This is the coolest thing I've seen posted on HN in years, very cool work.
I've been playing with Atari 2600 programming on and off for the past few years and it is so fun programming directly against the specific hardware. I can't help but occasionally wonder if I could piece together a similar system, but I have 0 experience with electronics. I can only imagine how satisfying it must be to actually pull it off.
It really is super satisfying to get this far, I still turn it on sometimes just to check if it really works.
And I also had zero experience with electronics (and I still don't know as much as I should...), so yeah I think you could piece together something like this. :)
The only multi-input game I have right now is Tetris for 2 players.
My girlfriend doesn't complaint while playing it (except when I win :P), so I'd say it's pretty responsive, even with the somewhat convoluted way the CPU communicates with the PPU and the double-buffering.
I think it will work for other types of games as well.
With all the hardware, firmware for the 3 microcontrollers, bootloader software, compiler toolchain and tools, I still haven't gotten around to actually make a lot of games for it.
I would totally pay (~$300) to jump on a pre-packaged MOOC like course that has a batch of students working together and the course fee would include the hardware needed and access to a TA like resource (when the batch of students can't solve a problem together).
I can even imagine a part II with modern components after learning this level of basics.
I was doing a little bit of Z80 work a while back, but I didn't particularly seem to appreciate its design (compared to say MIPS). Why do you think it's beautifully designed?
I think GP's use of "hand-clocking" to refer to the factthat the z80 can run on a very low clock rate, to the extent that you can have a hand switch that sends individual clock pulses to the processor. This can be useful for testing purposes as well as for low power operation in embedded applications.
As the Z80 doesn't use dynamic registers (I think basically the only "modern" CPU to make this decision) it doesn't need a minimum clock signal speed to refresh the registers as every other CPU does.
This means you can rig up a push button switch and manually advanced the clock one button press at a time.
To me that's super cool. It also makes them really easy to debug.
Admittedly, I do not have a lot of experience in other CPUs, but to me its just the way its designed. A simple syntax for assembly and the way it maps to byte values is clever. It doesn't require a lot of work to make things happen, ie "hacks" for interacting with IO. I also like how there is a separate IO bus from the data bus, which means IO doesn't take up memory. The register naming convention is simple, and having "alternate" registers is cool.
Out of curiosity, have you thought about trying to port "real" games over to it, as in running a ROM of something commercially released? This is already really cool, but it would be nerd-cred-for-life cool if you could say "Oh, you have a gameboy? Yeah, I built my own."
You should check out Adafruit and Sparkfun as well. They have a lot of solid tutorials to get you started, and a bunch of inexpensive microcontrollers that are easy to get going with, as well as all sorts of lights and sensers and switches to connect to them.
> I still turn it on sometimes just to check if it really works.
I feel this on a personal level, albeit on my much smaller, less complicated projects. Thanks for the amazing write-up, you are an inspiration to us all.
There is something weirdly satisfying about doing something purely for the sake of doing it. So many people start projects hoping they can turn it into a business or gain stars in Github - you see less and less people hacking stuff together just for personal enjoyment.
I think we need more of that too. Everyone seems to be on a quest for perfection: perfect code, 3D printed casing, everything intellectualised to the nth degree. There's a lot to be said for the "rough and ready" approach of experimentation. However to do that you really need to be on a pursuit for personal gratification because the internet is a harsh bitch for pointing out ones mistakes.
+1 from me. I am a lot interested in getting into hands on electronics and most of the times I end up falling a little too short as there is no support around where I live and I never really got a start. Would definitely love some inputs from people who are good at this.
Well nowadays there's a lot of material online, I did find a book interesting, though: "Make: Electronics", it teaches the basics in a very nice way.
Aside from that the key, I guess, is to start small and incrementally go for more and more complex stuff going towards things you like (video games, robotics, etc). If you consistently achieve small victories I think it's enough to stay motivated.
