• GameConsole
  • Development Board
  • Naming Conventions
  • Tile Creator
    • Script
    • Deps
    • User inputs:
    • Usage
  • API & Internal Documentation
  • HW Configuration
  • Game Creation Setup
  • EEPROM Mapping
    • AT24C256

GameConsole

Development Board

https://stm32-base.org/boards/STM32F407VET6-STM32-F4VE-V2.0.html

Naming Conventions

Element	Suggested Case	Example
Macros/Defines	UPPER_SNAKE_CASE	#define MAX_BUFFER_SIZE 256
Constants	UPPER_SNAKE_CASE	const int DEFAULT_TIMEOUT
Global variables	g_snake_case	g_system_initialized
Static globals	s_snake_case	s_buffer_index
Local variables	snake_case	temp_value
Functions	snake_case or camelCase	init_peripherals() or initPeripherals()
Struct types	PascalCase	typedef struct SensorData
Enum types	PascalCase	typedef enum PowerState
Struct members	snake_case	uint16_t adc_value;
Typedefs	PascalCase	typedef uint8_t Byte;

Tile Creator

Script

tile_creator.py

Deps

pygame

User inputs:

1. Left click draw
2. Right click clear
3. RCtrl S -> save(by textbox name)
4. RCtrl L -> load(by textbox name)

Usage

Click on the 4 big squares to select the palette with which to draw (1st one is always the transparent one) After you selected a palette you can also change its color from the top grid containing the system palette

Output directory: generated_tiles/

E.g output

#ifndef __bricks1_H
#define __bricks1_H
#include "tileCreator.h"
const uint8_t bricks1_data[64U] = DEFINE_TILE(
	2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 
	1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 
	3, 1, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 1, 3, 1, 1, 1, 
	2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 
	2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 
	1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 
	3, 3, 3, 3, 1, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 
	2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 3, 3, 
	2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 3, 2, 
	1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 2, 
	3, 1, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 
	2, 1, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 1, 3, 3, 3, 3, 
	2, 1, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 3, 2, 2, 2, 
	1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 
	3, 3, 3, 3, 1, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 
	2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 3, 3);
const uint8_t bricks1_palette[4U] = {0x30, 0x7, 0x17, 0x27};
#endif
#endif

API & Internal Documentation

See docu/API_README.md for a full API reference, module internals, renderer usage, and advanced graphics documentation.

HW Configuration

See docu/HW.md for HW pinning and components

Game Creation Setup

To create a new game for the GameConsole platform, follow these steps:

1. Use the Provided Linker Script

   • In your game's Makefile, set the linker script to ../game.ld.
   • This ensures your game binary is laid out with the correct memory regions and symbols for the loader.

2. Include the Console API Header

   • Add #include "game_console_api.h" to your main source file.
   • This gives you access to the Console API and asset macros.

3. Declare the API Header Pointer

   • Add the following to your main file in global scope:

     DECLARE_API_HEADER_PTR(api_hdr_ptr);

   • This allows you to call any API function, e.g.:

     api_hdr_ptr->api.debugString("Hello from my game!\r\n");

4. Define the Game Header

   • At the end of your main file, define the GameBinaryHeader in (".game_header") dedicated section:

     DEFINE_GAME_BINARY_HEADER(game_header, main);

   • This header is required for the loader recognize the memory layout of the game, and load its necessary data.

5. Add Assets

   • Use the asset macros from game_console_api.h and asset IDs/types from your game to define assets in your game binary.
   • Start by defining the asset header (required for asset discovery):

     DEFINE_ASSET_HEADER(ASSET_MAGIC, ASSET_VERSION, ASSET_COUNT);

   • Then, define each asset using the provided macros and IDs/types

     // Example: Define a font asset (see assets.h for IDs/types)
     DEFINE_ASSET_8(font_a, ASSET_ID_FONT_A, ASSET_TYPE_FONT, { /* font data here */ });
     // Example: Define an audio data asset
     DEFINE_ASSET_16(audio_data, ASSET_ID_AUDIO_DATA, ASSET_TYPE_AUDIO_DATA, { /* audio data here */ });
     // Example: Define an audio duration asset
     DEFINE_ASSET_16(audio_duration, ASSET_ID_AUDIO_DURATION, ASSET_TYPE_AUDIO_DURATION, { /* duration data here */ });

     Important: All assets stored with DEFINE_ASSET macros are lazy loaded on runtime via the assetLoader api functions. By doing this you can have more assets that can fit in the console text/data memory at once.

   In case of tile data generated with the tile_creator you can use the output define directly into the DEFINE_ASSET_8 macro

   DEFINE_ASSET_8(font_a, ASSET_ID_FONT_A, ASSET_TYPE_TILE, (DEFINE_FONT_A_TILE));

6. Build and Deploy

   • Build your game using the provided Makefile.
   • Deploy the resulting .bin file to the SD card main directory

7. E.g. of main file

#include "game_console_api.h"
#include "assets.h"

DECLARE_API_HEADER_PTR(api_hdr_ptr);

int main(void)
{
    if (api_hdr_ptr->magic == API_MAGIC || api_hdr_ptr->version == API_VERSION)
    {
        api_hdr_ptr->api.debugString("Hello from GameXO :D\r\n");
    }
}

DECLARE_GAME_BINARY_HEADER(game_header, main);

---

EEPROM Mapping

AT24C256

Address Range	Size	Purpose
0x0000-0x01FF	512B	System header
0x0200-0x03FF	512B	Settings directory
0x0400-0x07FF	1024B	Console settings
0x0800-0x7FFF	30KB	Settings data region