SDL/n2DLib ports for TI Nspire

[DJ Omnimaga]

Do you plan to add support for old dumps to the emulator? That might be best since 99.9% of the sites out there provides old dumps. Not that I encourage people to download ROMs, but since most people will do it anyway, if this emulator becomes popular then your ticalc.org ratings and reviews will all say it doesn't work or it's fake.

Also I didn't know SpiroH was still around. Shortly after the Omnimaga<>CodeWalrus split happened, he seemed to have vanished entirely...


Anyway now my calc no longer boots. I tried a reset but it remains stuck on the clock icon, frozen. >.< Once I fix it (if I can) I'll try the new version


EDIT: @gameblabla , sorry but the new update doesn't work for me. It still says Failed to load ROM and I tried every single ROM I could find, including homebrews. So either the problem is still there or my calc is busted. I tried deleting the config folder afterward, to no avail.

[gameblabla]

Ok, so i didn't removed all the checks, something i did Today.
DJ, could you please try again ?

I'm so sorry this happened.
But when something works on your calc and emulators and you expect the same thing for other calculators
when this is not the case, you can't do really anything...

EDIT: Pushed another update and it not longer randomly crash with yours roms, DJ.
It seems more stable, now. Thankfully
Re-download it again DJ and try again.
It was really another issue ala PocketSNES (except not directory related)

[DJ Omnimaga]

No problem. It's the difference between each Nspires and OSes that really makes it a nightmare for developers. I'll try the new version tonight if I am not falling alseep beforehand.

[gameblabla]

So like i said, the new version is more stable and it does not do funny crashes on old dumps.
I did a video of Picodrive running on my Ti Nspire CX :


As you can see, it runs pretty cool.

[DJ Omnimaga]

Ok, so i didn't removed all the checks, something i did Today.
DJ, could you please try again ?

I'm so sorry this happened.
But when something works on your calc and emulators and you expect the same thing for other calculators
when this is not the case, you can't do really anything...

EDIT: Pushed another update and it not longer randomly crash with yours roms, DJ.
It seems more stable, now. Thankfully
Re-download it again DJ and try again.
It was really another issue ala PocketSNES (except not directory related)

Sorry, I still get "Failed to load ROM" on every single ROM file I try. Are you sure you pushed the changes, though? Because it still says PicoDrive SDL v1.35 on the screen, like the last two builds I tried. In the zip file, it says the file is more recent but it behaves identically.

[gameblabla]

Sorry, I still get "Failed to load ROM" on every single ROM file I try. Are you sure you pushed the changes, though? Because it still says PicoDrive SDL v1.35 on the screen, like the last two builds I tried. In the zip file, it says the file is more recent but it behaves identically.

lol, i removed every ROM check, it should not say that.
You must be accidently using an old version.
I attached it with a different name so you don't get confused.

And yes, i forgot to change the PicoDrive 1.35 SDL thingy name, i need to change it.
(it no longer use SDL)

[DJ Omnimaga]

Nah, I downloaded the file from your latest link.

To make sure my calc did not remain stuck with an old version, I deleted the on-calc copy, refreshed the file list, then sent the new one to it. Unless the TI-Nspire OS acts like Facebook and never actually delete stuff, I can't see how I am accidentally using an old version. I even saved the zip file with a different name.


EDIT: It looks like the Github version is definitively an old one you accidentally re-uploaded, or it remained frozen in time due to maybe Github server/cache issues? Because the new version you just attached behaves differently now.

Now instead of failing to open any ROM, my calc reboots everytime I try to launch any ROM.

[gameblabla]

So yeah, DJ's TI Nspire has really weird issues with his TI Nspire .
If you want to use PicoDrive,
i still suggest using No-Intro dumps or your own clean dumps , using a device like Retrode.
Like i said, old dumps can provoke weird crashes. (perhaps due to bad cheksums ?)

