1<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> 2<HTML> 3<HEAD> 4<META http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"> 5<META name="GENERATOR" content="IBM WebSphere Studio Homepage Builder Version 7.0.0.0 for Windows"> 6<META http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css"> 7<TITLE>Banner: Overview</TITLE> 8<LINK rel="stylesheet" href="../css/nitro.css" type="text/css"> 9<STYLE type="text/css"> 10<!-- 11.sample_source{ 12 background-color : #e8e8e8; 13} 14H3{ 15 color : teal; 16} 17.command_list{ 18 margin-bottom : 16pt; 19} 20.command_desc{ 21 } 22.command_item{ 23 margin-top : 16pt; 24 background-color : #e8e8e8; 25} 26.blockquoted_table { 27 border : 1px; 28 width : 80%; 29} 30TD,TH{ 31 border-color : #c0d8d8; 32 padding : 1pt 4pt 1pt 4pt; 33 border-width : 1px; 34 border-style : solid; 35} 36--> 37</STYLE> 38</HEAD> 39<BODY> 40 41<H1 align="left">Banner: Overview</H1> 42 43<H2>Description</H2> 44<P>This is an overview of the banner files that are displayed at the launcher screen of the TWL or Nintendo DS/DS Lite systems.</P> 45 46<P>TWL banners that are displayed on TWL systems are in the same format as NTR banners that are displayed on Nintendo DS/DS Lite systems, except that they add animation data. As a result, if a TWL banner is displayed on a Nintendo DS/DS Lite system or in DS Download Play, it will appear as a static image just like an NTR banner. On TWL systems, however, animations will be displayed for TWL banners. 47</P> 48 49<P>Furthermore, for downloadable software (a.k.a. "user NAND applications"), another type of banner called a "sub-banner" can be displayed. For more about sub-banners, see <A href="../na/subBanner/about_subBanner.html">Sub-Banner Overview</A>.</P> 50 51<H2>Banner Format</H2> 52<P>NTR banners and TWL banners have different formats, as shown below.</P> 53 54<P>NTR Banners 55<TABLE border="1" width="100%"> 56<TR><TD width="200">Banner comment</TD><TD width="800">Game Title for Each Language</TD></TR> 57<TR><TD width="200">Banner Icon Bitmap</TD><TD width="800">One 32x32-pixel image</TD></TR> 58<TR><TD width="200">Color Palette for Banner Icon</TD><TD width="800">16-color, 1 set</TD></TR> 59</TABLE></P> 60 61<P>TWL Banners 62<TABLE> 63<TR><TD width="200">NTR Banners</TD><TD width="800">Same as above</TD></TR> 64<TR><TD width="200">Bitmaps for Animation</TD><TD width="800">Eight 32x32-pixel images</TD></TR> 65<TR><TD width="200">Color Palette for Animation</TD><TD width="800">16-color, 8 set</TD></TR> 66<TR><TD width="200">Animation Control Data</TD><TD width="800">Managed by 64 data elements for controlling 1-255 frames</TD></TR> 67</TABLE></P> 68<P>TWL banners contain NTR banners. This internal NTR banner will be displayed on a Nintendo DS/DS Lite system, and the animation will be displayed on a TWL system.</P> 69<H2>How to Create</H2> 70<P>There are three ways to create banner files. However, if you want to create banners specifically for Nintendo DS software (<EM><STRONG>not</STRONG></EM> TWL-enhanced or TWL-exclusive software), you should use the third method (ntexconv / static image).</P> 71<P><IMG src="about_Banner.gif" border="0"></P> 72<P> 73<H3>1. Using NITRO-CHARACTER</H3> 74<P>For information on how to create cell animation data (<CODE>*.nce</CODE>) for TWL banners using NITRO-CHARACTER, see <A href="bannerNitroCharacter.html">Banner Creation Procedure Using NITRO-CHARACTER</A>. 75</P> 76 77<P>Use <A href="bannercvtr.html">bannercvtr</A> to convert <CODE>.nce</CODE> files that were created using NITRO-CHARACTER.</P> 78<P>A TWL banner can be created by using <A href="makebannerTWL.html">makebannerTWL</A> to convert a <CODE>.bsf</CODE> file that sets (1) data that has been output by <A href="bannercvtr.html">bannercvtr</A> and (2) the banner comments.