Newbie with some stupid questions....

NightHammer · Post by **NightHammer** » Fri Oct 11, 2002 9:36 am

Ok, here's the deal.... I'm currently a CS major in college and I'm wanting to go into the gamming industry. I figure that screwing arround with the best system arround (atleast in my opinion) is a great thing. The thing is, I would love to do this stuff...but I don't know what it is I need to know before I can mess with this stuff. SO, my question is, what are somethings (programming languages, etc.) that I need to know? Are there special libraries out there just for the DC? Are there Dev Kits I can get my hands on? I just would LOVE to get involved, but I don't think I know what I need to to develope for a system yet. If anyone could help me out, I would be VERY appriciative (sp?) for it.
Later!
NightHammer

toastman · Post by **toastman** » Fri Oct 11, 2002 9:58 am

You've come to the right place my friend.
Since you're a CS major, this shouldn't be too painful (unless they focus on Java (or god-forbid Visual Basic)).
C is the flavor of choice on the DC with C++ a strong option (NesterDC is a C++ program)
Special libs? None other than KallistiOS (KOS from here on out) available from http://gamedev.allusion.net (actually it's available from the sourceforge site linked from there, but hey). KOS is the lib du jour. Most of us use it and can help here.
Sitting on top of KOS you have your choice of SDL, an OpenGL implementation (not really OpenGL, but kinda like it), and PLib.
DevKit? Well you have your computer, a DC, a way to interface the two (Coder's Cable, BBA, or LA) and the freeware tools.
If you use a Linux distro get Stalin's build script (email me and I'll send it over, although it's not too hard to find), download what it tells you you need, and run it. It should build gcc and g++ for both the ARM and SH4.
If you use Windows, you have a choice of either MinGW or Cygwin. I dislike both, so you will have to wait for someone else to help you.

NightHammer · Post by **NightHammer** » Fri Oct 11, 2002 10:51 am

I'm currently learning C++, so this should be easy once I get a good handle on the language. GREAT! However...unfortunately...I'm currently running Windows 98.... I've been looking into Linux, but I just can't seem to tear myself away from the familiar look and feel of windows.... I don't know, maybe I'll try to get my hands on an older system and load Linux...I've heard its a highly used OS in the business anyways. Well, thanks for the help!
Later!
NightHammer

I forgot to ask, you mentioned Coder's Cable, BBA, and LA. What are these and how hard/expensive are these things? I told you I was a newbie at this....

Post by **BlueCrab** » Fri Oct 11, 2002 1:54 pm

Coder's Cable - $20-$30
BBA/LA - Expensive (more than $70).

Personally, I just use CD-Rs for my test stuff. And if you're going to stay with windows 98, MinGW is the way to go. Cygwin cannot build the C++ compilers on win98, but MinGW/MSYS can. If you need any help getting MinGW set up, just tell me (It really isn't that hard).

Good Luck, and welcome to the wide world of DC programming!

reaper2k2 · Post by **reaper2k2** » Fri Oct 11, 2002 7:05 pm

Or use winxp and cygwin it works faultless for me at the moment
so you dont need to go to linux ..

be warned its a pain to set it up and took me 5 days of hard work to build all the tools and set it up..

you get by fine with c

download the kos manual it helps but learning by example is best

sdl uses a moded version of kos newlib which at the moment no one but bero has compiling or has told me

so far it looks like sdl will be the way to go it compiles with out code change of pbroom not even inputs are rewritten since thats ported in the lib... and theres a ps2 port to so you could do it for ps2 and dc at the same time plus test the game on a pc before recompling it...

I use the cdr demo menu way first disk self boot 2nd disk a multi session disk works fine

i would advise to work on a simple c game for the pc first then port that to dc

it would help you learn the functions in kos and what needs to be changed ... by looking at the errors when trying to compile pc code on kos you can learn a bit

also lot of the cygwin faq and sh4 tool set ups are not right so at points you have to figer it out your self people will tell you they work but they dont ....

if you have trouble dont give up its worth geting it going

NightHammer · Post by **NightHammer** » Fri Oct 11, 2002 9:18 pm

THANKS!!!! You all have helped SOOO much! I'm sure I will have many more questions. Now that I know what I need, I'll have to download the stuff when I get to school monday. (No high speed connection at home =^(, but oh well. Anyways, I'm sure you guys (of girls?) will hear from me. Thanks again for your help.

I think I'll go with MinGW, I just don't have the cash to get a second system. I also like the idea of using cd-rs. I recently got over 200 of them, so I have enough to spare.

reaper2k2 wrote:i would advise to work on a simple c game for the pc first then port that to dc

Thanks! I will DEFINATELY do that!

I am eternally greatful for ALL of you help. If anyone has more to add though, I'm sure ANYTHING will help!

Thanks again!!
NightHammer

Post by **BlueCrab** » Fri Oct 11, 2002 9:30 pm

When using MinGW, there's a bit of a trick to get it to work right, i'll try to get my MinGW build script back up on my site, and I'll post it here then.

BlackAura · Post by **BlackAura** » Sat Oct 12, 2002 12:14 am

It might also help to try to port something else the the Dreamcast too. That way, you get an idea of how the DC's interfaces work, and what's different to a normal PC.

NightHammer · Post by **NightHammer** » Sat Oct 12, 2002 12:57 am

Okay...I've got a new stupid question (this will show you how new I am to programming....). Wright State (my university) teaches C++ using the M$ Visual C++ compiler. How different is the coding/libraries used to program for the DC? I'm only a sophmore here at WSU, and a real newbie to the programming scene. I'm sure all these questions are just a waste of all your guys' (and and gal's) time, but I REALLY want to do this stuff. Thanks for all your help so far!
Later!
NightHammer

toastman · Post by **toastman** » Sat Oct 12, 2002 7:56 am

It should be something like console mode programming in VisualC++
Also forget all the headers. The only one you need to know for DC programming is <kos.h>

polochon · Post by **polochon** » Wed Oct 16, 2002 2:16 pm

When using MinGW, there's a bit of a trick to get it to work right, i'll try to get my MinGW build script back up on my site, and I'll post it here then.

I'm really interested by your trick

cos I use win 98SE and cygwin doesn't work ..

Post by **BlueCrab** » Wed Oct 16, 2002 2:30 pm

Yes the major trick with MinGW is getting genromfs to work, but when I get my site back up, I'll post a link. Sorry, but work, school and such has been keeping me busy lately.
Maybe over the next few days since I don't have school.

Newbie with some stupid questions....

Newbie with some stupid questions....

yup