Author
| Why is JoyNet dead?
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manuel
msx guru
Posts: 3380 |  Posted: October 14 2006, 15:46 |
A couple of years ago, in 1999, the community devised a standard cabling scheme for the communication of the joystick ports. It would allow an infinite number of MSX machines connected via the joystick ports, or just 2, being compatible with the F-1 Spirit 3D cable.
But, apart from a few toy programs and unreleased stuff, no one ever really made use of it and nowadays it seems to be completely forgotten.
Why? It sounded like a very fun idea...
Some JoyNet links:
The Spec
JoyNet Básica
JoyNet threads on the MSX mailinglist, including a "Reviving JoyNet" one from 2005...
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flyguille
msx master
Posts: 1183 | Posted: October 14 2006, 16:23 |
I can thinks about one problem and is that it hasn't a data buffer like a Obsonet has.
The fun part of this is to do LAN games....
I only can thinks about one or two ways of to implement it, but....
how to sync the vertical's back pulse of both MSX ???
I not want to check 10000 times if the other MSX is sending data througt joy2. It will be a waste of cpu resource!!!.
If we just do the check at vsync imagine that we will get the half of FPS because one MSX needs to wait up to an entire image field for get a comunication... so, on single games that can reach normally up to 60fps, it will be only 30fps (wasting the half of cpu time).... IF that a nice gamee can to do 60FPS (really not  )
8 fps normaly , and 4fps in net gaming?
the LAG (high latency OF reaching the next vsync) will be fatal for gaming. |
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[D-Tail]
msx guru
Posts: 2994 | Posted: October 14 2006, 16:56 |
Besides, there's only a couple of data bits to be transmitted at the same time... I think 3 in/out orso... other pins are for GND and +5V. Too limited, I guess...
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manuel
msx guru
Posts: 3380 | Posted: October 14 2006, 17:34 |
I think mth made a working Tetris game concept with it, so it is certainly doable.
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Patsie
msx freak
Posts: 189 | Posted: October 14 2006, 18:22 |
I'd love to help out, but don't have the MSX programing know-how. I did device a (in my oppinion) nice theoretical protocol which could be implemented (that was the joynet rivival post manuel was mentioning), but nobody gave any (solid) reaction. I still have the procotol idea lying around somewhere if I dig around a bit. So if there's anyone still interested, just yell.
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Patsie
msx freak
Posts: 189 | Posted: October 14 2006, 18:23 |
woops, double post. please delete or ignore  |
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AuroraMSX
msx master
Posts: 1228 | Posted: October 16 2006, 13:43 |
Quote:
| the LAG (high latency OF reaching the next vsync) will be fatal for gaming.
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F1 Spirit 3D is not a game, then?  |
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erikd
msx lover
Posts: 106 | Posted: October 16 2006, 20:48 |
I suppose that 1 frame latency is the worst case scenario, and 30 fps isn't that bad especially for an MSX2 game.
I'm guessing you could also win something by polling communication while waiting for VDP blits to finish. For things like F1 Spirit 3D, there probably is very little data to communicate (only 2 cars's positions).
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