DCQuake online?!

Post by **Tyne** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 8:09 pm

Can it be done? Yes.
Will anyone do it? I highly doubt it.

It's simply better to wait until modem drivers are eventually reverse engineered and figured out, Quake already has network code so there's no point in rewriting that (which also means rewriting huge chunks of the engine I'd imagine!).

Anyway, I doubt anything will ever come of this until said above (modem driver) is figured out. Before anyone mentions the broadband adapter, not many people own one at all; especially considering statistically how many would want to play Quake on DC as well as owning a Dreamcast BBA.

Sir Savant · Post by **Sir Savant** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 9:57 pm

I think Bluey has already had a modem driver out for Kallisti. Or someone. They just need to integrate it into the official dev branch or something.

DARKHALO2K · Post by **DARKHALO2K** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 5:15 pm

CKRNZ · Post by **CKRNZ** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 2:47 am

i just love these modem topics..they have become a bit of a running punch line since dreamcast homebrew has started.there's always someone asking for modem support..and the punch line you get is always the same..the boob topic linked in homebrew apps is 4 years old.i dont think(just my own personal opinion..)there is enough talent here for it to be reverse engineered for the uses you want.

note: i said here..there are other dc devvers who operate completely indy from this site that probably do have the talent.will they?.....i suspect if it does happen,it will be by them..not this crew of 8 bit game writers.

mankrip · Post by **mankrip** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 8:25 am

CKRNZ wrote:i suspect if it does happen,it will be by them..not this crew of 8 bit game writers.

I always wanted to be an 8-bit game writer when I was a kid.

Thank you.

I would be really happy if anyone else wanted to help. However, everyone who has enough talent to get things (dial-up networking, hardware acceleration, etc.) working are busy with other projects.

Sir Savant · Post by **Sir Savant** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 7:53 pm

As I said before, BlueCrab has completed a modem driver. Let me pull it up...

ERR... Here is the topic. http://www.dcemulation.org/phpBB/viewto ... sc&start=0

Apparently, BlueCrab was going to fix the network stack, but maybe didn't get around to it?

mankrip · Post by **mankrip** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 12:32 pm

I'm aware of the modem driver. It's already included in KOS. The only things missing are the network stack, and, well, maybe something else; I really don't know. I already figured out how to change things in Quake's network protocol, but I have no idea about how to establish a connection, even if KOS had all the necessary stuff.

Well, I already thought about adding network play through the BBA, since AFAIK KOS has all the necessary BBA stuff, but when I looked at the BBA driver in KOS I couldn't understand anything.

DARKHALO2K · Post by **DARKHALO2K** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 2:37 pm

SeGaFrEaK NL · Post by **SeGaFrEaK NL** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 3:13 pm

DARKHALO2K wrote: Very cool to know there is a microphone driver as well, as a minimum of two player DCQuake with mics is what I wish for.

If anyone can pull that off I"ll be a very happy man indeed

DARKHALO2K · Post by **DARKHALO2K** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 4:52 pm

DARKHALO2K · Post by **DARKHALO2K** » Sat Jun 10, 2006 9:57 am

DCmad · Post by **DCmad** » Sat Jun 10, 2006 6:46 pm

I think it has nothing to do with Dreamcast.
DS now has a homebrew wi-fi lib wich can be used in DSQuake fairly easy as stated in some boards.
Dreamcast doesn't even has a 56k modem homebrew driver for use with homebrews.
Homebrew softwares can't use the online capability of DC at all (56k).
It has nothing to do with the wi-fi lib for DS, apart from the idea of play online against PCs and other DSs in the same server.

pb2ya · Post by **pb2ya** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 8:57 pm

DCmad wrote: Dreamcast doesn't even has a 56k modem homebrew driver for use with homebrews.
Homebrew softwares can't use the online capability of DC at all (56k).

while we're here answering simple noobish questions, I'd like to inquire, why hasn't someone written a driver yet?

phaded · Post by **phaded** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 2:31 am

pb2ya wrote:
DCmad wrote: Dreamcast doesn't even has a 56k modem homebrew driver for use with homebrews.
Homebrew softwares can't use the online capability of DC at all (56k).
while we're here answering simple noobish questions, I'd like to inquire, why hasn't someone written a driver yet?

As stated, there are reverse engineered drivers available.

Driver writing is not as easy as you may think. In order to code one, you need to know all of the system specs, how it sends/recieves data, error handling, protocols used, etc.

There are countless things needed to know about the hardware before you can type out even the first few lines of the drivers.

Quite a few drivers are dumped straight from the system, which tend to be the most reliable. Dumping the drivers, however, isn't always easy.

My question reguarding this entire concept of online play with the Dreamcast:

I'm a knowledgeable coder with many years of experience in Linux dev, and game modding. I could more than likely easily code a server browser for QuakeDC.

This can actually be integrated into the games menu itself, much like in EZQuake (A complete engine remake of QuakeWorld for Windows.).

Now here is my question: Has the homebrew crew figured out a way to make the software actually utilize the modem/bba? Considering Quake has all of the netcode layed out for us, all we would need to do is connect to a PC hosted server (Of which, there are still hundreds for Quake.).

mankrip · Post by **mankrip** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 5:17 am

phaded wrote:Has the homebrew crew figured out a way to make the software actually utilize the modem/bba? Considering Quake has all of the netcode layed out for us, all we would need to do is connect to a PC hosted server (Of which, there are still hundreds for Quake.).

There are a few homebrew applications that uses the BBA. The modem driver lacks a TCP/IP stack, so it can't be used.

phaded · Post by **phaded** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 1:44 pm

That's a bummer. I don't own a BBA yet. Once I get ahold of one I can start something, but otherwise I couldn't even test it.

I'm considering attempting to build my own BBA. If I could figure something out I could produce and sell them for a much cheaper cost. What's the BBA at now, like $140 USD? That's pretty insane for a part that probably costs less than ten bucks for a company to mass build.

mankrip · Post by **mankrip** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 2:07 pm

That would be incredibly awesome. Maybe someone in the Programming forum or in the Hardware Modification forum can help.

emptythought · Post by **emptythought** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 2:23 pm

Unless you find a way to emulate the Sega chip you won't be able to make a homemade BBA. Try the search function of the forums because there was tons of talk about others asking how to make their own BBA.

On the other note, you may want to try getting a LAN adapter as they're generally a lot cheaper. However, they don't work like the BBA so they can not be used on games that did not specifically support the LAN adaptor. It's also 10Mbps unlike the BBA which is 100\10Mbps.

mankrip · Post by **mankrip** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 2:43 pm

Yes, but I don't know if a game who works for the LAN adapter will work for the BBA, and IIRC there are less LAN adapters than BBAs, which would restrict the target audience even more.