Author Topic: New (much) improved Bittboy on Presale (Read 40708 times)

Surkow · « **Reply #20 on:** January 03, 2019, 06:53:54 pm »

Quote from: lemmywinks on January 03, 2019, 06:14:04 pm

The quality is ok, I think I'm being hyper critical because a few YouTubers seemed to be going overboard on it. It plays games well and the screen really pops, everything looks colourful vibrant. It's definitely a cool device to leave in your workbag or whatever, the neat UI means you can get into playing roms quickly.

Some systems are just fun little consoles and this definitely falls into that category, I'm enjoying it so far. Was my first day back at work today and I got all my new year prep done early so I shut my office door and spent a couple hours on it playing SMB 3, Sagaia and Castlevania II. Water/cloud transparency trickery on Trip World also works on this which can be an issue with some GB emulators.

Being critical is fine. I'll probably get one if they are on sale in the coming years. Currently the RS-90 has more bang for buck.

lemmywinks · « **Reply #21 on:** January 03, 2019, 07:22:54 pm »

I think I paid ?25 for the RS-90 and ?31 for the Bittboy (well the Bittboy was a gift from Mrs. Lemmywinks so technically she paid for it!) so the difference isn't massive, the RS-90 was one of my most played handhelds last year along with the GPD Win. I love that little thing, it doesn't do anything particularly well but hopefully it can run CFW at some point, with the micro handhelds all I want is 8 bit console and handheld emulation really. I think if the Bittboy got SMS/GG emulation using the official firmware I would leave it like that, the UI is very nice.

There's still the resolution problem with the RS-90 though so maybe anything other than handheld roms will always look a bit borked, plus mine is a little worse for wear due to travelling in my work bag full time. I have a couple of dead pixels now and recently had to open it up to bend the speaker contacts as audio was cutting out.

Surkow · « **Reply #22 on:** January 03, 2019, 10:18:10 pm »

Quote from: lemmywinks on January 03, 2019, 07:22:54 pm

I think I paid ?25 for the RS-90 and ?31 for the Bittboy (well the Bittboy was a gift from Mrs. Lemmywinks so technically she paid for it!) so the difference isn't massive, the RS-90 was one of my most played handhelds last year along with the GPD Win. I love that little thing, it doesn't do anything particularly well but hopefully it can run CFW at some point, with the micro handhelds all I want is 8 bit console and handheld emulation really. I think if the Bittboy got SMS/GG emulation using the official firmware I would leave it like that, the UI is very nice.

There's still the resolution problem with the RS-90 though so maybe anything other than handheld roms will always look a bit borked, plus mine is a little worse for wear due to travelling in my work bag full time. I have a couple of dead pixels now and recently had to open it up to bend the speaker contacts as audio was cutting out.

I paid around 20+ euro for my RS-90. It apparently uses a normal GB Micro screen. They should be relatively easy to source (and affordable). The plastic shell is rather brittle, though. I might have to arrange a new battery hatch for mine.

lemmywinks · « **Reply #23 on:** January 03, 2019, 10:45:40 pm »

Yeah the clip on the battery door definitely seems like it's made of that plastic which wants to snap rather than bend, the one on the Bittboy is no better tbh.

Found another annoyance with the Bittboy - the roms on the SD card keep the same order they are added in the roms list, so you end up with a new alphabetical list added onto the end of the last one each time you add roms. Very annoying and needs fixing. Seems like this handheld is one software update from being extremely good, whether it will ever get one might be a different story!

lemmywinks · « **Reply #24 on:** January 03, 2019, 10:47:55 pm »

Oh and I had a look for replacement screens a while ago, not worth replacing it really so I'll put up with the dead pixels as you don't really notice them unless you're playing original b&w GB games with plain white backgrounds.

Fishcakes · « **Reply #25 on:** January 04, 2019, 05:34:44 am »

Is there any documentation on stewards custom firmware? Id like to hear of any improvements/ functionality that it adds

lemmywinks · « **Reply #26 on:** January 05, 2019, 04:10:10 pm »

Only the thread on Baidu which is in Chinese (I presume, can't read it either way!).

Btw I think I've realised what causes the save bug - seems to be when you try and navigate through the menu too quickly (ie double tapping A in quick succession to get to the load/save state menu), just doing this at normal speed seems to eliminate any issues. So far so good, will update if this isn't the cause.

Unfortunately the rom order still seems messed up - I moved all my roms over to a different SD card in one go and they are still not alphabetical. Weird.

davidgilmour · « **Reply #27 on:** January 15, 2019, 08:28:59 am »

So I saw a youtube video where somebody said the video sync looks weird. Not the old vsync problems but something new.
Anyone notice it?

<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221207193326/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJs3aHM6ZZU" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJs3aHM6ZZU</a>

Look at 9:55 in the video and further, he talks about it, screen tearing.

davidgilmour · « **Reply #28 on:** January 17, 2019, 08:39:38 am »

So, no love for the new bittboy here?

lemmywinks · « **Reply #29 on:** January 17, 2019, 08:41:33 pm »

The screen tearing is in TV out mode, it's been mentioned in other videos IIRC. Emulation isn't perfect if you're used to a GPD etc but games run fine.

Until there is CFW it doesn't really warrant much activity on a forum tbh, it's a simple little handheld which does what it claims to, doesn't have a total mess of a UI and has a nice sharp screen with vibrant colours. For a while I've wanted something this size to emulate GB and GBC so that's why I bought it, unfortunately no SMS at the moment.

retrodoodoo · « **Reply #30 on:** January 18, 2019, 02:52:29 am »

Quote from: davidgilmour on January 15, 2019, 08:28:59 am

So I saw a youtube video where somebody said the video sync looks weird. Not the old vsync problems but something new.
Anyone notice it?