Everytime I managed to overcome something, I took it as a victory (generating the video signal, getting a program to run on the CPU, etc) and this helped me get to the next problem to solve.
I started with discrete logic and an Arduino, went on to programming microncontrollers similar to the one on the Arduino and moved from there to CPUs, RAMs, FPGAs, etc.
Also Youtube channels like EEVblog and GreatScott! are great learning resources.
Has anyone here actually built one of these? I've eyed this project for forever, but I've always been a bit reticent for whatever reason. I think I'm nervous that either things are sufficiently put-together before I get it that I won't learn, or that they won't have time to go into everything, so it'll just be a soldering-based LEGO.
People invariable ask a form of this question every time an impressive project like this is posted.
For what its worth(1), I think that "learn a bunch of stuff -> go build something cool on the first try" isn't quite the right approach. I think you have to set for yourself a series of tasks and then fight like hell to figure out how to accomplish them. Start with a single blinking led. Just google "how to blink an led" and try to do it a few different ways.
In short the only "material" you might use to get started is google, by typing in "how do I..." while chasing modest goals that look like they might be in roughly the right direction. If there is a magic book out there that will "teach you electronics", I haven't found it yet. It sounds a lot like the sort of book that might "teach you astronauting".
"Electronics" is broad enough that it might be more like learning a language than learning a skill.
> For what its worth(1), I think that "learn a bunch of stuff -> go build something cool on the first try" isn't quite the right approach.
There might be also some kind of misconception in the way that you're
seeing something cool and now also want to get this cool stuff. But if you
aren't interested in the fundamentals - in this case electronics - and
don't have fun learning these by simple experiments - like you described -
then it's neither worthwhile for you nor you will get to the cool projects.
Start with an Arduino. Really simple circuits and you get to learn on a microcontroller. It's fun too. For instance learn how to turn on and off an LED then go from there
It's dense but the Art of Electronics is the one book I keep coming back too. Better as a reference than a tutorial, once you've played around with an Arduino or the like I found it great to opening up the "what next?" part of EE.
I’m no expert whatsoever, but I’d recommend getting an Arduino (the cheap knockoffs aren’t horrible, but if you get one, be sure to donate a couple of dollars to the legit Arduino people), a couple of big breadboards, a jumper wiring kit (preferably with all of the different inch fractions so your wiring stays neat), and some basic components (resistors, capacitors, LEDs, buttons, simple ICs, etc).
Once you have all that, get the Arduino do turn on an LED when you press a button on the breadboard. Incorporate some kind of sensor, if you want. After that experience, you should be ready to tackle a bigger project. Now that you have a test bed, you can incrementally build circuits from books and the Internet and actually understand what’s going on.
The first half of nand2tetris[1] (projects 1-6), which corresponds to their first Coursera course[2] is a great introduction to the digital side of electronics. The second half is more general purpose computer and OS specific but probably still pretty useful. I've only finished up to chapter 5 as of right now, so I can't say anything definite.
There are lots of learning kits available on Amazon. That's how I "taught myself" hobby electronics. I don't know much, but this stuff is magic! So it's impressive to most just to implement a simple shift register! Blinkenlights for the win!
Retro gaming in general is about re-enacting the consumption of games, I have never though that you can also re-enact the development/production of them :) Good work!
Yeah, absolutely. Especially coming from a modern software developers POV. I always think it would be fun to get into electronics, but it just seems so much to take in.
I've kept this project to myself and would only describe it occasionally to some coworkers and friends. I never thought that many people would find it cool. And always thought that people with more knowledge than me would find a lot of flaws.
So it's really awesome to read yours and all the other comments. :)
I don't think I could write a book, but I have though in writing other posts, giving more detail in certain aspects of the console.
There's really a lot I could say about it and I only realised how much there was to say when I started writing this.
Just adding to the chorus saying they’d buy a kit and/or book. For branding, play on your introduction for PGG: Portuguese Guy Gaming. Either way though, you definitely should write more posts if it’s something you’d be interested in, you definitely have an excited and willing audience.