</P> 79<P>Refer to <A href="bannercvtr.html">bannercvtr</A> for details about which NITRO-CHARACTER animations can be used as banners.</P> 80<H3>2. Using ntexconv (Animation)</H3> 81<P>Create up to eight 16-color 32x32-pixel bitmaps. Convert this bitmap using <A href="ntexconv.html">ntexconv</A>. Create an XML file that lists the converted data and the content of the animation, then convert this XML file using <A href="bannercvtr.html">bannercvtr</A>. 82</P> 83<P>A TWL banner can be created by using <A href="makebannerTWL.html">makebannerTWL</A> to convert a <CODE>.bsf</CODE> file that sets (1) data that has been output by <A href="bannercvtr.html">bannercvtr</A> and (2) the banner comments.</P> 84<P>See <A href="bannercvtr.html">bannercvtr</A> for details about how to write the XML file.</P> 85<H3>3. Using ntexconv (Still Image)</H3> 86<P>This method can be used to create NTR banners or TWL banners that are not animated.</P> 87<P>Create a single 16-color 32x32-pixel bitmap. Convert the bitmap using <A href="ntexconv.html">ntexconv</A>.</P> 88<P>Banner files are created by converting BSF files used to set data and banner comments output by <A href="ntexconv.html"><CODE>ntexconv</CODE></A> using <A href="makebanner.html"><CODE>makebanner</CODE></A> in the case of Nintendo DS exclusive software, or using <A href="makebannerTWL.html"><CODE>makebannerTWL</CODE></A> in the case of TWL-enhanced software. <A href="makebanner.html"><CODE>makebanner</CODE></A> is used to convert banner files for DS-only software; <A href="makebannerTWL.html"><CODE>makebannerTWL</CODE></A> converts for TWL software.</P> 89 90<H2>Implementation in Applications</H2> 91<P>Specify the banner you have created in a <A href="makerom.html">ROM Specification File</A> (<CODE>.rsf</CODE>). The specified banner will be set for the <CODE>.srl</CODE> file that was created by the <A href="makerom.html">makerom/makerom.TWL</A> tool.</P> 92<BLOCKQUOTE> 93<PRE class="sample_source"><CODE> # ROM SPEC FILE 94 95Property 96{ 97 .... 98 # 99# BANNER FILE: generated from Banner Spec File 100 # 101BannerFile banner.bnr 102}</CODE></PRE> 103</BLOCKQUOTE> 104<P>See <A href="makerom.html">makerom / makerom.TWL</A> for details.</P> 105<H2>Samples</H2> 106Following are samples that illustrate each of these banner creation methods. 107<H3>1. Using NITRO-CHARACTER</H3> 108<P><CODE>$TwlSDK/build/demos.TWL/tips/TWLBanner_anim1</CODE></P> 109<H3>2. Using ntexconv (Animation)</H3> 110<P><CODE>$TwlSDK/build/demos.TWL/tips/TWLBanner_anim2</CODE></P> 111<H3>3. Using ntexconv (Still Image)</H3> 112<P>Creating NTR Banners</P> 113<P><CODE>$TwlSDK/build/demos/tips/NTRBanner</CODE></P> 114<P>Creating TWL Banners</P> 115<P><CODE>$TwlSDK/build/demos.TWL/tips/TWLBanner_image</CODE></P> 116 117<H2>Verification Procedure</H2> 118<P>As for game titles inside banners, a check by <A href="makebannerTWL.html"><CODE>makebannerTWL</CODE></A> or <A href="makebanner.html"><CODE>makebanner</CODE></A> is made that displayable characters are used a check is made that the width of characters does not extend beyond the display area of a TWL or DS/DS Lite. Specifications for the display of game titles are set forth in the programming guidelines. If a warning is displayed, be sure to correct the problem. 119</P> 120<P>Banners can be checked without use of a card by using the <A href="addbanner.html"><CODE>addbanner</CODE></A> tool.<BR>However, this is for the display of card applications only. The display is slightly different in the case of user NAND applications, so the following method should be used.<BR>A description of how to use <A href="addbanner.html"><CODE>addbanner</CODE></A> is given below.</P> 121 122<H3>Only for DS Software</H3> 123<H4>Display on a DS/DS Lite System</H4> 124<P>Burn the ROM on a flash card, insert the card into a DS/DS Lite system, and check the banner display.