a 640x480 game on the gp2x?

[Holymonkey]

Hi everyone,

I've just discovered GameEditor and have started palying with the demo. I was wonderring if a game made for 640x480 screens would run properly (scaled to 320x240) on a gp2x, and would it display at full 640x480 res if the TV output was used?

thanks

[makslane]

Only 240x320 resolution (the native GP2X screen resolution) is supported.

[Holymonkey]

thanks for the info.

Do you know if there is any technical limitation behind this, or could a this possibly be a feature in the future? It would certianly be nice to get the "bonus resolution" when using the TV out.

Also, that way, if simultaneously developing for PC's and gp2x, the art could be designed for the higher resolution that pc user are accustomed to...

it's a nice fantasy, at least....

[makslane]

I will investigate.

[Holymonkey]

AWESOME!

thanks

[makslane]

I have looked at the mplayer source code (the native GP2X player).
Mplayer just uses 320x240 screen, not a 640x480 screen.
So, the 640x480 tv out resolution is not real, just a pixel doubling.

PS.: Thank you HillBilly for the tests!

[HillBilly]

Hey GP2Xers. I was messing around and I discovered that Game Editor will out put video at 640X480 on the GP2X.

It works great on the TV Out cables, on the GP2X screen text and thin actors look kind of chopped up.

Just make a game at 640X480 and export to GP2X when you get the warning message about the screen size ignore it and export it at the higher res.

Then just run it like normal. Plug into your TV and WOW what a pic.

The only down side is that the frame rate is not that good. I have not tried to overclock yet but it is running 15-20 FPS at 200 Mhz.

Have fun guys.

[HillBilly]

I forgot to mention that it does glitch every now and then but most of the time it is great. Then again it may be in my TV cables also.

[Holymonkey]

Thanks so much, HillBilly, for the info and the sample file! I tested it out on my gp2x and tv and it does work perfectly! ON the gp2x screen it automatically cuts out every other column and row of pixels to perfectly halve the 640x480 screen so that if fits perfectly, and then with the tv out, it maintains its original, glorius 640x480 resolution! It's amazing this all works out so well without GameEditor having been built for it.

I saw no glitches whatsoever, so I'm guessing it was indeed your cable HillBilly. Also, the 640x480 screen was definitely hanging off on my TV as well, (like you said maybe 20 pixels or so) But this can easily be ignored or made almost not noticeable by centering the image in the gp2x's settings. Also, I'd just make sure to design the game screen to have nothing critically important right at the edges of the screen.

Lastly, about the frame-rate. Even as things currently are, It's great to be able to choose what’s more important for your game. Lots of types of games (basic adventure or puzzle) may not need really high frame-rates, and could look amazing at the higher resolution...whereas if you need as fast a frame rate as possible, you can always stick with the lower res.

I hope that Makslane advertised this feature and maybe improves on it in the future. (like replacing the "wrong resolution" warning with an explanation that it will only show its full resolution with tv out and will be halved both ways to fit the native gp2x screen otherwise. )


Also, I wonder if Makslake bothered to support the 2d hardware acceleration built into the gp2x, as GameEditor is not specifically for the unit. If not, maybe the frame rate could be drastically improved even at 640x480 if the second processor of the unit could be utilized.

Even if this is not the case, I'm ecstatic that this already works so well. I'll definitely be buying Game-editor as soon as I'm done doin all the art for the first game I want to make for it.

Thanks again HillBilly, and Thanks Makslane, for making an awesome product.

[HillBilly]

THANKS Monkey for the info on may JUNK cables. Bummer they are new two.

No big deal I just got them until the new version of the BreakOut box shows up.

[Holymonkey]

what's a Breakout box?

[HillBilly]

http://www.gp2xstore.com/products/Gp2x_ ... -18-4.html

Not sure what all the new version is going to have on it other than a case.

They said maybe by the end of this month.

Best part is that you can unbrick your GP2X with this. I know I am going to mess with my GP2X after I get one of these. I have wanted to try some stuff but I did not want to take a chance on crashing it.