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Arduino programming: Build a games console (part 1/2)

SCHOOL OF MAKING

Arduino programming:

Build a games console (part 1/2)

Put some of that hard-learnt theory into action. And we really mean action,

with spaceships, analogue joysticks, and bitmap graphics

I

n the

previous

tutorial,

we dived

into the

theory behind

pointers and linked

lists. We’re going to do

away with theory this time

and put some of what we’ve

previously covered into action.

And one of the best ways of

doing this, and one of the most

entertaining, is to code a video game. The limited

performance of the Arduino means writing any

kind of modern game is impossible – we can’t use

anything like the libraries used by game developers

to skip over the programming fundamentals,

implement AI, and virtual reality reprojection. But

we can write a game just as they did in golden era

of 8-bit home computing. The limited hardware of

those old machines forced the games designer’s

creativity, and that meant injecting games with as

much simple, imaginative, and addictive gameplay

as possible. Limited hardware also meant that

every variable, function, sprite, and sound could be

hand-tuned to perfection, with playability

iterated over until it was considered perfect.

There was no other option because you couldn’t

push out a 1024 byte day-one patch, let alone

a 50GB one, and it was these limitations that

made so many of those old games playable today,

decades later.

We’re going to use the same setup we’ve

been playing with in previous tutorials – mainly

the same 128×64 I^2 C OLED display, but you can

easily replace this with something larger than the

0.96” model we’re using. For input, we’re going to

use an analogue dual-axis joystick that includes a

single momentary switch. These are cheaply and

commonly available as a single module with the

‘KY-023’ label – and you may even have one left

over from the joystick MIDI controller we featured

previously. See the ‘Get connected’ box overleaf

Above

With a bit of

ingenuity, simple

graphics can still

look great

Graham Morrison

@degville

Graham is a veteran

Linux journalist who is

on a life-long quest to

find music in the perfect

arrangement of silicon

You could replace

the analogue

joystick with five

simple momentary

buttons, but you’ll

lose the finer degree

of control.

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