danm Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 The Uzebox is a fully open source, retro minimalist games console, heavily inspired by the NES and SNES and is still having new games written for it almost 15 years after its introduction. It has a spec inbetween the two original Nintendo consoles but is closer to the NES (although the CPU is a bit faster than the SNES') as its based on a 8 bit Atmel microcontroller, similar to the Arduino. It uses SNES joypads. Some of my fave Uzebox games include: Starduino - a demake of Starfox. Possibly the most impressive 8 bit game I've ever seen. Tornado 2000 - like Tempest 2000 on the Atari Jaguar. Speaking of the Jag, I think the Uzebox now has more games written for it than were commercially released for the Jaguar! Flight of a dragon - A polished platformer. Reminds me a bit of Turrican on the C64. Joyrider - Like an 8 bit GTA. Alter Ego - a fun puzzle platform game. There are also remakes of Super Mario World, Great Giana Sisters, Castlevania, Bubble Bobble, Bomberman and Columns amongst others for the Uzebox, in various stages of completion. Everything relating to the Uzebox is fully open source including the kernel, the PCB gerber files and the schematics and the documentation. The source is freely available for most games too, which is great for those wanting to learn games dev who understandably might feel overwhelmed by hugely complex modern game engines like Unity, Unreal and Godot etc or even the Amiga. The big news today is that kits containing all of the parts (except the SNES connectors) required to build your own Uzebox are available from Digikey now. See this forum thread for the details: https://uzebox.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=35517 I was able to successfully build a Uzebox with precisely no previous electronics experience, It is undoubtably one of the most fun and rewarding things I've ever done and something I'd highly recommend to all fans of retro computing who would like to learn the basics of electronics and have fun developing a truly open platform. https://uzebox.org 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalton Posted October 22, 2023 Share Posted October 22, 2023 You remembered me that I have a Uzebox PCB with some crucial parts waiting for soldering I received is as a gift from my friend some time ago and forgot about it. I'm curious how Moon Patrol looks like on this console. The original arcade version is one of my favourite games in general, and remake for Atari 2600 is one of my favourite games for 2600. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted October 22, 2023 Author Share Posted October 22, 2023 Cool gift! It seems to be the current version of the PCB. You'll have to let us know what your fave Uzebox game is when you've built it. Wasn't Moon Patrol the first game to have parallax scrolling? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalton Posted October 22, 2023 Share Posted October 22, 2023 Sure, I'll let you know. If you like projects like this take a look here: https://github.com/74hc595/Amethyst - it's an open-source, Atmega based 8-bit computer. The friend who gave me Uzebox's PCB soldered it too. Parallax scrolling was used before in Jump Bug, as far as i remember. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted October 22, 2023 Author Share Posted October 22, 2023 (edited) I like the VCS style case and integrated keyboard of the Amethyst. Forth is an interesting choice of programming language for him to port over. Makes a change from BASIC I suppose. There is a PS/2 keyboard adapter for Uzebox which is required to run the Uzebox CP/M port. Used in combination with the Uzenet wifi adapter I have been able to log in to and control my Linux laptop via telnet running on my Uzebox, which was a fun novelty. Edited October 22, 2023 by danm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalton Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 Sounds like fun I like such "useless" ideas. (Once I did the piano pedal adapter to control VIM, or the watch that displays current time as QR-code) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted October 23, 2023 Author Share Posted October 23, 2023 (edited) Vim footpedal!? Well jel! Did that take you in and out of command mode or wot? I tested vim via telnet on my Uzebox and its totally usable, works fine! Edited October 23, 2023 by danm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalton Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 Yeah, exactly You can take a look at it here: (in Polish, sorry, but I added english subtitles as far as I remember) I think we are a bit out of topic here 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forrest Posted October 26, 2023 Share Posted October 26, 2023 I went to the link with Digikey list of parts. The parts for the Uzebox was about $67 plus the cost of the PCB. As mentioned in the link, the two Nintendo connectors need to be purchased elsewhere. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted October 26, 2023 Share Posted October 26, 2023 Lack of pre-built units and higher level languages kept me away from the Uzebox. Has that changed? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted October 26, 2023 Author Share Posted October 26, 2023 (edited) 4 hours ago, Forrest said: I went to the link with Digikey list of parts. The parts for the Uzebox was about $67 plus the cost of the PCB. As mentioned in the link, the two Nintendo connectors need to be purchased elsewhere. Its $67 if you buy all the components including the AD725ARZ from Digikey, its more like $43 if you don't buy the AD725ARZ (it's the last item on the Digikey BOM) from Digikey and buy the AD725ARZ for $3 from Ali Express instead. The price of the AD725ARZ has shot up over the last few years unfortunately and now they're 2 or 3x the price the were a few years ago and also 3x the price of the MCU! You need to buy the SNES controller connectors off Ali Express anyway so you may as well buy the AD725 from Ali too and save $20. Edited October 26, 2023 by danm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted October 26, 2023 Author Share Posted October 26, 2023 (edited) 5 hours ago, Gemintronic said: Lack of pre-built units and higher level languages kept me away from the Uzebox. Has that changed? Unfortunately I'm unaware of anyone currently selling pre-built Uzeboxes. They have been available ready made in years gone but no one sells them any more that I know of. I think I'll test the waters and put a fully built Uzebox with 3D printed case on ebay soon and see what people are willing to pay for a one-off spesh. Your choices for writing Uzebox games basically boils down to writing it in C and/or AVR assembly. It should also be possible to use C++ too but I've not see any Uzebox programs using C++ yet. Edited October 26, 2023 by danm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted October 26, 2023 Author Share Posted October 26, 2023 (edited) Last night I released binaries of a demo of Mario Bros for the Uzebox. Its about 5 years old now but the author never uploaded a build of it: https://uzebox.