Update 1: I had refrained myself for almost a fortnight now - not to post this video. In exchange for a better quality video in daylight but simply don't seem to have the time currenty.(It's a video though!)
Anyways, its a mere 5 game version in video, currently 3 more games are under development - pong, mario and snake(Believe it or not I conjured algorithm for this game while trying to get some sleep and thinking about the programming proved to be just counterproductive!)
Regarding the new games under development - pong is 80% done, maps have been made for mario and snake is 90% done.
Also pardon the flicker and odd lighting in the video,apparently the leds decided to blush in front of my camera :).The multiplexing appears much better to naked eye though!
Next up will be update on the new games, and hopefully a better video.
So for now, you can watch the "5 in 1" version as they say in the cassettes of games used in the 8- bit version of video consoles!
Original Post :
Sometimes(Though not when you are playing a PC game), if you have had a taste of Unity( game engine) , Blender(3D Modelling app),some Arduino coding and last but most vital- more than a spoonful dosage of electronics, you may have pondered how Rockstar coded GTA 5(or any of your other favourite games).
But then again the charm of Pong,Dangerous Dave and Mario (May its creator who recently passed away RIP) has led an indelible impression in our mind.(Oh, the good old Atari Console!).We can't have enough of that either.(If not now,atleast when we were kids)
Well unfortunately (or fortunately?),I thought about it and as it turned out after almost 3 months of going incognito,posting what seemed to be inquisitively random posts here and here and (some more posts that I am lazy enough not to put here) I realize I have embarked on a journey which now has grown into 6 highly dexterous games ( and more in progress) containing over 1500 lines of code, a painstaiking amount of time(> 3 Months I guess working 1-2 hrs each day), effort (thinking about the algorithms) and debugging (the fun part if you call it that).
Here are some gameplay snapshots of the console before you go wondering:
Game #1
Game #2 Gobble 'em up
Game #3 Evade the eneny line of fire
Game #4 Run from the enemy(Brighter Led's)
Game #5 Arrow Spotting
What makes this project all the more special is that it was made from scratch.I even made the custom led matrix for it... and now when I think about it, I guess that's what seperates electronic geeks from software programmers(An electronics guy like me made the complete h/w from discrete electronic parts and then programmed the s/w part of it).Surely a programming launguage can't teach you how to solder or connect shift registers(though it can and does provide for cool animations that you see when you play the game).
Here's the list of gadgets I Interfaced: A led matrix,a LCD display,Speaker(For that quirky sound when you lose a life) and of course your very own handheld controller for input (Poor man's PS2 controller?).Oh,and I used arduino programming launguage for the s/w coding.
A special thanks to birmun,lumi,oddbot,bdk6,bajdi,6677,jerz and the list goes on to cover all members of LMR for replying to queries I had while making this.And I know more problems may yet come(Though they will most likely be s/w ones now...since h/w has been assembled).But for now things are proceeding smoothly.
I know,next thing you'll be calling for is a video but that'll have to wait for a while... Until a later update.Hope it gets bigger and better until that time.Stay tuned.Cheers!
P.S. If you have any cool game idea that you would like to see implemented post it below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnkrNyveCHA