[HN Gopher] ClockworkPi - uConsole, "fantasy console" for indie ...
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ClockworkPi - uConsole, "fantasy console" for indie game developers
Author : emdashcomma
Score : 207 points
Date : 2022-10-25 14:45 UTC (8 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.clockworkpi.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.clockworkpi.com)
| gorgoiler wrote:
| This would be the perfect remote control for a media PC.
| tartoran wrote:
| A bit too overpowered for that
| giobox wrote:
| This was an instant purchase for me on the basis of its mid-90s
| PDA aesthetic alone.
| omgmajk wrote:
| I want this so bad my brain is starting to split in half just
| thinking about it.
| jgtrosh wrote:
| If it helps you temper your hype: it looks like the keyboard is
| made the same way as the devterm, but smaller, and the devterm
| keyboard is already a mushy mess of tiny keys.
|
| And I've used good tiny keyboards, but that is not really it.
| incomingpain wrote:
| Holy crap, $200?
|
| Too good to be true. What's the catch?
| djur wrote:
| Iffy software support. If you look at the Clockwork Pi forums
| there's a lot of complaints about a lack of updates. There's
| some community support for alternate/upgraded software, but the
| user base is small enough that we're talking "download a ZIP
| file from a rando who says it works for him". It's DIY but also
| "figure it out yourself".
| moron4hire wrote:
| The catch is that every single part of the system is some kind
| of janky hack job.
|
| I have one of their GameShell devices. The things on the sides
| that look like knob controls are actually clasps to hold the
| thing together. Took me a week just to figure out how to SSH
| into the thing. Screen resolution and picture quality is really
| bad. All of the buttons feel awful, with a lot of latency on
| presses. WiFi just craps out whenever you breath a little hard
| on it. Performance is about like trying to run modern Linux on
| a 15 year old PC. Lots of fantasy consoles preloaded, but the
| screen, performance, and buttons all add up to making it a
| terrible experience, and there are only one or two good games
| for each, anyway. Lots of very poorly implemented PyGame games
| that have such neat features as "no way to kill the process
| from within the app to return to the main menu" and none of
| them are actually even close to good ideas, say nothing about
| complete or decent games.
| reustle wrote:
| $240 if you include the cellular option in the bundle, but
| still very cheap.
| BirAdam wrote:
| I bought both a DevTerm a04 and DevTerm r01. The catch is
| software support (if this is going to be similar to other
| clockwork pi products using the same modules), which is
| entirely left up to the community. With that said, the
| community mostly supports the a06 and RPi CMs. Their hardware
| is actually quite good, as is customer support for that
| hardware. Just be advised that anything other than Rpi and a06
| are going to be very rough on the software side of the house.
| officeplant wrote:
| This will look great next to my PocketCHIP, and Pimoroni
| PicoSystem in the fantasy console drawer I've begun since they
| got too dusty on the shelf.
| [deleted]
| lijogdfljk wrote:
| This.. or something like this, looks like a fun little interface
| to hang on the wall. Though the keyboard might be a bit extreme
| for that, given the difficulty to type on the wall heh
| anononaut wrote:
| Cool hardware like this makes me regret switching off of QWERTY.
| 0xdeadbeefbabe wrote:
| You can always switch back with enough practice.
| stonogo wrote:
| You're not touch-typing on this keyboard anyway. As a size
| reference, that grey bulge on the back case houses two 18650
| batteries. This keyboard is for thumbs.
| dewey wrote:
| A few years ago I would've been all over having a dedicated
| Weechat IRC client, it looks very tempting.
|
| https://www.clockworkpi.com/product-page/uconsole-kit-r-01
| felideon wrote:
| Same. Haven't used WeeChat in a while, but I used to get a lot
| of value from using it with Bitlbee via a cheap VPS.
| SkittlesNTwix wrote:
| I've been out of the IRC loop for a while. Is there still a
| lot of value using IRC in general?
| serf wrote:
| >Is there still a lot of value using IRC in general?
|
| weird question.
|
| it's a chat interface. there are people to chat with on
| IRC.
|
| Is that a valuable thing to you? Who knows.
|
| If the question is "Are there still people that use IRC?",
| then "Yes.".
