Web Based Gamebuino Emulator / Mobile App

Libraries, utilities, bootloaders...

Re: Web Based Gamebuino Emulator / Mobile App

Postby blakewford » Fri May 22, 2015 3:03 pm

I made a minor update to BoardMicro which will trickle down to RetroMicro in the next few days.
https://twitter.com/xlivewire/status/601761078964461569

In short, instead of being tied directly to Dropbox, you will also have the option to run some built in games.
The list so far is: BlockBuino, FxSynth, Conway, Hello, KillRace, Pong.

If anyone has suggestions of games that run well on RetroMicro I would be happy to consider them for inclusion.
This list will also serve as a guide to what is possible to emulate in my program. Any updates to the list, I plan to post here.
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Re: Web Based Gamebuino Emulator / Mobile App

Postby Hark0 » Mon May 25, 2015 7:47 pm

GREAT NEW !!!

;)
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Re: Web Based Gamebuino Emulator / Mobile App

Postby Quirby64 » Mon May 25, 2015 11:30 pm

Ooh, this looks even better! Question, do you have a .apk for the mobile port? Because I want to use it and I don't have a smartphone yet, only a tablet (like I've said).
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Re: Web Based Gamebuino Emulator / Mobile App

Postby blakewford » Wed Jun 03, 2015 7:47 am

I was hoping to facilitate side loading requests through the Amazon App Store. I have noticed in the past that BoardMicro can be downloaded successfully to a tablet through their front end despite settings built into the app directing them not to do so. Alas in their eyes RetroMicro "...can be used to facilitate the piracy or illegal download of content". My submission was rejected.

I tried to explain that I do not think this is possible given the open source nature of the gaming community and the unreasonable amount of effort it would take to create protected content on this platform. They have yet to respond to my rebuttal. I would like to handle tablet requests in this way, but it will take some time to determine their response.
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Re: Web Based Gamebuino Emulator / Mobile App

Postby blakewford » Wed Jun 03, 2015 8:10 am

Status update on the C backend. I decided to fork simavr and make an attempt at integrating it into my code. The first pass of that experiment was successful. I was able to bring up the title screen for several games. The next thing I need to get working is button input.
https://github.com/blakewford/simavr

I am excited about this for many reasons. simavr is the backend used by gbsim and has a reputation of quality. While fun for awhile, building your own AVR core from scratch is pretty tedious. As for doing it twice... you can imagine. Though it is early, I am already seeing some quality improvements. For instance, the UFO Race title screen loads where previously it did not.

Having a solid core speeds up the work I want to do on the debugger and native mobile versions exponentially. While full abandonment of my cores is still in question, I think it is pretty obvious for now that I will have them on the back burner. The only draw back is the lack of 32u4 support, which has no relevance here other that it is a consideration for me when planning / rolling out features. I have looked into this somewhat and my plan is to hack the functionality into my simavr fork for Esplora/Arduboy type device support. It likely won't be proper for upstream integration. For now however, I plan to focus on the easy win, Gamebuino controller and screen support.
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Re: Web Based Gamebuino Emulator / Mobile App

Postby Hark0 » Wed Jun 03, 2015 9:34 pm

Good!

Please continue excited!!!! ;)

i think you can make a very good app...

You know yet: all of my Android devices are available for all test that you need.

;)
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Re: Web Based Gamebuino Emulator / Mobile App

Postby blakewford » Thu Jun 04, 2015 11:36 pm

Both the 32u4 and the 328 work. I will post links to the new hosted versions after I do a round of cleanup and uploading later tonight. I did a test button mapping and that seemed fine also. The debug functionality will take a hit for awhile, but I will built it back in soon enough.
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Re: Web Based Gamebuino Emulator / Mobile App

Postby Hark0 » Fri Jun 05, 2015 8:21 am

HYPE! :P
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Re: Web Based Gamebuino Emulator / Mobile App

Postby blakewford » Fri Jun 05, 2015 3:59 pm

Forgot to post. Web based is up.
http://starlo.org/blake/retromicro/

Be sure to check Use EMCC Backend prior to loading and fiddle with Batch Instructions based on the performance level of the device you are using: PC, mobile, etc...
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Re: Web Based Gamebuino Emulator / Mobile App

Postby blakewford » Mon Jul 20, 2015 4:06 am

Underclocked2.png
Underclocked2.png (99.91 KiB) Viewed 40482 times


So I did something interesting today to confirm where I stand on Android support. Currently, I have seen the Javascript based version run at anywhere from ~2Mhz to 7Mhz highly dependent upon local settings and desktop processor speed. 7Mhz requires newer i7 processors. For Android, I have spent the last month or so aggressively trying to implement and optimize a native build. Alas for all my effort I can only pull out about 4Mhz using a combination of C++ paired with a Java based UI. The UI updates cost me about a Mhz, but even without I am sadly still unable to approach ~16Mhz.

To confirm my emulated clock speed I decided to underclock my Gamebuino. After doing so, the look and feel of code running on my Nexus 5 is actually surprisingly accurate. This leads me to push the project in a new direction. I feel like I can reasonably emulate some wearable projects(typically ~8Mhz or less), so I plan to focus in that direction for awhile. I will keep testing on new Android device generations to gauge processor upgrades, but honestly I have not seen amazing gains from a 2010 era device to my Nexus 5.

For now, awesomely accurate web based or Android based Gamebuino just isn't possible with the infrastructure I have built, but I find it likely I can do good elsewhere. I'd like to thank everyone for their appreciation. I won't be dropping Gamebuino support, just adjusting focus. If you have questions, concerns, or feel the need to contribute to the source in some way, I'll still be here.

Blake
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