Cool! I had the 10,000th hit, you made the 10,000th post 😀

I probably wouldn’t have even noticed… 😉

I agree that a large percentage of posts have been worthwhile, and you’ve definitely provided a large percentage of those. Thanks!

And thanks to KR155E and the PVB crew for providing a place that keeps the “haters” at bay so real discussion can take place.

Methinks jojobean dost protest too much…

Actually, after chatting with lameboyadvance, it seems that his will not make a ROM smaller than 512KB, but, other than the amount of padding, they should be the same.

One advantage that his has over mine it the ability to specify a ROM title, version, IDs, etc. even if they aren’t specified in the ISX. Of course, it may also overwrite existing ones, so it’s kind of a two-edged “S”-Word 😉 But, it could be changed, I’m sure. Mine could also be changed to allow the addition of the header stuff, but I’ll leave that as an exercise to the reader 😀

e5frog wrote:

It looks like that small thing on the left is an isolating transformer?

DogP wrote:

No… I think it’s just an inductor.

I think you’re both right. I don’t have one to test, but from the circuit, it looks like a transformer being used as a pair of inductors. I think the same thing is used in the SNES (which makes sense, since the tap uses an SNES wall-wart).

I haven’t been able to find anything that explains what’s going on or how it works, but it may be acting like a kind of balun and/or a pair of AC chokes like DogP said.

The diode is, of course, for polarity protection, and the resistor is like e5frog said; current limiting, as well as possibly acting like a fuse.

Also, my Performance VB power supply uses “adaptor” on its label, but the spell-checker in Opera flags that and suggests “adapter”, so I think DogP’s assessment is correct.

*cries* You love me, you really love me! 😉

But seriously, this is a great honor. I hope the wiki is of use to someone. I still have more updates to post, when I get the time. And more, unwritten articles after those…

BTW, I love the color scheme! 😎

It’s most likely less advanced in code generation and optimization, but it might also support more v810 (NVC) features, and more effectively. More testing is needed.

BTW, KR155E, dasi brought it to my attention that the download links to both converters are broken.

Also, you have the platform of mine set to “DOS”, but the included executable is actually for Win32, and the source should compile on just about any system (Linux, OSX, *BSD… probably even DOS, too ;-)).

@e5frog: If you look at the ISX format doc I included, you’ll see that there really is only one possible ROM for any given ISX (unless crazy debugging stuff is added).

So, the answer is yes.

TheForce81 wrote:

Please cut this guy a break lol, not everyone that lives outside of English speaking countries do speak English that well 😉

Hey, there’s nothing wrong with poking fun at the way people write/speak (and it was obviously in jest, which is what emoticons are for, BTW). We’re all friends here, and it may help people learn the non-native language a little better. For example, the “do” (and the “lol” for that matter ;-)) is superfluous in your sentence. I understand that it might be correct in your native language, but if I thought it was funny and made a joke, you (and each of us) should have enough of a sense of humor to take a little joke.

If I had to read/write German to participate here, I would appreciate gentle corrections to my grammar/syntax (even in the form of a joke at my expense).

Also, @RAD… what? 😛

The photos would be more useful if they showed the actual traces on the other side of the board, but it’s the thought that counts 😉

One of my VB’s does the same thing. In my case, it doesn’t happen when it first turns on, so I’ve always suspected some kind of thermal problem (like a chip that slowly gets too hot). But, if yours does it all the time, it may not be the same problem, although the symptom is the same. I’m curious about what percentage of VB’s exhibit it.

I’m glad a thread has been opened about this. Hopefully, we can find the source of the problem, and at least one solution to it, just like the display cable issue.

Wow! Both the new ampersand and that generator form are great!

Don’t hold your breath waiting for the TTF… I haven’t even tried the DXF importing trick, and even if it works it will still be a lot of work.

If the Win32 version of this program worked I could make the converter I mentioned… Of course, there would still be some tweaking involved (hinting and such).

Again, it looks fine to me, HorvatM… You can’t expect KR155E to make workarounds for every out-of-date version of every browser. Just upgrade. The latest Opera is just as efficient as the 9.x series (and every other version; because Opera always has and always will completely rock ;-))

And about the font, well done, KR155E! Is the “script” you mentioned a tag for the forum that allows using the font in a post? That would be very cool, indeed. If, instead, it’s a script that generates the HTML/CSS for the sprite font, I would still be interested.

To be honest, there are some characters I would also change. The seven seems a bit off, for one. Also, the kerning (spacing between letters) might be a little too small. I realize there isn’t much space to play with in such a small font, though. Adding one pixel at such a size can sometimes be too much… In fact, it’s very hard to make fonts look good at such a small size, especially without anti-aliasing (which is essentially sub-pixel rendering).

For the ampersand, I would suggest some of the other forms might be worth a try. There is the “backwards three” style that some people use. Or the one that looks like “Et”.

I’ve started a vector version of the font in SketchUp, based on the logo in Hedgetrimmer’s excellent cartridge model. It’s going pretty well, but I’ve only got the letters and most of the digits. I’m having trouble with the four, and I’m not quite happy with the five, yet. Also, my method for distinguishing the zero from the “O” doesn’t quite look right.

When I get done, I can fairly easily start making a TTF from it, by exporting to DXF and importing into my font editor (Font Creator). Eventually, I’d like to make a SketchUp plugin that exports TTFs directly (although they’d still have to be tweaked in a standard editor).

Tauwasser wrote:
…the site is already taller than wide, without a 90° turn.

Umm… that was my point. A tall, skinny site on a tall, skinny screen equals less wasted space, correct?

