DC2N4-LC Windows native client and more (including a Last Ninja 2 disk version!)

I’ve finally managed to find some time to get back on the DC2N4-LC client code for Windows that uses the native API instead of using GTK+ 2.x. I had started this project when I first figured out the memory leak issues in GTK+ 2.24.10. These issues have been less of a concern after I managed to compile GTK+ 2.24.30 for Windows, but still the work on a native client had been started so I would like to give it some attention every now and then.

I might not be able to finish it any time soon and it might not do much good to users, but it’s one of those challenges I would like to finish at some point. The task is not hard but it just feels like ideas and code form in my head faster than I can type them out. I last had this sort of wonderful feeling when I was coding the hardest functionalities in Integrator 2012 a while back 🙂

DC2N4-LC Windows native client coming along nicely

I am also experimenting on using the DC2N4-LC firmware on DC2N version 1 hardware, meaning that users with a USB->RSR-232 adapter could be able to dump tapes directly to PC instead of to an SD/SDHC card. This is not something promising due to the reliability of transfer over UART->RSR-232->USB Serial at higher speeds, but SLC had asked the question whether it’d be possible or not, so I decided to give it a shot.

I am also experimenting a bit with IECHost, trying to port the code base to a different MCU and in the process I developed project templates that promise to make prototyping of future projects even faster than now. Who needs Arduino when you have got a robust framework and great template projects to start with? Not to mention that my approach lets me pack more features in smaller micro-controllers than it would be possible if the same features were implemented through Arduino sketches 🙂

As a result of all this experimentation, my desk is looking quite clustered recently…

Luigi’s desk

I’ve also finished my personal version of Last Ninja 2 for the Commodore 64 that runs on two Disk images (D64 files).

Last Ninja 2 on the Commodore 64

Last Ninja 2 on the Commodore 64 – disk version

It’s essentially a crack from the tape version that runs very smoothly and quickly in an emulator such as VICE without true drive emulation enabled.