Help on creating a homebrew Genesis game...
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Help on creating a homebrew Genesis game...
Hello guys. This is my first post here. OK, so I know how to make the header for my game, but I am afraid to program the rest of my game, because I have a feeling that it won't work in an emulator. That, and where would I get all of the sprites needed for the game? I know other people suggest to crib from example code, but I want to start from scratch. Besides programming the game's header, what other parts are needed. Maybe I can turn this into a collaborative project, so I do not have to do all the hard work? Sorry if I am making you mad for posting this much, and for asking for help, I just figured, if homebrew games are developed, they are developed by only one person. I will certainly be looking forward to any suggestions/contributions you give me while coding this
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Hi,
Simple question, why start from scratch ?
I don't necessary want to "promote" SGDK but it facilitates *a lot* the development for Sega Megadrive. You can code in C and get descent performance and still allow assembly if you really need it. Also by using SGDK methods you have guarantees to get your code working on real hardware (as SGDK methods has been heavily tested on real hardware).
Simple question, why start from scratch ?
I don't necessary want to "promote" SGDK but it facilitates *a lot* the development for Sega Megadrive. You can code in C and get descent performance and still allow assembly if you really need it. Also by using SGDK methods you have guarantees to get your code working on real hardware (as SGDK methods has been heavily tested on real hardware).
Last edited by Stef on Wed Feb 04, 2015 1:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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After the header, a Genesis game needs an initialization code like this.
If you want to see something on the screen, you need to set the VDP registers, also shown in the link.
If you want to see something on the screen, you need to set the VDP registers, also shown in the link.
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Yes, no one can expect miracles on the Megadrive writing in C and C++ is out of the question.Nitro wrote:Learning M68K ASM in some point may be even easier than C. If your game will not work on emulator (but works fine on hardware) -- there is some problem in emulator.
I would learn the basics with C then switch to 68K Assembly for Megadrive work.
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I tried learning the whole thing from scratch and documented my learning process, there might be something of use here: http://www.bigevilcorporation.co.uk
Take a look at the first few articles, they describe how to make a header, assembling your first program, and setting up the VDP.
Take a look at the first few articles, they describe how to make a header, assembling your first program, and setting up the VDP.
A blog of my Megadrive programming adventures: http://www.bigevilcorporation.co.uk
SGDK is amazing but it desperately needs some unified tutorial source, someone needs to make an E-Book on Mega Drive development using SGDK... i'd do it if i was good enough x) but yeah until that happens i don't think the community will expand as much as it could even with the success of Pier Solar
"I'm looking for some alien toilet to park my bricks, who's first?"
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I do agree, that is still something i plan to do... at least update the outdated tutorials to replace with new rescomp structures.
I do *not* plan to make many tutorials but at least enough to cover the main topics.
I do *not* plan to make many tutorials but at least enough to cover the main topics.
Last edited by Stef on Sat May 16, 2015 9:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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There are no tutorials per se, but there are some projects that might be interesting to you.
Source code for Pingouin Bleu (a shmup), Pingouin Rose (simple platformer), Violence Pingouin (action platformer) and Goplanes (8way scrolling shooter) is available in the demo section.
You should be able to pick up a lot from them.
Source code for Pingouin Bleu (a shmup), Pingouin Rose (simple platformer), Violence Pingouin (action platformer) and Goplanes (8way scrolling shooter) is available in the demo section.
You should be able to pick up a lot from them.
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I do agree but that is definitely much more work than giving SGDK package then instructions to setup your development environment with the IDE... Just think we have to give a package for each operating system :-/
But I agree that a all in one solution would make life much easier for a lot of developer interested in giving a try
But I agree that a all in one solution would make life much easier for a lot of developer interested in giving a try