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(NOTE: This page/process will definitely change so make sure to come back often
for udpates.)
NEWS / UPDATES
This tutorial is horribly out-of-date. You should head over to the PAlib Wiki and read it instead!!!
Introduction
PAlib is a library, similar to HAM for the GameBoy Advance, that runs on top of libnds.
Why another library? Well, because it makes
Nintendo DS programming even simpler. If you are one of those
hardcore coders, then you probably will not be interested in PAlib.
However, if you want to dive right in to DS development, and you
want to focus on coding and not figuring out all the ins and outs of the hardware,
etc, then this is probably the way to go. I will assume you have
a good knowledge of C/C++, if not check out something like the CPlusPlusTutorial.com.
Setting Up
First off you will need to get your Nintendo DS development environment
setup. For these tutorials, I will expect that you are using devkitPRO. The current version is 1.2.0 and you will need to for the latest version of PAlib.
Once you've got your compiler installed, you'll need to setup PAlib. I recommend that you get the PAlib Installer from here.
Go ahead and do a normal setup. Make sure to install PAlib
in the same path as you installed devkitPro. The default is C:\devkitpro.
Once installed, PAlib will be compiled automatically.
Just to make sure everything is working properly, browse to the
PAlib template directory (default C:\devkitPro\PAlibTemplate) and double-click build.bat.
If it compiles without any errors, move on to the first tutorial.
If not, and you can not figure out what's wrong, post a note in
the PAlib forums and someone will surely help you.
One final comment on compiling. devkitPRO comes with Programmer's Notepad 2
- a very nice, free IDE and I use it as my primary code editor.
You'll find a .pnproj (PN2 Project) file in every tutorial. Just
press Alt+1 to compile (make) and you should see your .nds file int the arm9 directory.
The Many Days Of PAlib Programming
Other PAlib Code Examples
Splash Screen Effect
Testing Demos/Games/Apps
I highly recommend you test everything on an actual Nintendo DS.
The current state of emulation is not good enough to replace
hardware. Check out my Hardware Requirements section for more information on how to go about being able to do this.
Support / Feedback
If you have any questions about these tutorials, please feel free to email me.
If you have general PAlib questions, you might be better off asking in the PAlib forums or in the #PA_lib channel on EFNET. Also, don't forget to check out the PAlib documentation.
Oh, if you make any really neat games/apps/examples and want to give
back to the community, please post source code, etc. on the PAlib forums or email me and I'll put it on my website.
Thanks
First off, delfare and Mollusk deserve a big thanks for writing/working
on PAlib. Other people to thank include Kleevah, Poffy, GPF, and
others on the PAlib forums
or on EFNET #dsdev who have helped out. And, of course, WntrMute
for working on devkitPRO and dovoto & joat for their work on
libnds/ndslib.
I use Highlight to convert my code to html/php.
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