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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Handheld game concept
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Mixtel90 Guru  Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7783 |
Is it worth continuing with this? I think I can make the hardware work, but would the 4" SPI display update fast enough for games? The processor is the Pico 2. The front and rear are acrylic, linked by spacers. The lower 4 buttons are all on GP28, but one is a direct switch to GND so by reconfiguring GP28 to digital it can be read as fast as any of the others. There is an analogue joystick on the left and I have had one of these also acting as a switched joystick so you get the best of both worlds! Not Game*Mite compatible and I'm not intending to compete with that. This is just an exercise to see what I can do with the concept. No schematic yet, it's all in my head. :)  Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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phil99 Guru Joined: 11/02/2018 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2557 |
The 4" ST7796S is faster than the ILI9488 as it uses 16 bits/pixel rather than 24. In portrait mode it has hardware scrolling that is quite fast. For a game that has a lot of horizontal movement the panel could be sideways and the game written as if everything was on a wall rather than the floor. Peter was quite impressed by it. Edited 2025-06-11 22:58 by phil99 |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7783 |
I don't fancy the square display for this. I don't think that any of the games so far have suffered too much from the speed of the ILI9341 (I don't know about the ILI9488, I've never had one). They are all too fast for me anyway! The ST7796S gives a very useful increase in screen size though (if anyone will use it!). Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| matherp Guru Joined: 11/12/2012 Location: United KingdomPosts: 10169 |
I think a 480x320 display is the wrong approach. Most Pico Game development is done for 320x240. This could be windowed onto a 480x320 display but the image would then be smaller than a 2.8" ILI9341. This is why my PicoCalc clone uses a 320x320 display. With this windowing is trivial and you get the full width. It also runs in portrait mode so you get H/W vertical scrolling. The other comment I would make is the need to be able to connect a keyboard. The success of the PicoCalc, such as it is, is that is completely self contained you can program directly on it. To me this is the USP. There are a gazillion cheap handheld consoles out there with much better games libraries than MMBasic on the Pico.Being able to program direct on the device is what differentiates the PicoCalc. Your form factor is nice and I did design something similar ages ago but never had one made but at the end of the day it is just a Game*Mite variant so why not stick with the original which has some level of S/W support. If you wanted to proceed my advice, FWIW, would be as follows: Use the same 320x320 ST7796S display as on my putative PicoCalc. You will need a 40-pin FFC breakout to connect it and a cheap boost converter (less than USD 4 for the pair). Add a PS2 keyboard connector or go the whole hog and run the PicoMite USB firmware in which case you will need a USB/UART for the console. Standardise on the Pimoroni Pico plus 2 as the processor module so that PSRAM is always available. Then you might have something with a reason to exist as a nextgen Game*Mite |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7783 |
Thanks Peter. That's the sort of comment I was expecting. :) There isn't really a place for something in addition to the Game*Mite really, I was giving it a go just to see what could be done and I thought a good place to start would be as big a display as I could reasonably get - I really don't like squinting at small displays much. However, the hardware is only as good as the software available and there isn't any for that display resolution. Unless this concept captured the imagination of the games writers (and my programming abilities are c**p) there's no point to it. Nope, I'm not going to carry on with this, although it's been fun. :) Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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javavi Guru Joined: 01/10/2023 Location: UkrainePosts: 444 |
What do you think about the inexpensive WeAct RP2350B module?  https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008404804398.html |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7783 |
TBH I personally wouldn't standardise on any module not made by RPi. They know how it all works. They wrote the spec. They provided the Datasheet. They have the leverage to get modules made properly, whether it is Wales or China or wherever - even if it means sending whole batches back for rework. I tried the PGA2350 and I rather like it, but it's still something I'd play with rather than base a proper design on. If someone wants to plug in a pin-compatible clone then that's up to them, but I'd build and test to a Raspberry Pi board. That means I can't have PSRAM at the moment. Too bad, but it's simply not going to happen at the moment. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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stanleyella Guru Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2506 |
I tried glcd with mmbasic and was impressed but not the screens. too small for games  dunno why car camera displays cheap not more popular with vga hdmi. come in different size and know it's supported |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7783 |
No touch screens on car displays. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| Amnesie Guru Joined: 30/06/2020 Location: GermanyPosts: 558 |
Hm.. is there really that demand for games? Greetings Daniel |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7783 |
There is, but probably not enough to make it worthwhile pursuing another Pico-based device to play them on. :) If I wanted to play games I could easily get a device designed for it from AE for less than 20 quid, complete with thousands of pirated games. :) I'm currently sitting in front of a PC that seems to make the occasional effort at being a games machine! Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| stanleyella Guru Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2506 |
true and that was the cool feature, ie touch and all the other stuff. loads of fun using glcd thank you devs. who knows what's next as suppliers supply what seems popular. |
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thwill Guru Joined: 16/09/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 4287 |
I'm not sure there is much interest in playing games on the PicoMite (other than a quick dabble to see what people have made), but there is certainly interest in the mental exercise and mental health benefits of writing them; particularly I think in those who were teenagers during the micro-computer boom of the 80s-90s ... when unless I'm mistaken Stan had a couple of games published professionally. Best wishes, Tom Edited 2025-06-12 03:42 by thwill MMBasic for Linux, Game*Mite, CMM2 Welcome Tape, Creaky old text adventures |
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| stanleyella Guru Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2506 |
yeah but it was new then and anyone who could code did cos not many people could. sinclair was a cheap at the time games machine for most people and cassette tapes could be copied. my retro gaming was a rpi400 with 240gb ssd with 2000 zx spectrum,amstrad,snes but the drive failed but it was off pirate bay and emulation station worked setup. but didn't miss it |
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