How can I use the internet? [GBA FE]

Questions
1

Yeah, this is already the internet here.
But, I want to use the internet from GBA.

The GBA was made before the internet became widespread, so there is no way to access the internet.
One generation on, I think with the DS, the internet is officially supported.

Why would you want to use it?

I want save data to be sent automatically to like 3H.
If players send save data, the author gets great feedback.
It would motivate the author a lot.

If possible, additional information should be displayed to the player.
For example, it might be possible to tell them that a patch has been updated.
Patches that are currently compatible with the WorkSupport function of the FEBuilderGBA can be updated automatically.

However, many players do not use FEBuilderGBA to deploy ups, so this is not available.

NetworkArena.
Network is a GBAFE function that uses the GBA’s communication function to play against other GBA players.
However, this functionality is not based on standards such as TCP/IP.
Therefore, it is not possible to use the internet with it.

Compromise 1: QR codes.
My first idea was a QR code. (2D barcode).
QR codes are used payment in some areas.

In other words, a QR code is projected on the screen during the game and the information is sent by photographing it with a smartphone.

However, many players may be playing the game on their smartphones.
To begin with, displaying a QR code during a game might be ignored. Shooting is cumbersome.
It can only send information.
It does not look very good.

Due to these problems, it has not been implemented.

Compromise 2: External programme.
Add a function to the WorkSupport function of FEBuilderGBA to automatically send save data.

This is certainly feasible.
Currently, there is already an implementation that creates a 7z like report7z using only save data.
By posting this on the Comminity forums you can easily give feedback to the author.
However, I have not seen anyone using this feature.
I still think it is a hassle.

Of course, this is a Windows programme, so it won’t work on smartphones.

How do you think we can use the internet accessible?
If you have any ideas, please comment.

6 Likes
2

Personally I display my discord link in my title screen and I use the febuilder display build time patch to automatically show the date.

Screenshot_20220430-055912_My Boy!
Screenshot_20220430-055912_My Boy!1079×703 85.4 KB

It doesn’t look as nice to have all this on the title screen, but my hope is that users will think that they may be on an old version of the game and update, or that they will join the discord if they’re interested in the project.

When people share feedback with me, I’ll sometimes ask if they wouldn’t mind sharing their .SAV file.

But I don’t think this is really something we can automate. Even if we bundled our .ups files with a program called ShareSav.exe and left a message ingame to please double click it after completing the game, I doubt many people would click on it. Websites where shady individuals can download .gba files reportedly try to trick you into clicking on malicious .exe files sometimes, so I can see why people wouldn’t click on .exe files we share.

1 Like
3

Yeah, I also use this patch.
fe8kaitou.emulator

NAME.en=Display build time on title screen(Install)
INFO.en=The build time is displayed on the title screen.\r\nThe build time will be updated automatically every time you make an ups.

I fully agree with your opinion on the exe file.
So I implemented the Project Updater in the FEBuilderGBA and didn’t include it in the ups package.

I wish We had some better ideas…

4

For cloud save, you can use RetroArch on Steam.

For version check, you can use ROM manager.

For network arena, you can use GBA emulator with link cable support such as VBALink and Virtual LAN Gaming Software such as Hamachi.
VBALink With A Router - Link over internet

For mobile users:

2 Likes
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At the beginning of the month there was briefly a Pokèmon Emerald hack that utilized an internet connection to stream the content to the emulator utilizing the gamecube-gba link cable functionality and a second intermediary program:

In the same vein, it may be possible to do something similar with real hardware. The GameCube has a broadband adapter accessory, allowing it to connect to the internet. If you wrote a program that runs on the GameCube that connects to your ROM via Link Cable with the GBA running it and then acts as an intermediary between the internet and the GBA; this could be adapted to function on any desktop platform, but it probably isn’t feasible to do this on a mobile device.
This would function well for an online service for something like Link Arena, handling some amount of matchmaking logic. This also couldn’t be used to directly update the ROM, but could be used to notify the user if there is a newer version available. It would be a lot to set up every time you turn on the game, which may not be ideal for the user actually utilizing it.

3 Likes
6

What does cloud saving actually do?
Can I see other people’s sav data?

7

Steam Support :: Steam Cloud (steampowered.com)
It uploads your game save to Steam’s server, and auto sync on different devices with the same Steam account logged in.
I don’t know whether you can share saves between different Steam accounts.

It also support netplay.

image
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You can check the features it supports at the right side bar like other games on Steam.