GTA for the NES?

[maibock]

I'm sure it's been posted here before, but here it is again. Looks pretty cool!

 

http://www.grandtheftendo.com/

[Great Hierophant]

Strictly speaking, there will be no such thing.

[Brad2600]

It will be a free download supposedly.

 

Would be nice to secure it and put it on a cart, etc.

[A2600]

yeah just like rekka!!

[Great Hierophant]

I tell you again it is very, very unlikely there will be Grand Theftendo for the NES.

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

I tell you again it is very, very unlikely there will be Grand Theftendo for the NES.

 

Why? Is it a hoax?

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[birdie3]

I think he is just trying to avoid an Infogrames vs. Atari Age type of scenario. Hopefully it is real and does get released soon.

[xenomorpher]

I would love to play it on my Dreamcast since it can handle nice emulators though I'm puzzled since they dont have a good Genesis emulator for it.

[Great Hierophant]

I have the greatest respect for Brian Provinciano. He has made several contributions to the NES development community. He may never finish his game, which is very common. Rockstar games may force him to cease and desist (or more likely he will change the name and tweak the gameplay a bit.)

 

If you read his FAQ, however, you will realize why the only person who will ever play this thing on a NES will be the author.

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

If you read his FAQ, however, you will realize why the only person who will ever play this thing on a NES will be the author.

 

I don't find info like that in the FAQ

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Artlover]

I don't find info like that in the FAQ

 

Same here.

[CPUWIZ]

What mapper hardware does GTN use?

 

   GTN currently uses the Nintendo MMC5 mapper chip. However, to make the game is the best it can be, when it is complete, I plan on converting it to use a custom mapper. The main purpose of the new mapper will be to provide better CHR ROM bank switching for more graphical detail and animation.

 

If GTN uses a custom mapper, will it still run on emulators?

 

   In the case that GTN is modified to use a custom mapper, I will write mapper plugins for a few of the main emulators and release the source code. With the code, anyone with the skill will be able to add the mapper support to the rest of the emulators.

 

Custom mapper, anyone?

[Artlover]

Ah, Great Hierophant refering to the game being played on real NES hardware then.

 

So long as he writes a mapper plugin like he said, I don't care, I only NES via emulation. (I don't want to spend the money to buy the screwdriver needed to open my real NES it to clean the bird shit & sunflower seeds out of it!)

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

What mapper hardware does GTN use?

 

   GTN currently uses the Nintendo MMC5 mapper chip. However, to make the game is the best it can be, when it is complete, I plan on converting it to use a custom mapper. The main purpose of the new mapper will be to provide better CHR ROM bank switching for more graphical detail and animation.

 

If GTN uses a custom mapper, will it still run on emulators?

 

   In the case that GTN is modified to use a custom mapper, I will write mapper plugins for a few of the main emulators and release the source code. With the code, anyone with the skill will be able to add the mapper support to the rest of the emulators.

 

Custom mapper, anyone?

 

I've seen that, but that doesn't say why Brian Provinciano can play it on his NES while all others can't, or?

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Artlover]

I've seen that, but that doesn't say why Brian Provinciano can play it on his NES while all others can't, or?

 

Custom mapper = custom/propriatory cartridge hardware.

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

I've seen that, but that doesn't say why Brian Provinciano can play it on his NES while all others can't, or?

 

Custom mapper = custom/propriatory cartridge hardware.

 

If one can create a cartridge like that, others can do so as well, or what am I not getting here? Also I don't see why this should stop Brian from creating more than one cartridge?

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Artlover]

If one can create a cartridge like that, others can do so as well, or what am I not getting here?

Probably, assuming he give out specific details of the hardware. It may be possible to reverse engineer what he's doing from the mapper plugins he writes if he doesn't give the info out.

 

Also I don't see why this should stop Brian from creating more than one cartridge?

He could, but he doesn't mention anywhere any interest or intent on doing so. His intention is to make the code avaialble to download for free. Nothing more.

[Great Hierophant]

Considering his mapper hardware is going to be more powerful than the MMC5, the most powerful Nintendo-made memory controller ever put onto a Famicom or NES cart, new cartridges with his hardware must be manufactured. I believe his game will be 1 Megabyte in size or more. Nintendo cartridges use boards of a non-standard thickness and also require some sort of lockout chip defeater. This would be one expensive homebrew by the time it would be released. Very few people have the hardware and the skills to make this game function on hardware.

 

Do you consider emulation to be the NES? I do not. Emulators, unless perfectly 100% compatible with the hardware cannot be considered as a replacement to their systems. I remember some homebrew demos that worked on Nesticle but would not work on a NES. Emulators are superceeded at times. Perhaps if there were a NES emulator at the level that z26 is of the Atari 2600 may see matters differently, but even the most accurate NES emulator, Nintendulator, has not achieved that standard. It would be a tragedy that Brian would have to eliminate a featute because some of his code that worked on the NES would not work on emulators.

[Artlover]

Do you consider emulation to be the NES?  I do not.  Emulators, unless perfectly 100% compatible with the hardware cannot be considered as a replacement to their systems.

I think more people then not will say yes, emulation is the same. For the most part, unless a given program is doing some goofy non-standard junk, whatever runs on one will run on the other. For a lot of people, it's an acceptable replacement.

 

I remember some homebrew demos that worked on Nesticle but would not work on a NES.  Emulators are superceeded at times.  Perhaps if there were a NES emulator at the level that z26 is of the Atari 2600 may see matters differently, but even the most accurate NES emulator, Nintendulator, has not achieved that standard.

What issues do you have that makes you feel so lowly towards NES emulators? Personaly, I only NES via emulation right now. Every game that I play plays perfectly that I can tell. Maybe I'm just playing the wrong games? Granted, on a technical level, there may not be offical 100% propper emulation, but at the end of the day, all I care about is how the game looks/sounds/plays, and if it gets that right, I don't care about some obscure code handling issues that don't impact anything.

 

With that said, I've not found an 2600 emu that sounds 100% right to me, nor one that can run those image demo roms. Including the most recent Z26. Sure, on a whole, it's emulation is closer to perfection then the NES, but it's not quite 100% across the board and cant run everything either.

 

Is it even fair to compare an NES emu to an A2600 emu. Two different generations. 2600 is simpler then the NES. Also, I think 2600 emus have been around longer then NES emus, thus they've had more development time. I think a more realistic comparison might be 7800 or SMS vs NES. (Tho 7800 emulation might not be fair since it got a fairly late start compared to other platforms of that generation).

 

It would be a tragedy that Brian would have to eliminate a featute because some of his code that worked on the NES would not work on emulators.

Besides the mapper, which he already said he would be writting a plugin for, what else would be an issue? Besides, from reading everything on his site it seems pretty clear that emulation users are his target audience. Homepage says;

Will GTN be for sale?This game is not going to be for sale. It will be available as a free download when it is done.

How will I be able to play GTN?The game will play on emulators provided they support the mapper it uses.

It's pretty obvious he doesn't intend everyone to build a Devtendo to play this.

[herr professor]

im sure some hardware hacker will pick up the gauntlet and develop the actual cart should the project be completed...

 

the challange is just too great

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

im sure some hardware hacker will pick up the gauntlet and develop the actual cart should the project be completed...

 

There might also be a "standard" version available for us lesser beings:

 

However, to make the game is the best it can be, when it is complete, I plan on converting it to use a custom mapper.

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Famicoman]

I'd get it if it was in cartridge form.

[bretthorror]

Uhhhh... did this ever come out?

[CGQuarterly]

Nope.

[Gregory DG]

Looks like the website is gone too. Wow. I really thought this would come out. I bet Nintendo killed it.