Anyways, so after Picodrive, i decided to work on Hugo, a NEC-PC Engine game.
So yay, it works on my calc.
Too bad, i won't be able to include CD emulation though because the cd code is unfortunely non-portable
and linux-specific.... yeah

So the games work great but the colors are wrong and the speed is not that great. (still somewhat playable though)
I doubt i will be able to switch to n2DLib for that emulator though, hugo is a huge mess.

EDIT: Side note but i forgot to mention that PocketSNES has now proper support for Ndless 3.6/3.9 Exam Mode compatible,
which i also did.
Critor told me that it can't be used for cheating anyways so they accepted it but cw decided not to allow it so...
Oh well.

[DJ Omnimaga]

Oh if Ndless for exams can't be used to cheat then we can always accept it, although we would need to investigate. I was sure that it was entirely dedicated for cheating.

Also nice to see a NEC PC Engine emu for the Nspire. When I have a chance, I'll give it a try. Also yeah I doubt implementing support for CD games would be of any use. A CD-ROM/R/RW is 700 MB large, while the Nspire only has around 128 MB of disk space.

[Adriweb]

Actually, from what we've discussed on TI-Planet chat, a version of Ndless that's not hardcoded for specific path (like, either the non-PTT or the PTT one) is better, not only against potential cheating (something related to the absolute path of the startup folder, for instance...), but also for being able to properly run ndless apps that could be used to unbrick devices, for instance (in fact, critor did exactly that with a device in PTT and there was no other way!).
I believe Gameblabla is working on PR with a patch replacing the several instances of the hardcoded string by a function call that gives the proper path depending on the mode.

[DJ Omnimaga]

Aah I see. I think such tool would be a must. It could probably be uploaded in CW archives too, if the original authors are fine with it. But ideally, any version of Ndless uploaded on CW should have a download link that points to the original files, so that you don't have to update multiple sites everytime Ndless is updated.

The only thing that would be against the CW rules is a file which its main purpose is to cheat, such as PTTKiller or an Ndless fork that kills exam mode, as well as tutorials on how to cheat or bypass exam mode after it has been set.

[gameblabla]

After seeing critor's news about one of my old game Helicopt3rs and remembering how bad the TI Nspire port was,
i decided to improve it a bit.



Helicopt3rs was a Swing Copters clone i originally did for 3DO.
TAB to turn and ESC to quit the game. (and save your highscore)

Here are the results :
Everything is contained in one single file, it's much smaller, it's works with Ndless Exam Mode-compatible
and mostly importantly, it runs faster too.

You can download it in the attachments below.

About Ndless Exam Mode:
I do not intend to publish it here until it's ready.
The reason why is because it still relies on hardcoded paths and when in PTT-mode,
it does not start applications in the startup folder. (Could be done with a workaround i guess)

[DJ Omnimaga]

I didn't know you made that game. I know that LD Studios made Swing Copters. Your port looks nice too. I'll definitively have to try it when I have a chance. Also I understand about Ndless Exam mode.


Also I didn't know you made games for the 3DO. I think there are only 20 official games available for it but I didn't know that console had any homebrew programmers. EDIT Actually it's the Virtual Boy that only had 20 games. The 3DO seems to have many more, except that I heard that only one or two exclusives were good.

EDIT (Sept 16) I have now created a topic for 3DO, at https://codewalr.us/index.php?topic=712.0 , so if you wonder where your posts went, then they're now there.

[DJ Omnimaga]

@gameblabla, congrats, your SNES and Sega Genesis emulators are now on CW headlines.

[gameblabla]

I have improved and re-released Where's Derpy for Ti Nspire CX,
a port of a flash game by pepperpunk.
For this new re-release, i have switched to n2DLib and made some minor improvements.
The game is much smaller too and runs faster.


You can download it here.

@gameblabla, congrats, your SNES and Sega Genesis emulators are now on CW headlines.

Yay, i'm on headlines. thx
Now, what happens next ?