GBC Development

[JosephE]

So I've purchased a usb flash cartridge for mr. game boy color. I know C (not an expert by any means, I'm a self-taught student hobbyist), so I was wondering what kind of compilers and development libraries there are out there for me to play with. I guess the GCC compiler (through codeblocks) will compile ROMs? I really don't know anything about ROM development.

I guess I need to hunt down a good emulator for the sake of quicker testing, too. I've got a windows computer, so if you have a recommendation, please let me know!

Nice forum, Mr. Ben, by the way!

[gumbyx84]

Compiling your own games is not an easy task. i tried my hand at DS development and it took a lot of effort to get the libraries working in a decent IDE.

GCC is an open-source C and C++ compiler. You can use it in a Windows environment, but you will have to install a few things to get it working. Then you will need to find homebrew development libraries and get those working with GCC. I'm not sure if GBC development libraries exist anymore. A google search will be your best bet to find it.

Lastly, if you DO end up sticking with GCC, you will need to get another app to actual write the code in. GCC is only a compiler, not a development environment (IDE). You can use Notepad, but I would recommend using something like Notepad+ which has C syntax highlighting. If you can find libraries and a tutorial of how to get it to work, I would recommend using Microsoft's development suite, Visual Studio. There are stand-alone version for specific languages (C, Java, etc) available from MS for free.

[JosephE]

Thanks, gumby.

After much searching, i have found this: http://www.loirak.com/gameboy/gbprog.php

I was able to compile a sample gameboy application from the directions there, and I loaded it up in some emulator I found, and it works as expected. So I know what I'll be studying in my free time...

[smitty]

Gumby, if you're still interested in the DS, PALib makes it really easy. Of course, I don't know much about compiling, because Ubuntu came with some stuff and everything else I downloaded from PALib, and then I could just use the make command with a source file and it magically spat out an .nds file.