word), 1, fp);
  fskip(fp,2);
  fread(&b->height,sizeof(word), 1, fp);
  fskip(fp,22);
  fread(&num_colors,sizeof(word), 1, fp);
  fskip(fp,6);

  /* assume we are working with an 8-bit file */
  if (num_colors==0) num_colors=256;


  /* try to allocate memory */
  if ((b->data = (byte *) malloc((word)(b->width*b->height))) == NULL)
  {
    fclose(fp);
    printf("Error allocating memory for file %s.\n",file);
    exit(1);
  }

  /* Ignore the palette information for now.
     See palette.c for code to read the palette info. */
  fskip(fp,num_colors*4);

  /* read the bitmap */
  for(index=(b->height-1)*b->width;index>=0;index-=b->width)
    for(x=0;x<b->width;x++)
      b->data[(word)index+x]=(byte)fgetc(fp);

  fclose(fp);
}


So with the 286's limitation of 64k for arrays, i am stuck.
Actually i thought of several solutions, none of which worked or are ideal :
- Separate the picture into several parts. This would work but it's a huge inconvenience.
- Call the 80286 a brain dead chip (thanks billy) and make it 32-bits only.
The problem is that AI comes with a small bit of assembly and i was unable to make it work in protected mode.
Plus, it wouldn't work on a stock IBM AT.

I looked at the only game for the 8514, Mah Jong -8514-, and it is also using AI.
I played the game and i noticed its drawings graphics like it would do with vector graphics.
So yeah, not a good example.

So what did programmers do at the time ? And if you don't know, what would you suggest ?
And no please, i don't intend to spit each picture into several parts unless you tell me a good reason why i should do that.
Also, AI only allows you to draw a pixel at best. (Using the rectangle function)
They did fix that later with XGA but that function is not backward compatible with the 8158.
#32
Phones & Tablets / Lightweight launcher for Android
March 09, 2018, 05:28:36 AM
A while ago (3 years ago actually), i discovered mLauncher by chelovek84.
It was basic yet that's what i liked about it.


However, i had some issues with it mainly :
- The bookmark feature. It gets in the way and is not useful. I never used it.
- There's a bug with icons. Some apps have way bigger icons. Nothing is resized down.

I noticed the author behind it is mostly dead these days so i was not hoping for an update from him.
That's why i made a small fork and did the following things :
- I removed the bookmark feature. I noticed it was doing some heavy thing (using JSON and all) just for bookmarks and taking more memory. Yikes...
- The fix for icons is like 2 lines. Took me a while to figure it out though.

No more gigantic icons or bookmarks. I noticed it became snappier after i did that too.

I did the fork after i recommended mLauncher to someone and he had encountered these issues.
I put it on github (check out the releases for APK) and the Google play.

https://github.com/gameblabla/lightlauncher
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gameblabla.mlauncher

This launcher is even more lightweight than Google's own launcher and most alternatives out there.
The only launcher lighter than this is Null Launcher. (which does nothing)
Use it on an old/slow device.
#33
PC, Mac & Vintage Computers / Rule34 image downloader
January 21, 2018, 01:03:38 AM
So i met a guy on Discord and he made this image file scrapper in Python :
https://github.com/sunx2/r34py

Unfortunately, reading the source code was like trying to de-obfuscate it.
Plus, i had to use proxychains to make it work over Tor.

Hence why i decided as an exercise to re-implement it in C.
The main issues i had were to implement a function to crawl over the html files and find the image links.
This was the first time i did something like this so i took me a few more hours.
I eventually decided i should look for a pattern that would allow me to find them links fairly easily.

<a href="http:///....>


I eventually shortened the code so it only looks at  "<", ":" and if it is preceded by "r" two characters before the link.
Believe or not it works and i can now download all of my c goodness from the command line.

Then, i extended it so it downloads it from all the pages (just a loop really) and here are the results :
https://github.com/gameblabla/r34downloader_curl

It uses curl for downloading things. Once i work on the SDL gui interface, it could be ported to other platforms too.

Lemme now what you think about it. You must compile it from source.
#34
So in 2014, two girls named Andy & Sophie made a small HTML5 game called Tampon Run.
It was a simple game where you controlled a girl throwing tampons at enemies. (which happened to be male teenagers)
Strangely enough, the game (and its strange premise) caught the attention of the media :

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/137413-Tampon-Run-Switches-Out-Firearms-for-Tampons-as-Weapons
http://time.com/3319562/tampon-run-girls-who-code/
http://www.teenvogue.com/my-life/2014-09/tampon-run-game

One of the reasons for this is because Andy & Sophie claimed that there's a taboo around the subject of menstruation and they decided to make a game around that.
My mom told me about the game and she thought the game was nice.
Upon trying it however, i was very unimpressed by how slow the game ran, at a very low framerate...
There was also little content in it.

