Timely article for me! I just went through this in my little SimCity remake for MicroPython:

https://github.com/chrisdiana/TinyCity/blob/6c3a7337788655b5...

Very cool! We need to get this on M5Stack Cardputer ASAP

This is for 72×40 display right now but I was also working on an interface layer to abstract Thumby specific functionality in order to play on potentially other platforms running MicroPython/Python. Going to try and add that in the next iteration.

There are a number of MakeCode-compatible devices with and without Microbit https://arcade.makecode.com/arcade-devices

bbcmicrobit/micropython: https://github.com/bbcmicrobit/micropython

But Pi Pico; RP2040, RP2350:

"Show HN: PicoVGA Library – VGA/TV Display on Raspberry Pi Pico" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35117847#35120403

"MaplePad – RP2040 Dreamcast controller, VMU, and Purupuru (rumble pack) emulator" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37522059 :

> PicoVision

pimoroni/picovision micropython: https://github.com/pimoroni/picovision :

> PicoVision enables you to create big, bold audio visual projects using MicroPython and an HDMI display of your choice.

> powerful digital video stick for bold audio visual adventures, with dual RP2040 chips and a conveniently HDMI-shaped output connector to boot!

> [...] dual RP2040 chips and a conveniently HDMI-shaped output connector to boot!

TIL RP2350 support DVI video output with an HSTX: https://www.google.com/search?q=rp2350+dvi

And it's possible to convert from DVI to HDMI

Wren6991/PicoDVI commit history: https://github.com/Wren6991/PicoDVI/commits/master/ :

> Add 720x480p 60Hz mode (270 MHz bit clock)

> RP2350 changes (including RISC-V)

From https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41260679 :

> The new HSTX interface on the RP2350 seems to be squarely targeted at this use case (video output) and doesn't require the use of PIO or consuming a ton of CPU cycles. There's a nice write up on the capability here:

This is cool thanks for sharing! I'm definitely be digging into these. It would be neat to support some of these devices too. I didn't know about MaplePad (+1 to Dreamcast VMU projects!)

Following up here, I just added a game interface abstraction to make it easier to support more devices. Planning on getting a few MakeCode-compatible devices to adapt for them.

Thanks!

Thanks I'll post when it's available. Still waiting on the PR to merge in their Arcade repo.

Thank you!

Congrats! Unplayable by most means but absolutely incredible how tiny it is so I love it.

Yeah great catch. So I mentioned this in the README but much of the mechanics were heavily inspired by jhhoward's MicroCity. This is the same way he calculated taxes and I figured to test it out to see how it worked in game. I really liked the flow of how his game played and seems like there are some pros/cons to that inbalance.

Pros: - Makes residential population more valuable for taxes, which helps early‑game cash flow. - Encourages zoning residential since it has outsized budget impact. - Offsets the fact that residential growth can be more constrained by pollution/unemployment.

Cons: - Skews the economy away from industrial/commercial impact. - Makes budget feel inconsistent with “total population.” - Can mask balance issues by injecting extra money, making difficulty tuning harder.

Haha thanks! Definitely adding that during map generation in next release.

I originally had sim but HN autocorrected it. I tried to edit it back to what I had but can't seem to now.

HN's autocorrect seems to cause more trouble than it's worth.

definitely agree