|
| I know it's probably a 'mover-and-shaker' HN thing, but not
| everything needs to be rephrased to compare against
| value/time.
| felideon wrote:
| > there are people to chat with on IRC. > If the question
| is "Are there still people that use IRC?", then "Yes.".
|
| That's a reasonable interpretation of the question. Even
| so, a lot of IRC communities have moved to Discord and
| such to lower the barrier to entry in participation.
|
| The underlying question is more likely "Are the people I
| would chat with still using IRC?" which can only be
| answered if you know who the people you want to chat with
| are.
| cptcobalt wrote:
| This feels like a great surrealist "let's hack on some outdoor
| IoT hardware" cyber-warfare device. I bought one.
| stolen_biscuit wrote:
| Is there any way to buy just the console without the cores if you
| already have one for the devterm?
| tartoran wrote:
| It looks very cool and would love to find a use for it to justify
| buying it. Id love to use it as a dedicated device but does it
| instant boot? Does it at least hybernate properly?
| jgtrosh wrote:
| On my similar Devqterm, ambian takes around 30s to boot. There
| might be hibernation, but I don't use it. I actually like the
| quasi-instant system shutdown you get with the physical power
| off button (though I'm sure it's reprogrammable)
| [deleted]
| Zvez wrote:
| I feel uncomfortable just by looking at its keyboard
| low_tech_punk wrote:
| Can you turn this into a cyberdeck phone that actually works with
| AT&T and Verizon?
| iambvk wrote:
| Does it support NVME for storage? I only see MicroSD card.
| evanfarrar wrote:
| No. It has a mini-pci-e shaped port and some nvme fit that
| size, but i believe it is for expansion boards (like the
| cellular module?) you could add NVME via USB port, but this
| thing is more like a raspberry pi, and not going to have the IO
| to use NVME much faster than SD card speeds.
| bee_rider wrote:
| I vaguely feel like there's an alternative version of me that,
| like, 10 years ago resisted the urge to get a smartphone and now
| owns something like this.
|
| But for the actual me, I can't see the point really.
| philipov wrote:
| They call this Fantasy? Looks more Sci-Fi to me.
| vhold wrote:
| Comes from things like: https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php
|
| More here: https://github.com/paladin-t/fantasy
| leros wrote:
| This looks really cool but I don't really understand what the
| market is for this product.
| yellowapple wrote:
| Is there an ETA on when this would actually ship? I'm very
| tempted to order one, but I've already been waiting a good long
| while for a _different_ handheld device with a physical keyboard
| (Astro Slide 5G) so I ain 't exactly keen on doubling that number
| unless there's some timeline for these getting out the door.
| dewey wrote:
| > Based on the current supply chain and logistics situation,
| the estimated delivery time is approximately 90 business days.
| reustle wrote:
| Give these guys 3 more years and they'll release a DIY
| Blackberry. This is already very close, just a bit too big.
| stokehacker wrote:
| Is it certified for Windows 95 or 2000?
| CrociDB wrote:
| I really want to like this kind of devices, but... seriously,
| this keyboard seems very uncomfortable to type with, and the "pad
| buttons" to play games look even worse!
|
| It's an interesting little computer that I would love to try
| once, but very likely wouldn't spend money on it.
| rasz wrote:
| Those cursor keys (they actually call it a gamepad on the
| website!) are straight from Amstrad CPC 664
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amstrad_CPC#/media/File:Schnei...
|
| even hilariously bad Commodore plus/4 had better usability
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_Plus/4#/media/File:C...
| [deleted]
| [deleted]
| gergi wrote:
| Maybe I'm naive but what exactly is this? I couldn't figure
| anything out from the website other than it's a handheld device
| that shows a text console. What is a "fantasy console"? Why would
| a indie game developer want one of these devices?
| [deleted]
| traverseda wrote:
| It's a small linux handheld with a slightly anemic ARM cpu, a
| full keyboard, and metal case.
|
| There are various "fantasy consoles" people make video games
| on, like the piko-8^1 (which the indie darling Celeste was
| originally developed for) and the TIC-80^2 (Providing a more
| PC-like experience). It might be best to think of them as
| emulators for computers/devices that never existed. Some
| platonic ideal of game consoles past. They're often programed
| in LUA and provide limited RAM/Display-resolution/palette-
| depth, etc, in order to provide a retro feel while not
| requiring you to program in actual assembly.