<BR> 125</P> 126<H4>Display on a TWL System</H4> 127<P>Burn the ROM on a flash card, insert the card into a TWL system or IS-TWL-DEBUGGER, and check the game title display.<BR>Although a flash-card application cannot be started by a commercial TWL system, it is possible to check the banner.</P> 128<H3>Enhanced for TWL Software</H3> 129<H4>Display on a DS/DS Lite System</H4> 130<P>Burn the ROM on a flash card, insert the card into a DS/DS Lite system, and check the banner display.<BR> 131</P> 132<H4>Display on a TWL System</H4> 133<P>Burn the ROM on a flash card, insert the card into a TWL system used for development or into IS-TWL-DEBUGGER hardware, and check the banner display.<BR>The banner cannot be confirmed by inserting the card into a commercial TWL system.</P> 134<H3>Only for TWL Software</H3> 135<H4>Display on a TWL System</H4> 136<P>Burn the ROM on a flash card, insert the card into a TWL system used for development or into IS-TWL-DEBUGGER hardware, and check the banner display.<BR>The banner cannot be confirmed by inserting the card into a commercial TWL system.</P> 137<H3>User NAND Applications</H3> 138<P>Use <A href="../romfiles/TwlNmenu.html"><CODE>TwlNmenu</CODE></A> to import a TAD file to a TWL system used for development or to a IS-TWL-DEBUGGER hardware. Then check the banner display.</P> 139 140<P>You can also check the banner display on the <B>Software Management </B>screen under <B>System Settings</B>.<BR>Icons on the <B>Software Management</B> screen are displayed in the same way as they are by the launcher, but there are limits to the number of banner-comment characters that can be displayed.<BR>Note that if the number of characters exceeds the limit, the excess is displayed as "<CODE>...</CODE>".</P> 141 142<P>The following shows the number of characters that are displayed for banner comments in the DS and TWL launchers. 143<TABLE> 144<TR><TH width="200"></TH><TH width="200">DS Launcher</TH><TH width="200">TWL Launcher</TH><TH width="200">TWL Software Management Screen</TH></TR> 145<TR><TH width="200">Width of Area</TH><TD width="200">140 px</TD><TD width="200">240 px</TD><TD width="200">202 px</TD></TR> 146<TR><TH width="200">Maximum number of <EM><STRONG>W</STRONG></EM>s</TH><TD width="200">23</TD><TD width="200">17</TD><TD width="200">16</TD></TR> 147<TR><TH width="200">Maximum number of <EM><STRONG>M</STRONG></EM>s</TH><TD width="200">23</TD><TD width="200">20</TD><TD width="200">19</TD></TR> 148<TR><TH width="200">Maximum number of <EM><STRONG>w</STRONG></EM>s</TH><TD width="200">23</TD><TD width="200">20</TD><TD width="200">19</TD></TR> 149<TR><TH width="200">Maximum number of <EM><STRONG>i</STRONG></EM>s</TH><TD width="200">69</TD><TD width="200">80</TD><TD width="200">64</TD></TR> 150</TABLE></P> 151<H2>See Also</H2> 152<P><A href="ntexconv.html"><CODE>ntexconv</CODE></A><BR> <A href="bannercvtr.html"><CODE>bannercvtr</CODE></A><BR> <A href="makebannerTWL.html"><CODE>makebannerTWL</CODE></A><BR> <A href="makebanner.html"><CODE>makebanner</CODE></A><BR> <A href="addbanner.html"><CODE>addbanner</CODE></A><BR> <A href="../na/subBanner/about_subBanner.html">Sub-Banner Overview</A><BR> <A href="../demos/tips/tipsdemos.html">Miscellaneous Sample Demos: Tips</A><BR> <A href="bannerNitroCharacter.html">Banner Creation Procedure Using NITRO-CHARACTER</A></P> 153 154<H2>Revision History</H2> 155<P>2008/11/28 Moved how to use NITRO-CHARACTER to another page.<BR> 2008/11/11 Revised content along with addbanner TWL support.<BR> 2008/10/20 Changed the maximum number of characters. Added confirmation methods.<BR> 2008/09/29 Added a build sample.<BR> 2008/09/26 Added information about the software management screen.<BR> 2008/09/25 Initial version. 156</P> 157<hr><p>CONFIDENTIAL</p></body> 158</HTML> 159