Looking at the code, i was even more horrified by the quality of it :
Lots of repeated code, a huge framework doing absolutely nothing for trivial things and an attempt at doing object-oriented programming in javascript...

Upon witnessing this, i thought : "Hey, i could use this game and make it better."
And so i did, after a week working on it : https://github.com/gameblabla/tamponrunremix




The game was published for Android on Google Play Store and Amazon App Store.
Sadly, someone on Instagram reported the game to Andy & Sophie.
Later, they issued a DMCA takedown to my game.

I later discovered through the takedown it was in fact a University that was behind the takedown. (individuals don't have the power for DMCAs)
Btw, they never issued the takedown to the original game on Amazon App Store, which can be found here :
https://www.amazon.com/gameblabla-Tampon-Run-Remix/dp/B00NVMC160#

However, i somehow knew that was going to happen and i just needed to draw new assets for the game.
So here it is, the new version with new assets :



Link to Google Play store : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tamponrun

They attempted to issue a DMCA but couldn't because the assets were not them...
Instead, they sent me an angry letter :
Hello,

This is Andy and Sophie, the creators of Tampon Run.
We are emailing to ask you to please take down your version of Tampon Run ("Open Tampon Run") on Google Play.

We are high school students who spent this past summer learning to code, and we love programming!
We built Tampon Run as the final project for a summer program we both participated in.

We worked hard to create the concept, to design the game, to code the game, and recently to speak to press and promote it.
The game not only combats the menstrual taboo, but it also represents that women can code and that women need to be a part of tech.

By making a clone of the game, you are not only taking our intellectual property, but are also distorting a fundamental piece of the game & its story.

We encourage you to continue pursuing coding and game creation.
It is an incredible field. We are sure you have great ideas for games.
You should build them! We appreciate that you think the game is so terrific that you want to share it with the world via mobile, but it's not yours to share.

We hope you understand where we're coming from and hope you will take down "Open Tampon Run" tonight.

Best,
Sophie and Andy


They tried to intimidate me, despite that fact they no longer had legal power to take my game down.
I clearly took issue with the fact that they issued a DMCA claim several times to take down my game and the fact that they claim is to talk about a sensible issue.
I thought it was counter-productive to take down any clones that talks about menstruation and just keep it for yourself.
Clearly, activism was not their single motivation.

I also sent them an angry letter, calling them out on that :
I will change the name and put in the description that you had no
involvement in the game.
But i won't take the game down because you have no right over my open
source clone, ideas are not copyrightable you know.
Not to mention that i used none of your assets or code...

I thought the goal of your game was to spread the word to everyone, am i
wrong ?
That's why i licensed my clone under a free software license too but you
don't care about this crap and all you want to do is to go around ,
sue people and deny their freedoms.
But you know, you do this because you want to protect your
intellectual property'. Ugh !

Btw Open Tampon Run was not my only game, don't worry about that.

That's all i have to say.
Regards


A week after, men's rights activists (unaware of the whole mess obviously) accused me in the comments of spreading fear of men over the fact that the enemies were male.
So both the Feminists and Masculists had an issue with me and the game...

Several months after this mess, an iOS port was finally released by Andy & Sophiie.
However...
They did not make the game, a company called Pivotal Labs did the game, with Andy & Sophie merely assisting them.

Check out the two versions side by side :

iOS


Android


I'm not kidding, they made little to no improvements to the game !
I spent like a week on the game and even my version is better than theirs...
Btw, they never released an Android port.

So much for spreading so much bulls-hit
#35
PC, Mac & Vintage Computers / Useless c i wrote
October 06, 2017, 09:30:12 PM
Post here your crappy code that either useless or very poor in quality.
Here's one, that calculates the time that takes for that mom to gain 70000000 kilos in milliseconds.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#include <math.h>
#include <time.h>

int main(void)
{
    double yourmom = 0.0;
    double timetohold[2];
    double final_result = 0.0;
    struct timespec ts;
   
    timespec_get(&ts, TIME_UTC);
    timetohold[0] = ts.tv_nsec;
   
    while (yourmom < 70000000)
    {
    yourmom += 1.0;
    }

    timespec_get(&ts, TIME_UTC);
    timetohold[1] = ts.tv_nsec;
    final_result = timetohold[1] - timetohold[0];
    printf("Your mom gained 70000000 kilos in %f milliseconds\n", final_result / 1000000);
    return 0;
}

#36
Drawing & Animation / Fake Yuguoh cards that i made
September 08, 2017, 06:26:04 AM
Hello guys,
i had some fun making some fake yugioh cards.
Here they are, some of them are offensive or ridiculous.
You have not been warned.
Enroy

Monsters















Spells









Traps



And they are IRL !