|
| Personally I'd be more interested in this as a field-
| device/development-environment/tricorder type unit. It seems
| like a great unit to hook a chip programmer up to, or one of
| those open-source FPGA-based oscilloscopes, or other lab
| instrumentation.
|
| 1: https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php
|
| 2: https://tic80.com/
| wilsonnb3 wrote:
| More info:
|
| There are a bunch of Chinese handhelds that people use for
| emulation, some of which can run PICO 8 games.
|
| My Anbernic RG351V does it but I don't think it came with the
| stock OS, requires some tinkering.
|
| Anyways, there is already a small market for handheld
| "fantasy console" players that might respond positively to
| the open nature of the clockwork pi devices.
| roywiggins wrote:
| It's a shame there's no official PICO-8 runtime for any of
| those little devices, last time I checked compatibility was
| a bit spotty from the open-sourced reimplementations.
| Things have probably gotten better on that front since I
| last looked though.
|
| This thing supports a Raspberry Pi compute module so I
| assume it will run the Pi version of PICO-8.
| ThatPlayer wrote:
| JELOS on the Anbernics can run the official Raspberry Pi
| version of PICO-8 fine. Agree with the reimplementations
| not being as good.
| Cyberdog wrote:
| Not really sure why they're branding it as a console when
| it's basically a portable Pi, and therefore far more
| versatile than "game console" implies. I suspect that will
| cause some confusion among potential customers who initially
| just see it as a game engine runtime.
| derefr wrote:
| A "fantasy [retro game] console" is an abstract machine (like
| the JVM is an abstract machine, or like the Flash runtime is an
| abstract machine, or like BASIC is an abstract machine) with
| two key properties:
|
| 1. it's compute-resource-constrained -- so you can't just
| transpile DOOM into the "fantasy console's" native programming
| language / bytecode ISA and expect it to run well, but instead
| have to learn to program directly for the console's native
| programming language or ISA -- close to the (abstract) metal --
| to do anything of note with it;
|
| 2. it exposes low-level "primitive" features in its native
| programming language / bytecode ISA, in the form of system
| calls or MMIO registers, to accelerate graphics/sound
| operations without consuming (abstract) CPU cycles; thus
| allowing games developed for the console to run well at
| 30/60FPS, despite the resource constraints. Where usually these
| calls are themselves constrained to only allow for
| "retro"-style output (e.g. allowing audio only in the form of a
| set number of square-wave frequency channels.)
|
| In other words, a "fantasy [retro game] console" attempts to
| achieve a similar set of "artistic constraints" for game
| development that you get from developing for a real retro game
| console, like the NES or Gameboy. Except that the artistic
| constraints imposed by fantasy consoles are usually not low-
| level _technical_ constraints in the system 's (theoretical)
| microarchitecture, but rather arbitrary policy-based
| constraints imposed by the abstract-machine standard on
| conforming implementations, and therefore are often less
| _frustrating_ things to be worked around (think: memory bank
| switching), and instead are more _inspiring_ constraints to be
| _embraced_ to fuel the creative process when making a game
| (think: limited color palette per art asset.)
|
| Or you can think of it like this: what if the Super Nintendo
| never existed, but there still ended up being "SNES emulators"
| that all agreed on how they should interpret/run "SNES ROMs" --
| all implementations of a shared abstract-machine standard?
| Developers would then be producing "SNES games" not to run on a
| physical SNES, but instead solely so that you could then run
| them on a compatible emulator. Although, in theory, nothing
| would stop someone from making a real hardware SNES conforming
| to the abstract-machine standard -- and then SNES ROMs would
| work on it as well. That's a "fantasy console."
|
| For a given fantasy console, there may or may not be any
| physical-hardware implementations; though usually there aren't.
| A well-known example of a "fantasy console" with only virtual
| implementations (i.e. emulators) is the PICO-8
| (https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php). While there are
| hardware devices that present themselves "as" a PICO-8
| "console", they do this by using some other ISA to run a full
| OS kernel, which then launches into a userland PICO-8 emulator.
