Coder's Cable creates game limits?

Post by **JS Lemming** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 5:17 pm

I was thinking. Does the coder's cable load the entire game file from the computer to the DC? Or does it simulate the CD reader and transfer data only when told? Because if it did send it all at once, wouldn't that make it where your games couldn't be over 16 megs? AND that would make it where you have to have every single image and music and sounds all loaded in memory at once... creating HUGE limitations. Are my theories true?

Post by **Falco Girgis** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 5:40 pm

Sorta.

Yes, everything must be loaded into RAM. Yes, your limits as far as that go would be 16 MB. I'm sure there are others ways as well. Tons of SDL ports use the CD subsystem and load off of CD.

I'm sure there's many ways around that.

Post by **Falco Girgis** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 3:58 pm

Really? I didn't know you could directly load from PC with the cable. That's pretty cool.

Tvspelsfreak · Post by **Tvspelsfreak** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 4:03 pm

No, there's no limitations at all.

You can load directly from the PC through the cable when needed, but it'd create extreme loading times. 16MB is overkill, the max transfer speed for the coders cable is 115200 bps.

You can also load from a CD, this is the preferred method for larger games.

Post by **JS Lemming** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 4:16 pm

I don't get it... so, the cable and program acts exaclty like the DC cdrom drive? O well, I'll ask in more detail when the time comes when I go over 16 meg.

Post by **Falco Girgis** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 4:36 pm

. . .

OMFG WTF?!

You're PLANNING on going over 16 meg? Holy crap. Okay, but you might not like that...

Post by **JS Lemming** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 7:33 am

Heh heh, you act like its my goal to go over 16 meg.

But then again, once you start having a bunch of music in yo game.... it could quickly add up. BTW, why do you convert your super small midi files to ogg files??? Why don't you just use midi?

Post by **Falco Girgis** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 8:35 am

By the time you include all the libraries and do all that crap just to play midis on DC, it might not be worth it.

I only had a few files, so .ogg was more convenient than the libraries.

I'd recommend the additional midi libraries though if you've got bunches of them.