The Dink Network

I'm thinking about putting Dink on my GBA (Closed)

December 10th 2004, 11:56 PM
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golddbz2000
Ghost They/Them
 
Hey everyone, golddbz2000 here. I've never posted yet, just voyuered...anyways, I love Dink. I think anyone still messing with this game will attest to that. But I love it so much, I was thinking about converting it for gameboy advance. "How? Why? Huh?" you may ask? well, I just feel like it. But I need some help.

First, I wonder if anyone even cares. Do you? Let me know please or else I will keep my project to myself and won't release the game publicly. Anyone want to help? let me know that too. Also, I just want to know what people think about this idea. So lets talk about it here.

To give you an idea, I want to:

A) convert the game from pc to GBA

B) be able to convert DMODS to play on the GBA version as well.

I know it can be awesome. so lets talk about it people.
December 11th 2004, 12:00 AM
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Ric
Peasant They/Them Canada
 
Awsome yes, but how can you input a pc program onto a cartridge?
December 11th 2004, 12:03 AM
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well, the sourcecode has been released to the public.

I am a programmer. I know how to read, write, edit, and screw up programs. the code is all done, I just need to reverse engineer it for GBA. the hardest part in my opinion may be the images though...I think it can be done. there are many great libraries for the GBA and the language of choice is C (same as Dink); its feasible in theory.
December 11th 2004, 12:34 AM
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Striker
Noble She/Her United States
Daniel, there are clowns. 
I remember talk of this back when the GBA first came out. Of course, back then the Dink source wasn't public. I think it would be quite awesome, should you be able to pull it off. Though, I don't think Nintendo would take too kindly to it.
December 11th 2004, 12:35 AM
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why do you think nintendo would have a problem with it? their are communities on the web where people create homebrew games for the GBA...they upload them to a cart or through a cable to the GBA. I dont think its fair to equate the fact that "Nintendo doesn't support the homebrew community" with Nintendo will discourage homebrew games.
December 11th 2004, 12:44 AM
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Striker
Noble She/Her United States
Daniel, there are clowns. 
If you look at their company history, Nintendo has been VERY protective of their products and doesn't like people messing with them. However, since you obviously won't be selling the cartridges, they may not care. They might also simply have no grounds to do anything. Just thought I'd throw that warning out there.
December 11th 2004, 12:48 AM
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hey thanks for playing devil's advocate; it's never the popular role, but is often the most critical one. To answer a question though, I would not want to sell the game; but I would like to see it distributed somehow (don't know how). maybe RT soft would like to showcase it to a GBA publisher... it could happen... But thanks for the comment...
December 11th 2004, 11:42 AM
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emotion
Peasant He/Him
 
I think your use of grammar and vocabulary is absolutely fantastic golddbz2000, obviously not a foreigner?

EDIT : But I didn't say I could spell did I
December 11th 2004, 11:58 AM
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redink1
King He/Him United States bloop
A mother ducking wizard 
Yes, this would indeed be awesome.

There are two ways to do the graphics that I've thought of:

The standard playing field of a D-Mod is 600x400, where the resolution of the GBA is 240x160. This is a factor of 2.5... so if you made the status bars and such over-lays on the screen, then you could just shrink all of the graphics, by 2.5 and change the coordinates accordingly. (Example).

Or, you could try to make the playing field full resolution, and have the GBA display a small portion of the screen based around Dink's location. (Example).