Tell me what do you think about it
#37
Tech, Science & IT / Bitchin' Fast 3D 2000
September 04, 2017, 06:47:19 AM

In the year 2000, Video loca releases the Bitchin' Fast 3D 2000.
It featured 5 of the best graphics card that were currently on the market and all of them on a single, gigantic graphics card.
Someone actually owns a copy of this thing !



It scores 425 BongholioMarks ! WOW !
#38
Other / Bakura's nasty secret
August 16, 2017, 12:06:34 AM


He's into threesomes. Nasty
#39
General Help / Mein new computer
August 08, 2017, 07:25:02 PM
Hey guys ~~ !
Unfortunately, my graphic card (and i thought my motherboard too but turns out no) broke down.
RIP my Geforce 730

So i bought a new configuration :
Ryzen 5 1500X (199€)
ASUS A320M-K (70€)
4GB of DDR4 RAM 2400Mhz (40€, ram is expensive yo)
A used Geforce 780 (130€, not too bad)

What do you think of it ? Can i play PS3 and Xbox 360 games with RPSC3 and Xenia ?
Should i have picked a RX 460 rather than the 780 ?
I plan to use this with Void Linux/Devuan with Nouveau + reclocking + Nvstate=2. (Just like i did with my previous one)
What's the first thing i should do with it ? Play Minecraft ?
#40
I was looking for some Bakura norp and i stumbled upon 2 pictures along with a roleplay, as he calls it.
[EDIT (Juju, 2019/3/9): Redacted, as the original poster contacted us and wished to remain anonymous.]
He has since given up on writing fanfics.
His old website where the fanfic was hosted, geocites, is now gone since 2009 as you may already know.
Not everything on his website was saved sadly.

He has posted the first chapter on Hentai-Foundry though.
Enjoy !

Chapter 1 - A chance

Bakura sat by himself, at a table in the arcade, watching Ryou, to make sure nothing happened to him. He was very protective of the boy, who was currently playing an racing game with Yugi and Joey. Tristan was at a grabbing machine, trying to win a plushy for Serenity. Téa was with Serenity, watching him, and offering encouragement. Bakura snorted and turned back to watching over Ryou. Something was missing, he decided. After another quick survey of who all was there, he realized exactly what was missing. Or rather, WHO.

"Good riddance." Bakura muttered, picking up his glass of lemonade and taking a gulp.

"What's that?" Malik asked behind Bakura, almost causing him to choke. Bakura turned and glared. "Sorry." Malik said sheepishly. "Mind if I sit here?" He pointed to an empty seat opposite Bakura. Bakura growled slightly, but didn't actually protest, so Malik sat down. "I want to talk to you." Malik explained.

"No." Bakura said.

"Just for a few minutes?" Malik pleaded.

"I know what you want, and my answer is no, Malik." Bakura snapped.

"But... it's not really your decision to make." Malik commented.

"So?" Bakura snapped. "You go near Ryou, Malik, and I'll cut you open and bleed you like a pig. You got that?"

Malik blinked. "That's a little harsh, ain't it?" He asked. Bakura glared at him. "Aww, come on Bakura. Give me a chance. Please? I swear to you, that I will never hurt Ryou in any way. Ever. And if I do, you can do whatever you want to me, and I won't protest."

"No."

"That's harsh."

"I don't care. I told you. No."

"I'll do whatever it takes!" Malik persisted desperately. "At least think about it."

"Okay." Bakura replied. "Hmmm, thought about it. And my answer is still no."

Malik looked away momentarily, then turned back, and stood up hitting the table with his fists as he did. "You know, it's because you're such an asshole to everyone that you're completely alone!" He spat angrily. "And whoever it is you were thinking about just before I came over, I bet it's that reason that you don't have them." Malik then stormed outside, before jamming his motorcycle helmet on, and getting on his bike, leaving without a backwards glance.

********************************************************************

Bakura gaped after the blond haired boy. His words might as well have been a hard slap across the face. They certainly stung like one. Bakura pushed his glass away, and stood up to follow Malik, rushing out the door at top speed. He's give Malik a chance, but only if he took back what he had just said.

Bakura hadn't counted on someone being in his path. Someone smaller, and physically weaker than himself. Smashing into this person, the instant he left the building, he stumbled, while they fell completely. Looking around, he knew he was too late to speak with Malik. He'd speak with the boy later then, he decided. Turning to see who he'd crashed into, Bakura's gaze met with a crimson glare. The pharaoh himself. Ahtimu, or Yami, as his friends called him. Bakura turned away without a comment, and looked around. "Bloody tomb-keeper." He growled before walking back inside, letting Ahtimu pick himself up and do whatever he wanted.

And Ahtimu did just that. He followed Bakura in, and stood in front of him, arms crossed, glaring, after Bakura had sat down again.

"What do you want?" Bakura muttered, not really up for a fight.