@HorvatM: A fellow Opera user! *firm-handshake* 😉

I’ve never had any slow scrolling problem. Do you have “Smooth Scrolling” turned on? Maybe you should upgrade. I’ve had no problems so far using 10.10 (and my PC is far from the latest model…).

The only problems I’ve had with the site stem from my choice of a larger font. KR155E, like most web designers, can’t accommodate very large font sizes in their designs, mainly due to the use of bitmap images and the limitations of CSS and varying browser support and interpretation of it.

If SVG support (of which Opera was a pioneer ;-)) and use increases, that would probably solve the problem, although many “bitmappy” effects are pretty hard to do with vectors…

Let’s see… how many times has this thread been hijacked? 😀 Let’s try for a record! 😛

@Tauwasser:

I assume by “big screen” you mean “wide screen”. Why not just turn your screen 90 degrees and make it “tall” 😉

But seriously, I pretty much agree with DogP; The new skin looks good, it’s not very practical, and it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. Just keep the site going and you can make it look however you like, KR155E 😀

As for the URL, I hardly ever type it in, anyway, and I’ve already changed my bookmarks. I agree that it makes more sense than the old one, I just always liked the “secret-code-like” mystique it has :-D.

That’s a very generous offer, slicerd. I don’t have the opportunity or need to take you up on it, but I am wondering about the replacement screws you got.

Can you post the exact make/model, and maybe a size designation (for people without access to a Lowes)? Also, did they seem to fit well, or were they hard to turn in, hard to start, etc.? Is a side-by-side comparison photo too much trouble?

My VB has been sitting open (well, mostly closed, but unsecured) for over a month since I repaired the displays, just because I dread the thought of cutting slots in that many screws… I could find some “close enough” screws in my junk collection, but I’d prefer “almost exact” ones.

Thanks!

(Sorry for the double-post, edit button is gone…)

I just found this site:

http://fly.thruhere.net/

It has an open-source, cross-platform 6-DOF game engine capable of rendering Descent and Forsaken levels. There’s also YouTube footage showing someone using it to fly around a Forsaken level (inside and out!) in (Red/Green anaglyph, but still watchable) stereo 3-D! That alone almost makes me want to work on this… 😛

[RunnerPack]

@kcasey:

ActionScript, ActionScript 2, or ActionScript 3? ActionScript 3 is practically JavaScript, which is practically Java, which is practically C, so you really already know C… practically… 😉

I’ve programmed both AS3 and C, and there are only minor differences related to specifying data types of variables and function return values (and C doesn’t have the OOP stuff, of course) but the basic stuff, like program control, operators, etc., are extremely similar between the two. You just have to learn the VB way of getting graphics on the screen and capturing user input and you’re home free! Sure, it’s more difficult to program the “bare metal”, but you have plenty of experts here willing to help you up the learning curve! If you have time, give the DOOM (or Descent ;-)) code a look. I bet you’ll see a lot of familiar stuff…

• This reply was modified 16 years, 5 months ago by RunnerPack.

A) Probably, but it’s not very straightforward. The other systems to which it’s been ported each have a fairly standard frame-buffer to which pixels can be rendered. Besides having two sets of front and back buffers (i.e. four total), the VB also arranges its buffers differently; it organizes them into vertical columns, rather than horizontal rows. Even if that is overcome (probably not that hard; it may actually be beneficial to the engine’s efficiency) there would still be the stereoscopic aspect to consider. Most anyone would agree that the point of the port would be to have a stereoscopic DOOM, although a straight port wouldn’t technically require it (and, yes, I know there are already stereoscopic ports/mods).

B) Not to my knowledge, but there seem to be a few “closet” VB coders out there who don’t appear to want their work to be seen.

C) 1, 2, 3, not it! 😉 Too many other projects on the back burners, at the moment.

I hope someone eventually pulls it off, though. DOOM was never really my thing, but it would be fun to try it with real depth.

Oh, yeah… Welcome to the forums! 😀

I think a better idea would be to have a small FlashROM with a boot-loader program on it, some SRAM or flash for the loaded ROM image, the SD card itself, and an optional microcontroller or programmable logic. All communication with the microcontroller or SD card would be through the Exp bus.

The VB would boot normally from the boot-loader flash and present a menu of some kind by accessing the microcontroller (or the SD card either directly or through programmable logic). A “please wait” program would also be loaded into WRAM to be called during the copying process.

When a program is selected, the VB goes to the “please wait” screen while the game is copied to the SRAM/Flash bank (this program may be doing the actual copying). The boot flash would be disabled by disconnecting its /OE pin from the VB and tying it high (it would need to be reconnected automatically on reset/power-up). When the copying is complete (the “please wait” program could poll some location in Exp to find out) the SRAM/Flash bank would be enabled (using the /OE just like the boot ROM, except disabled by default) and the loading program would jump to the reset vector like any normal VB ROM starting up.

It would also be possible to patch an exit function into the (ROM or source) code of a program to re-enable the boot-loader to allow loading a new program without power-cycling.

RAD wrote:
What is the best and/or simplest and at the same time safe method to attach the Virtual Boy to German electricity mains?

Can one e.g. attach a commercial Multi power pack to the AC ADAPTER TAP?

Or can one wire the joy-pad directly without adapters – naturally, without risking over-voltages and damage?

:question:

It is perfectly okay to connect an AC adapter supply, capable of providing somewhere in the range of 6 to 13 volts DC and 500 mA of current, to the adapter tap. This is, after all, what it’s for 😉

Machine-translated to German:

Es ist vollkommen in Ordnung, verbinden Sie ein AC Adapter Supply, Lage liefern irgendwo im Bereich von 6 bis 13 Volt DC und 500 mA von aktuellen, der Adapter tippen. Dies ist, nachdem alle, was es für ist 😉