December 11th 2004, 12:24 PM
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I think YOUR use of grammar and vocabulary is absolutely fantastic as well.
December 11th 2004, 12:29 PM
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Christiaan
Bard They/Them Netherlands
Lazy bum 
oh god. the second shot is awful.
but indeed, gba dink would certainly rock.
December 11th 2004, 12:29 PM
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merlin
Peasant He/Him
 
Ahh, here come the legalities:

1) You need Seth's written permission to use his graphics, sound, and scripts. He made that very clear in his release of the source code.
2) The source code not only sucks hard ass, but it relies on DirectX. You'd have to rewrite half the thing for it to work.
3) I sincerely doubt there is enough space on the GBA cartridge to hold the game. Even if you managed to compress the data you would still need extra space to decompress it.
4) Not only would you have to rewrite half of it for the graphics, you would have to rewrite the other half for the audio, input, and filesystem.
December 11th 2004, 05:36 PM
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Tal
Noble He/Him United States
Super Sexy Tal Pal 
Hm, I smell Jamie.
December 11th 2004, 09:36 PM
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joshriot
Peasant They/Them United States
keep it real 
i think merlin might be right about the other stuff, but i know for sure there is no way that seth would NOT allow a free and legal dink for GBA.
December 12th 2004, 01:31 AM
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hey guys, sorry i couldn't reply earlier; Christmas shoppers chewed me up today (well, saturday), and spit me out. I hate to shop...anyways, I have been thinking for about 2 minutes now about what you guys said earlier today. If I may give my two cents in the community "take a penny, leave a penny" bowl...

1) for the use of sounds, scripts, and blah blah -- I thought he (seth) stated that as long as the "terms of use" info is complete with the game, AND you have written permission, you may distribute the game in some form or fashion commercially. Now, naturally, I'm not quoting scripture here and saying this is the exact intent. But that's my interpretation on the matter. Correct me if I'm wrong, please.

2)on the matter of directX -- crap. But if doesn't rely on directX, then Great! Otherwise, well...sorry, I had a midthought. I could rewrite some parts of the code. But, then again, doesn't everyone rewrite some code depending on the transitions of systems, consoles, whatever else...? Wouldn't mind doing it, but that doesn't mean I would like it. Kudos to merlin for thinking of the part that would proly suck the most then. ugh, just thinking about it makes me sick.

3) Good News though! Graphics would be a breeze for me! I am a webmaster. so what, right? well, I have to work with regular, boring programming stuff all day, but I also spend a lot of time with Macromedia Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks (eat it Adobe!) and, well, all of the Mac stuff. Enough digressing! I can convert the images though VERY easily; and could even update them if I felt like it.

4) Audio -- on the GBA is relatively easy, just convert and save to cart. But it would take up some space.

5) filesytem -- yah, this would suck because I'm not sure what you mean. please explain.

6) Jamie, I don't know who you are, but if I smelled something, it would probably be you.

7) Finally, thanks for the compliments / criticisms! Much appreciated! This is what this whole thread is about. I will be starting to seriously look into the code next week guys. I'll keep you posted.
December 12th 2004, 01:37 AM
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[side note] nice work redink, for 10 seconds I thought, "Alright! it's already been done!" but, wait, has it? Just kidding, good shots, I agree with christiaan, I like the first shot. Oh, and good work for already finding the dimensions for the images. Great stuff! nice job on sneaking in Visual Boy Advance in there too!
December 12th 2004, 02:39 AM
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merlin
Peasant He/Him
 
2) Dink relies on DirectX. It is required.

5) Filesystem: loading and saving of files to disk, name manipulation, etc.

One further question: How many buttons does the Gameboy have? 2? Dink needs 5.
December 12th 2004, 06:48 AM
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Arik
Peasant He/Him
 
GBA has a d-pad, two face buttons, two shoulder buttons and the start/select buttons, which is just enough for the 6 buttons used in the original game. Of course, whether this would make for a user friendly interface is another matter... fight/magic/talk/menu/inventory/map, correct? Those last three you don't really want on the main buttons, but after start and select you'll probably have to use the shoulder keys...
December 12th 2004, 06:48 AM
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Dukie
Peasant He/Him
 
The Gameboy Advance has 6 buttons, including start and select.
Another (small) problem solved!

