Xband 2.0

Krazystyle83 · Post by **Krazystyle83** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 6:37 am

Small progress... But progress nonetheless!
The hardest part about the Xband 2 interface is that everything is dynamically generated. We don't just layout controls on a form. Hilariously most of the bugs I run into are Focus Related :/
You will be seeing a progress report tomorrow, with a lot of new stuff.

Hope everyone is having an epic start to this weekend!
-Krazystyle

Post by **Xranger60** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 11:53 am

Hey Krazy, in the context of the Xband client, what does it mean to be dynamically generated? Are you talking about some of the menu items being player specific? Or the fact that the layout changes option/menu to menu?

Sounds good, we appreciate the update!

Krazystyle83 · Post by **Krazystyle83** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 3:09 pm

In terms of dynamic generation - The whole client is layed out area by area in memory. When you move on to another part of the program that entire area is completely unloaded from memory to load the next. The advantages are not only saving RAM, but it's also quite a bit easier to debug.

Working with LagunaCloud for the past few years has been a pleasure, and am consistently learning better ways of coding things. The way I would've done this when I wasn't doing things dynamically would've lead to me laying out the gui in design mode. The disadvantages of doing this are horrendous as you're basically hiding and showing controls, which remain memory resident.

Post by **Xranger60** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 3:13 pm

Ah, so only the portion of the GUI that the user is viewing is loaded at a time. I can see how that would make things more compartmentalized and easy to work with.

Krazystyle83 · Post by **Krazystyle83** » Sun Oct 24, 2010 5:10 am

Pardon the skipping. Most of my development is done on a netbook currently. Please also remember none of this interface is final, nor am I currently using LagunaCloud's Awesome Xband 2 Character control to handle color switching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4KISWaE_jQ

Peace all

Post by **Xranger60** » Sun Oct 24, 2010 1:00 pm

Looking good so far!

segasaturndude · Post by **segasaturndude** » Sun Oct 24, 2010 1:40 pm

im just gonna wait till the servers for the original systems are up because i dont have a computer and i wouldnt want to hassle with all the stuff required to play on a computer

DrewBarbs · Post by **DrewBarbs** » Sun Oct 24, 2010 1:47 pm

Wow guys , this is some really cool work! I've heard about guys every now and then talk about how they'd plan on attempting a similar project, but you guys seem to have made some serious headway and have displayed the ability to see the project to completion! Im really excited to experience multiplayer snes the way it was back in the day!

Also, I'm in my sophomore year of college and will be majoring in Computer Science. Just this semester I've started learning about how the machine actually works, assembly for the x86 processor, etc. I know you said you guys would not be releasing the code for this project right away for good reason, but I cant wait to take a look at it as a learning experience, Id love to look at some assembly code of snes/genesis games and see if I can piece together what's going on under the hood!

segasaturndude · Post by **segasaturndude** » Sun Oct 24, 2010 1:57 pm

im surprized your only two years older then me, and actully played snes and genesis online. i envy you

rush6432 · Post by **rush6432** » Sun Oct 24, 2010 8:24 pm

segasaturndude wrote:im just gonna wait till the servers for the original systems are up because i dont have a computer and i wouldnt want to hassle with all the stuff required to play on a computer

once we release the specs on what speed cpu and how much ram you'll need for a desktop or laptop pc you can snag one. trust me its not going to cost much to run this setup at all hardly. As laguna and krazy have announced the xband 2.0 software will be free. hell you can get brand NEW desktop computers for about 300-400 dollars all said and done with everything you need..... but a used one can be had for 50-100 bucks probably that will run the software needed. Add another 20-30 dollars for joypad converter to use the real genesis or snes joypad and your set. just have to have internet access to make it work.

rush6432 · Post by **rush6432** » Sun Oct 24, 2010 8:28 pm

DrewBarbs wrote:Wow guys , this is some really cool work! I've heard about guys every now and then talk about how they'd plan on attempting a similar project, but you guys seem to have made some serious headway and have displayed the ability to see the project to completion! Im really excited to experience multiplayer snes the way it was back in the day!

Also, I'm in my sophomore year of college and will be majoring in Computer Science. Just this semester I've started learning about how the machine actually works, assembly for the x86 processor, etc. I know you said you guys would not be releasing the code for this project right away for good reason, but I cant wait to take a look at it as a learning experience, Id love to look at some assembly code of snes/genesis games and see if I can piece together what's going on under the hood!

Another machine you might look at is the atari jaguar.it used the 68000 processor with its many processors (gpu, dsp, OP,) for joystick and basics to setup the system and get going. very intresting machine to program for.
genesis code is pretty simple.

Krazystyle83 · Post by **Krazystyle83** » Sun Oct 24, 2010 9:20 pm

segasaturndude wrote:im just gonna wait till the servers for the original systems are up because i dont have a computer and i wouldnt want to hassle with all the stuff required to play on a computer

I'm sure between Laguna and Myself we can rustle you up parts for a decent computer sometime after we finish this project. We've got ALOT of good scrap parts at our disposal

Xband411 · Post by **Xband411** » Sun Oct 24, 2010 9:27 pm

segasaturndude wrote:im just gonna wait till the servers for the original systems are up because i dont have a computer and i wouldnt want to hassle with all the stuff required to play on a computer

Are you surfing the web on a game system now? The Wii? Just wondering.

segasaturndude · Post by **segasaturndude** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 12:04 am

i dont have that kind of money, the one thing that is in my price range is a sega genesis or snes with xband modem. ill just wait no matter how long it takes i really am looking forward to playing genesis or snes online again.

rush6432 wrote:
segasaturndude wrote:im just gonna wait till the servers for the original systems are up because i dont have a computer and i wouldnt want to hassle with all the stuff required to play on a computer
once we release the specs on what speed cpu and how much ram you'll need for a desktop or laptop pc you can snag one. trust me its not going to cost much to run this setup at all hardly. As laguna and krazy have announced the xband 2.0 software will be free. hell you can get brand NEW desktop computers for about 300-400 dollars all said and done with everything you need..... but a used one can be had for 50-100 bucks probably that will run the software needed. Add another 20-30 dollars for joypad converter to use the real genesis or snes joypad and your set. just have to have internet access to make it work.

GLAKENATOR · Post by **GLAKENATOR** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 12:14 am

Guys I gotta say that this Xband 2.0 project is such a sick idea. The fact that you guys already have some work done on it blows my mind (in the best possible way!)

Despite the fact that I've been a member here since the beginning, I'm ashamed to say that I've never actually used or seen an Xband in action (in person, at least), but I've hear numerous great stories and experiences people have had with it. I remember hearing about it back in the day and couldn't believe it was even possible.

Despite my lack of Xband experience I am a huge fan of the classic systems. I'd have to say I'm mainly a Genesis guy, but any of them still do the trick for me. I cant express how excited/happy I am to see the Xband coming back so I can finally have a chance to revel in its greatness.

Anyways I figured I'd put this out there but if you guys need help with anything at all (other than coding and actually putting the software together) just let me know and I'll be more than happy to lend my free time and energy towards this project.

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Xband 2.0