A kit for this console would be crazy though, too many components, too much complexity. But for a smaller version, it could be done.
Branding...yeah, I could never get a name for it, til this day I don't know what to call it, I'm terrible with names.
Maybe I'll take your suggestion :).
This is amazing. I'd also love to read a book on this. Electronics is always something i've thought was cool and played around with a little bit, but never really thought something like this was possible with a bunch of slapped together parts. I feel I learned a bunch just reading the bit od your process described in your article and it really made it feel like something accessible for the average person with a bit of technical knowledge and patience. Thanks for sharing that.
You won't know until you start. It's not about writing book, it's just about putting your hardwork in words. You mentioned in your writeup that you used to think same way about building a console.
I have zero knowledge about electronics, consoles, or any of this and I am fascinated by what you did with your free time. Please write a book and publish it here. I'm sure lot and lots of people would love to read it.
Start writing a book and keep writing posts on some of the details and use them to collect emails of people interested in buying the book once it comes out. Also, get on twitter for the same reason.
Well, I'm glad the response has been so positive! And I'm always afraid of that too, but getting something done and out there is better than not doing anything. Plus, I think most people are supportive, and if there is any constructive feedback, hopefully it's coming from a place of just wanting to help rather than tear down.
I think most people are just amazed at what you accomplished :) I am!
Please consider writing a book or blog posts or at least something! But if you don't I totally understand, don't feel bad about not doing something requested, or anything else either. It's your life and your project :D
We are here just to support you and say thanks for inspiring us!
>And always thought that people with more knowledge than me would find a lot of flaws.
Firstly, anyone who nitpicks on a totally handbuilt computer has almost certainly not built their own, so their criticisms can be taken with a pinch of salt (that is to say while they may be valid, can probably be ignored... they're bust criticizing other people's work while you are actually getting on with building something)
secondly if they HAVE designed/built their own computer (not just built up an arduino into a thing) then they are probably more likely to help you ("Hey, have you tried.... to get around..." etc.) than try and fault you. so the only reason to hide your project is to protect it from someone "stealing" it. but I don't think that is a concern, nor is anyone planning on releasing a new design of 8-bit computer/console that's not compatible with anything that's come before.
what I'm trying to say in a long-winded way, is that this is an amazing project, and keep at it as it obviously brings you a lot of joy.
my electronics projects are all currently stalled and finding the motivation to carry them forward it hard right now, so I applaud you!
He wrote a great, thick book called The Black Art of Video Game Console Design. It walks you through making your own game console from scratch. It's a mini EE/CE program in a book. Definitely a great jumping-off point for those looking to learn this stuff.
It is sad that TAB books is no longer a thing, they totally would have published the "BUILD YOUR OWN VIDEO GAME" book. That said, I bet that you could get NoStarch Press to publish it.
I would pay up to around $50 for a well-produced, high quality, and comprehensive hard copy book that documented the entire process. $30 feels reasonable for an ebook version of same high quality. What would be even cooler is if he partnered with a seasoned EE, who could chime in with contextual commentary on what they would’ve done differently and why. That would be even more valuable to me.
As much as I enjoy quickly building circuits on a breadboard like in many of the photos, they’re hell to debug, because there’s so much that can go subtly wrong. It’s much easier with digital than analog circuits, of course, but it still can be crazy hard to logic-probe every connection to get it all to work. I have spent far too much time fixing little bugs in breadboarded circuits. The toughest issue I encountered was when someone melted through part of a big, expensive breadboard with a soldering iron and it caused shorts on the other side of the board. I couldn’t even trust that the holes that were supposed to be connected were in that case, and I sure wasn’t going to copy over the project onto a new breadboard.
However, I’m not sure if there is an easier way to get quickly prototype electronics. Opting for more ICs and a lower BoM count helps, because there’s less wiring to do in the first place.
I totally agree.
