Bitbox : a small open, DIY 32 bit VGA console


I don't have much of an idea about low-level programming, but would it be theoretically possible to use one of the Cortex M4 MCUs the Pyra has to reproduce the BitBox more exact and using less energy than with emulation? Or doesn't the Pyra have Floating Point Units in its M4s, rendering my idea almost impossible?

I understand that it would be a LOT of work and there's not nearly enough interest for this, but it would be so freaking awesome^^
 
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the Pyra M4's don't have floating point support, but there are two of them, which is more than in the bitbox (just one M4f). i think i'll program my integrated 4-bit editor entirely with integers, however.

but as you say, it's a lot of hard low-level work that i can't do (no low-level hardware skills in my pocket) -- if we want to get pyra m4's outputing to the screen without needing the A15s for anything. but that would be a very cool goal to work towards.
 
I'm still tempted to get me a bitbox, but the fpga board I bought several months ago has still to make it out of the box, so I don't hold out much hope on getting around to playing with bitbox even if I got one :(
 
yeah, what you'd want to do is download the bitbox sdk, download a game (or two), and tinker with it from there. see if you like making games for it (and you can test with an SDL "emulator"), before you actually get one.

i made my first game without even having a bitbox, since the SDL part makes things easy for development. of course, some things that run on the emulator won't run on a real bitbox, due to limited RAM/CPU cycles for drawing to the screen, but if you stick with one of the simple view modes (or some abnormal ones) you should be ok. or just adapt an existing game (that's what i did with memory matrix -- i adapted it from makapuf's polar game).
 
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so we're in the process of thinking about bitbox v3, something that could be portable (lcd) or VGA. (earlier ideas were HDMI out.)
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/bitbox-console/0FHgs-BX0Ps

i was greatly inspired by this, and thought this would be the coolest little portable bitbox.
http://hackaday.com/2017/04/23/this-hacker-fit-an-entire-retropie-in-an-altoids-tin/

but thought it would be fun to have L/R, start and select too :).
bitbox3.png
although, on a small altoids tin, you can put L/R on the very back as regular buttons, or maybe even the bottom as buttons or triggers. i'm not quite sure what would be most comfortable, will have to go invest in some altoids soon ;). it also might be comfier to put the dpad and buttons closer to the center. again, stuff i'd have to test with a tin...

any thoughts on what should or should not make it into bitbox v3?
 
ok... time for my own take on a "mobile" version of the bitbox.
haven't finished it yet, but it's in the works!
 
Funny you should post this, I'm just on Hackaday and Tindie looking at Makapuf and the Bitbox. He's got one left in stock, and just debating with myself again whether to pick it up :)
 
yeah there's no other fun "open sourcy gadget news" going on atm, so i thought i might as well try to make my own ;)
 
ok, part two.


there may be a part three for some spit and polish. but it's nice to have "finished" a project in a while. in other bitbox news, the 16 game editor is nearly done, but i should verify any last minute things i'd like to change/add before a beta release.
 
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