Gameboy Development Forum

Discussion about software development for the old-school Gameboys, ranging from the "Gray brick" to Gameboy Color
(Launched in 2008)

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#1 2015-07-31 00:32:14

NicklausW
Member
Registered: 2014-02-09
Posts: 22

Why do people still use GBDK?

Just...why? It's an outdated piece of crap.

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#2 2015-08-01 18:40:29

Xephyr
Member
From: France
Registered: 2015-02-26
Posts: 59

Re: Why do people still use GBDK?

It's faster to program with GBDK if you know C and not assembly, and if your project doesn't need anything really complicated.

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#3 2015-08-01 20:01:06

Scazon
Member
From: Boston, MA
Registered: 2015-06-14
Posts: 24
Website

Re: Why do people still use GBDK?

I'm a game designer, not a programmer. I don't have the time/patience to learn assembly when I could quickly make a few prototypes in C.

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#4 2015-08-07 20:30:44

a cat
Member
Registered: 2014-07-27
Posts: 98

Re: Why do people still use GBDK?

if someone could make a modern gbdk it would be great though
sdcc(a modern c compiler) can compile for the game-boy
all that is needed is for someone to write a c standed library for use with sdcc and the gameboy and we have a awesome modern compiler for the gameboy

here's a thred on the sdcc forums about compiling sdcc for the gameboy:
http://sourceforge.net/p/sdcc/discussio … /e04ebcc5/


Dose anyone know how to write a very simple standerd library for the gameboy?


a cat in need of knowledge!!

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#5 2016-03-22 18:10:55

d.bop
Member
From: Duluth, MN
Registered: 2016-03-22
Posts: 14

Re: Why do people still use GBDK?

First, sorry for bumping an old topic.

Second: First post! Woohoo!

On-Topic:
I *may* pick up this project. I have over a decade (off and on) of C/++/# experience. Right now, I'm learning RGBDS because I just couldn't click with the mess that is GBDK.


Some background:
I was originally working on a Wii U game that was very strictly based on the CGB's specs (to the point that I have a mostly working graphics engine written in C# that loads GB binary format tiles/maps/palettes/etc, and mimics the behavior of the background, window, GB-specific registers, memory locations, etc..) I decided if I was going to go this far, and with the "NX" coming sometime soon, I should just learn to code on the real thing, make the game, and port it over. Obviously having a C-variant environment would be ideal for porting to a modern platform so this idea has been on my mind for some time (including a GB-specific IDE, but that's for another time...) smile

With that being said, once I feel pretty grounded, I *might* take a stab at this (ok, I most likely will). It probably won't be very good in the beginning, and will only provide a few global shortcuts for GB register locations like LCDC, STAT... but it'll be something.


It might take a while until I get to this. Day-job and all... but it definitely seems like a do-able project. Especially since SDCC seems to already do the hard part for us.

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#6 2016-03-24 18:58:05

MrElephant
Member
Registered: 2014-01-29
Posts: 40

Re: Why do people still use GBDK?

D.bop I hope what you say is true, it would be pretty awesome to have an updated gbdk.  Anyways, welcome to the forum, and I hope you learn a lot smile


Working in Gameboy BASIC.

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#7 2016-03-24 21:39:29

d.bop
Member
From: Duluth, MN
Registered: 2016-03-22
Posts: 14

Re: Why do people still use GBDK?

I definitely plan on it. I'm still an assembly newbie though, so it might be a while.

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#8 2018-02-19 06:35:28

Millahardman
Banned
From: UK
Registered: 2018-02-19
Posts: 1

Re: Why do people still use GBDK?

GBDK is easier to maintain.Thats why everyone use it.

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#9 2018-02-19 07:28:48

ISSOtm
Member
From: Somewhere in Echo RAM
Registered: 2017-04-18
Posts: 160
Website

Re: Why do people still use GBDK?

