Hacking Running DS homebrew on a 3DS...

[AerosolSP]

Is there a way for emulators to access the 3DSes added power for things like...emulation? Is the DS mode hardware-restrictive or is it simply a software implementation that emulators can bypass?

 

[DinohScene]

For now, you're stuck in DS/DSi mode.

Once they've broken the 3DS security we'll see more powerfull emulators etc.

 

[AerosolSP]

Hrm...doesn't the DSi have a little more power than the DS anyway?

EDIT: Scratch that I just checked it out. The DSi is a little more powerful. Are there any emulators that can use a little more juice on the 3DS in DSi mode?

 

[DinohScene]

You'll need a DSTwo (onboard RAM and CPU) for more powerful emulators (still runs in DSMode)
or a Cyclo iEvo (runs in DSi mode) but I have no idea if any DSi homebrew is compatible with it.

If you really want powerful emulators, then the DSTwo is your best option.

 

[AerosolSP]

It depends on how much of a difference the DSTWO's hardware makes to emulation. Everyone I talk to that I just ask "best flashcart that can run on the 3DS" they immediately say Acekard 2i. There's gotta be a reason for that.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

It depends on how much of a difference the DSTWO's hardware makes to emulation. Everyone I talk to that I just ask "best flashcart that can run on the 3DS" they immediately say Acekard 2i. There's gotta be a reason for that.

DSTwo is the more expensive, more featured one. It includes the onboard RAM and CPU which allow it more power to emulate things like SNES and GBA. The Acekard 2i is the budget card, it's extremely reliable if you get one of the good builds (which you should by now) and is cheap. But you definitely get your moneys worth. I got one when they were just released and it's still working hard for me today It's about...$35-$40 for a DSTwo and only about $15 for the Acekard 2i.

 

[DinohScene]

It depends on how much of a difference the DSTWO's hardware makes to emulation. Everyone I talk to that I just ask "best flashcart that can run on the 3DS" they immediately say Acekard 2i. There's gotta be a reason for that.

DSTwo is the more expensive, more featured one. It includes the onboard RAM and CPU which allow it more power to emulate things like SNES and GBA. The Acekard 2i is the budget card, it's extremely reliable if you get one of the good builds (which you should by now) and is cheap. But you definitely get your moneys worth. I got one when they were just released and it's still working hard for me today It's about...$35-$40 for a DSTwo and only about $15 for the Acekard 2i.

The more detailed explaination of my reply.
Nice to know a fellow launchday DSTwo user!

 

[Deleted-236924]

Because they're not looking at everything.
Sure, AKAIO is great. But we're looking at emulation here, no?
The DSTwo has a GBA/SNES emulator that can run on the 3DS, while the AK2i doesn't.

As an added bonus, when an important(read: popular) NDS game comes out, every noob is going to request a patch immediately.
From my past experience, kernel updates for the DSTwo happen pretty fast when needed.

AKAIO updates more slowly, but when it does, NDS compatibility is on-par with the DSTwo.

 

[AerosolSP]

I don't mind shelling out for the DSTwo if it's quantifiably better than the Acekard 2i. As far as I understand, it only emulates the Snes and the GBA natively, and I can't even find any information on the Snes one. I'll have to find out how it runs other, non-native emulators before I can fully commit to grabbing one and a 3DS with it (just missed on those Zelda ones!).

 

[DinohScene]

The GBA and SNES emulator can be downloaded on the SC website.

I suggest reading the DSTwo F.A.Q.
http://gbatemp.net/topic/290190-the-supercard-dstwo-beginners-guide/

 

[AerosolSP]

That doesn't address one important thing. Does the snes emulator display the full screen on the 3DS, or does it chop pieces of it off as if it were running on a DS? That'd annoy me to no goddamn end. It did when I had a CycloDS on my DS Lite

 

[DinohScene]

The SNES Emu has a tiny part of the screen removed iirc.

However I don't know nothing about CATSFC (alternative SNES emu).
Mayby there it's fixed?

 

[AerosolSP]

I'm not holding out hope on that end. You'd need access to atleast DSi hardware to have the video processing hardware draw outside of what it considers the screen boundaries of DS mode.

A damn shame.

 

[totalnoob617]

yeah the dstwo also has a good MAME emulator that is exclusive to it and a video player , that is less impressive but still beter than just having dpg support and moonshell ,and the snes and i think the gba too emulator have screenshot thumbs for the save states and not just numbered slots which i like alot
plus i love imenu , my only real gripe with it is that there is no soft reset for most of the homebrew , im not sure other cards have it or not, but the dstwo only has a soft reset for its own emulators and not for mame though ,only gba and snes have it though and nds games any other homebrew you launch into you cant back out f without turning off the ds and rebooting the card i wish spinal could find a way to make all the homebrew able to be exited out of and back to his amazing imenu , then it would be perfect

 

[AerosolSP]

I'd imagine that the DSTwo would have a soft reset for anything made to run directly on it, rather than through the DS hardware. I dunno though, I'm not a programmer!

 

[Rydian]

That doesn't address one important thing. Does the snes emulator display the full screen on the 3DS, or does it chop pieces of it off as if it were running on a DS? That'd annoy me to no goddamn end. It did when I had a CycloDS on my DS Lite

It runs in DS mode. You get no benefit of the 3DS. The extra resolution? Unused. If it was cut off on the DS, it's cut off on the 3DS.

If you want handheld GBA/SNES emulation, I recommend a PSP instead or any DS model. Hell of a lot better.

 

[AerosolSP]

GBA/SNES emulation is just a bonus. I want a 3DS because I want to be able to play DS games and the 3DS games on the way. If I grab a PSP, I won't be able to play any DS games

 

[Rydian]

There's no guarantee that any current flash cart will be able to play 3DS ROMs (in fact there's a little evidence to the contrary).

 

[AerosolSP]

You misunderstood. I want a 3DS because I want to be able to play DS games and 3DS games. I didn't say I want a flashcart because I want to play DS and 3DS games! I want a flashcart so I can play DS games on my 3DS, which I want so that I can play 3DS games.

 

[Deleted-236924]

If you want handheld GBA/SNES emulation, I recommend a PSP instead or any DS model. Hell of a lot better.

It depends on the person, really.
I'd rather spend $30 for a DSTwo than spend [insert price here] for a PSP.
But you do get what you paid for. The GBA emulator on the DSTwo needs to have frameskip set to at least 2, else the sound crackles.
But I don't really mind the light frameskip, no matter the kind of game; even Metroid felt 100% enjoyable to me on the GBA emulator.
A RPG like Final Fantasy I&I, IV, V or VI would be pretty enjoyable even with the frameskip.

But the SNES emulator is bad for playing Super Mario World or Super Mario All-Stars, since you either can't see the ground or can't see the HUD without having a messed up picture.