| There is no hardware device whose CPU+BIOS enables it to
| natively execute PICO-8 code. (It's the difference between a
| NES Classic, and an actual NES.)
|
| Meanwhile, this thing -- the uConsole -- isn't a "fantasy
| console" itself, per se (i.e. they're using the term wrong),
| but rather a device _focused on_ running _multiple_ fantasy-
| console emulators, which therefore doesn 't even attempt to
| present itself as being any particular "fantasy console's"
| hardware. It's basically just one of the many "retro handheld"
| devices out of Shenzhen recently (which often ship with
| fantasy-console emulators) -- except this one's got a keyboard!
| :P
|
| A fun example of a more true hardware "fantasy console", where
| the hardware is itself an implementation of a particular
| fantasy-console abstract machine (and where the abstract-
| machine standard and the hardware implementation were co-
| developed to make this possible), is the
| https://www.commanderx16.com/ -- which is both a fantasy-
| console in its full capabilities, but is also a backward-
| compatible superset of the abstract-machine model of a
| Commodore 64, and so compatible with Commodore 64
| software/games (so this abstract-machine can also be thought of
| as an "enhanced" Commodore 64 -- like how the Gameboy Color was
| an "enhanced" Gameboy -- making "enhanced ports" of Commodore
| 64 games an especially easy/interesting project.)
| unwind wrote:
| I don't think you are correct about the X16, it is not that
| compatible with the C64. From their FAQ [1]:
|
| _Although it runs Commodore BASIC (itself based on Microsoft
| BASIC as many machines were) it was never intended to be an
| "emulator" or compatible with the C64 or any other machine.
| It is its own machine, just as the ZX Spectrum, Atari 800,
| etc. were also distinct from the C64. [...] Ultimately C64
| compatibility is not the aim of this product._
|
| [1]: https://www.commanderx16.com/forum/index.php?/about-faq/
| jhbadger wrote:
| Just a minor point -- the Commander X16 isn't actually
| compatible with the Commodore 64 -- it's kind of like a
| fantasy version of what the Commodore 64 could have evolved
| into if they had stayed with that rather than shifting to the
| Amiga. It's "Kernal" compatible with the Commodore 64, Vic
| 20, and PET, meaning that developing for the platform should
| feel comfortable to programmers of those machines but it
| can't just run software for those machines unported.
| Version467 wrote:
| That's fascinating. Thanks for giving such an in-depth
| explanation. Doesn't appeal to me at all, but I can totally
| see why people find these constraints interesting. Especially
| considering that some of the all-time greatest games were
| developed on similarly constrained hardware.
| evolve2k wrote:
| Can someone point to a few popular games in this, err
| Genre? Sounds fascinating.
| TillE wrote:
| > it's compute-resource-constrained
|
| I guess the PICO-8 has some kind of CPU limit, but it's
| orders of magnitude over the 8-bit 6502 consoles it's broadly
| mimicking. That was sort of disappointing to me.
| derefr wrote:
| I believe that, rather than a CPU usage limit (which would
| require some kind of CPU-cycle accounting tracking, which
| would impose a high overhead on a system that's based on
| high-level source-code interpretation rather than on a
| bytecode virtual machine), the PICO-8 chose instead to go
| the route of limiting code _complexity_ by just limiting
| (Lua source) code _size_. So your code can go as fast as
| you like -- you just can 't have very much of it. Which
| seems to result in practice in games that have similar
| features and play-styles to retro-games, despite the
| constraint coming from a different direction.
|
| Like I said: fantasy-console abstract machines don't aim
| for technical limitations; but rather, for _stylistic_
| limitations. They don 't want to impose upon you low-level
| technical barriers, for you to just treat those limitations
| as _implementation-time programming puzzles to be overcome
| or worked around_. (If you want that, just write games for
| an actual retro console!) Rather, they want to impose
| _high_ -level _constraints_ that influence your _design-
| time_ choices. Less like typing on a broken keyboard; more
| like writing a poem with constrained rhyme-scheme and
| meter.
|
| That's why these are "fantasy" consoles -- their particular
| _lack_ of technical constraints means that they can
| actually require a decent modern CPU /GPU/etc to run; and
| so could never have actually existed in the era they borrow
| their aesthetics from.
