Vircon32: Creating my own console

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carra
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Re: Vircon32: Creating my own console

Post by carra »

Finally, after a long time, here is the next part of the console specifications:

Specification part 4: The graphics chip (GPU) (English).

It has taken me quite a few hours and I have rewritten the document several times, but I think I have managed to find a structure that will serve as a "template" for me when specifying the other chips that also depend on the CPU.
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Sirocco
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Re: Vircon32: Creating my own console

Post by Sirocco »

Holy crap you've put a lot of work into documenting this. Are you planning on adding any further blending modes to the GPU, or are they fixed with the 3 you've got now?
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carra
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Re: Vircon32: Creating my own console

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No, the console features are already decided and they should never change unless some serious design flaw is discovered. I know that consoles such as the pico-8 have been releasing updates with new features but that's not my intention here. There is only 1 Vircon32 🙂
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carra
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Re: Vircon32: Creating my own console

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I have uploaded a short video talking about the Vircon32 ports to other systems.



The only more recent thing is that as you can see I have started to tinker with the raspberry pi 3 I have. The emulator compiles and everything works (well, I can't confirm about the sound since I don't have any speakers plugged) but it's unplayable because OpenGL doesn't seem to be enabled properly. I have to investigate this a bit more.
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Sirocco
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Re: Vircon32: Creating my own console

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carra wrote: Tue Jun 28, 2022 4:10 pm I have uploaded a short video talking about the Vircon32 ports to other systems.



The only more recent thing is that as you can see I have started to tinker with the raspberry pi 3 I have. The emulator compiles and everything works (well, I can't confirm about the sound since I don't have any speakers plugged) but it's unplayable because OpenGL doesn't seem to be enabled properly. I have to investigate this a bit more.
I'm still using Code::Blocks, and haven't fully explored porting to other systems/OS. On my smaller projects (literally just a single c file) getting Linux ports seemed to be no trouble. And I feel your pain regarding shaders. Since I've moved to Raylib I've been weaning myself off of doing everything in software (*sobs quietly*). I find writing shaders to be an annoyance, but in time they might grow on me.
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carra
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Re: Vircon32: Creating my own console

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Well, luckily the only shaders needed for this console turned out to be extremely simple! But when you have never worked with shaders, it can become a barrier. Also, with OpenGL code now adapted to modern standards portability should improve too, so at least this is work that can be worth the effort.
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carra
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Re: Vircon32: Creating my own console

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GAME FINISHED: MINESWEEPER FOR VIRCON32

I made a new game for the console: a version of the classic Windows Minesweeper. It features the same 3 board sizes, but adapts the game experience to be a bit more arcade. As always you can get the game and its source code from the website.

You can see some gameplay of the game in this video:

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Sirocco
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Re: Vircon32: Creating my own console

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That video reminds me of how much I suck at minesweeper :D

Great work, as I'm coming to expect from you!
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carra
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Re: Vircon32: Creating my own console

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Sirocco wrote: Wed Jul 27, 2022 9:37 pm Great work, as I'm coming to expect from you!
I'm honored that you think so :D
I will keep at it!
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carra
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Re: Vircon32: Creating my own console

Post by carra »

This is the intro for Solitaire. I think I managed to make a convincing fake 3D for the cards.
Try to view this at full size! The reduced resize looks ugly

Image
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