MP Tracker for Nintendo GBA and Nintendo DS?

Species 8472 · December 16, 2005, 20:54:39

Hi!

Anybody here use MP Tracker to produce music for Nintendo DS and GBA?

I'd like to exchange tricks with you guys! Do you also uses an other software to produce your music for those platform?
And what about the Nintendo DS? Do you uses a tracker software or do you use a midi sequencer with DLS samples?

Let's share a bit about that!

FreezeFlame(Alchemy) · August 17, 2013, 12:12:55

Same question here $:-\$ .

But i can tell you some interessting things hovewer.

The GBA (Game Boy Advance) doesn't have an sound chip,but instead,it uses the Z80 co-processor and its own CPU for sound production and output.The big problem in most GBA games is that it has to use sound mixing to get the job done,since there are only 2 DMA sound channels ( for 8-bit output,the mixing allows up to 12 monophonic channels to be used,maybe even more).Most Advance games use the Sappy sound engine for the mixing.I read that it supports MIDI and tracker modules of various kinds (my guess is .s3m and .mod).There are many sound engines for the GBA available,but the best thing to do is making one yourself (even if it sounds really bothersome).

About the DS,it has 16 hardware sound channel.All sound is handled by the ARM7 co-processor (side note:the GBA processor).Same like the GBA,you have to spare some CPU cycles for sound.So far,the best bet for DS music is using tracker modules rather then MIDI and sound codec,since there not to heavy for the CPU to handle.

Thats all i know

.

Saga Musix · August 17, 2013, 16:41:47

I have composed several songs for DS games and demos. There is a library to play standard module music (including XM/IT) on the DS, and it worked well enough. It probably didn't exist back in 2005 when this question was asked, but now you can definitely simply create a normal module in OpenMPT and use it on the DS. As long as you don't use fancy stuff like stereo samples and resonant filters, it works.

FreezeFlame(Alchemy) · August 18, 2013, 05:06:12

Thanks for the info Saga Musix

.

Have you got any ideas for GBA composement (i know that an sound engine is needed,but unlike me,you can program)?

Saga Musix · August 18, 2013, 16:11:13

I was never asked to make music for the GBA nor do I own one, but a quick search for "GBA module player" on your favourite search engine will give you plenty of results.

Edit: answered in wrong topic

FreezeFlame(Alchemy) · August 18, 2013, 19:36:30

I actualy did my research intesively...

Found some nice results (like an sound engine that can seperate samples from MOD files and reuse them as sound effects or simply instruments,saving up some storage space).

Only thing missing is learning how to code in C++...
Any kind of sugestions?

Saga Musix · August 18, 2013, 20:26:25

I don't really know if C++ would be the most suitable language for GBA development. C works well on the DS, but I have no idea about GBA. But since I only ever developed for PC, I can't really give you any reliable help there.

FreezeFlame(Alchemy) · August 19, 2013, 09:07:03

Any kind of help is welcome.And actualy,i did tried to learn the original C language (before i knew about the fact that C++ can be used for GBA and DS development to).

But,what is my reply on that other topic doing here?

Saga Musix · August 19, 2013, 11:53:11

Quote from: Alchemy on August 19, 2013, 09:07:03
Any kind of help is welcome.And actualy,i did tried to learn the original C language (before i knew about the fact that C++ can be used for GBA and DS development to).

I'm not sure I can provide any help if you don't ask any actual questions.

QuoteBut,what is my reply on that other topic doing here?

I noticed that I posted in the wrong topic after logging in and you replied to my post in the wrong topic as well, so I moved them back to the correct topic.

FreezeFlame(Alchemy) · August 19, 2013, 12:55:10

Well,that was not exacly an question.Here's the real one i forgot to put up in my last post.
Can you if possible show me how C programming works and how one can program with it?

Saga Musix · August 19, 2013, 13:11:19

I don't really have enough spare time available for teaching people programming basics. There are countless good beginner tutorials out there. I don't know which ones work best for the platform you want to program on, so maybe it's better to start on simple PC games and once you got the gist of that, read up more on handheld game development. Many things are identical on PC and handhelds of course, but I would think that most general beginner tutorials are not made for handhelds (unless libraries like SDL exist on the GBA / DS).

FreezeFlame(Alchemy) · August 19, 2013, 14:16:12

Ok,thanks for the tips.

FreezeFlame(Alchemy) · November 17, 2013, 00:19:28

BTW,how many channels were you allowed to use when you composed music for the DS?
I know that the DS got an 16 channel limit,but it can be extended to like 30 with sound mixing.Am just curious,never did any GBA music neither DS.

Saga Musix · November 17, 2013, 17:52:19

No, it was hardware mixing, I don't think there would be much CPU left for doing any software mixing in a demo.

FreezeFlame(Alchemy) · November 17, 2013, 23:32:59

Ok.I have little idea how many channels can be made usable with hardware mixing.
Still,if the DS got an Linear intrerpolation (useful for 8 bit compressed samples) maybe it can be to possible on the GBA (since the same type of audio handling processor is used),any idea Saga?