trevorjay

Thanks @retro_fan! The Game & Watch just doesn’t get nearly enough love. Apologies for not staying on top of the links. I just added new links to the post and some new redirects to the site. The web versions are both back online and all the links in the manuals should work again. If you’re still interested in our brief behind the scenes writeup it’s archived here: https://montrose.is/sketching/201808260123.html I had *not* seen that Cuphead game nor that debugger. The “score for time alive” mechanic in the gsmr is interesting in that it fits both the Cuphead and G&W ethos. It kind of reminds me of "Egg" except that the score increments continuously, which kind of feels more modern. I will have to spend some time with that debugger. For what it's worth, I found the MAME debugger and disassembler pretty damn awesome. Seeing the screen at the same time is also super nice. As to an intro, yeah I should probably get around to writing *something* :). Are you interested in the SM510? If nothing else I highly recommend the info in the “ Sharp Microcomputers Data Book” (page 158 in the PDF, 149 in the book): https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_sharpdataBomputersDataBook_31076011 MAME itself is also invaluable in terms of documenting opcodes: https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/devices/cpu/sm510/sm510core.cpp I know most people are happy with simulation, but it’s good to get in there and get low level every once in a while.

I have to admit, I was totally unaware of this core. Just taking a cursory look it seems that gw-libretro's mgw format is a way to embed simulators (after converting them to Lua) as apposed to a ROM format for G&W *emulation*. But... maybe I could embed just enough of an emulator as a simulator (or something else equally unholy). I won't promise anything quickly, but I'll definitely take a deeper dive and see if we might can do something. We'd love to have these games playable more places.

Realized I never linked to this behind the scenes post. We're working on something larger as an introduction to coding for the SM510.

@zapiy Whoa. Just realized you're that zapiy. Homebrew Legends and RVG are awesome! You especially should feel free to post wherever and however you want. #7

Thanks! Obviously, we can't speak for anyone else but in terms of us: please post however and wherever you'd like. The love of these machines needs to be spread.

Ha! I see. So more DP than just plain DS. Maybe if we continue the series on a beefier platform. Squeeze on NES ("Now You're Playing With Power!") or... of course... Super Squeeze.

I just reviewed. I fat fingered it at 4 stars, but it'll be at 5 as soon as Amazon recognizes the edit...

Thanks so much for taking the time to play! We really appreciate it. I don't want to promise anything, but I do have a bit of ROM left on Squeeze. Is there a particular Simon mode you have in mind or are you thinking of a more basic change?

Just fixed a bug in the web emulator that prevented using the NumPad. If it breaks anything else, please let me know.

About halfway through Volume I. I'll definitely get Volume II as soon I'm finished. Thank you! As fun as it is to troll the forums here and elsewhere for game finds, this is exactly the overview I always wanted.

Montrose.is has long been obsessed with static-screen (e.g. VFD and LCD) games. We had done several static-style "simulations" before and even been involved in some physical reproductions. When MAME started to offer broader support for the TMS1000 and the SM51X based handhelds, we knew we had to do something for real. Many months and tweaks later, we think the games are ready to face the homebrew audience of record.That's AtariAge of course! Both are written in assembly for the Sharp SM510, the 4-bit (4!) microcontroller that powered the earliest Game & Watch titles. We used the more basic chip because we wanted the games' "release dates" to coincide with the transition between the wide screen and dual screen series ('82-83). Using the SM510 meant that we were limited to 2K of ROM and didn't have the dedicated melody chip that would come later. Instead of melody chip sound, we modulate the SM510's 4096kHZ oscillator in real-time as needed. We ended up writing our own (crappy) assembler that outputs MAME compatible ROMs. The art specifications were also mostly driven by the need to be compatible with MAME. MAME uses SVGs for the actual LCD segments. kittyhawk decided to run with that and future proof the games by doing everything with vectors. For the under and overlays, we had to rasterize them at the resolution MAME (currently) expects, but we've included the original vectors in our zips. We also ported the MAME bytecode interpreter to WASM so that we could produce dedicated in-browser emulators for both games. We actually did this before writing the games, and it ended up being extremely helpful in understanding the platform which is kind of a fascinating combination of 60's and 80's era computing. With 128 bytes of RAM, a Harvard architecture, and a memory mapped display, the SM510 kind of feels like a 2600, the NES, and a mainframe had a handheld baby. BRIDE "Bride" is kind of our attempt at an idealized Game & Watch game combining elements of our favorite titles and adding a strategic element not often present in Game & Watch games. Besides the classic "this while that" formula of catching flowers while avoiding rivals, you also have to decide when to end your game as you can only bank your points when you actually get hitched. Play Online: https://montrose.is/gamea/ Manual: br-19-manual.pdf MAME ROM & Art (see manual): bride.zip SQUEEZE (NFSW) We've always felt that the Game & Watch deserved a better Simon clone than Flagman. "Squeeze" imagines an attempt to right that by revisiting the concept with a dual screen version that also returns to the Game & Watch's roots by being an adult novelty. It's also our excuse to get in the ring with Ralph Baer and to take his "'Touch Me' but aesthetically pleasing" idea to its logical conclusion. We're especially proud of having a mode that allows for a programmable sequence, allowing multiplayer play. [edit] If you use the MAME version please note that the keys you need to use/map are UP and RIGHT not LEFT and RIGHT as you'd expect (see manual). [edit] It seems that either the SVG interpreter or LCD definition for gnw_mickdon changed in MAME 0.226. Until the art is updated, “Squeeze” will only work on version 0.225 and earlier. Play Online: https://montrose.is/gameb/ Manual: sq-69-manual.pdf MAME ROM & Art (see manual): squeeze.zip