• allanrbo 3 days ago

    SIM=subscriber identity module. sim=simulator. :-)

    • inflam52 3 days ago

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

      • oakwhiz 2 days ago

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

        • inflam52 2 days ago

          definitely agree

    • _joel 3 days ago

      I hope it "Reticulates Tiny Splines" (good work btw)

      • inflam52 3 days ago

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

      • gaudystead 3 days ago

        I literally JUST bought a Thumby out of a vending machine this past weekend, so this post feels a bit serendipitous for me. Thanks for sharing, and I'll have to check this out!

        • inflam52 3 days ago

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

        • JKCalhoun 3 days ago

          Is it using the 1.3-inch monochrome OLED display of the Arduboy or something smaller? (Guessing the 72 × 40 display of the Thumby?)

          • inflam52 3 days ago

            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.

            • inflam52 6 hours ago

              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.

              • westurner 2 days ago

                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!

                • westurner 2 days ago

                  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

                • inflam52 2 days ago

                  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!)

            • Tiberium 3 days ago

              Small bug: the sim seems to double count residential population for taxes, industrial pop gets ignored. The duplicate logic seems to exist in UI but it's correct there.

              Also I wonder if all the repetition could be reduced, or would it affect performance on MicroPython?

              https://github.com/chrisdiana/TinyCity/blob/88d07cf98f13bb73...

              • inflam52 3 days ago

                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.

              • coldcity_again 3 days ago

                Looks super cool, nice job!

                • inflam52 3 days ago

                  Thanks!

                • hei-lima 3 days ago

                  Really cool!

                  • inflam52 3 days ago

                    Thank you!

                  • bowlcutWiz 3 days ago

                    looks awesome! can't wait to try the online version :)

                    • inflam52 3 days ago

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

                    • tinfoilhatter 3 days ago

                      Looks neat! Great job!

                      • inflam52 3 days ago

                        Thank you!

                      • mcsolid 3 days ago

                        very cool!