The reason I stuck to DIP ICs was because I could fit them into breadboards and I thought that was easier than any alternative.
I was incredibly lucky on how all the breadboards were functional.
And there were a few times where I would accidentally disconnect a wire and spend the next 2 hours trying to figure out what was wrong.
All this without having a logic analyser and not even an oscilloscope until much later in the build (they are not that cheap).
And yes the project sure is complex, too complex, but I guess I was lucky, and I'm glad it's working :).
FYI: saelae makes an affordable logic probe. chinese clones are available for ~$10 and usually work with saelae's official software or with sigrok. a logic analyzer is really a game-changing tool.
For those interested in working with wire wrap: ebay/aliexpress/whatnot all sell old-new-stock wire wrap wire and the manual wrapping tools. Wire wrap works perfectly on standard headers, but the extra-long headers you sometimes see on arduino shields and such give you a couple more connections per pin: 5 vs 3 if I recall correctly.
It's a really nice way to work, you solder your components onto one of those pcbs with a lot of holes, solder the pins next to em, and from that point on you can wire, unwire, and rewire to your hearts content. Its great to easily be able to undo a connection when you make a mistake.
I would argue that with the extremely low cost of PCB manufacturing (and... if you have access to it... assembly) it's easier now to just lay out a PCB and get it made. The trick is to build up a library of circuit "modules" (like... power supply section, battery charging, video output, etc) that get copy-pasted together.
Of course there's the delay in waiting for the PCBs, which could be frustrating for a hobby project (I was lucky enough to live in SZ for a while where getting PCBs back 2 days after ordering is standard). But parallelising projects can be an effective way of dealing with that, and the variety on working on different things (and the joy of getting a PCB in the mail) can help to mitigate that.
Cardboard is a fantastic material. You can draw the schematic on, and then run copper tape along the schematic. It's easy to annotate, since you just need to use a pen. It's able to handle much more current than a breadboard, since the copper tape has a lot more metal than thin wires. You can solder directly to it, and with tape (or some other insulating material) you can cross wires without having them short.
You can also work with SMT ICs. Using a pair of scissors, you can make your own pads and solder to them. I connected an SO8 to read off the SPI data using copper tape. I built an amplifier using a spare Novena amplifier IC on cardboard with copper tape. And I have a level shifter done on cardboard with copper tape.
It's interesting how this kind of project has come into the realm of possibility of an individual's pet project (a smart individual, sure, but not a company).
I guess that the availability of information and materials through the internet has helped a lot. And also more people have knowledge in electronics and programming.
I agree (and thanks for calling me a smart individual :) )
Nowadays is so much easier to get information on how to build something apparently very complex. You don't need to go to a library or seek out and go talk to experts, you actually have access to all that through the internet in forums, articles, posts and videos.
Also it's easy nowadays to order all the things you need for a project online.
Also the access to a massive library of freely shared code libraries and examples. While working with arduino stuff its amazing how when I buy some random part off ebay I can find someone who has already spent a week writing a library that makes everything super easy to use. If I had to do it all myself this would take forever.
Interestingly enough, looking at the HW, there is not much there that wouldn't have been feasible for hobbyist a decade ago. But of course the community and information has absolutely exploded during that period
I know this has been said before but this is one of the coolest things I've seen posted here on HN. My undergrad is in computer engineering and this post brought back a flood of writing VHDL and doing design in Mentor Graphics.
I'm going to read this a few more times. It's like reading a good book about my hopes and dreams.
Thanks :) (I don't mind people saying it over and over again, believe me :P)
I actually started building a much smaller video game console with a cheap Cyclone II FPGA board (a friend of mine wanted one and I tried to figure it out how I could make something smaller and cheaper but still retro and cool) and I'm using VHDL, it's not exactly easy to learn but it's pretty cool, and I find it really hard to find good resources to learn from.
If I was to start all over again, I would use an FPGA for the graphics, for sure, at the time I just didn't know how.