| chrisallenlane wrote:
| > So your code can go as fast as you like
|
| I've been working on an (IMO) sophisticated tactical game
| with strong AI in Pico-8 for just about two years now,
| and I can say that this is not true.
|
| > which would require some kind of CPU-cycle accounting
| tracking
|
| This is pretty much what it does.
|
| Pico-8 tracks an arbitrary "cycle" budget, which is used
| to calculate how much computation you're allowed to
| perform per frame. You're absolutely not going to compute
| at "bare metal" speed.
|
| Here's some info in the (community) docs:
|
| https://pico-8.fandom.com/wiki/CPU
|
| I don't know how this does/does not compare to the 6502,
| because I unfortunately don't have any experience there.
| But you're absolutely not going to get bare-metal
| performance inside of Pico-8.
|
| You're right about limiting code-size, though. For my own
| project, the code size limits have proven far more
| difficult to work around than the performance limits.
|
| Tangent now, but these are some of the Pico-8
| limitations:
|
| - screen is 128x128 pixels
|
| - only 16 colors are available (sort of... there's a
| "hidden palette" too)
|
| - cartridge size may not exceed 32 kb
|
| - cartridge may not exceed 65k characters
|
| - Lua AST may not exceed 8192 tokens
|
| That last one has been the hardest constraint for me to
| manage, by far.
|
| Anyway, Pico-8 is a ton of fun. Try it out if you're
| inclined :)
| _joel wrote:
| Looks neat, but what's going on with that keyboard layout and the
| enter/backspace. That would be difficult to de-muscle memory
| shon wrote:
| With that keyboard, it's only a "fantasy console" if you're a
| masochist.
| [deleted]
| xwdv wrote:
| This is the kind of device designed to look so attractive for
| certain people that it would be an impulse buy: metal case,
| exposed screws, lots of ports for peripherals, full (mechanical?)
| keyboard and lots of buttons, a nice built in screen, raspberry
| PI inside... it's like you're describing an attractive woman.
|
| But when you go beyond that, what is the point of this? Why is an
| indie game developer going to build things for this particular
| niche platform? In the end, I would buy this and it would just
| end up as another random device in a drawer. Nice aesthetic, but
| useless.
| traverseda wrote:
| >Why is an indie game developer going to build things for this
| particular niche platform?
|
| Very similar interfaces as the tic-80, and no doubt pico-8
| compatible. There's already a software/games library, plus it
| runs normal linux.
| incomingpain wrote:
| > In the end, I would buy this and it would just end up as
| another random device in a drawer. Nice aesthetic, but useless.
|
| You have this problem as well? mmm technolust.
| humanistbot wrote:
| > Why is an indie game developer going to build things for this
| particular niche platform?
|
| This is a linux computer where the terminal is the primary
| intended interface. Anything you can run on ARM and linux (like
| everything in retropie) should be supported out of the box.
| Terminal-based games don't need fancy GPU drivers and
| optimizations like the Steam Deck. There should be no porting
| needed except maybe some keymapping for the non-keyboard
| buttons, but that's normal.
| felideon wrote:
| > This is a linux computer where the terminal is the primary
| intended interface.
|
| Good point. As Yegge said, "[It's] all just plumbing for
| Emacs, anyway."[1]
|
| [1] http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2008/04/settling-osx-
| focus-f...
| drbig wrote:
| With a bit of a broken heart I have to concur. Tiny screen,
| tiny keyboard, usability not included. I still kid myself after
| all those years that I will actually use my old EeePC for a
| "cool retro something" - even had DOS installed and made wired
| Ethernet work! - but nope, it's just painful. And that thing
| actually has a keyboard not designed to be operated with a
| stylus!
| felideon wrote:
| > Nice aesthetic, but useless.
|
| FSV of _useless_ , maybe. In theory, there's a market for retro
| game designers who would appreciate this device for their
| hobby.
|
| Kind of tempted to buy it myself to replace late night or in-
| bed usage of mindless scrolling of Twitter and Reddit. [Edit: I
| guess this part is right in their headline: "bedroom
| programmers".]
| bogwog wrote:
| There are hundreds of millions of PSPs, Vitas, DSes, 3DSes,
| Gameboys, etc floating around in the hands (or closets) of
| actual users out there.
