dripley [Lexaloffle Blog Feed]

Pico Pal Concept Update (formerly Pico Pi)

Tue, 05 Mar 2019 23:02:35 UTC

I spent some time today updating and streamlining my hardware concept for a Pico-8 console. I have a couple of people helping me make a 3D-Printable model for the case and plate, so this project might take shape fairly soon.

Once complete, I intend to share the files, along with a QWERTY version of the keycap template.

Here's a view of the sides:

Extreme Cave Chopper

Mon, 25 Feb 2019 03:51:03 UTC

Extreme Cave Chopper v1.3

by dripley

[Click to Play]

Dodge rocks while avoiding the cave walls! Every 100 points, the cave colour changes, and your speed increases slightly. Inspired by the old Helicopter web game from the late '90s / early '00s.

v1.3 changes:

Added rocks that fall as you play, which increase in frequency the further you go
Added ability to move left and right (to avoid said rocks)
Lowered player speed increment as you progress
Added fancier sprite-based title screen

v1.2 changes:

High score is now saved to base ram, and loaded on cart init
Mute music by pressing O+X together

v1.1 changes:

Fixed bug that displayed old high score and new high score simultaneously
Adjusted some colours and text
Updated cart image

Cave generation code from the "Gamedev with Pico-8" zine tutorial.

Pico Pi - My Raspberry Pi Pico8 Concept

Sat, 23 Feb 2019 11:45:15 UTC

Hi there! I've fallen in love with Pico8 over the past few weeks. This is my first post here on the forums, and I thought I would share my Pico Pi project with you all :)

I am in the planning phase of this project, the purpose of which is to create a dedicated Pico8 machine in the style of the Commodore 64, using only keys that the Pico8 software utilises.

Planned Features:

Ortholinear DVORAK key layout (can make key template file for QWERTY version available)
Primary and Shift characters printed on each key
Side-loading floppy disk drive and SD card reader for loading physical game carts
Two front usb ports for controllers
Rear ports: HDMI, Ethernet, USB, Power, (and RCA, for old TVs, if I can manage it)
PICO8 logo key is actually the PAUSE key

I'm planning to hand-wire the key switches to an Arduino Pro-Micro inside the case, which will connect internally to the Raspberry Pi via USB. I also want to create custom controllers that can plug into the front of the unit via USB.

I've made custom mechanical keyboards before, with my own key designs printed from wasdkeyboards.com. I would prefer an SA profile key for this, but I can't find a company that will print custom labels on those for a reasonable price, so it'll have to be OEM for now.

The part that I have no experience with will be the 3D modelling and printing of the outer shell and the switch plate. If anyone wants to help with that, please let me know!

Critiques welcome :)