[SDL] Welcome GSoC Students!

[Darren Alton]

On Tue, 2008-05-20 at 01:01 -0500, Samwyse wrote:
> neil at cloudsprinter.com wrote:
> >> Darren Alton:
> >> Darren is an undergrad in computer science, and will be porting
> SDL 
> >> 1.3 to the Nintendo DS, using the hardware capabilities of the DS
> to 
> >> showcase the new features in SDL 1.3.
> 
> The last few days, I've been thinking about porting Python to the DS. 
> Of course, I'll be wanting a graphics library, which just today led
> me 
> here.  I was pleasantly surprised to see this post.

And I'm pleasantly surprised to see this one!  I've been learning bits
and pieces of python in my off time, and it would be really cool to have
on the DS too.

> Has anyone gotten multi-screen support into SDL yet?  It would be a 
> requirement for the DS, but the stuff I've googled seems to indicate 
> not.  Darren should alread know this, but the DS has dual screens;
> the 
> lower has an integrated touch pad, the upper is display only.  SDL
> would 
> need, if not full support for multiple screens, at least an 
> SDL_DISPLAYONLY_SCREEN or SDL_SECONDARY_SCREEN flag to pass to 
> SDL_SetVideoMode().

I think that in the grand scheme of things, an "SDL_SECONDARY_SCREEN"
would be insufficient; what if there are more than two screens?
Ideally, it'd support arbitrarily many (the zero-one-infinity rule),
although I'll only be working with two.
int SDL_GetNumVideoDisplays(void);
int SDL_SelectVideoDisplay(int index);
int SDL_GetCurrentVideoDisplay(void);
The above are some lines from SDL-1.3-svn that appear relevant.  =)

> > i've been thinking about geting a flash rom for my ds for SDL for
> ages, guess
> > after this chap has worked his majik i will have to!
> > 
> > anyone reccomend a DS flash rom kit?
> 
> I own the Datel Games-n-Music.  Pro: Available at Best Buy and
> Walmart. 
>   Con: Generally agreed to be the worst possible flash rom.  Based 
> entirely off of reviews, I'd say get the R4.

I own an R4 and a GBAMPv2; don't bother with the latter unless you wanna
get into GBA homebrew as well (there exists a GBA port of SDL 1.2.3 too,
http://ftp.belnet.be/pub/mirror/ftp.suse.com/people/uli/SDL/SDL-1.2.3-gba.patch).  The R4 is nice and convenient, but there are some better alternatives nowadays.  If you want something a little nicer (and possibly with a bit more bang for your buck) than the R4, I'd recommend the CycloDS Evolution.  If you *really* want bells and whistles, look for the Acekard R.P.G..
http://electrobee.com/ is a good place to buy from; it's run by a
homebrewer and avoids association with software piracy, unlike many of
the other places where you can find such kits available for purchase.

--
Darren
http://lifning.americankryptonite.net/blag/