|
| Those are consoles that are fully hacked, with high quality
| open source toolchains and SDKs, and emulators.
|
| If you have a retro handheld game development itch, those
| will scratch it better than anything else, especially since
| there's a real chance people will actually play your game.
|
| Developing for those old consoles also means you potentially
| delay them going to a landfill.
|
| Not to say the gadget in OP isn't worth buying, but the
| "indie dev" value proposition isn't that strong IMO.
| giobox wrote:
| > But when you go beyond that, what is the point of this?
|
| I don't like the idea that every tech purchase must somehow
| prove its worth or be measured as "worthy" somehow - if you
| enjoy devices like these and like collecting them - have at it!
|
| Some of the things I enjoy most are frankly "pointless" in the
| eyes of most; don't let this stop you. You aren't buying a
| life-changing large purchase like a house or a car here.
| Sometimes these things work out, sometimes they don't.
|
| The point of devices such as this is often that they indeed
| have no specific point... they are for fun as much as anything
| else you can think up.
| rasz wrote:
| > (mechanical?) keyboard and lots of buttons
|
| smd dome switches with rubber cover, as mechanical as ZX
| Spectrum keyboard
| AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote:
| > In the end, I would buy this and it would just end up as
| another random device in a drawer.
|
| Don't underestimate the "collecting cool things in a drawer"
| crowd.
| crims0n wrote:
| Not going to lie, this seems to scratch an itch I haven't thought
| about since the days of the Pocket C.H.I.P. If the keyboard is
| even remotely useable, I am interested.
| kiawe_fire wrote:
| The Pocket CHIP created this itch for me, but the keyboard on
| that thing made me realize how everything can be so good and
| just completely fall apart around one detail.
|
| So, I'm leery about this and other things like it. I _want_ a
| portable, pocketable computer on which I can hack and code away
| at fun things like graphics and games when I 'm bored or
| waiting in line or whatever, but I'm becoming increasingly
| convinced that "small size" and "usable keyboard/UI" are
| mutually exclusive.
|
| Might just give this a try, though!
| ranger47 wrote:
| Have a look at the upcoming MNT Pocket Reform:
| https://www.crowdsupply.com/mnt/pocket-reform
| ytjohn wrote:
| GDP makes some good fits for this. I'm partial to the
| MicroPC, but I mainly use that when troubleshooting network
| issues. They have a whole lineup, each geared towards a
| different market segment.
|
| https://gpd.hk/gpdmicropc
| IggleSniggle wrote:
| It's not quite pocketable, and it doesn't have a keyboard at
| all, but the Steam Deck has totally been that device for me.
| I've been really impressed with how good the controller
| mapping can be; set your joysticks to be Rotary macros, and
| combined with the huge number of buttons you have yourself a
| fantastic little chording keyboard. The built-in controller
| mapper supports keyboard layers and conditional output (eg,
| when in this section of GUI, output from button chord L3-R3
| should be XYZ). Anybody using vim or tmux familiar with this
| modality should be comfortable. Also, the Rotary menu, should
| you choose to use it, can be labeled (including with emoji,
| if that's your jam), making the whole thing incredibly
| flexible.
| ranger47 wrote:
| I'm pretty sure lighting a fire and sending smoke signals was a
| less annoying input method than the stiff metal domes on that
| Pocket CHIP keyboard. I
| serf wrote:
| strange; it was one of the best 'membrane' style keyboards I
| had ever used. I dig mine out once in awhile to fiddle with
| mostly because of the k/b. Maybe I used it to the point of
| wearing it in?
| quijoteuniv wrote:
| This definetely scratch an itch, but i already have a macbook
| pro from 2006 with Linux 32 bit and still nice battery. Ok that
| one is too big. But my 2011 macbook air with latest ubuntu run
| as a charm and is behind my sofa when i need :)
| fimdomeio wrote:
| This scratches an itch I don't have but I always believe I do.
| I have a pocket chip colecting dust in a box yet I think I
| realy just need to go do an impulse buy of uconsole wich I
| won't have a good use for but it's so cute.
|
| resisting the urge...
| ecliptik wrote:
| Pocket C.H.I.P. makes an excellent desktop info display for
| things like time, weather, etc.
