VBAGX and System Link Games

Is there any way to play local multiplayer on Gamboy Advance games that used the system link feature?
I'm instrested in Legend of Zelda: Four Swords in particular (I know there is a Gamecube version).
I wonder if the emulator features some way allowing local multiplayer through splitscreen.

I doubt it, not using the same machine anyway, as that would require two seperate emulations going on at once. Emulation is an intensive process, and I'd be (pleasantly) suprised if the Wii could handle it.

Must admit, would be interesting to see though



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2008 07:57PM by whodares.

Indeed, I should have thought of that seeing how some GBA games play a little choppy on VBAGX.
This would be feasible for the original PC ports, though.

It might be a bit faster if it used a Dynarec Recompiler. Wait- never mind; that would cause a violent crash on Super Mario 64.
err... that remake of Super Mario Bros.

well, maybe two Wiis linked through the internet running the same GBA game could work, like as theorized in the Online emulator play thread.

Would love to see an emulator running four screens at once locally for linked games. Net play would be just as nice though.

I never tried any GBA emulator, but I am surprised, that the Wii would not be powerfull enought to have multiple instances of GBA emulations running.

I think netplay is far more plausible than emulating four GBAs at the same time, doesn't matter if we talking about PCs or Wiis. And actually, should be easier than usual netplay, when you have the sync all the emulators and the inputs. After all, is probably "only" needed to emulate the system link interface, and the network code of the games does the rest.

(Sorry about lame english :P I'm getting worse on this)

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DanielHueho
After all, is probably "only" needed to emulate the system link interface, and the network code of the games does the rest.

(Sorry about lame english :P I'm getting worse on this)

Something tells me, the "network" code of GBA games can't handle varying network response times. GBA games could rely on a very solid connection between the devices.


(I'd say your english is fine)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/2008 12:11AM by daniel_c_w.

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daniel_c_w
I never tried any GBA emulator, but I am surprised, that the Wii would not be powerfull enought to have multiple instances of GBA emulations running.

One problem is that VBA is written for Intel architecture (x86 asm). The Wii has a PPC chip. So I'm using the C core of VBA for most stuff, which is slower.

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TheManuel
Is there any way to play local multiplayer on Gamboy Advance games that used the system link feature?
I'm instrested in Legend of Zelda: Four Swords in particular (I know there is a Gamecube version).
I wonder if the emulator features some way allowing local multiplayer through splitscreen.

The link feature is broken at the moment on VBA-M. So, until that gets fixed you certainly won't see it in VBA GX.

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Tantric

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daniel_c_w
I never tried any GBA emulator, but I am surprised, that the Wii would not be powerfull enought to have multiple instances of GBA emulations running.

One problem is that VBA is written for Intel architecture (x86 asm). The Wii has a PPC chip. So I'm using the C core of VBA for most stuff, which is slower.

Even on native intel machines, VBA is more demanding than it would seem.
I have a 700MHz PIII based Celeron on my MAME machine (soon to be upgraded) and it can't run even Mario Kart GP at full speed. I have to skip every other frame so I would say two instances on the Wii might be too much even on a lower level code.

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TheManuel
I have a 700MHz PIII based Celeron on my MAME machine (soon to be upgraded) and it can't run even Mario Kart GP at full speed.

This will not be as clear cut as you might imagine. How many other programs you have running (and what they are) will drastically affect performance of the machine in general. Then more specific to the emulator will be what rendering method you are using (DirectX, OpenGL, Windows GDI), combine that with your graphics card.

One of my machines has a 1.3GHz chip, but it runs dog slow on some gaming applications because the in-built graphics card isn't up to much, and I haven't bothered to replace it.

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whodares
This will not be as clear cut as you might imagine. How many other programs you have running (and what they are) will drastically affect performance of the machine in general. Then more specific to the emulator will be what rendering method you are using (DirectX, OpenGL, Windows GDI), combine that with your graphics card.
One of my machines has a 1.3GHz chip, but it runs dog slow on some gaming applications because the in-built graphics card isn't up to much, and I haven't bothered to replace it.

I had that system set up to favor emulation speed and used DirectX for video on VBA.
I have spent countless hours optimizing that system for emulation and found that some the items often cited as afecting emulation performance
are actually myths. The most ubiquitous of these myths is the video card. I challenge anyone to do A of B comparisons of on-board vs. AGP or PCI-e video cards running MAME, GBA or any other CPU intensive emulator that does not use the video card 3D acceleration features (Project64, Dreamcast emulators, etc.) and see if they can come up with any significant difference. I did this with several different video cards and came up empty. The only caveat here is that my tests were done with an AGP system so I don't know if there would be any difference with a PCI-e system but I doubt it.

Most emulators does intensive use of CPU, but not from GPU (video card). I mean, is good to have a video card, but when dealing with older systems emulation, the CPU speed does a much bigger diference. The exception, for now, is PS2 emulation. You need a great video card and a ultradupermega, NASA style, kickass CPU :P

oh, have they released a PS2 emulator for a PC yet? I have 2 quad processors and 16gigs of ram... I think I'd qualify for it :)