Hacking Supercard DS TWO DS-GBA Linkage?

Dimensional · Apr 16, 2010

I know that many games allow for linking to a GBA game to get extra features, like for Pokemon you use the Pal Park to migrate from your GBA versions. Since the DSi doesn't have a Slot-2, how will these games, or flash carts, be able to perform that linkage? Because the Supercard DS Two would have a GBA emulator, would it also be able to emulate a linkage between a DS game, i.e. Pokemon Platinum, and a GBA game, i.e. Pokemon Emerald, that is stored on the cart?

I don't know if that would be part of the initial release of the firmware, but an update that would allow that would make the card very great, and wanted very badly. I just don't know if it would be possible at all.

Danny600kill · Apr 16, 2010

I'm sorry to say I don't think it will be possible as you wont be able to run both the Ds game and the GBA emulator at the same time due to hardware limitations, if there is another way round then it could be possible but I don't think so.

Sorry

ByteMunch · Apr 16, 2010

Could be possible, but I have no idea how the link works... Like will the GBA Pak need to be part-emulated? God, it's giving me a headache...

EDIT: God, I Can't type fast enough...

Dimensional · Apr 16, 2010

It's not running both games at the same time. I'm talking about the DS game on there seeing the GBA game and acting like it's actually in the slot-2. Just because a DS game see's the GBA game, doesn't mean the system is running both of them.

@SimpyDsi:

Maybe the firmware just needs to look for any protocol in a game asking to look for a GBA game, and automatically redirects it to the GBA game and it's save.

Dimensional · Apr 16, 2010

PharaohsVizier said:
Unlikely, I highly doubt it. Frankly I'd be more worried about how good the emulator is before worrying about all these side options

Well, that's the good thing. The GBA emulator would just be used to play the game and make the saves. All that would be needed is the Supercard firmware to be told to have this game and save ready for an emulated linkage, so that when a DS game asks what's in the 'slot-2', the firmware would just redirect the request and return the answer to the game you specified. For example, you start the flash cart, select the GBA, Megaman Battle Network 6, game and instead of telling it to run on the emulator, it just has it ready for the linkage. Then you start the DS, Megaman Starforce Leo, and one of the first things it does is ask what's in the slot-2. The flash cart detects that request and returns saying this game, where then it will act accordingly and unlock extra features.

Another example. Pokemon Ruby is set, and you start Pearl. It asks what's in the slot-2, and is returned with Ruby. You select to migrate, and it asks for the save data, which the Supercard redirects to the save file.

The emulator wouldn't be needed for any of this, except for if you have yet to even start the game.

Dimensional · Apr 16, 2010

PharaohsVizier said:
I'm not saying it's a bad thing to have more features or anything like that, I just highly highly doubt that the team has implemented this. Even if it is possible, I'm sure it'd be a lot more work that we can imagine, keep in mind that they still have to perfect all the other features. They should have their hands full already with features like GBA and SNES emulation.

I agree. I prefer they add it in after they get everything they already have perfected. I'm just stating an idea that could possibly be implemented to make it one of the best flash carts out there.

dudereno · Apr 16, 2010

Going by the performance of the iPlayer GBA emulator. Which was a quick and dirty port of gpSP. They are a million miles away from any kind of linkage. This of course is all idle speculation, till we get our filthy mitts on the real thing. I'm hoping they've put some serious work into the GBA functionality, otherwise there's gonna be a lot of disappointed early adopters, who unwisely might be expecting "perfect" emulation. When there's no such thing.

gameguy95 · Apr 17, 2010

Dimensional said:
PharaohsVizier said:

I'm not saying it's a bad thing to have more features or anything like that, I just highly highly doubt that the team has implemented this. Even if it is possible, I'm sure it'd be a lot more work that we can imagine, keep in mind that they still have to perfect all the other features. They should have their hands full already with features like GBA and SNES emulation.

Click to expand...

I agree. I prefer they add it in after they get everything they already have perfected. I'm just stating an idea that could possibly be implemented to make it one of the best flash carts out there.

only God is perfect

Dimensional · Apr 17, 2010

gameguy95 said:
Dimensional said:

PharaohsVizier said:

I'm not saying it's a bad thing to have more features or anything like that, I just highly highly doubt that the team has implemented this. Even if it is possible, I'm sure it'd be a lot more work that we can imagine, keep in mind that they still have to perfect all the other features. They should have their hands full already with features like GBA and SNES emulation.

Click to expand...

I agree. I prefer they add it in after they get everything they already have perfected. I'm just stating an idea that could possibly be implemented to make it one of the best flash carts out there.

Click to expand...

only God is perfect

Well, in order to be perfect, everything else around you has to be imperfect. That's why God made us. lol

9th_Sage · Apr 17, 2010

dudereno said:
Going by the performance of the iPlayer GBA emulator. Which was a quick and dirty port of gpSP. They are a million miles away from any kind of linkage. This of course is all idle speculation, till we get our filthy mitts on the real thing. I'm hoping they've put some serious work into the GBA functionality, otherwise there's gonna be a lot of disappointed early adopters, who unwisely might be expecting "perfect" emulation. When there's no such thing.

Well, there surely has been a lot of time since then, I've a feeling it's better now (certainly more time for development).

Dimensional · Apr 18, 2010

dudereno said:
Going by the performance of the iPlayer GBA emulator. Which was a quick and dirty port of gpSP. They are a million miles away from any kind of linkage. This of course is all idle speculation, till we get our filthy mitts on the real thing. I'm hoping they've put some serious work into the GBA functionality, otherwise there's gonna be a lot of disappointed early adopters, who unwisely might be expecting "perfect" emulation. When there's no such thing.