"An apology would be nice, but I doubt it's in your vocabulary." Ahtimu replied. He knew how to break his fall, but Bakura had knocked him down with quite a bit of force. As a result, Ahtimu's elbow was grazed, bleeding, and would probably bruise.

"Sorry. Didn't see you." Bakura shrugged. "I was a little preoccupied."

"What?" Ahtimu gasped.

"Don't bother. You wanted an apology, and you got one. So leave it." Bakura muttered.

"I didn't expect one though." Ahtimu replied. Bakura shrugged, and looked away. He turned his attention back to Ryou, and made no further eye contact with Ahtimu. Seeing the conversation was over, Ahtimu sighed. "Watch where you're going next time." He said, then turned and walked away, heading toward his friends. "Or one of these days you're going to run into someone bigger, and YOU'LL be the one on the ground." Ahtimu turned his arm and tried to see the damage, but gave up and resorted to ignoring it.

"Hey, Yami! What kept you?" Joey called up from his race against Yugi and Ryou.

"Speaking with an old friend." Ahtimu replied over the volume of the arcade machines.

"Oh! Yami! You're bleeding!" Téa exclaimed suddenly. "Here. Let me see." She said, and had a look at his arm. "We'll have to clean this, there's gravel in it. How'd you do this?"

"Doesn't matter. I'm fine." Ahtimu replied.

********************************************************************

Bakura narrowed his eyes as Téa examined Ahtimu's elbow. He felt a pang of guilt, that he had been the one who had hurt Ahtimu. He had promised himself he would never hurt the boy again, after Malik had brought them both back from the afterlife. Malik had, since then, been forbidden to go anywhere near the family scrolls containing spells. But that had nothing to do with Bakura. What did, however, as far as he was concerned, was the fact that Ryou was walking to the men's toilets with Ahtimu right now.

Bakura got up, and followed, closing the door quietly behind him, and listening to what was being said, before turning the corner to, undoubtedly, make his presence known.

"How did you manage this, Ahtimu?" Ryou asked, as he dabbed Ahtimu's elbow with some soaked tissue, the cold tap running behind him.

Ahtimu shrugged. "Fell."

Ryou gave him a sceptical look, before getting some clean tissue, chucking the red ones into the bin first. Bakura stepped around the corner, and beat Ryou to the clean tissues. "I'll do it." He said firmly. "You go and have fun." Bakura c***ed his head toward the door. He didn't like Ryou being out of his sight, but figured his friends would protect him if anything were to happen. "My fault anyway." He muttered, and Ryou nodded, understandingly, and left. Bakura walked over to Ahtimu, who had simply been regarding the whole situation. "It'll make it easier if you hold still, and keep your arm there, like that." Bakura said, positioning Ahtimu's arm.

Ahtimu watched curiously as Bakura carefully cleaned the wound. "I can clean it myself, you know." He commented.

"No, you can attempt to. But you might miss some gravel and make it worse as you can't see what you're doing of properly." Bakura replied. He looked it over once he was done. "That should be it."

"Thanks." Ahtimu said, straightening his arm again. Ahtimu looked up, and noted how close Bakura was, furthermore, Bakura was staring at him. Ahtimu began to feel embarrassed. "What?" He asked.

"Nothing." Bakura replied.

"Then... why are you staring at me?" Ahtimu asked.

Bakura shrugged. "Felt like it." He moved closer, and dipped his head closer, so that their lips were only millimetres apart. He paused, giving Ahtimu some time to decide whether or not to move away. "Do you think I'm an asshole?" Bakura asked quietly, to make sure Ahtimu was still with him.

"...Sometimes." Ahtimu replied, quietly. Was Bakura really about to kiss him? Or was it some sort of trick?

"Right now?" Bakura asked. "Am I being an asshole right now?"

"No..." Ahtimu replied, frowning in confusion.

Bakura closed the gap, pressing his lips against Ahtimu's, and reaching up one hand to gently brush Ahtimu's cheek before resting it at the back of Ahtimu's head. His other arm snaking it's way around Ahtimu's waist, and pulling him close, but being sure not to hold Ahtimu too tightly. He wanted Ahtimu, and had done so for some time. But he wasn't going to force Ahtimu into anything he didn't want to do. So Bakura had to make sure Ahtimu had an easy escape route.



Receiving no resistance whatsoever, Bakura moved to the next step, and gently ran his tongue over Ahtimu's bottom lip, asking for entry. At first, he thought Ahtimu wouldn't allow him, as he hadn't responded. But just as Bakura was about to pull away, Ahtimu parted his lips. Bakura slipped his tongue into Ahtimu's mouth, and began to explore it, tasting every inch. A soft moan was his reward, and it made Bakura all the more eager. Bakura broke the kiss for air, then he removed the choker around Ahtimu's neck and began sucking on his neck, nipping with his teeth from time to time before soothing it with his tongue again. Instead of discarding the choker, Bakura had slipped it into his pocket. Ahtimu continued to offer no resistance, his glazed eyes half lidded, and his breathing ragged.

