gbOS

gbOS is a mock OS for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color. It features a desktop environment user interface and (mock) serial mouse support.

gbOS.webm

Warning: This is only a proof of concept and does not offer any real functionality. Also, the source code is very much thrown together and not meant to serve as a realistic example of how an OS, or its GUI subsystem, should function (that would be far more complicated).

It's just for fun.

Controls

• D-Pad - Cursor movement
• A - Left mouse button
• B - Right mouse button
• Start - Opens the on-screen keyboard (non-functional)
• Select - Redraws the desktop

Serial Device Emulator

Serial Device Emulator (SDE) emulates a mouse-like peripheral connected over the link port. It is compatible with the emulator BGB.

To use SDE, follow these steps:

• Open BGB and load the ROM for gbOS
• Right click inside the BGB window and select Link > Listen from the menu
• Open SDE and select Link > Connect from the menu

The mouse in gbOS should now be controllable by moving or clicking the mouse within the SDE window.

Warning: If either BGB or SDE lose their connection, then they may become unable to reconnect to each other. If this happens, then restart BGB and retry the steps listed above.

Build Instructions (Windows)

Building GBConvert (required)

• Open GBConvert\GBConvert.sln in Visual Studio
• Set the startup project to GBConvert
• Select Build > Build Solution from the menu

Building Serial Device Emulator (optional)

• Open SerialDeviceEmulator\SerialDeviceEmulator.sln in Visual Studio
• Set the startup project to SerialDeviceEmulator
• Select Build > Build Solution from the menu

Building gbOS (required)

• Ensure that all of gbOS's build dependencies are present. The following are required:
  • RGBDS
  • GBConvert
• Make a copy of setup.user.model.bat and name it setup.user.bat
• Edit setup.user.bat and fill in the appropriate fields
• Run either make and pause.bat, make.bat, or make and run.bat

Credits

Asbestoast - Programming, Graphics