1. Introduction

1.1. About This Document

This document introduces efficient methods for implementing graphics operations and summarizes certain aspects of Nintendo 3DS Family ( hereafter "3DS") game programming that warrant special attention.

This document is intended for an audience that has some prior knowledge of 3DS programming because it contains highly technical tips about programs and graphics operations.

For more information about 3DS programming specifications, see the manuals included with the CTR-SDK and the Function Reference Manual.

Note:

This document was written for CTR-SDK 9.12.x. If you are using a different version of the SDK, the methods described here may not significantly improve performance. Always refer to the most recent version of the documentation.

1.2. Items Tagged (Important)

This document uses (Important) to tag any items that have a significant impact on performance. If you do not handle these items, they may become bottlenecks and cause a large performance drop.

To achieve acceptable performance on a 3DS system, we strongly recommend addressing every item that has been tagged (Important).

1.3. About the CPU Cores

One of the cores is made available as the application core for exclusive use by game applications, while the remaining core is made available as the system core for use by the system.

Various processes run on the system core under strict scheduling to ensure overall system stability. Applications can only use part of the system core due to the extreme difficulty of developing processes that run on the system core from an application, and because performance improvements do not necessarily result from doing so.

For more information about the system core, see Chapter 7. Processing Handled by the System Core.

1.4. Platform Notation

This documentation uses the platform name when specifying a particular device in the Nintendo 3DS Family.

The platform names and the corresponding devices are listed below.

Table 1-1. Platform Names and Corresponding Devices
Name (TBD) Nintendo 3DS Nintendo 3DS XL Nintendo 2DS Comments
3DS Yes Yes Yes Yes Refers to all platforms.
SNAKE Yes       Refers to SNAKE only.
CTR   Yes Yes Yes Refers to CTR, SPR, and FTR. However, when SPR or FTR is also listed, this refers only to CTR.
SPR     Yes   Refers to SPR only.
FTR       Yes Refers to FTR only.

CONFIDENTIAL