"Tell me to stop and I will." Bakura whispered, pulling them into the Shadow Realm, and gently pushing Ahtimu down, straddling his waist, and continuing to ravage his neck. He puller the bottom of Ahtimu's vest up, and broke away to remove it, before returning to his task of marking Ahtimu's neck. Once satisfied with that, Bakura moved to Ahtimu's nipples, nipping with his teeth, and soothing with his tongue. Ahtimu gasped, and continued to moan at Bakura actions. Bakura shifted, and removed Ahtimu's pants, boxers, socks and shoes, dropping them to his side, and then moved back to Ahtimu's nipples, while he removed his own clothing.

Once naked, Bakura kissed his way down Ahtimu's body, dipping his tongue in Ahtimu's naval, before continuing on. He looked at Ahtimu's face, to make sure Ahtimu was okay, then, satisfied that Ahtimu had no problems with this, took Ahtimu's member in his mouth. Ahtimu gasped loudly, sitting up slightly, before lying back down. "Oh...Gods..." He muttered, gasping for breath. Bakura chuckled, causing a slight vibration around Ahtimu's member, and caused Ahtimu to moan again. Bakura worked his tongue around Ahtimu's penis first, being tortuously gentle, and bobbing his head as he worked up and down it, until Ahtimu's hands reached to his head, entangling themselves in his hair. Bakura then deep throated Ahtimu, and began to suck hard, holding Ahtimu's hips in place, while Ahtimu moaned and writhed, sweat beginning to coat his body. Ahtimu screamed as he released, and Bakura swallowed a lot of it, before pulling back. Ahtimu's hands were now by his head, and his chest heaving, as he came down off his high, his cheeks flushed.

"Do you want me to stop?" Bakura asked, his voice ragged. His c*** strained for attention, but he ignored it for now. Ahtimu shook his head slowly. Bakura wiped up some of the cum, with his hand, and coated three of his fingers with it. He then used one hand to part Ahtimu's thighs, before pushing one finger into Ahtimu's hole slowly. Ahtimu gasped, clenching his eyes shut, and gritting his teeth. Bakura watched him calmly. "Are you sure you're okay with this?" He asked. Ahtimu nodded. "Then you need to relax, Ahtimu. Or it'll hurt like hell. I'm not going to lie to you, it'll hurt anyway. But if you relax, it'll be less painful." Ahtimu nodded, and took a few breaths, forcing himself to relax. "Good. Remember, we can stop any time. You just let me know. Alright?" Ahtimu nodded. Bakura returned the gesture, before slowly moving his finger in and out, to stretch Ahtimu first.

Ahtimu gasped as Bakura's finger brushed his prostrate. Bakura stopped, and looked at him. "No... Keep going..." Ahtimu moaned, frustrated. Bakura grinned, and pulled his finger back a bit, before adding the second. Slowly moving them about, and brushing Ahtimu's prostrate again, getting a loud moan out of Ahtimu, before he began scissoring them. Bakura entered a third finger, and finished up stretching Ahtimu, while he used the other hand to work himself, pumping his own member, coating it in Ahtimu's cum.

"How do you want to be taken, Ahtimu? Do you want to be facing me? Or on your knees?" Bakura asked, after releasing his member. He slowly pulled his fingers out of Ahtimu's rear. "It'll hurt less on your knees." Ahtimu nodded, and shifted, so he was on his hands and knees. "I'll be gentle." Bakura told him, softly kissing his shoulder, as he moved into position, and eased himself in slowly. Once sheathed, he stopped. "Let me know when you're ready for me to move." He said, reaching around, and taking Ahtimu's member in his hand, pumping it a few times, to make Ahtimu hard again. Bakura let go, and then held Ahtimu by the hips, to make sure he didn't hurt himself, and waited for Ahtimu to adjust. He couldn't believe how easy it had been to get here. Ahtimu had offered absolutely no resistance to his advances. He wondered why he hadn't made his move sooner. But it didn't matter, he supposed. Ahtimu suddenly moved against him. "You ready?" Bakura asked. Ahtimu nodded. "Alright then." Bakura replied, before slowly pulling out, and pushing back in again, setting a slow and gentle pace, so he wouldn't hurt Ahtimu too much. He wanted to do this again, but if he was going to, he'd have to be gentle. Or Ahtimu wouldn't want him near. He began shifting his angle, trying to find that one special spot, and when Ahtimu cried out in pleasure, Bakura knew he had succeeded. So he aimed for that one spot continuously.