|
| https://www.ecliptik.com/Pocket-CHIP-Terminal-Dashboard/
| crims0n wrote:
| I loved everything about the Pocket C.H.I.P - but that
| keyboard made the entire concept unusable. I am hoping
| (perhaps foolishly), this keyboard will be marginally
| better... but we will see :)
| harryvederci wrote:
| If the keyboard is the only thing holding you back from
| using it, there are 3d print models available of keyboards
| that you can put on it.
| idle_zealot wrote:
| This keyboard looks very similar to the one used on the
| DevTerm. If so then I can tell you that it will be
| similarly unusable, though an improvement over the Pocket
| CHIP's little button keys.
| rasz wrote:
| This looks like dead fish Spectrum keyboard. Total lack of
| cursor key ergonomics and usability matches Amstrad CPC 664.
|
| Its meant to look like something you would have wanted 35 years
| ago, a nostalgia bait.
| traverseda wrote:
| Immediately went to buy, and I'm really not clear on what I
| should be buying. There are three different varieties and it's
| hard to tell what the differences are.
| napolux wrote:
| Same. Dunno what to buy
| gorkish wrote:
| Unless you know exactly why you have a strong preference for
| any of the others, and availability concerns notwithstanding,
| I'd suggest the Pi CM4 model based on the larger ecosystem
| surrounding the board.
| emdashcomma wrote:
| I believe the difference is the core module included, where
| (CM4 = Compute Module 4):
|
| RPI-CM4 Lite: Raspberry Pi CM4 104000 lite (ARM Cortex-A72
| quad-core, 4GB LPDDR4, WIFI 2.4 GHz, 5.0 GHz IEEE 802.11
| b/g/n/ac wireless + Bluetooth 5.0, BLE)
|
| A-06: A-06 Core module (ARM64-bit Dual-core Cortex-A72 + Quad-
| core Cortex-A53, Mali-T864, 4GB LPDDR4)
|
| A-04: A-04 Core module (ARM64-bit Quad-core Cortex-A53,
| Mali-T720, 2GB DDR3)
|
| R-01: R-01 Core module (RISC-V 64bit Single-core RV64IMAFDCVU @
| 1.0GHz, No GPU, 1GB DDR3)
| wilsonnb3 wrote:
| You can swap out the core modules as well, at least on their
| previous products.
|
| Some of them require an adapter that you have to purchase
| separately.
| sigmaris wrote:
| The actual SoCs used on each type of core module are somewhat
| well hidden (no mention on the main website as far as I can
| see) but can be found through a bit of research:
|
| RPI-CM4 Lite: Broadcom BCM2711
|
| A-06: Rockchip RK3399
|
| A-04: Allwinner H6
|
| R-01: Allwinner D1
| forty wrote:
| Thanks. I wonder why they would hide it?
| Farbklex wrote:
| Same. Took me a while that there is a Raspberry Pi 4 Compute
| Module version and multiple versions with other ARM boards with
| different specs.
|
| Still don't know what the best board is for my use case. I
| would like to have a dumbed down environment which is optimized
| for this handheld format and lets me start some editors and
| fantasy consoles from a menu.
| tartoran wrote:
| > Still don't know what the best board is for my use case. I
| would like to have a dumbed down environment which is
| optimized for this handheld format and lets me start some
| editors and fantasy consoles from a menu.
|
| Yes to that adding some instant on/off/hybernate . Would be
| great to capture ideas when they come and not wait for the
| thing to boot and make other decisions. Something like a
| dedicated device but configurable for other tasks.
| rasz wrote:
| >40 Pins MIPI screen interface
|
| I see a big chip straight between mipi screen socket and compute
| module doing hdmi-mipi conversion, telling me rpi foundation is
| still stubbornly fighting ability to use mipi dsi port on the pi.
| JoeDaDude wrote:
| ON e photo shows what looks like a radio spectrum, which I'm
| guessing came from the optional 4G LTE modem. It would be great
| if that modem could be used as a generic SDR, putting
| programmable sniffing capabilities in a small portable device.
| giobox wrote:
| Is there anything stopping you using it for SDR regardless?
|
| With the Pi CM4 module installed, there are loads of options
| that will work just using the USB port.
