Game Boy Advance Emulator

[davidmonterocrespo24]

If the SNES can be emulated, I think it would also be possible to emulate the game boy advance.
Isn't the emulator for the GBA in development?

[ducalex]

I've tried (and failed porting GBA emulators to the ESP32. Those that ran were nowhere near full speed. So I gave up. But if someone wants to try the challenge, I can confirm that I would indeed accept to merge GBA support into retro-go!

[davidmonterocrespo24]

I've tried (and failed porting GBA emulators to the ESP32. Those that ran were nowhere near full speed. So I gave up. But if someone wants to try the challenge, I can confirm that I would indeed accept to merge GBA support into retro-go!

Hello
do you have the repository of the emulator you tried to make?

[ducalex]

Unfortunately I deleted all those branches.

But the most successful attempt was with derivatives of https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/GpSP (I don't remember which one).

I also did get mGBA to run but it was too slow and it took a long time to reduce memory use enough. I wish I had kept it!

[davidmonterocrespo24]

Unfortunately I deleted all those branches.

But the most successful attempt was with derivatives of https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/GpSP (I don't remember which one).

I also did get mGBA to run but it was too slow and it took a long time to reduce memory use enough. I wish I had kept it!

It would be good to resume the project. If you create a repository capable of uploading some code and adding more people.
If you give me some basic instructions on how to start the migration, I can manage it.

[ducalex]

I've made a quick port of gbSP-libretro today: https://github.com/ducalex/retro-go/commits/gba/

It can play games but not very well. I don't know yet if I'll spend more time on it... But it's there, as a reference for anyone who wants it :)

Edit: There will be a downloadable build here in a few moments: https://github.com/ducalex/retro-go/actions/workflows/ci.yml?query=branch%3Agba (click top link, then artifacts at bottom)

[davidmonterocrespo24]

I've made a quick port of gbSP-libretro today: https://github.com/ducalex/retro-go/commits/gba/

It can play games but not very well. I don't know yet if I'll spend more time on it... But it's there, as a reference for anyone who wants it :)

Edit: There will be a downloadable build here in a few moments: https://github.com/ducalex/retro-go/actions/workflows/ci.yml?query=branch%3Agba (click top link, then artifacts at bottom)

Hi, great job!! amazing!!
Do you have any way to use a retro-go emulator on windows? How do you test it? Using the esp32 physically?

[ducalex]

Do you have any way to use a retro-go emulator on windows? How do you test it? Using the esp32 physically?

At the moment I only test on real hardware but there is some SDL2 support in retro-go.

In the past I have successfully built and run retro-go in Cygwin, MSYS2, and even TCC (though that won't work for gbsp). WSL2 would probably work too. No clue about VC++. These days I like to use https://github.com/skeeto/w64devkit/ with upstream SDL2.

But SDL2 support is very likely currently broken and I have no instructions or build script to offer unfortunately.

There's a ticket with some more details: #118

If you can get SDL2 in better shape, PRs welcome :)

[the-star-sea]

Hello, I am also very interested in the GBA support cuz I have bought a gamewatch Zelda and am a big fan of gba hack. I have gained both my MS and bachelor degree of CS and most of my experience is related to PyTorch... In my part time, I love crosscompiling some projects on my arm board and I wonder if I could try to solve this. Could u share more about how to debug the project especially on my game watch?

[ducalex]

@the-star-sea Development on the game and watch is quite different from the esp32 and I do not have a lot of experience with it. Their fork has also diverged quite a lot from mine, so it's best to see the two projects as being entirely different.

Maybe you can check their discord, I'm sure they'd be willing to guide you: https://github.com/sylverb/game-and-watch-retro-go?tab=readme-ov-file#discord-support-and-discussion

Good luck!