NSFW

Ahtimu clawed at the ground, moaning. It had been so painful at first, he didn't know how he was going to handle it. But he had been determined to see it through. And then Bakura had found his prostrate again, and Ahtimu forgot all about the pain. Bakura continued to hit it, but Ahtimu wanted it more. "Bakura..." He gasped. "Faster..."

Bakura nodded, then picked up the pace, as sweat began to cover his own body, and his breath became ragged. "More?" He rasped, and Ahtimu nodded. Bakura thrust in a little harder, hitting Ahtimu's sweet spot dead on, and causing him to cry out louder. Bakura continued at it, obeying every plea for more that Ahtimu made, then reached around, taking Ahtimu's member in his hand again, and pumping it in time with his thrusts. The sound of flesh slapping against flesh was maddening, and Bakura could feel his release approaching. Feeling Ahtimu's body stiffen beneath him, and tighten around his c***, almost drove Bakura over the edge as Ahtimu released into his hand, screaming Bakura's name. Ahtimu's arms gave way, and he kept himself up with his elbows. Bakura let go of Ahtimu's c***, and once again gripped his hips, thrusting harder and faster, to get his own release. When it came, he screamed out Ahtimu's name, then collapsed over him, as he regained his breath.

Bakura pulled out, and sat down, pulling Ahtimu lose to him, nuzzling his neck a little. "Felt like it?" Ahtimu asked suddenly.

"f***, yeah." Bakura replied, laughing a little. "Gods you were tight. First time?"

"Yeah." Ahtimu replied.

Bakura blinked at that. "Why me?" He asked. "Why give your virginity to me? You could have stopped me at any time, and I would have listened."

"Why were you so keen to take me?" Ahtimu asked.

"What the hell? I've been attracted to you for some time. That's why." Bakura replied. Ahtimu turned and gave Bakura a pointed look. Bakura grinned, understanding completely, then leaned in and kissed Ahtimu soundly.

********************************************************************

A week later, four boys walked into a restaurant together. Bakura kept Yami close, with an arm around his waist, and watched Malik with Ryou, in front of them, like a hawk. "You said it was a double date." Malik said suddenly. "But you just wanted to keep an eye on me."

"I told you, I'm giving you a chance." Bakura replied. "You'll have your privacy IF and WHEN I trust you. Not before."

FIN
#41
Other / Juju's personal stuff [NSFW]
July 17, 2017, 06:21:45 AM
I was trying to collect contacts, twitter, facebooks... of everyone there and of course i looked at juju.
He... hmmm... reblogged something very interesting on his tumblr.
NSFW, MAGGOTS !
Spoiler

His profile links to this tumblr, it uses his old avatar (his twitter uses it) and it says juju. It's him.
It's some pr0n stuff, he also added to the picture (not from the original post) :
Lovely NSFW commission of my OC @askyukikagayaki and @lezardgab's, thanks to @darknud. ^_^

Juju, why you disliked my amazing gay pr0n picture with humans in it !!!  >: (

Also, there's an hilarous video he made 8 years ago where he mocks the talibans.


Anyway, that was all. Sorry for my pointless trolling D:
#42
Other / Some changes i did to my website
July 16, 2017, 11:57:11 PM
Yo,
my website was stagnant for quite a while but i have decided to put an end to this !
Some games were missing pages altogether but i took the time to write a page for each games.
I also added my latest games, watch :
https://gameblabla.nl/projects.htm

Cool, huh ?

I also added the Yu-Gi-Oh reviews to my blog, since codewalrus might suffer from a database loss again or even close...
Here's the link :
https://blog.gameblabla.nl
And the Jeykyll's source code to my blog :
https://github.com/gameblabla/blog

I also have a phpBB board here but i need to post more often here...
i'll start by posting some c stuff :D

Tell me what do you think guys !
#43
Randomness / The ultimate solution [NSFW]
July 14, 2017, 10:22:05 AM
This is it, i found it, the ultimate picture !

It's a picture and it's so great, it can turn any straight man into a gay one.
Unfortunately, it's pr0nographic in nature so i can't show it on cw.

It represents 3 young men from some anime having fun together but it needs to be seen to be believed.
Words cannot describe how good it is.

Here it is, tell me what do you think of it (it's pr0n, for real NSFW) :
NSFW

But are you really sure
#44
Did you know that Rayman was at one time developed for the SNES ?
It seems that it went pretty far (multiplayer implemented and all) before they scraped that and decided to improve it for the SNES−CD.
Then upon seeing the Atari Jaguar and being impressed by its power, they scraped the SNES version and made the game from scratch.
2 years later, it was finally released for the Atari Jaguar, PS1 and Saturn.

Twenty years later, Michel Ancel finally found a prototype and let the world know about it.
He posted a video of the game in action :


But there was little hope for it to get dumped... at least that's what we thought.
Then Omar posted on twitter this :
https://twitter.com/ocornut/status/881876378056085505

He has found the prototype and he uploaded the ROM online for everyone !
I can confirm that the rom works properly but it is in the early stages, with no enemies...



