iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Martin Donlon

Ren'Py Tom 🇺🇸 @renpytom.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

I use language models to develop Ren'Py, and have since Github copilot came out in beta in 2021. Before that I've used other tools (code completion, etc.) I don't vibe code Ren'Py, though - that's not something you do if you want a project you can maintain. 1/2

7138923

Reposted by Martin Donlon

VGEsoterica @videogameesoterica.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

The man, the myth, the legend himself... @wickerwaka has a beta IGS PGM MiSTer FPGA core ready for testing and it's GOOD! youtu.be/vtYYL0njcGM #gaming #gamingnews #misterfpga #retrogames

0232

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 07/05/2026

I wanted to understand better how audio works on the PGM so, after hearing about other peoples successes, I put gpt-5.4 and ghidra on the task using github.com/bethington/g.... It did a pretty solid job of producing readable (not compilable) C code. github.com/wickerwaka/P....

271

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 20/04/2026

I don't think Tindie is coming back and even if it does I think it's time to move on. MiSTer Laggys and PicoROMs will be sold here from now on: peanutbutterretro.com If you have an unprocessed order from the Tindie store, reach out to me and I'll ship it out to you.

peanutbutterretro.com

Peanut Butter Retro

Home of the MiSTer Laggy and PicoROM.

0111

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 13/04/2026

Adrian's videos on the Agfa are a great example of combining software and hardware reverse engineering techniques. It's the main way I work with arcade hardware and why I made the PicoROM. His videos are a great intro for anyone interested.

191

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 02/04/2026

Two designs to help with PGM research. A flash cart using modified PicoROM firmware and a passthrough board that allows me to trace cartridge signals easily. 7 days from idea to on my workbench thanks to @jlcpcb.bsky.social and @kicad.org

1245

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 09/03/2026

3D printers are such an amazing tool for making tools. It’s not a complex thing, but I needed a way to support these stacked PCBs in a way that allowed me to work on them both. Took some rough measurements. 15 minutes in Fusion 360. Two hours to print. Problem solved.

3413

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 21/02/2026

I have some PicoROMs back in stock. New 28-pin version and a revised 32-pin version. www.tindie.com/products/pbr...

tindie.com

PicoROM by Peanut Butter Retro on Tindie

8-Bit ROM Emulator for testing and rapid development.

0122

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 15/02/2026

I saw this project at VCF Socal yesterday and it amazed me. It's such a testament to individual effort and creativity. I don't know what I'll do with it, but I backed it on crowd supply and I'll be happy to have it in my collection.

041

Reposted by Martin Donlon

K.N.O. Industries @kino503.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Who Did What At Irem: A (Semi-)Comprehensive Thread Today, we're going to be doing a deepdive on one of the premier arcade giants of the 1980's. We're all familiar with enduring classics such as R-Type and In The Hunt, but who were the talented men & women that created them?

110948

Reposted by Martin Donlon

Metal Game Solid @metalgamesolid.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

Japan-Only TAITO Quiz Games Just Hit the #MiSTerFPGA F2 Core! Thanks @wickerwaka.com Read more here: metalgamesolid.com/fpga/mister-...

052

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 12/10/2025

The latest version of the Taito F2 core fixes the shadows in PuLiRuLa so they "shimmer" like you see in the video. The shadows are just the character sprites drawn with a black color palette and scaled down vertically. So what makes them shimmer?

1304

Reposted by Martin Donlon

⊏𝗡⊐ @nullsleep.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

putting the call out to #chiptune bsky I need your tips on who is actively pushing chiptune forward right now particularly interested in newer / emerging artists, as well as women, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC artists please repost for reach ❤️🙏

612167

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 01/08/2025

I've sold out of PicoROMs. I made 150 and sold 130. I'm surprised I managed to sell so many because I think it's pretty niche. I've no idea what people are using them for, so if you bought some and you are using them, please let me know!

1476

Reposted by Martin Donlon

Jason Moore @moorejh.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

A software-defined ROM replacement solution for Commodore computers, Uses a $2 STM32F4 microcontroller github.com/piersfinlays... #commodore #c64 #vic20 #retrocomputing

1213

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 27/06/2025

Can I play Death Stranding 2 if I haven't played the first game?

100

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 16/06/2025

The TC0360PRI is used in the Taito F2 and several other boards. I prioritizes/mixes up to 3 12-bit color inputs. It has a few different "blend" modes for combining the inputs and some flags for those modes. I built a little test screen so I could test all the different parameters on real hardware.

1182

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 13/06/2025

At Mrs. Winston's salad bar, near the Santa Monica airport, a friend handed me the bacon bits after they were done with them and I then offered it to the person behind me in line, which they declined. That person? Harrison Ford, Hollywood actor.

151

Reposted by Martin Donlon

Chris Glenn Smith @sirchristopher93.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

Happy 40 Years to the Atari ST!

2284

Reposted by Martin Donlon

Owlnonymous @owlnonymous.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

The new Taito F1/F2 arcade core by @wickerwaka.com is now part of the #MiSTerFPGA distro and is grabbed by running the Downloader/Update_All script. The Ninja Kids has been added.

0135

Reposted by Martin Donlon

Owlnonymous @owlnonymous.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

I put up the VOD of the most recent stream checking out the Taito F2 Alpha core, and then dive into the CD-i core and play through a few "interesting" games. Watch the VOD: youtu.be/qLmp-FO61RU

youtu.be

🎮 Testing the Taito F2 Alpha Core & Exploring the CD-i Core on MiSTer FPGA! 🕹️

YouTube video by owlnonymous

062

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 18/05/2025

Network shares with tens of thousands of files are still a problem for both windows and macos in the year 2025.

