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a5k: Another World on a chip! This is a hardware remake of the Another World VM and renderer (no traditional CPU), that fits on a UP5K #fpga (5K LUTs, 128KB SPRAM).

Thread! (1/n)

(Written in #Silice, running on @1bitsquared icebreaker + VGA PMOD, intro only, no audio)
2/ Another World by @EricChahi was one of my favorite #Amiga500 games. It's a great game with beautiful polygon-based graphics. Its architecture is also fascinating: the whole game runs in a custom VM

As the game turned 31 I thought a hardware version would make a great present!
3/ @fabynou has several great blog entries detailing the game inner workings, with links to additional resources including source code. I won't go into much details here so check it out for an in-depth overview!
fabiensanglard.net/another_world_…
Read 19 tweets
Q5K: Quake level viewer in 5K LUTs on a low cost, low power ice40 up5k #fpga! Custom #GPU, @risc_v CPU and SOC, capable of rendering #Quake's level with lightmaps.
How? Thread 👇

(Written in #Silice, here running on the #mch2022 badge fpga)
The (tiny) GPU is my DMC-1 (Doom-Meets-Comanche) GPU, which also powers the Doomchip-onice demos (remember? Doom with a terrain!!).

It targets the ice40 UP5K, an entry-level fpga with great support from the Open Source toolchain #yosys/#nextpnr.
2/n
There were four main hardware changes to enable Quake level rendering:
1) 32-bits per-column depth,
2) streaming of level data from QPI memory (SPIflash on icebreaker, PSRAM on mch2022 badge),
3) multi-texturing for lightmaps (!!)

3/n
Read 23 tweets
How much DooM can fit in a USB port? Quite a bit it turns out! A minuscule #Fomu #fpga board hosts my hardware/software re-implementation of the DooM render loop in the confines of a USB port (uses ~4200 LUTs and < 128 kB of internal RAM). (1/n)
This is a tiny piece of DooM in a 2.1x2.7 mm #fpga. That is pretty small! (can you see it below on the #Fomu board? you might have to zoom ...).

I created within a #riscv computer with specialized texturing and column drawing hardware. Designed to render DooM 1994 levels! (2/n)
The OLED screen is connected to the #Fomu through jumper wires soldered on the pads (a trick inspired by @brunolevy01 Fomu vga mod). (3/n)
Read 17 tweets
25/08 > La #polio officiellement éradiquée du continent africain, selon l’#OMS bit.ly/32rKpzt via @lemondefr #LaMethSci Image
25/08 > Le synchrotron 4e génération, un scanner géant pour mieux comprendre le #coronavirus bit.ly/2EtbLNB via @franceinfo #LaMethSci Image
24/08 > L’aérogel : le matériau microstructurel du futur bit.ly/2EvnStj via @TrustMyScience #LaMethSci Image
Read 6 tweets

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