The ROM he dumped looks VERY similar to Michel Ancel's video uploaded months earlier.
So we can assume that Michel Ancel helped Omar dump it :D

The graphics look awesome for the SNES but sadly, it's not the prototype with the multi-player mode...
#45
Calculator Development / Crysis
July 12, 2017, 06:28:23 PM
hay gays

i want to port crysis to the ti nspire cx
but i forgot how to program cuz my pc ded so is my brain

how do you make games for ti nspire cx

i tried the ti compiler but it does not work !!!
how to make game with a bunch of text files

guys help me pls, if anyone knows pls tell me
#46
Hello guys,
an incident happened yesterday and some posts (mostly my own but also some more posts) were deleted because someone deleted the db.
I made a very long post in the Yu-gi-oh thread here (don't visit here) :
codewalr.us/index.php?topic=1990.msg56852

Has anyone visited the topic before ?
If so, don't visit it, it might be in your cache.
Enable "Offline mode" in Firefox or Chrome and look it up in your browser history. If it's there, give me the text back to me pls.

Also, i heard that Walrifier also makes backup of posts. If you used it tomorrow or some s*** like that,
you should have it too.

Anyway, i should have made a copy of my review...
#47
Other / Why i was inactive...
July 03, 2017, 01:41:00 AM
Hello guys,
Unfortunately my hard drive crashed and i lost some of my closed-source stuff. (the 3DO's Compilation's source code, the blog x_x etc...)
However, most of my codewalrus is not affected because, i made the code source available on my github. (thankfully)
I also had backup'd my passwords a week before that happened... so all good.
My game progress in Duel Links is also not lost :D

But the closed-source stuff i lost is really annoying and my ext4 partition got corrupted.
What to do? I have not enough space to save my entire partition.

Plus, i don't know what my next game should be like...

Anyway, you probably don't care.  D:
#48
Android-x86 is a project that intended to port Android to the intel/amd x86/amd64 architecture. (most android devices are using ARM)
Before even Android-x86, Google had released an Android emulator that's actually running x86 binaries for performance reasons.
However, the emulator was pretty slow at the time and it did not support 3D hardware acceleration, only a software renderer.

Originally, Android-x86 only targeted a few select hardware like the EeePC but over time,
as Android became more standard and less hacky, KMS drivers were added to the mix,
which allowed 3D acceleration on AMD, Intel and Nvidia (via nouveau) as well as fixing some annoying crashes.

Android-x86 went from an experiment to a nice alternative to Linux distributions.

Anyways, what led me to try it out Android-x86 was due to the fact that the only powerful Android device
i had was my crappy Amazon Fire HD device, which quickly becomes hot even at low frequencies.
https://blog.gameblabla.nl/2016/12/16/FireHD7/

Another issue i had was the fact that Wifi was constantly disconnecting from time to time,
charging was very slow and overall it just became more of an annoyance than anything else.

At first, i tried to run it in a VM (Virtualbox) : it was working but it was also very slow.
So i partitioned my hard drive and i installed Android on a partition. (careful not to format your main partition !!!)
The last version of Android-x86 i tried was based on Froyo but now i'm trying out Android 6.0 Marshmallow r2.

When i first booted and went to Settings,
i was surprised to see that nouveau, the open-source nvidia driver, was fully supported in android-x86.
This was surprising, because several years ago, only a software renderer was available.

I quickly wanted to give Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Links a try and the improvement in frame-rates was immediately apparent.
The game was also much more stable on my PC than it was on my tablet.
Using my tablet, i constantly suffered from connection losses.
Using my PC instead actually improved my rank and allowed me to become King of Games.

Android 6.0-r2 suffered from another issue however : it would sometimes freeze after a period of time.
This irritated me so much that i decided to give the Nougat rc image a try.

Upgrading Android-x86 is painless, choose the partition where you installed it (Don't format!!!)
and it will ask you if you want to upgrade it.

Android-x86 7.1 Nougat is even better than marshmallow : No freezes, newer mesa drivers,
the possibility to reclock your nvidia card via nouveau, the mouse works better in apps etc...

If your phone is too slow to handle an Android game then your PC running Android-x86 will most likely will,
as a low-end computer will run over many high-end phones.

My low-end PC got 143000 pts in Antutu. In comparison, the latest iPhone got 180000 pts.
My specs :
AMD FX 6350 3.5Ghz (configured as dual core)
Nvidia Geforce GT 730 GDDR5 2GB VRAM (reclocking enabled)

To enable reclocking, open the terminal app, type su (grant access) then type :
echo 0f > /sys/kernel/debug/dri/0/pstate

I could in theory get a better score by putting Android on my SSD and leave my proc with 6 cores.