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11329 I'm impressed with AtariAge's handling of pasted text. I've never seen a forum or web site ask if I want to retain the formatting when pasting text. That's such a useful feature and it should be standard in all forums, wikis, web sites and apps on and offline. Edited October 26, 2023 by danm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted October 30, 2023 Author Share Posted October 30, 2023 (edited) I will build a Uzebox including a full, 3D printed case like this one I made today for the person who ports Barbarian or IK+ to the Uzebox. The experienced Uzebox devs reckon both should be doable. https://uzebox.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11187 https://uzebox.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11343 Edited October 30, 2023 by danm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted February 1 Author Share Posted February 1 (edited) There is now an easier to build version of the Uzebox called the Uzebox Omega. I have uploaded a short video of me using Linux and vim via telnet on a Uzebox Omega using Uzenet wifi and a PS/2 keyboard adapter: Edited February 1 by danm 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalton Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 I soldered my Uzebox yesterday. I does not work correctly yet: but I'm sure I will figure out where the problem is. I guess there is something wrong with fuse bits or I need Atmega644A instead of Atmega644P. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted February 1 Author Share Posted February 1 (edited) Hi Dalton The Uzebox BOM specifies the ATMEGA644A, I'm not sure the ATMEGA644P is supported? https://uzebox.org/website/schematics/Uzebox-Game-Console-PCB-Rev-1.3.3-BOM.txt I would recommend that you join the Uzebox forum to help troubleshoot your issue(s) so that more people can help you. https://uzebox.org/forums/index.php Thanks Edited February 1 by danm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalton Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 I found such information here: https://uzebox.org/wiki/FAQ Quote Can I use hex files built for the atmega644 on the 644p? No need to change the makefile. The 644p is pretty much the same as the 644, it just includes an additional UART not used by the Uzebox. However, other sources state that 644p doesn't overclock well. I found it in a drawer I need to order 644A, because I believe there is some difference between them and that's the reason of my issues. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted February 1 Author Share Posted February 1 Yes ordering a 644A sounds like your best bet. Welcome to the Uzebox community! Hopefully see you on the Uzebox forums soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalton Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 A friend of mine who gave me the board checked what processor he used. And it's 644P, which makes things even more strange His unit works perfectly fine. I started to wonder if my monitors/tvs (for example Samsung 710MP) work with NTSC signal at all... Now I'm going to take a break of it for a few days and then I'll probably register on the Uzebox forums And most probably I'll try 644A. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted February 1 Author Share Posted February 1 (edited) I've just had a search for 644P on the Uzebox forums and some users reported video and overclocking issues with the 644P so your friend seems to have got lucky if he's had no issues with the 644P. One uzer said he couldn't get the bootloader working with the 644P but your friend hasn't had any of these issues? https://uzebox.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=15021#p15021 https://uzebox.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=6396#p6396 https://uzebox.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=5987#p5987 Edited February 1 by danm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 19 hours ago, Dalton said: I found such information here: https://uzebox.org/wiki/FAQ However, other sources state that 644p doesn't overclock well. I found it in a drawer I need to order 644A, because I believe there is some difference between them and that's the reason of my issues. I have updated the Uzebox FAQ to advise against using the 644p and got rid of that rather pointless question about 644p hex files. Thanks for highlighting this Dalton! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalton Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 I've just ordered 644A. We'll see if it helps in the next week 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 (edited) I reckon it will from what I read on the Uzebox forum. It sounds like your friend got lucky if he's using a 644p and he's not had any issues. In the worst case scenario you may need to buy a s-video to HDMI adapter which will fix pretty much all display probs. Edited February 3 by danm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 (edited) Has your 644A arrived yet Dalton? Are you using the composite or S-Video output? S-Video gives notably better quality than composite, as you probably know. Edited February 13 by danm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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