I'm not talking about the GBA emulator being used for the link. It's the Supercard firmware itself that handles the linkage, as it doesn't play the game. It would only set the gba game and the save on standby so that any DS game that have the linkage feature, ie Pokemon, would see that game and act accordingly.

ZenZero · Apr 23, 2010

actually... this feature was previously possible if you used a scds1 and a gba slot 2 supercard.

but i doubt it will be available on the ds2

Dimensional · Apr 28, 2010

ZenZero said:
actually... this feature was previously possible if you used a scds1 and a gba slot 2 supercard.

but i doubt it will be available on the ds2

Yes, but I'm talking about it being entirely on the flash cart. The linkage, instead of going to the slot-2, would be redirected to the GBA rom and save file on the flash cart, not on a slot-2 card. I would think with the extra processor that makes it capable of playing gba games on there, it would be able to handle the linkage all internally without having to communicate with any slot-2 hardware.

dhjohn · Apr 30, 2010

While no one can know for sure, the programmer in me is screaming that it would not be possible without a slot-2 card, simply because of the massive amount of editing that would have to happen to the nds game's code to trick it into looking on the flashcart for the game and save, rather than the gba slot. And if it was done, it would most likely be buggy.

Deleted-236924 · Apr 30, 2010

Why not just use DeSmuME for NDS-GBA linkage, then put back the save files on the microSD once you're done?

alphanemisis · May 3, 2010

or maybe use your normal ds/dslite do the migrate, save, and transfer the save to the superds2...i believe the eos on superds2 is going to use the same save files as super ds1 eos.

skullassfreak · May 9, 2010

I wish they would do this. I want to be able to play pokemon without having to keep track of all of the cartridges.

But now we know that the gba emulator is the same as the iplayer one which doesn't have great combatiblity so I doubt this feature will be implemented.

Dimensional · May 24, 2010

dhjohn said:
While no one can know for sure, the programmer in me is screaming that it would not be possible without a slot-2 card, simply because of the massive amount of editing that would have to happen to the nds game's code to trick it into looking on the flashcart for the game and save, rather than the gba slot. And if it was done, it would most likely be buggy.
I don't think it would require a rewrite of the nds game code, but instead just having the firmware set up to where you select the gba game and save before you start the game, and have the firmware detect any request from the NDS game for what's in the slot-2, and automatically redirect and point it instead to the gba game that was set to standby in the internal cpu. I'm only starting out as a programmer, so I might not know much, but I would think that with a cpu that is powerful enough to run an emulator to play GBA games, it should at least be powerful enough to have an intercept code in the firmware that would detect and redirect to the gba game instead of the slot-2 when a request is made in the NDS games.

QUOTE(skullassfreak @ May 9 2010, 09:02 AM) I wish they would do this. I want to be able to play pokemon without having to keep track of all of the cartridges.

But now we know that the gba emulator is the same as the iplayer one which doesn't have great combatiblity so I doubt this feature will be implemented.

Yes, but the SC team is working on the emulator, making it better. If they notice this topic, they would be the ones who says it can or can't be possible. I would love to see it happen, obviously. And for the last time, it's not the emulator that will be doing the linkage, it's the firmware. The emulator is only for if the NDS games accesses the save file of the GBA game, like Pokemon Diamonds migration feature, but the save file doesn't exist yet.

dhjohn · May 25, 2010

Dimensional said:
dhjohn said:

While no one can know for sure, the programmer in me is screaming that it would not be possible without a slot-2 card, simply because of the massive amount of editing that would have to happen to the nds game's code to trick it into looking on the flashcart for the game and save, rather than the gba slot. And if it was done, it would most likely be buggy.

Click to expand...

I don't think it would require a rewrite of the nds game code, but instead just having the firmware set up to where you select the gba game and save before you start the game, and have the firmware detect any request from the NDS game for what's in the slot-2, and automatically redirect and point it instead to the gba game that was set to standby in the internal cpu. I'm only starting out as a programmer, so I might not know much, but I would think that with a cpu that is powerful enough to run an emulator to play GBA games, it should at least be powerful enough to have an intercept code in the firmware that would detect and redirect to the gba game instead of the slot-2 when a request is made in the NDS games.

The only issue with that is that the game code is sent to the ds, and all executed on the ds itself (when running a ds game), rather than on the flashcart, so it can't simply intercept commands, but needs to rewrite them before sending the code, which wouldn't be all that big a deal if it just needed to for instance switch save types, but it'd need to alter where it looks for the data back to the flashcart itself.

coattails · May 25, 2010

This is never going to happen for the same reasons why the DSi can't access GBA mode. AFAIK, the DSi still has all the hardware required for GBA backwards compatibility minus slot-2. However, 'GBA mode' can only be accessed through code sent through slot-2 and this is completely inaccessible through a slot-1 cart. Running GBA mode off slot-1, would be like putting a dog in a room and waiting for a cat to come out.
The DS is programmed to look straight for slot-2 when it comes to accessing GBA features, so unless we can intercept and reroute that code to slot-1, linkage isn't happening. If we could do that, we wouldn't need a GBA emulator since we could just run .gba files off a slot-1 cart and tell the DS to use the hardware associated with slot-2.
I also highly doubt this could ever be done with the GBA emulator due to the amount of ram it would take. And the GBA emulator can barely stand up, I don't think it's going to be juggling and doing backflips anytime soon.

Hacking Supercard DS TWO DS-GBA Linkage?

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