Demo

I would like to attempt to make a cheap tiny arcade box that plays Pong (clone) on the 16x2 character LCD display. This would be a “spiritual successor(ancestor)” to the first (maybe second) game I ever made which was a clone of Breakout written in processing. The difference is I will be using much more limited hardware this time.

Timeline

  • 2/28 Feasibility & LCD stress test
  • 3/1 Connect joysticks to the system
  • 3/3 Implement graphics code
  • 3/5 Implement game logic
  • 3/6 Package hardware into a box
  • 3/8 Documentation
  • 3/9 Presentation

Anticipated Bill of Materials

  • 16x2 character LCD
  • Arduino
  • Resistor
  • Cardboard box
  • 2 Joysticks

Backup plans

If feasibility testing & LCD stress test fails or other significant issues are encountered before 3/4, I might pivot towards a security system project that combines motion sensor/ultrasonic sensor with LEDs.

Anticipated issues

Based on preliminary research/testing, I have identified the following issues that will need to be resolved:

  • Sprites & graphics will have to be emulated in software with 8 custom characters, potentially causing significant slowdowns.
  • There’s no hardware scrolling for graphics so that will also need to be done in software.