You could use a Zynq FPGA that has a built-in dual core ARM processor. It has 512K of L2 cache and 256K of memory, more than enough to basically copy the same architecture into that design. It also has ADCs built in so you can implement analog joysticks too. It's also probably fast enough to build a graphics processor in logic. Only thing you may want to keep is the sound processor because there is no built-in DAC so you would need to implement that anyway.
Like I wrote in another comment.
There's a great book called "Make: Electronics".
And you can get started with an Arduino kit, it comes with a book and several components. After this when you feel comfortable, you can move one to more advanced stuff, depending on what you're interested in.
There are plenty of videos online for almost any topic in electronics, and projects online using all kinds of components and for all kinds of purposes.
Check out EEVblog, the forums are good, and there are some videos for beginners and also the Youtube channel GreatScott!.
This is incredibly impressive! You should be very proud of yourself for not only having the knowledge to work through a project like this but also the discipline to see it through to fruition. Hats off!
I'm surprised you didn't implement a simple 8k bank switching scheme to utilise the rest of the 128K chip, it's really just a handful of 74244 buffers and a 74138 decoder stuck on an IO port.
I thought about it, I really did, however, I really felt I didn't need the extra RAM, especially for the kinds of programs and games I was aiming for.
And in this case "a handful of 74244" is a lot more complexity and it got a to a point where I really wanted to minimize the amount of ICs I used.
Also I was felt bank switching added complexity when developing for it. This way I can write a C program have it access data and I don't have to worry about the code being split in more than one bank or having the data be in a different bank than the code, etc.
This is outstanding work. You should feel proud that you created something this complex from scratch over a number of years and did not give up! I'm in awe
You're a top notch hacker, from high to low level. Not many people can do what you do. I know this is a hobby/fun project, but I really hope your current employer/clients appreciate and reward you commensurately!
Great project and kudos to you for seeing it through to completion. In our spare moments this is often the greatest challenge. I read the whole blog post, really cool to see the architecture diagram, would love to see more.
213 comments
[ 4.3 ms ] story [ 246 ms ] threadI've been playing with Atari 2600 programming on and off for the past few years and it is so fun programming directly against the specific hardware. I can't help but occasionally wonder if I could piece together a similar system, but I have 0 experience with electronics. I can only imagine how satisfying it must be to actually pull it off.
It really is super satisfying to get this far, I still turn it on sometimes just to check if it really works.
And I also had zero experience with electronics (and I still don't know as much as I should...), so yeah I think you could piece together something like this. :)
Is it fast enough for multi-input / multi-player?
The only multi-input game I have right now is Tetris for 2 players. My girlfriend doesn't complaint while playing it (except when I win :P), so I'd say it's pretty responsive, even with the somewhat convoluted way the CPU communicates with the PPU and the double-buffering.
I think it will work for other types of games as well. With all the hardware, firmware for the 3 microcontrollers, bootloader software, compiler toolchain and tools, I still haven't gotten around to actually make a lot of games for it.
I can even imagine a part II with modern components after learning this level of basics.
Thanks :)
Such a beautifully designed chip.
http://www.thomasloven.com/blog/2013/01/Z80-Tester/
This means you can rig up a push button switch and manually advanced the clock one button press at a time.
To me that's super cool. It also makes them really easy to debug.
Just seems simple and cool to me.
I know that feeling ;)
I feel this on a personal level, albeit on my much smaller, less complicated projects. Thanks for the amazing write-up, you are an inspiration to us all.
I think we need more of that too. Everyone seems to be on a quest for perfection: perfect code, 3D printed casing, everything intellectualised to the nth degree. There's a lot to be said for the "rough and ready" approach of experimentation. However to do that you really need to be on a pursuit for personal gratification because the internet is a harsh bitch for pointing out ones mistakes.
Can you recommend the materials you used when learning? Books or resources etc.
This was a really interesting read, thanks for sharing.