EDIT: Arik posted the exact same minute.. dang him!
December 12th 2004, 09:44 AM
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redink1
King He/Him United States bloop
A mother ducking wizard 
Hmm... I think this would work:

B: Attack
A: Talk
R: Magic
L: Inventory
Select: Map
Start: Menu
December 12th 2004, 11:11 AM
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I think that button layout's great! I hope it can work out properly...I tried to display some of the tiles last night on GBA, to no avail...but I spent only 20 mins so...I will try again later today. When I start to have some substantial work, I will post up links. Keep up the great discussion guys; this helps me out with things I need to think of when designing it.
December 12th 2004, 04:50 PM
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The filesystem on the GBA is very easy to work with. Everything is stored in a flat file system; ie. everything is in one folder....and can be accessed by calling the address. So, with a large cart size, i think it can work. or a large harddrive to play it off of.
December 13th 2004, 01:12 AM
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well, I got a dink image working for the GBA. just thought you might want to see this. Note, I didnt do any editing to the picture except crop it from a print screen. the link is here...
December 13th 2004, 01:21 AM
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merlin
Peasant He/Him
 
That's not Dink. That's the editor.

Good job though.
December 13th 2004, 11:27 AM
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I know, but it's a Dink image of sorts...aghh..
December 13th 2004, 03:13 PM
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redink1
King He/Him United States bloop
A mother ducking wizard 
Still, that's farther than I ever got in GBA development. Good job
December 13th 2004, 11:35 PM
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today I recieved my ps2 network adapter in the mail. what does this mean? I will be timesharing work on Dink GBA and getting my ps2 setup with a hard drive to play ripped ps2 games. FYI...but, when I get frustrated (or bored, whichever comes first) I will be swapping my attention. This does not mean the project is dead! I will just be ripping ps2 games from gamesandflicks...
December 14th 2004, 01:47 AM
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what can I say, I get bored easily...I need some input guys. I need to get all the images of dink, but the file extensions are .ff...any ideas how to have them usable?
December 14th 2004, 01:50 AM
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carrie2004
Peasant She/Her Canada
*chomp* 
Ooooh..I know this...I got the bitmap pictures of all the dink pictures under the development downloads section..uh huh ....yup!
http://www.dinknetwork.com/display.cgi?action=File&ID=34

Drat...my links never work
December 14th 2004, 02:07 AM
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hey, thanks! oh, and to get your links to work, just use the html "<a>"nchor tag.
December 14th 2004, 02:07 AM
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i posted twice in same second! must be a double post!
December 14th 2004, 02:49 AM
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carrie2004
Peasant She/Her Canada
*chomp* 
I thought you had to use 'a href=' and then end with a '/a' ....isn't that right? But it never worked...so it must not be....??
December 14th 2004, 08:52 AM
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Glennglenn
Peasant He/Him Norway
GlennGlenn doesn't want a custom title. 
Like this: //YOu linka name goes here The links doesn`t work because of the double a just remove on eof the should only be one a
December 14th 2004, 10:24 AM
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<a' href="http://www.yourlinkhere.com">text you want linked</'a> -- do this, but without the single quotes in it.
December 14th 2004, 11:02 AM
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joshriot
Peasant They/Them United States
keep it real 
how about a tutorial on how to get these "ripped" ps2 games
December 14th 2004, 05:26 PM
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Hahaha,....that kind of content is for another thread...I haven't even finished getting the process working for myself right now... I will start a new thread tonight and post the information there.

I want this thread to be about Dink Gameboy Advance. Tonight I hope to get some sprites working and be able to have Dink walk around and stuff. I already got the land working...anyways, I want to post up a pre-alpha version within the week...keep your fingers crossed!
December 14th 2004, 07:28 PM
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merlin
Peasant He/Him
 
Question: Are you employed? You sure have a lot of free time.
December 14th 2004, 10:10 PM
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golddbz2000
Ghost They/Them
 
lol, yes, I have a full time job. I am a webmaster, in charge of 8 websites, for an insurance company. Besides having a full time job, I go to school full time as well. I have an undergraduate in Computer Information Systems (CIS) and am currently getting a MBA. And no, I'm not alone either....I have had a girlfriend for almost 5 years now and, today I just asked her father if I could marry her.

