Uzebox - Atmel AVR based Game Console (Only two chips used!)

[Bp1033]

I'd like to know how the video circuit and software works.

[Yneto94]

Do you use roms to play the games on this Console ?

[uze6666]

@Yneto94 Yes, but it's not the "traditional" ROMs (like for the NES) you'd expect. When compiling a game, you get a "ROM" file which needs to be flashed on the microcontroller chip.

[MultiPivotmasterdx]

hey you should make it run pc games also so you can use the unreal engine 3 for making the games

[ketse89]

Whoa, nice work! You got some serious coding skill :)

Just amazing what you can do with little 8-bit mcu's, can't wait to see what people do with those XMEGAs...

[Desmaad]

Increase that sound to eight channels and I'm sold!

[yTubeBlowsBigBalls]

This is freakn amazing. A single chip forking the graphics processing, sound processing, control inputs, and processing!!!!!

I bet if you made a GPU to offload the sprites/tile memory, background rastering/scrolling, etc., you could use full NTSC resolution. You could also use a 16-bit sound MCU to store sound maps, maybe even MIDI, increase the sampling rate so you have crystal clear sound. Add some SRAM because 4k is just sad. What do you think? Will it still be cost effective?

[jimbotron70]

@yTubeBlowsBigBalls

it would introduce unnecessary layers of complexity and cost into a hobbyist, DIY 2 chips console.

and btw 4kB were enoughfor many 80s arcade hits.. Pacman had just 4kB..

ideas and skill always overcome tech specs..

[yTubeBlowsBigBalls]

@jimbotron70 Yes you're right.

[joesmoe71]

I can also tell him where to find arcade parts too, like real joysticks, coin mechs and such.

[joesmoe71]

dumb question: I notice it uses a chip to convert RGB to NTSC, do you know if the RGB prior to that chip could be connected to an coin operated arcade game's RGB monitor? I'd love to use this board to make my own custom arcade game.

[uze6666]

@joesmoe71 Interesting! Some guy I know (my  bro :-)) is making an arcade case of its own and trying to retrofit it for the Uzebox for it. So far it looks good!! Ping me pack If you're interested!

[joesmoe71]

@uze6666 Oh definately! If he needs any advice on coin-op cabs tell him to go to the forums on KLOV dot com, that's where many of us classic arcade collectors hang out! I'm Tornadoboy on there.

[Robobbly]

@uze6666 Awesome! Just what im doing exept im not useing a uzebox im just makeing my own from scrach. Is there a picture/video of this?! What game is it running!?

[uze6666]

@Robobbly : Thanks, there's lots of pictures and over 60 games and demos now. Check this video's info box for the project's homepage. You'll find schematics, games, wiki and forums. There's a wealth of information and ideas to help you build not only the Uzebox but retro consoles in general. Oh and there's even a neat PCB now to help folks build their own.

[Robobbly]

@uze6666 Ok Cool! Thanks ill have a look. So is it just one chip for the video and the processing, because mine has a atmega382 for the processing and then an atmega88 for the graphics?!

[uze6666]

@Robobbly : One Atmega644 does both game, sound & video processing. With that only one HEX (rom) to flash per game and each game can have it's very own customized video mode. One hex makes it's easy to flash game from the SD card, making it closer to a "real" console.. (btw there's an atmega382??)

[Robobbly]

@uze6666 Ok cool - but i guess ill get faster processing with 2. And i dont have to flash boath my first processor sends it things like draw square at 1,2 and then it does it. So the first processor can get on with getting input! I realy want to inplement an SD card but im not sure how. It might not be an atmega382 its a wait... its a 328 soory :D

[speedyeggbert2009]

Where can I buy it?

[uze6666]

Adafruit . com and sparkfun electronics sells some kit versions. But you can always build you own if you have some experience assembling electronics, it's much more fun!

[CodeJeffo]

I've seen implemented many different projects w/ AVR, but this project's f*cking amazing :) well done!

[nolfolk]

Awesome

[davemaster99]

ke hace matrix ahi fintorris?

