Begin your Descent into PocketC.H.I.P.

Screenshot - 080216 - 23:57:32

Forum user Akidan recently wrote a post about how to get the old 1990s space-shooter Descent working on PocketC.H.I.P.. The hack involves modifying and recompiling the source code to Descent to better run on PocketC.H.I.P., and I simply had to try it for myself.

At the time of release in 1995, Descent was a really exciting, groundbreaking game. It was one of the early 3D games that dominated computer screens across the country. And even more exciting than the 3D, was that your spacecraft was able to travel in a full six degrees of freedom. This level of freedom just made it easier for me to get disoriented and lost in the twisting tunnel mazes of the game, but I’m sure most people found it to be really enjoyable.

Six degrees of freedom via Wikipedia

Six degrees of freedom via Wikipedia

Dust off your SpaceOrb 360 and trackdown your copy of Descent I (or buy a used copy online). Here’s how to get the game running on PocketC.H.I.P..

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On the Road with Dave & PocketC.H.I.P., Plus PICO-8 Live Coding with The Verge

Dave on the set of The New Screen Savers pretaping

Dave on the set of The New Screen Savers before taping

Every product has a story and it’s always exciting to get opportunity to tell it. Recently, Dave was invited on the O’Reilly Hardware Podcast and The New Screen Savers to share C.H.I.P., PocketC.H.I.P. and the stories behind them.

From C.H.I.P.’s origin story, to how the $9 price point is possible, and why all the pink, these interviews answers some of the most commonly asked questions about the company. And, as a bonus, check out Paul Miller from The Verge and Circuit Breaker programming a PICO-8 game live on PocketC.H.I.P.!

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Get Your Bearings with this PocketC.H.I.P. and GPS Project

PocketC.H.I.P. + GPS = a seacoast hike navigation system

PocketC.H.I.P. + GPS = a seacoast hike navigation system

Combine PocketC.H.I.P. with a GPS module and know exactly where you are, wherever you are. (Unless, of course, you’re in a cave. GPS and caves don’t really mix.)

Scott, one of the NTC hardware engineers, was tinkering with a GPS module from our lab the other day, and in no time at all he had the little module output its longitude and latitude to PocketC.H.I.P.. This project takes about an hour if you’re new to soldering and software setup, and it’s a great way to expand the capabilities of PocketC.H.I.P..

GPS is an extremely powerful technology and with Scott’s project it’s pretty easy to enable PocketC.H.I.P. with GPS information. Since GPSd (the software you’ll learn how to use and setup) is an extremely customizable program, there are bound to be interesting ways you can extend this project and make it even better. For example, why not pull the coordinates from GPSd and feed them into the Pokemon tracker or figure out a way to pass the data to a PICO-8 game?

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A Brief History of Shareware Software & How to Run It on PocketC.H.I.P. with DOSBox

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Liz Lam is one of many people using PocketC.H.I.P. to play old shareware games through an emulator called DOSBox. Getting these relics of computer history to run on PocketC.H.I.P. is pretty easy, in large part because of BladeMaverick‘s helpful tips on setting up DOSBox shared below!

Before we get to the instructions, have you ever thought about the origins of shareware? Sure, it’s a term that’s been floating around for years, and you’ve probably heard it if you’re into retro gaming, but where did the idea come from? How did it all start?

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Here’s How to Turn PocketC.H.I.P. into a Live Pokémon Tracking Device

Use PocketC.H.I.P. to find Pokemon!

Use PocketC.H.I.P. to find Pokémon!

Turn your PocketC.H.I.P. into a Pokémon tracking device and go catch ’em all!

Recently, Supermanwah realized that he could use the tutorial by IPostStupidThings from r/pokemogodev and use it to create a Pokémon tracker on PocketC.H.I.P..

The tutorial uses code written by AHAAAAAAA, which you can find here. And NTC’s very own Crunch wrote up a nice little script to automate the installation for you.

Happy hacking and Pokémon hunting!

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