| dark-star wrote:
| I've been looking for something like this for use as a serial
| terminal in the datacenter, with a bit of additional features
| (e.g. quickly starting up a DHCP server on the LAN port or
| similar)
|
| Are there similar terminal devices that already include one or
| two DB9 serial connectors?
| pringk02 wrote:
| ClockworkPi also do kits for a device called DevTerm. I have
| one, I like it a lot. Keyboard is... not great. But you can
| make your own expansion boards.
|
| https://www.clockworkpi.com/devterm
| wvenable wrote:
| I really wanted to get a DevTerm but so far the built quality
| and keyboard have kept me from pulling the trigger. What do
| you like about it? What are you using it for?
| wvenable wrote:
| The GPD Pocket 3 is designed for this.
| dark-star wrote:
| yeah, but it's rather overkill for that purpose (read:
| expensive), and that swiveling display doesn't inspire
| confidence. I'd rather find something more ruggedized
| agentultra wrote:
| The Steam Deck is a fantastic console for indie game developers,
| IMO. World class hardware, you can program your game on it, test
| on it, and ship on it.
|
| I like little consoles like this but I never get one because I'm
| almost certain it would be novel and almost nobody I know would
| end up having one, unfortunately.
|
| _Update_ : and, importantly for the Steam Deck, you have a wide
| player base out of the box. Maybe not as much for the Deck itself
| (yet) but definitely on all three PC platforms.
| bogwog wrote:
| As an alternative for people interested in developing on
| handhelds like this, homebrew for old consoles (PSP, 3DS, etc)
| is always fun. There are also hundreds of millions of those
| still floating around, so there's a real chance people will
| actually play your game, _and_ you potentially contribute to
| delaying their trip to the landfill.
| agentultra wrote:
| Truth! I do homebrew on my N2DSXL and the developer tooling
| there is fantastic [0]. Same with NES and even older
| handhelds like the DMG-001.
|
| The nice thing about the Steam Deck though is that you can
| carry around your development environment on the same
| machine. You still have to cross-compile to reach the 3DS and
| such.
|
| [0] https://www.3dbrew.org/wiki/Main_Page
| sangnoir wrote:
| Also: old 7" - 8" Android tablets[1] that can run Lineage +
| Termux, if you're not particularly invested in integrated
| game controllers.
|
| I'm tinkering with 3D-printed slide-out landscape keyboards,
| but there are a lot of commercially available bluetoth
| keyboard cases.
|
| 1. The 2014 Nexus 7 packs a FHD screen compare to the 720 in
| TFA. Its display is shockingly crisp for an 8-year-old device
| smoldesu wrote:
| Honestly, if someone could make an x86 compute module in the
| form factor, there's no reason the uConsole couldn't run Steam
| and Proton. The tech isn't quite there yet though, so it makes
| more sense to target low-power emulators for this form factor.
| user- wrote:
| Comments like this miss the whole point of fantasy consoles and
| similar hardware.
|
| The novelty is why they exist.
| agentultra wrote:
| I have been making games for the PICO-8 since it came out. I
| actually learned how to program on an Amiga 500. I know why
| fantasy consoles exist.
|
| Not trying to yuck in anyone's yum, just point out that yes
| this is great and so is the deck...
| rasz wrote:
| The total fantasy is the part where someone thought this
| keyboard would be useable, and called Amstrad like cursor
| keys "gamepad" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amstrad_CPC#/med
| ia/File:Schnei...
| ordiel wrote:
| The "fantasy" part of this things is the price... For that
| price I can get a full computer/ chromebook that supports
| Linux, I wouldn't put more than 100 bucks on something like
| this when ALL it can do I can do it with Termux on an Android
| phone...
| rjh29 wrote:
| It's the console equivalent of a musical groovebox. Selling
| the idea that you just need to buy this device and you can
| make music/games too! It'll be a lot harder but it'll be more
| "fun" because you're limited creatively.
| agentultra wrote:
| That's an interesting take!
|
| It would be neat if it was easier to broadcast the
| experience of playing the game to more folks like how
| playing back a song recorded from a groovebox doesn't
| require much more than a device with speakers than can play
| an audio file.
| [deleted]
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