[spiderman1321]

player 2 sucks

[NLS87]

Very good Tetris version, and you play it very well!

[yaotzinv]

тетрисный маньяк =)

[intelsath]

cool

[intelsath]

cool

[bestamerica]

why tetris never move up position

[ElectricG]

Wow... impressive as hell.. Just need to get an RPG purist designing games for u ;)

[feedthebear51]

Is this tetris from a port?

[uze6666]

Nope, it's a "unique" tetris version. I have taken some of the best elements of many tetris ports and combined them in Megatris, all gfx are original. This said, I must admit a lot was taken from Tetris DS!

[MultiPivotmasterdx]

can you make a tutorial for mechanics i want to make somthing like thad too from a DVD player ;)

[ArkBlitz]

@uze6666 Any way Megatris will get ported to (GNU-)Linux or Windows?

[uze6666]

@ArkBlitz I guess it could be ported relatively easily using SDL since all the game code is in plain C. However you can already play Megatris under these platforms using the Uzebox emulator. Check out the project website for the download.

[ArkBlitz]

@uze6666 Nevermind, I've already downloaded the Emuze with games (if I'm not wrong with the package's contents) and will try to compile it at home.

[uze6666]

@ArkBlitz Btw, there's also some pre-compiled versions for Windows and Linux 32/64 bit available in the download section...

[ArkBlitz]

@uze6666 Done, but it runs SLOW. Any command-line parameters to spice it up - like frame-skipping?

[uze6666]

@ArkBlitz It's better to discuss this on the Uzebox forums. Please open a topic there and me or someone else will answer quickly.

[inmateno12897]

ur awesome

[brandon9271]

what is the difference between Fuzebox and Uzebox?

[uze6666]

Nothing! They are both based on the same design and plays the same games. The Fuzebox is a DIY kit, while the Uzebox (AVCore) is fully assembled.

[brandon9271]

Awesome! I was looking for an excuse to learn so programming and this could be it! I already have a pretty firm grasp of digital electronics but this may be over my head... I guess I could check out the dev tools and Uzebox emulator before investing any money.. You could learn to develop for the Uzebox without physically having one, correct?

[uze6666]

Absolutely! One guy even developed two full games and a platformer engine 100% on the emulator...amazing stuff. With all the games & documentation the project has gathered in a year, it's a great way to learn C, assembler and embedded programming. Have a look a the main site, it's just been redesigned.

[ackpacket]

I'm having trouble finding some beginner documentation for outputting video to a TV like that. Any recommendations?

[uze6666]

I have a video primer on my site in the docs section (see the video's info for the link). Since we can't post links in these comment it's hard to give more pointers. There's one site I learned a lot from and there's links to much more info. Google for "rickard gunee pic pong", it's the first result...good luck!

[bobaali]

did you build it with your own ?

[uze6666]

sure, 100%

[tiogus22]

Is it easy to programme for this console?

How is the performance with a language that is not like ASM?

[uze6666]

Very easy to code for it. Your can either code in assembler, but most peoples use GCC (an open source C compiler). Performance is excellent, all the games & demos so far were coded in C and they all run at full 30 fps (look my other vids). If you know a bit of C programming, it's a fun way to learn microcontrollers and retro game development!

[EhsanTheGuitarist]

Someone was looking to try and use Ruby instead of C, via the Retrograph library, which is for 8-bit games. If I could use ruby, I would love to try my hand at some retro game development.

[nitturo]

very nice project, but it's still too empty of available open-source games for encouraging people curious about to get more seriously into it - there are lots of open-source projects can be brilliant there, and a project could help the porting and development for making this Uzebox even more popular.

[uze6666]

That's always been the challenge with new open source stuff. However, for the Uzebox there's a growing community of enthusiasts creating clones of their favorite games to learn the basics. Most aims to then develop new retro games from scratch. That will be interesting stuff! :))

[scriptmasterGD]

sweeet

[polopnol]

can it run crysis?

