TinyRetro

I love gaming, especially the early 2000 era. I am a huge Nintendo fan. I have owned a Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, 2DS, 3DS, Wii, and Switch 1. There is something magically playing those console, specifically early 2000 era.

What rekindle my love for old school retro is the thought of building a game for GBA. Now, I am not at that level but I am taking baby steps. But one thing that did help me to get into developing retro games is a fantasy console called Pico-8. This fantasy has brought the spark and joy of retro gaming.

My setup

With Pico-8, you can build games with it. It comes with a build in editor for code, art and music. And also lets you deploy it within the community. But playing on PC is not that fun. So I set off an adventure to find devices that allows me to enjoy my creation.

So this is my basic setup. I have a Miyoo Mini Plus, Raspberry PI 4 2GB, and 8bitdo controllers. It is a nice setup to capture the feel of playing games old school. It is not finished. I would like to add cartridge to give me the full experience. For the moment, it is perfect.

Miyoo Mini Plus

Let’s start off with the Miyoo Mini Plus. What is it? For those who are reading, it is a Linux handheld. It runs the onion operating system. This device lets you run many games from different eras. You can play on Super Nintendo, Game Boy Advance, and even PlayStation 1. It also lets you run fantasy console like Pico-8 and Tic80.

Raspberry Pi

The next on the list is the Raspberry Pi 4. This device is a credit card size computer. It can do so many things like programming, ad-blocker, streaming,playing with sensors, networking and more. Right now, I am using it as a desktop to run Pico-8. I have my keyboard and mouse connect to it wireless so I can right code and experiment on the TV.

8BitDo Controllers

And lastly, my 8bitdo controllers. Obviously, a game console requires controllers in order for someone to play. I bought this off at Amazon for $15.00. Pretty cheap and does the job. The only issue is I was honestly expecting this controller to be way bigger. It is extremely small.

This is my retro game setup. Not that much but really is a cool experience. For my next blog, I will explore Pico-8, and how to build games. Hope you guys enjoy.

I have taken the leap to explore game dev. Specifically tiny games for Linux. I started 2 months ago using Pico-8 and testing it out on a device called Miyoo Mini Plus. Very cool and interesting combination. I have learned basic coding with Lua, how to use the sprite editor, and create sound effects. Not the best but still a work in progress. Here is what I have so far in terms of build a game.

It is a pirate game. As of now, only have a ship, and world map. No enemies, bosses, items, weapons. Just something barebone. My end goal is to build an open world RPG game. I know there is limitation with Pico-8, but it is an amazing tool to build fast prototypes. Once I reach its limitation, I will explore Tic80, which is another fantasy console similar to Pico-8. It has less limitation, and which allows me to build more.

Here is my device. This is a Miyoo Mini Plus. It is a Linux handheld that allows you to play emulator games. Very neat devices. I am using this for testing purpose. Currently using this for Pico-8 and in the near future, I will try Tic80, Gb Studio, and Butano. Also have a YouTube channel called Tiny Retro. Pretty new.