NECROBUMP
POWAAA


GBDK is a huge mess, and the project was unmaintainable that a newer version had to be made instead of changing the current one.

C can feel easier to maintain, but I think that applying OOP concepts (encapsulation, mostly) greatly helps maintaining C code, and even more so ASM.
Also, there aren't more C users than ASM users. GBDK is the only large C framework, so that's why it's widely used -- but there's a project of a newer framework, that should be as easy to use (probably not, since we would drop some of the abstractions), but less of a pain to give support for.
Because honestly, when something goes wrong with GBDK-using code, nobody has any idea what is wrong. (75% of the time.)


The French Lord Of Laziness.
Legend of Zelda and Undertale fan, I also tend to break Pokémon R/B/Y a little too much.

Twitter | Me on GCL | Discord : ISSOtm#9015 | Skype : isso.tm (I don't login anymore)

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#10 2018-02-23 10:03:23

nitro2k01
Administrator
Registered: 2008-02-22
Posts: 242

Re: Why do people still use GBDK?

ISSOtm, would you believe that Millahardman was just a spammer? Doing "SEO" by putting a link to a retirement home (!) in the website field.


Blog: Gameboy Genius
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step"
Old Chinese Proverb

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#11 2019-08-06 10:34:01

FLOZz
New member
From: Lyon, France
Registered: 2019-08-06
Posts: 2

Re: Why do people still use GBDK?

a cat wrote:

if someone could make a modern gbdk it would be great though
sdcc(a modern c compiler) can compile for the game-boy
all that is needed is for someone to write a c standed library for use with sdcc and the gameboy and we have a awesome modern compiler for the gameboy

here's a thred on the sdcc forums about compiling sdcc for the gameboy:
http://sourceforge.net/p/sdcc/discussio … /e04ebcc5/

Dose anyone know how to write a very simple standerd library for the gameboy?

There is now an updated version of the GBDK libraries that allows to compile with a modern SDCC version. It is called GBDK-n → https://github.com/andreasjhkarlsson/gbdk-n

I used to have a lot of trouble when I was working on a game (Evoland GB) using GBDK and its old, crappy compiler. SDCC + GBDK-n solved all issues I had smile

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#12 2019-11-17 17:03:23

Racsov
New member
Registered: 2019-11-17
Posts: 2

Re: Why do people still use GBDK?

FLOZz wrote:

a cat wrote:

if someone could make a modern gbdk it would be great though
sdcc(a modern c compiler) can compile for the game-boy
all that is needed is for someone to write a c standed library for use with sdcc and the gameboy and we have a awesome modern compiler for the gameboy

here's a thred on the sdcc forums about compiling sdcc for the gameboy:
http://sourceforge.net/p/sdcc/discussio … /e04ebcc5/

Dose anyone know how to write a very simple standerd library for the gameboy?

There is now an updated version of the GBDK libraries that allows to compile with a modern SDCC version. It is called GBDK-n → https://github.com/andreasjhkarlsson/gbdk-n

I used to have a lot of trouble when I was working on a game (Evoland GB) using GBDK and its old, crappy compiler. SDCC + GBDK-n solved all issues I had smile

Nice observation! I am trying this to see if it helps. Thanks for sharing smile

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#13 2019-11-17 19:03:52

Ardis
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2019-06-06
Posts: 58
Website

Re: Why do people still use GBDK?

I use GBDK because my existing knowledge of C# from working with Unity carries over nicely, letting me just dive into making my game without having to learn a new programming language from the ground up. I told myself long ago, before I even learned my first programming language, that I wouldn't learn assembly language unless I was being paid to do so.

Making this game was just a little side project while I took a break from my main game. And this actually taught me a lot. I didn't know about switch statements (which I just found out, while typing this post, Unity also supports) until working on this game and those will make my other game run so much better!


Also known as Arvex in other places.

Interceptor (Demo)
https://arvex.itch.io/interceptor

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