Well nowadays there's a lot of material online, I did find a book interesting, though: "Make: Electronics", it teaches the basics in a very nice way.
Aside from that the key, I guess, is to start small and incrementally go for more and more complex stuff going towards things you like (video games, robotics, etc). If you consistently achieve small victories I think it's enough to stay motivated. Everytime I managed to overcome something, I took it as a victory (generating the video signal, getting a program to run on the CPU, etc) and this helped me get to the next problem to solve.
I started with discrete logic and an Arduino, went on to programming microncontrollers similar to the one on the Arduino and moved from there to CPUs, RAMs, FPGAs, etc.
Also Youtube channels like EEVblog and GreatScott! are great learning resources.
For what its worth(1), I think that "learn a bunch of stuff -> go build something cool on the first try" isn't quite the right approach. I think you have to set for yourself a series of tasks and then fight like hell to figure out how to accomplish them. Start with a single blinking led. Just google "how to blink an led" and try to do it a few different ways.
In short the only "material" you might use to get started is google, by typing in "how do I..." while chasing modest goals that look like they might be in roughly the right direction. If there is a magic book out there that will "teach you electronics", I haven't found it yet. It sounds a lot like the sort of book that might "teach you astronauting".
"Electronics" is broad enough that it might be more like learning a language than learning a skill.
(1)My own meandering opinion
There might be also some kind of misconception in the way that you're seeing something cool and now also want to get this cool stuff. But if you aren't interested in the fundamentals - in this case electronics - and don't have fun learning these by simple experiments - like you described - then it's neither worthwhile for you nor you will get to the cool projects.
https://store.arduino.cc/usa/arduino/most-popular
Once you have all that, get the Arduino do turn on an LED when you press a button on the breadboard. Incorporate some kind of sensor, if you want. After that experience, you should be ready to tackle a bigger project. Now that you have a test bed, you can incrementally build circuits from books and the Internet and actually understand what’s going on.
[1] https://www.nand2tetris.org/
[2] https://www.coursera.org/learn/build-a-computer
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLowKtXNTBypGqImE405J2...
It turns serial signal into parallel output.
They are often found in kits like this: https://www.amazon.com/Smraza-Breadboard-Resistors-Mega2560-... (research a better one than this)
Get a Raspberry Pi (Any controller really, get what you what)
Build something useless like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lgnopk1qmkk
There are lots of learning kits available on Amazon. That's how I "taught myself" hobby electronics. I don't know much, but this stuff is magic! So it's impressive to most just to implement a simple shift register! Blinkenlights for the win!
Great job
I've kept this project to myself and would only describe it occasionally to some coworkers and friends. I never thought that many people would find it cool. And always thought that people with more knowledge than me would find a lot of flaws. So it's really awesome to read yours and all the other comments. :)
I don't think I could write a book, but I have though in writing other posts, giving more detail in certain aspects of the console. There's really a lot I could say about it and I only realised how much there was to say when I started writing this.
A kit for this console would be crazy though, too many components, too much complexity. But for a smaller version, it could be done.
Branding...yeah, I could never get a name for it, til this day I don't know what to call it, I'm terrible with names. Maybe I'll take your suggestion :).
That's what you thought about building a video game console from scratch, and look how that turned out :) Awesome work!
Great work!
I have zero knowledge about electronics, consoles, or any of this and I am fascinated by what you did with your free time. Please write a book and publish it here. I'm sure lot and lots of people would love to read it.
Start writing a book and keep writing posts on some of the details and use them to collect emails of people interested in buying the book once it comes out. Also, get on twitter for the same reason.
I think most people are just amazed at what you accomplished :) I am!
Please consider writing a book or blog posts or at least something! But if you don't I totally understand, don't feel bad about not doing something requested, or anything else either. It's your life and your project :D
We are here just to support you and say thanks for inspiring us!