Look at 9:55 in the video and further, he talks about it, screen tearing.

The original aspect ratio display mode will be added in the new batch. This issue will be solved. Stay tuned.

ADY · « **Reply #31 on:** January 18, 2019, 07:42:24 am »

Quote from: retrodoodoo on January 18, 2019, 02:52:29 am

The original aspect ratio display mode will be added in the new batch. This issue will be solved. Stay tuned.

For those of us with or awaiting the ones we already purchased, will we be able to update the base firmware and solve the issue?

Also any idea if in-game saves will be supported alongside save states in future versions?

Superpuissant · « **Reply #32 on:** January 18, 2019, 10:47:38 am »

Quote from: ADY on January 18, 2019, 07:42:24 am

Quote from: retrodoodoo on January 18, 2019, 02:52:29 am
The original aspect ratio display mode will be added in the new batch. This issue will be solved. Stay tuned.
For those of us with or awaiting the ones we already purchased, will we be able to update the base firmware and solve the issue?

Also any idea if in-game saves will be supported alongside save states in future versions?

Good question, could you please clarify this point as I couldn't find any information about possible firmware update?
The wrong aspect ratio is really preventing to enjoy my new bittboy and I really regret having bought one so early.
If there is no update planned, it will really be a deal breaker.

VanZan · « **Reply #33 on:** January 18, 2019, 12:15:36 pm »

Quote from: retrodoodoo on January 18, 2019, 02:52:29 am

Quote from: davidgilmour on January 15, 2019, 08:28:59 am
So I saw a youtube video where somebody said the video sync looks weird. Not the old vsync problems but something new.
Anyone notice it?

Look at 9:55 in the video and further, he talks about it, screen tearing.

The original aspect ratio display mode will be added in the new batch. This issue will be solved. Stay tuned.

Looks like those of us who purchased early in good faith are screwed.

Superpuissant · « **Reply #34 on:** January 18, 2019, 03:50:19 pm »

Quote from: VanZan on January 18, 2019, 12:15:36 pm

Quote from: retrodoodoo on January 18, 2019, 02:52:29 am
Quote from: davidgilmour on January 15, 2019, 08:28:59 am
So I saw a youtube video where somebody said the video sync looks weird. Not the old vsync problems but something new.
Anyone notice it?

Look at 9:55 in the video and further, he talks about it, screen tearing.

The original aspect ratio display mode will be added in the new batch. This issue will be solved. Stay tuned.

Looks like those of us who purchased early in good faith are screwed.

That would really be a shame

davidgilmour · « **Reply #35 on:** January 19, 2019, 03:16:15 am »

Quote from: retrodoodoo on January 18, 2019, 02:52:29 am

Quote from: davidgilmour on January 15, 2019, 08:28:59 am
So I saw a youtube video where somebody said the video sync looks weird. Not the old vsync problems but something new.
Anyone notice it?

Look at 9:55 in the video and further, he talks about it, screen tearing.

The original aspect ratio display mode will be added in the new batch. This issue will be solved. Stay tuned.

Where did you read that?

And how does the emulation compare with the RS-90 ? That can also do NES and gameboy (with a trick).
Does this emulate them better?

lemmywinks · « **Reply #36 on:** January 19, 2019, 11:52:55 am »

NES and GB/GBC emulation is much better on the Bittboy. On the RS-90 NES is squashed in to a GBA resolution screen, it drops frames and the buttons are reversed (A is B, B is A). Gameboy is done through an extra layer of emulation and runs quite poorly.

Both run fine on the Bittboy.

davidgilmour · « **Reply #37 on:** January 19, 2019, 12:08:42 pm »

Quote from: lemmywinks on January 19, 2019, 11:52:55 am

NES and GB/GBC emulation is much better on the Bittboy. On the RS-90 NES is squashed in to a GBA resolution screen, it drops frames and the buttons are reversed (A is B, B is A). Gameboy is done through an extra layer of emulation and runs quite poorly.

Both run fine on the Bittboy.

Nice, so basically this is the ?gameboy mini? that Nintendo has not released yet and that plays NES as a bonus.

I will buy one!

lemmywinks · « **Reply #38 on:** January 19, 2019, 12:32:59 pm »

Yeah it does a decent job of GB and GBC which is what I bought it for, if you look at the photos I posted it doesn't look perfect but the games run fine and compatibility is good. A lot of SMS/GB/GBC games have issues on the RS-90 due to two layers of emulation, on the Bittboy the only games I had problems with were Race Drivin' (same as RS-97 etc) and Kid Kool. There's a bit of background flicker at the start of the last castle In Castlevania II Belmont's Revenge too but apart from that it runs great.

lemmywinks · « **Reply #39 on:** January 20, 2019, 01:49:47 am »

Having compared this to OG GBP hardware it does seem to be less smooth, tried Bemlont's Revenge and it definitely seems to be dropping the odd frame but in a weird way, definitely feels like obvious emulation. Even on slow scrolling games it is evident, on SMB 2 the screen tearing is pretty bad but this is worst case scenario. Hopefully this gets fixed, on most games it's not a problem.

Maybe because SMB 2 definitely doesn't run at 60fps on the original hardware (it has pretty bad slowdown and regular stutters throughout) so frame drops seem worse, Belmont's Revenge is silky smooth on OG hardware though and it feels like it's using frameskip on the Bittboy.

Author Topic: New (much) improved Bittboy on Presale (Read 40708 times)

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