[uze6666]

Sure, At 1/1000th frame a second! ;-)

[kopaganda13]

Sounds like a challenge for a hardcore 8 bit gamer... :D

[9uickbr0wn]

Wow man ! I am building my own PS3 ;-)

Very nice project going on here !

[4ntid0te]

I got a fuzebox and put it together this christmas.  I put mine together with SNES controller ports instead of NES ones. How is SD card support coming? I heard it wasn't finished yet and the only way to play games right now is to transfer them over to the flash memory on the board.

[uze6666]

Well, that depends on someone with spare time willing to do it? ;-) Btw, join the forums, there's lots of things going on there!

[jimbotron70]

C'mon.. cool!

[uze6666]

Thanks guys! One new vid coming soon, think you will like too! :P

[jimbotron70]

It's a very promising console. Don't forget to include in the final draft the option for VGA output, and/or RGB PAL.

Composite video is a bit sucky..

[uze6666]

We already have a manufactured board with a module called AVCore using SMT components. It's basically a full Uzebox in a 40pins DIP footprint. It's very neat and has S-Video out. There's also direct RGB outputs.

[jimbotron70]

Very good news.. now it can be sold worldwide.

[masterbib1]

epic!

[robdun]

wow I can buy a fullybuilt one with everything.

[robdun]

can I buy one or is it just instructions to build one?

[nrdesign1991]

I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!! O.O

[ravingidiot]

This is an excellent project, and what's even better about it is that you made open-source. I'm working on a similar project, but I will definately plan on putting one of these together and doing some programming on it.

[uze6666]

Hey thanks. Join the forums, we have an incredible bunch of freaks working on amazing stuff like SD card interface and even a Uzebox emulator!

[sdpenaloza]

ya saw all the potential you guys are making at the forums, pretty much sold me besides the fact NES games of my past was my inspiration to become a computer sci major in college. time to make a dream come true lol. Excellent project :D

[MatrixCat3D]

Absolutely amazing! Great work!

[dirkovic2112]

hmm, that's really an awesome project.

If I have more free time I'll surely have a look at it.

[Jumpman3]

would be cool if it had support for real NES carts. that way you get the best of both worlds

[ArkBlitz]

@Jumpman3 You could either make a NES emulator for Uzebox, or learn how to assemble a NES cart reader to the Uzebox. It's that flexible.

[estlib]

WERY cool!! where can i find some guidelines to make my own tvgame system

[RamonSmit]

Nice .. I'm making at this moment also an game console... I like it !

[machriderx]

A handheld version of this would be quite awesome. It's already awesome but still, it would be even more awesome.

[ejcrashed]

Awesome, and how much storage space is available for game data/code/gfx?

[uze6666]

Many thanks. In the basic mode, there's about 53k of 64k (~81%) still free for code/data and 1.15k of 4k RAM (~28%). The code is far from optimized in term of size so improvement can be made.

[swordstick]

Really impressing project! I've seen on your page that sourcecodes and schematics will be released today - I'm looking forward :)

[uze6666]

And it's released rigth now my friend! :)

[SunGodAmonRa]

Awesome.

But can you tell, where is game code situated? I don't see any memory ICs - is it compilled with kernel to one hex-file - or you can change the game without reprogramming main chip?

[uze6666]

There's no external memory, everything (code, kernelm, gfx, music) is in a single hex file flashed on the main chip. And thats the goal, only one thing to compile and flash. Since the kernel is arranged as a library, its easy to just include it in the compilation along your game.

[akuyume7]

Very impressive, I think I remember hearing of this project quite long ago but completely forgetting about it. Unfortunately being a fan of Russian folk music, I'm sure I'll be listening to such for a few days now...

[circular05]

That's awesome!

With wavetable synth, I gather it's capable of more than just the chiptune-type music we can hear during the game in the vid.

[uze6666]

It sure can ;)...However there wouldn't be anymore space for graphics or even code!

[qwAirGear]

Wow, I'm impressed with a) the idea (both the system and the interrupt-driven kernel) and b) the fact that it worked so well.