Firstly, anyone who nitpicks on a totally handbuilt computer has almost certainly not built their own, so their criticisms can be taken with a pinch of salt (that is to say while they may be valid, can probably be ignored... they're bust criticizing other people's work while you are actually getting on with building something) secondly if they HAVE designed/built their own computer (not just built up an arduino into a thing) then they are probably more likely to help you ("Hey, have you tried.... to get around..." etc.) than try and fault you. so the only reason to hide your project is to protect it from someone "stealing" it. but I don't think that is a concern, nor is anyone planning on releasing a new design of 8-bit computer/console that's not compatible with anything that's come before. what I'm trying to say in a long-winded way, is that this is an amazing project, and keep at it as it obviously brings you a lot of joy. my electronics projects are all currently stalled and finding the motivation to carry them forward it hard right now, so I applaud you!
He wrote a handful of game programming books in the 90’s as well.
However, I’m not sure if there is an easier way to get quickly prototype electronics. Opting for more ICs and a lower BoM count helps, because there’s less wiring to do in the first place.
And thanks :)
- Being able to detect noise from the system clock crystal oscillator all cross the breadboard (using my oscilloscope)
- Seeing certain I/O pins float to a bit too high of a voltage, when they were supposed to be "low", probably due to breadboard capacitance
- Accidentally making an AM radio when I forgot to connect a wire on an LM386 I was testing as an audio amplifier
Things got a lot cleaner when I went to a PCB, but I did make it all work on breadboards first.
(It seems like it's still a thing in fact http://www.nutsvolts.com/magazine/article/wire_wrap_is_alive...)
It's a really nice way to work, you solder your components onto one of those pcbs with a lot of holes, solder the pins next to em, and from that point on you can wire, unwire, and rewire to your hearts content. Its great to easily be able to undo a connection when you make a mistake.
Cardboard is a fantastic material. You can draw the schematic on, and then run copper tape along the schematic. It's easy to annotate, since you just need to use a pen. It's able to handle much more current than a breadboard, since the copper tape has a lot more metal than thin wires. You can solder directly to it, and with tape (or some other insulating material) you can cross wires without having them short.
You can also work with SMT ICs. Using a pair of scissors, you can make your own pads and solder to them. I connected an SO8 to read off the SPI data using copper tape. I built an amplifier using a spare Novena amplifier IC on cardboard with copper tape. And I have a level shifter done on cardboard with copper tape.
Bunnie has a good article on it here, including an example power regulator that's handling 2A on cardboard: https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=5259
I guess that the availability of information and materials through the internet has helped a lot. And also more people have knowledge in electronics and programming.
Great job, Sérgio. É muito giro.
Nowadays is so much easier to get information on how to build something apparently very complex. You don't need to go to a library or seek out and go talk to experts, you actually have access to all that through the internet in forums, articles, posts and videos.
Also it's easy nowadays to order all the things you need for a project online.
Thanks :)
I'm going to read this a few more times. It's like reading a good book about my hopes and dreams.
I actually started building a much smaller video game console with a cheap Cyclone II FPGA board (a friend of mine wanted one and I tried to figure it out how I could make something smaller and cheaper but still retro and cool) and I'm using VHDL, it's not exactly easy to learn but it's pretty cool, and I find it really hard to find good resources to learn from.
If I was to start all over again, I would use an FPGA for the graphics, for sure, at the time I just didn't know how.
And thanks again for the comment :)
There are plenty of videos online for almost any topic in electronics, and projects online using all kinds of components and for all kinds of purposes.
Check out EEVblog, the forums are good, and there are some videos for beginners and also the Youtube channel GreatScott!.
And thanks :)
And in this case "a handful of 74244" is a lot more complexity and it got a to a point where I really wanted to minimize the amount of ICs I used.
Also I was felt bank switching added complexity when developing for it. This way I can write a C program have it access data and I don't have to worry about the code being split in more than one bank or having the data be in a different bank than the code, etc.
It's a nice catch though, thanks for the comment.
(surprised by the lack of Bandersnatch jokes)
Great job on this!