Basic Stamp 2 Handheld Gaming Console!!!

Ezsynn

Okey Guys, Lets design a BS2 Handheld Game Console!!!
First Comes the Name:
We could Call it Basic Stamp2 Advanced (BSA, comes from Game Boy Advance), Basic Stamp2 Portable (BSP, comes from Plasystation portable), Parallax BS (Parallax Basic Stamp2, from Nintendo DS), or we could make up our own name.
These are the minimum requirements of the BS2 Handheld Game Console -

- LCD Display (Must be big enough)
- SFX generator and Speaker, Sound PAL does both
- Some kind of removable storage, to put the games into
- Batteries (Save money buy using standard 4 AA batteries, making a total of 6 volts)
- Switch
- Power Indicator
- D-PAD (4 buttons), two or four control buttons and start and select buttons
- Protective Encasing (The more unique it is, the better)
- Must be made with Parts found on the Parallax Website, We all want to buy the parts to make it. (That includes you and all the BS2-IC users)
- USB or Serial Connection (WHAT'S THE POINT? THE MEMORY CARD CAN BE REMOVED)
- Bluetooth connection with other BS2 Handhelds. (OPTIONAL, DAME IT)
- Entire Budget is removed
- 3.5mm speaker port. (Optional)
- L and R buttons (optional)

Start Designing!

Post Edited By Moderator (Chris Savage (Parallax)) : 1/19/2009 5:14:03 PM GMT

SRLM

Personally, I like to name things after I finish them, but that's semantics...

Anyway, it can't be done. Your list of requirements is impossible to fulfill, especially the part about $200.

BS2: $50
Board: $20
Bluetooth: $80
Graphic VFD Display: $70
Datalogger: $35
Soundpal: $20

That's $275 just for the main components. Besides the cost, the BS2 just can't do any sort of serious gaming. Simple games are possible (think tic-tac-toe), but nothing like the Propeller or a full size computer. Your enthusiasm is well received, but slightly misplaced. The BS2 is good at what it does, and that's providing a simple platform to allow people to learn embedded control.

skylight

That said, what happened to all those clever programmers that could squeeze a decent chess game into 1K ram in the days of the Sinclair ZX80 etc?

P!-Ro

They probably used multiple ic's. If you do that with basic stamps, the price range·would probably·be $350+ for the gaming console.·It's better off being done with a·HYDRA.

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CumQuaT

With the 8 cogs probably being well needed for this sort of project, I'd go with a propellor rather than a BS2 for something like this...

Good idea though. I'd love to give it a go...

T&E Engineer

You may also want to look at the SX chips by Parallax. Here is a 2 player PONG game that I modified from Bean's "Mere Mortal Video Game Driver" from his 1 player PONG game. It's B/W but the SX has been able to do COLOR but much harder and probably in Assembly. However, the MMVGD is done and there are several games for it already. You can use SX/B (BASIC language similar to the BS2 PBASIC). Although the propellor would offer much more, you would have to learn SPIN and possibly Assembly language for it. Just a thought, if you know PBASIC for the BS2, then moving to the SX chips are not too difficult.

http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=602989

and Beans original post: http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=598779

It all just depends on how much time/effort you want to put into this and of course game requirements. Don't get me wrong, the Hydra is excellent for creating games in color and supports VGA as well as NTSC video - like the·games in the 80's but for me, I found learning SPIN was not as straight forward (more like C) then using a BASIC language that the SX chips and BS2 chips provide.

Ugha

You may be able to do it in a much scaled-down form... perhaps a 4x20 character LCD using custom chars for some stuff and ASCII art for the remainder.
Basic sound should be possible... removable storage will be the hardest part I think... the stamp will have a very hard time loading from an SD card.

You may be able to use preprogrammed EEPROMs on simple circuit boards with edge connectors to "fake" a game cart... that's the only way I can think of anyways.

I'd rule out any chance of bluetooth or a headphone jack... but you should be able to have a decent number of buttons... at least 10 or so. More if you want to make
a matrix gamepad... I'd go for 16.

Another option would be to use an LED matrix... I've seen them used for various handheld games. You'd need some additional ICs beyond the BS2 but it may be doable.

I've been toying with the idea of putting a simple ASCII game system inside an old gameboy shell myself... although I didn't set my hopes quite so high.

I'd be interested in what comes of your project. Please keep us informed.

T&E Engineer

Not to be dis-respectful, but I would have to disagree with Ugha. The BS2 does not have the speed nor interrupt capability that would be required for this project. The BS2 is a beginner processor for simplicity and your game system is not possible unless you had some custom FPGAs involved. You will run out of memory and I/O before you know if for a large task like this. Also, LED matrix design would not be fast enough unless you used an 8x8 and there goes your I/O right there. Realistically, I really believe you should look at either the SX chips or Propellor for this one. You will need some horsepower for this which the BS2 doesn't have for this project.

Ugha

T&E: I never said additional ICs wouldn't be needed... just that the microcontroller would be a BS2.

Interrupts aren't required for gaming if you program your games properly. I've done some simple DOS games in the past and its absolutely possible to design something using a linear code
structure and still have it be fun.

As far as memory... that's where the removable EEPROMs would come in handy. You'd use a tokenized language on the BS2 and it would read the tokens from the external EEPROM.
VERY simple graphical games (IE: Pong) should be possible, also it should be fairly easy to make some text-based RPGs like Zork and the like.... all on a 4x20 LCD.

The LED matrix idea is using external ICs of course.

T&E Engineer

OK. Text based games I'll buy but graphics, you'll have to sell me on that. I just don't think the BS2 has the horsepower for it and especially the memory and speed·- perhaps with a BS2px.

Program space and RAM is not the same thing either. I'm not following what you are saying about a tokenized language as PBASIC is all I am aware of for the BS2. With the resources you will need (ie LCD or LEDs, your RAM will be used up fast not leaving much for your program).

OK. Let's see what can be done. My first computer was a ZX81 (aka Timex Sinclair 1000) and it showed miracles so... but I have my doubts on this for a BS2. I really think you would be better off with an SX chip or propellor· - but prove me wrong on this.

Ugha

I agree, an SX would be better, and I do plan on using an SX for my gameboy project but I think some things can be done with a BS2.

I believe ASCII-art based games should be possible... do you remember ROGUE or some of the other original PC games? They used
ASCII characters in a rather complex and indepth gaming platform.

PJAllen

10 previous Replies, not one from the subject originator (although, to be "fair",·he modified the Subject's title).

Here's the BS2 games state-of-the-art -- http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=735894

CumQuaT

Here's a schematic I came up with for a handheld with the propellor chip. Have fun!

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Who are you, and why are you reading my signature?

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