Unless you own an Nvidia 950/780 however, AMD cards should perform even better.
But nouveau with reclocking still performs decently and will run all the heavy benchmark.

Negatives
Some apps still do not have support for the Intel architecture.
Google tried to remedy this by introducing a compatibility layer in Nougat.
It doesn't always work however, especially when hardware acceleration is used.
Audio doesn't work over HDMI with Nouveau, even though it does on Linux distributions.

Nouveau also do not support accelerated codecs in Android, meaning it is impossible to play videos in an accelerated manner
or record your screen. This should be possible on Intel/AMD cards however.

The Google APKs are installed by default and can only be removed effectively from another Linux distribution.
(Duel Links actually runs without Google Play services, same for many games)

Conclusion
Android-x86 is probably the fastest way to play Android games, thanks to constantly improving drivers.
Duel Links is ultra-smooth on it, so are the benchmarks. However, the benefits are not noticeable on a VM.
(Latest nougat version supports Virgil3D, but it still has a lot of overheadd)

You can give it a try by putting it on a USB key with Rufus and use the "Live USB/CD" option to try Android
without installing it.
#49
Tech, Science & IT / OSSv4 with Ubuntu
May 25, 2017, 05:49:21 AM
OSS or Open Sound System is the first sound API that was supported in Linux.
Forks of OSS are also used by the BSDs and Solaris.
It was eventually replaced by ALSA due to the main developer making some modifications proprietary,
leading Linux to switch to ALSA.
However, 4Front Technologies eventually made it open-source again.

Some were dissatisfied with ALSA and were complaining about the noticeable drop in sound quality.
This eventually led me to install OSS and stick with it.

The first time i rebooted my PC, i was able to hear the noise from my headphone.
The thing is with OSS, you can tweak the audio filter so it's a bit more "raw" or enable all the way up to remove any kind of noise.
OSS unlike ALSA actually shows you the defects of analog audio, without trying to hide it from you.

One huge issue i had with OSS is the fact that some packages like Firefox, Wine and proprietary games do not have by default OSS support.
It's either completely missing (Firefox) or not enabled in binary builds (Wine-stagting).
You can use an audio wrapper that wraps ALSA calls to OSS ones but there is a drop in quality and it doesn't work all the time.

Also, OSS is very CPU intensive with high-quality settings. vmix in particular is very slow when processing videos. (i still don't know why)
However, disabling vmix actually fixes the issue.
OSS also doesn't support audio via HDMI, which ALSA does and it has incomplete support for USB audio.

Despite the noticeable increase in audio quality, it does come at the price of performance (with vmix) and compatibility.
Compatibilities with applications is perhaps the first thing you'll run into with OSS, because most of them don't expect you to use OSS.

However, it should be noted that this is a bit different on FreeBSD where OSS is actually the default sound api
so if you like OSS, you might consider switching to FreeBSD.

Tips
To record a video with OSS, the only working way is to use both ffmpeg and ossrecord.
Note that you may have to soundoff & soundon
ffmpeg -video_size 1920x1080 -framerate 30 -f x11grab -i :0.0 -c:v ffv1 $HOME/capture.mkv &
ossrecord -s48000 -b16 -c2 -R -d/dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/loop0 $HOME/capture.wav &


If an app use OpenAL (gzdoom), you can tell OpenAL to use OSS.
Edit /etc/openal/alsoft.conf and add this line (if it doesn't exist) :
drivers = oss

If OSS is acting funny, try to run soundoff & soundon in root. (or sudo)
#50

Bukake is challenging you to the greatest challenge mankind has ever faced : Gay sex.


It's now your job to penetrate Siciel and win his heart through rape attempts & penetration.
Will you be able to fool him ?
Or is he going to dump you and tell everyone about it ?

FIND OUT IN COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT : THE REGRESSIVE RIGHT !!!

Downloads
Download ROM


I'm planning on expanding the game in the future.

Technical details
Spoiler
This Colecovision homebrew game was programmed in C with the help of SDDC.
Unlike my other CV games, this game was tested/programmed on mah linux PC. (ubuntu with upstart/ossv4)

This game is a MegaCART game, taking advantage of the 512ko of storage available.
However, it does not make use of it entirely and the bankswitching method used here has some limitations...
Only a few Colecovision emulators can emulate MegaCART and only CoolCV can emulate them properly.
This does not require the Super Game Module however, unlike most expanded CV games by Collectorvision or PixelBoy.

The FMV stuff is uncompressed and it's uploaded at NMI time to avoid video corruption/freezes.
It runs at about 6 FPS, with additional artifacts due to the slow VRAM and need to sync with NMI.

[EDIT by DJ]Changed [NSFW] tag to (NSFW) because it wasn't showing up in WalrusIRC post notifications D:
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