Extensible Loader

Pokitto Programming
81

Very nice and easy customisation! I cannot wait to test the loader and add Python script support :wink:

1 Like
82

The problem isnā€™t the burden of having to check,
the problem is what happens when you donā€™t and the pointer is null.

I learnt the word ā€˜segfaultā€™ very early in my C++ career :P
(Not that ā€˜segfaultā€™ applies to ARM, but itā€™s still nasal demon territory.)

Function pointers or std::function?

If itā€™s just function pointers, member functions wonā€™t be an option, member function pointers are fundamentally different beasts.

(Iā€™m assuming Widget::Widget is supposed to be a constructor?)

If I knew more about the innards of the existing file system Iā€™d have a go myself.
Unfortunately thereā€™s about 2-3 different file systems in use in PokittoLib so I have no clue which is capable of what.

1 Like
83

Directory navigation, long file names, flashing: done.
Now to implement support for progress barsā€¦

6 Likes
84

Function pointers, as I intend to call APIs from code that isnā€™t C++.
Member pointers can either be wrapped (void update(){ instance.update(); }) or declared static.

2 Likes
85

How did you manage to speed up the flashing so much?

86

The game I flashed in the video is small so it flashes quickly.
I havenā€™t done a speed comparison yet, so I donā€™t know how it compares to the original loader.

2 Likes
87

agape

How can I offer you a beer or two?

2 Likes
88

Very good progress! Maybe we soon see game icons tooā€¦ :slight_smile:

2 Likes
89

How about Pokitto games instead? Iā€™m looking forward to that platformer youā€™re working on. :wink:

Icons are a chicken and egg problem: none of the games have icons because they werenā€™t needed yet. Now that I need them, there arenā€™t any.
Iā€™m thinking that for the first release I could use a full screenshot instead, since that is easier to make.

4 Likes
90

What dimensions are they? Iā€™ll put together icons for my games over the weekendā€¦

[edit] How are theseā€¦
sensitive_icon pokittaire_icon pokittris_icon

5 Likes
92

I can make those work with these:

But, unless we settle on a common palette (pico-8?), we probably canā€™t do something like this:

Iā€™m OK either way, but we have to decide which restriction we prefer: only one icon on screen at a time or a standard 16-color palette?

2 Likes
93

Some alternatives:

  • Use the palette of the selected image, but grey the other images out
    • Optional: have 2-4 colours fixed (e.g. black, white, two greys) and 12-14 colours settable per image
  • Use the palette of the selected image, and just let the other images use incorrect colours
  • A standard palette for small icons and a custom palette for enlarged icons
  • A standard 4-colour palette :P
2 Likes
94

I actually like the ā€œ4-colour paletteā€ option as text would look much better in mode 1.

We could go for all of the above alternatives and the tool used to make pop files would generate all the necessary images.

95

I think a standard 16-color palette is just fine for icons. I would like to see mostly icons and pictures instead of texts in the UI. Besides, if 16 colors was enough for the mighty Commodore 64 that shall be enough for us too.:wink: Thought the Pico-8 palette might be better.

1 Like
96

So would I. The problem is text is unavoidable because of directories and games that donā€™t have icons.

1 Like
97

You could still have a default ā€œNo iconā€ icon. :wink:

98

Yes, but you canā€™t have icons instead of text.
Imagine something like this where a bunch of icons are just pictures of a gameboy. :stuck_out_tongue:

2 Likes
99

Canā€™t the loader display a part of the file name for the text?

And I think itā€™s possible to extract a game name from a rom if I remember right?( Would work only for the game on ROMs, I know)

100

Yes, but that goes back to the point I was trying to make: text is unavoidable.

101

Oh yes sorry. I think I missed that part.