Vircon32: Creating my own console

[carra]

So, about a week ago I bought this console. It is an Anbernic RG552, a decent emulation machine. I chose this model to turn it into a portable Vircon32 because it fits my console so well. It has widescreen, good d-pad placement and can run both linux and android.



I had never coded for android, but I was able to build an android version of my retroarch core and import it into the console along with game roms and thumbnails. I'm quite pleased with the results, you can see the console running here:



EDIT: And now, thanks to the people at Discord, the core works not only on Android, but also on iOS/MacOS/tvOS.

[carra]

Well, it finally happened. Vircon32 got officially accepted into RetroArch! That means you can now install the core automatically from RetroArch itself. This core works on Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, iOS, tvOS, Raspberry Pi 4 and the Nintendo Switch.



In the current version the Vircon32 standard bios is embedded in the core itself (since it is legal), so just install the core and you are good to try the games!

The RetroArch team also opened a Steam page for Vircon32:



With this I plan to stop working on the console itself for some time, so that I can focus on the games.

[deleter]

awesome! looking forward to seeing what games you make with it

[carra]

It's been some time since I last updated this, so I'll make a post.

I have been working on making a racing game for the console. You can see the prototype I made in this video (with my comments in it). I was able to make a "mode 7" effect for the ground.



Now, to make a better car sprite with more directions I thought about using some free 3D car model, but I'm not a 3D artist so it would be hard for me to do it well. I could hire someone but that could be expensive and it would be hard to ensure I get the right perspective, angles and lighting. So I had the idea to use toy car models. They are cheap, easy to find and look good so I bought a few.



I made a controlled setup with the right position and lighting, and took photos turning the car 15 degrees each time, to get 24 positions. I drew a grid to control that the perspective was correct too. A tiny colored dot on the ceiling marked the turning center for me.



This is the final result. Here you see a larger model, and also the reduced model to use in game for a more "pixel art" style. This all took quite some time, but it looks really good. It also adapts quite well to the perspective in game, so I'm pleased