Oh, I to answer your question, I don't have a lot of free time, I just spend it wisely
December 14th 2004, 10:11 PM
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ok, back to working on Dink...
December 15th 2004, 08:15 PM
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yozz
Ghost They/Them
 
if you need something to test this little project of yours on an actual gba feast your eyes on this http://www.gameboy-advance.net/
i cant be bothered to set up the link. its basically a flash memory card for your gameboy.

also seeing as how this post gets quite a lot of views...im working on 7 epic sized D-Mods at once. they WILL kick ass
December 15th 2004, 08:31 PM
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merlin
Peasant He/Him
 
They will either:
a) Not kick ass.
b) Be finished in the year 2047.
c) You have an arrogance problem.
d) Some or all of the above.
December 15th 2004, 09:04 PM
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joshriot
Peasant They/Them United States
keep it real 
F) hasnt started them but thinks he will
December 15th 2004, 09:41 PM
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g. Still breastfeeds... or am I thinking of me?
December 15th 2004, 10:08 PM
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LadyValoveer
Peasant He/Him New Zealand
Mildly deranged. 
I didn't realise E was no longer part of the alphabet.
December 15th 2004, 10:24 PM
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Chrispy
Peasant He/Him Canada
I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to.I guess. 
Of course not. E is only for Encouragement, which is SORELY LACKING here.

Like jeeze, give the kid a break, okay?
December 16th 2004, 02:07 AM
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carrie2004
Peasant She/Her Canada
*chomp* 
I thought 'e' was for evil.Bwahahaha.
What part of the guy do you want me to break,Chrispy?
December 16th 2004, 07:28 AM
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yozz
Ghost They/Them
 
how bout z) they WILL kick ass and they will be finished by mid 2005 and you will all hail me as the greatest D-Mod creator of all time BWAHAHAHAHA...ha.. ahem or not
December 16th 2004, 07:30 AM
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yozz
Ghost They/Them
 
incidently, carrie when was dink threatened in golden buddha, ive finished it and i wasnt threatened once
December 16th 2004, 08:47 AM
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carrie2004
Peasant She/Her Canada
*chomp* 
Yeah,I don't recall any threats either.
But then I didn't say it,redink1 did.
December 16th 2004, 12:14 PM
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yozz, thanks for the help. but,

A) I already have a kick butt card, and

B) as a programmer, why would I waste time trying to flash my cart everytime I do a build?

I use visualboy advance (google it) to test my Dink version. I appreciate your help, but please, go dump your arrogance on the thread "I'm yozz, hear me roar" or something stupid along those lines...oh, BTW thanks for posting up the http://www.gameboy-advance.net/
link... not mine but known about it for 1.5 years, great site too!
December 17th 2004, 11:03 AM
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yozz
Ghost They/Them
 
i can be arrogant anywhere i dang well please
October 10th 2010, 05:23 AM
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Quiztis
Peasant He/Him Sweden bloop
Life? What's that? Can I download it?! 
#%&$?#%?#!!
October 10th 2010, 06:41 AM
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kenji720rs
Peasant He/Him Australia
👾~ #беспл 
The duck dinkdoodler? Please stop reviving old threads.
October 10th 2010, 07:01 AM
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Skull
Peasant He/Him Finland bloop
A Disembodied Sod 
I smell a ban(ana) coming up.
October 10th 2010, 07:37 AM
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magicman
Peasant They/Them Netherlands duck
Mmmm, pizza. 
Nice olfaction you have there. I just happen to be eating one
October 10th 2010, 10:05 AM
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Was that duck or the other duck that is implied as @#$%? WHO YA TALKIN TO!
October 10th 2010, 11:35 AM
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If you want to discuss Dink on GBA, create a new thread rather than picking up one that's older than sharkbanana.