Links for Those Wishing to Develop for the Dreamcast

[nymus]

PowerVR docs explaining PowerVR architecture as well as comparing it to others.
http://www.pvrdev.com/pub/PC/doc/idx/whitepapers.htm

[chozen1]

You forgot my fav free compiler: Dev-C++

Dev-C++ is just an IDE, like Code::Blocks. It uses MingW as the default compiler, but can be configured to work with Cygwin as well, and, as far as I know, any gcc.

[q_006]

PowerVR docs explaining PowerVR architecture as well as comparing it to others.
http://www.pvrdev.com/pub/PC/doc/idx/whitepapers.htm

Just so you know, that link is dead.

[Maturion]

http://www.sega-dc.de/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=2369
Here is a small tutorial I have written. Although it's German, it may be useful for some of you.

[anothrguitarist]

I'm going to go ahead and copy and paste a post from another forum. This is a compilation of the resources I have used in order to get started. Here's the post verbatim:



Sure do:

An incredible community dedicated to DC homebrew
http://dcemulation.org/?title=Welcome_to_DCEmulation!

Instructions to set up your development environment on Linux
http://www.dreamcast-scene.com/index.ph ... xToolchain

Instructions to burn your elf binaries to a CD-R
http://curmudgeongamer.com/article.php? ... 5232756356

Programs needed to burn your binaries*
http://mc.pp.se/dc/files/makeip.tar.gz
http://mc.pp.se/dc/files/scramble.c

Repository of dcload (If you have a broadband adapter)
https://cadcdev.svn.sourceforge.net/svn ... oad-serial

Windows tools (Although I don't use them, and I want to start)
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=96802
http://dchelp.dcemulation.org/


Those are the important resources, but I'd be willing to help if you need it. Hell, I've been thinking about compiling instructions for beginners who need help getting everything running and perhaps drawing something to the screen. I modified one of the examples, that I wouldn't mind giving you, if you have trouble drawing something to the screen. The only thing you have to keep in mind is that the size of the images has to be a power of two. It took me a long time to figure that one out. Overall, however, programming for the Dreamcast has been an easy transition, and I would argue that after the initial setup, it is no more difficult than programming for the PC, although I haven't ventured into 3D.

I'd just like to take a second and list the reasons why I enjoy programming for the Dreamcast, maybe I'll influence someone in a positive way. Here's why I think it's so great:

- Legal, as far as I know
- Cheap, if you go the route of blank CD-Rs
- Sharp community
- Quality homebrew libraries
- More satisfying that PC development, for me
- Relatively simple (And if you're familiar with SDL, there is a port, although I don't use it)

The only major drawback is that you greatly limit your audience. To my surprise, many of my friends don't own a Dreamcast, and non-gamers usually haven't heard of it. But the people who I show my game to seem to be more impressed that it is on a console. And by the way, feel free to download the source code to my game, Poncast, but unfortunately I lost the most recent version. It is still fun and playable, however, so if you have a chance, check it out here:

http://anothrguitarist.googlepages.com/Pongcast.zip

*NOTE: The files at the aforementioned link work, but the instructions are outdated -- beware.

[DaMadFiddler]

Wow... the most recent post here is 4 years old. I have a couple of friends who are software developers who have actually expressed interest in the Dreamcast, but I'm not even sure where to point them any more.

Is there a comprehensive (and up-to-date) resource anywhere for getting set up with KOS and getting up to speed with things?

[shockdesign]

http://dcemulation.org/?title=DC_Dev_ISO

This should be good to set them up to code.. I know it's been a while for anyone to reply, but just in case? The files aren't too hard to find, even though not directly linked off the site..