< melonDS 0.6bNetwork support: in the works >
Slowdown
Jan 16th 2018, by Arisotura
What an original title.


Regardless, it's the case again. Real life is... still a bitch.

I need to change my phone plan, because while it was fine when I mostly used home internet, it sucks big time for more nomad uses. It's one of those plans that completely block internet access once you reach the data cap. So I'm going to switch to a plan with more data and that throttles speed instead of outright blocking. But in the meantime, I'm having trouble getting internet access.


As far as melonDS is concerned, I'm not quite sure what to try.


I have been trying to address the wifi stability issues, without much success. I have been doing a bunch of research on the multiplay communication thing and how it handles errors, thinking that properly handling those would make for a more stable connection (as opposed to always reporting success even when some data didn't make it through).

But so far, it has largely been a failure. At best, my attempts fixed nothing, and they generally made things worse.

I don't understand what it's expecting, so for now I'm putting this on the back burner.


Upscaling is a possibility, but as explained in a previous post, it's not all easy and nice. It'll also require writing a hardware renderer first, which could be a fun challenge.

There are quite a few tricks we can pull with modern OpenGL to emulate the DS GPU as accurately as possible. Obviously it would never get perfect, but we can get close.


Savestates are another avenue. Nothing really interesting though, it's mostly matters of properly saving and restoring all the emulator state. But it'd be one of the 'popular request' items.


In the less 'popular request' zone, what do we have? Bluetooth keyboard support for that Pokémon typing game. It'd be a fun little RE project, but it would only end up benefitting one game. Kind of an emulation white whale.


Oh well.
14 comments have been posted.
< melonDS 0.6bNetwork support: in the works >
poudink says:
Jan 17th 2018
"In the less 'popular request' zone, what do we have? Bluetooth keyboard support for that Pokémon typing game. It'd be a fun little RE project, but it would only end up benefitting one game. Kind of an emulation white whale."
I doubt many people would be interested in playing that game anyway lol
Shonumi says:
Jan 17th 2018
Adding for the Typing With Pokemon keyboard would be awesome. It's something I looked forward to emulating myself one day, but my work on NDS emulation has fallen behind. I'd definitely like to see that in MelonDS.
Str says:
Jan 17th 2018
Doesn't matter if it's popular or not, if you have fun working on it, it's worth your time. Try to not think too much about what you couldn't fix so far and focus on improving what is already working, we believe in your skills and you should too ;)
ShamanKing says:
Jan 17th 2018
StapleButter, keep up the good work, my man! The internet issues sound like a huge annoyance. We send you all the furyoku we have, channel it into melonDS development and hope you'll get through it!
Lurkon says:
Jan 17th 2018
Just work on what you want, don’t worry about the wifi issues. Try to have fun :)
Griever says:
Jan 17th 2018
You do you. Work on whatever you happen to feel like working on at the moment. Don't feel like working? Take a break. It'd be awesome if you tried to work on melonDS once a month or so even if only for a few hours to stay active, but if you think the project is causing too much stress or just don't feel like working on it anymore most will understand.

For now taking a break and trying to get away from the 'I need to do x' mentality and getting back to 'I want to do y' would probably help a lot.
Name says:
Jan 17th 2018
I really admire your work on melonDS. You don't owe anyone a perfect nds emulator, so don't worry about making melonDS one soon. Your effort is very much appreciated, so just focus on your life for now. Best wishes))
Wifall says:
Jan 17th 2018
What you could do, that would benefit some games is surely the GBA slot emulation. Popular games like Pokémon, Megaman and Mario does use that(and even unpopular ones like Lunar Knights). It's surely a thing to look forward too if you have enough time and interest to invest in it.
Corbin says:
Jan 17th 2018
Could a Bluetooth keyboard also work for games such as Scribblenauts?
Nick says:
Jan 17th 2018
Maybe do some side projects for wifi on low spec systems that are more open to see if you can understand what's going on better er I dunno lol. Anyway it's fun reading your updates and watching the progress, keep it up : )
Rin Tohsaka says:
Jan 19th 2018
「There are quite a few tricks we can pull with modern OpenGL to emulate the DS GPU as accurately as possible. Obviously it would never get perfect, but we can get close.」

Couldn't something like Vulkan help in this regard to accuracy?
Shale says:
Jan 19th 2018
We're pulling for you! You've done a great job so far, and I can't wait to see what comes next, no matter how long it takes.
Arisotura says:
Jan 24th 2018
Thank you folks! :)
hyarsan / Flooder says:
Jan 24th 2018
That's kinda depressing... I hope you still work on it like usual :D
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