260

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 11/05/2025

This chip is very out of place on the F2 boards. It’s the only custom chip using DIP form factor and the logo is different than all the other ones. It is used to expand the amount of tile graphics available.

1172

Reposted by Martin Donlon

Jeff Tanton - Wishlist OCCULT CLEANUP AGENCY 📸👻🪣 @jefftanton.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

All dev is a crap shoot where experience and talent + strong idea can improve odds and put you in a better position to succeed. But absolutely no combination of those things can guarantee it.

082

Reposted by Martin Donlon

JamHamster @jamhamster.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

☺️

98111

Reposted by Martin Donlon

Jason Moore @moorejh.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

It is after all the 40th anniversary of the Atari ST! Does not get enough love :)

5337

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 30/04/2025

I spent a few days getting audio tests setup so I could accurately match the audio filtering on the F2 board. My goal was to use the excellent MDFourier from @artemio.bsky.social to compare the audio output from the core to the output from the real boards.

1274

Reposted by Martin Donlon

Jake Birkett - Veteran Indie @greyalien.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Woah! I'm doing this talk TODAY at 5pm UK time for Shris Zukowski's (HTMAG) Staying Inside Conference 2025. Here's a link with a coupon code. You can also watch it later on the "vault": www.progamemarketing.com/p/inside-con...

2269

Reposted by Martin Donlon

Weasel ⛳🏌️ @wildweasel486.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

The Taito arcade game, Cameltry, has a secret menu where you can pick a character to replace the regular blue marble. One of the options is the disembodied head of Operation Wolf's Roy Adams. If you finish the second-difficulty courses as him, we see proof that Roy Adams loves nobody but himself.

Screenshot of Cameltry (Taito, arcade) - "Nice play! They lived happily ever after." Set in the center of the screen, a man's head in a green beret - and another man's head in a green beret with a pink bow on it - sit on top of a flat rock, looking away from the camera at a full moon. There is a small heart floating above them.

35515

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 24/04/2025

The responses to this are fascinating.

000

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 16/04/2025

I don't want to gate keep, but.....you can't call your software "cross-platform" if you don't support Windows.

130

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 14/04/2025

I did a code thing. Been working on it for a week, carving out an hour here and there. Thinking about it as I fell asleep and when I wake up. Finally got it to a point where it’s clear it’s going to pay off. Ecstatic, but too complex and niche to explain to anyone around me. Quietly enjoying it.

0140

Reposted by Martin Donlon

Todd Gill - Retro Frog @retrofrog.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Zaparoo NFC reader for MiSTer FPGA - FINAL Run! Preorders run from now until midnight Friday April 18th with shipping Mid May: retrofrog.net/products/zap... Due to popular demand I have decided to do one more. Please, please like and repost this so anyone who wants one can get it.

45717

Reposted by Martin Donlon

VGEsoterica @videogameesoterica.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

A new MiSTer FPGA core is coming soon as Wickerwaka decided MiSTer needs Dino Rex! The best arcade game...called Dino Rex! All jokes aside...everyone loves new MiSTer FPGA cores! youtu.be/AX73tU9hfqE

1241

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 06/04/2025

A month ago I started working on an FPGA core for Taito's Final Blow, the first game on their F2 arcade system. Yesterday I had it running on the #MiSTerFPGA with all major systems in place. Lots of bugs left to fix, but the hardest parts are done.

715529

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 18/03/2025

That feeling when you are writing a document but really want to be writing code.

050

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 13/03/2025

I don't like that "vibe-coding" has caught on. For me, and I'm sure many other people, coding is vibe-coding. You sit down with a problem and a vague idea of a solution and you start writing. As you work, your ideas develop and new aspects of the problem emerge, you adapt. That's vibe coding.

1110

Reposted by Martin Donlon

GoldS_TCRF @golds-tcrf.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

This is a week late, but here's a TCRF article on Dead Connection that I made a few years back. Notable finds include a big debug menu, scrapped 4P support, a location test screen, hidden cameos from Zak and Mel of Pu-Li-Ru-La fame, and a mess of unused destructibles. tcrf.net/Dead_Connect...

Screenshot of a "Screen Character Test" debug tool from Dead Connection. On the left is a bitmap of a brown-suited man with a brown hat. He looks pretty peeved.

The player select screen from Dead Connection with Philip (with one "l") and James selected, but the cursors say 3P and 4P? Wuh?!?

A location test screen from Dead Connection. The background is a sepia tone version of the standard Game Over backdrop. The usual Taito location test copy is displayed, which reads as follows:
"THANK YOU FOR PLAYING UP TO THIS STAGE. YOU ARE A VERY GOOD PLAYER. AREN'T YOU? BECAUSE THIS GAME IS NOW UNDER LOCATION TEST, WE ARE VERY SORRY NOT TO SHOW YOU THE NEXT STAGE OF THE GAME. WE ARE TERRIBLY SORRY FOR THIS AND HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN, SOMETIME AND SOMEPLACE."

The high score screen, with the top two names being "JIR" and "KAT". The severed heads of Pu-Li-Ru-La's player characters, Mel (Girl, blue hat) and Zak (Boy, pink hat), adorn the bottom-left corner of the screen.

05826

Reposted by Martin Donlon

Moss Elixir @sorryforlaughing.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Out of nowhere today I woke up thinking about how, at covid’s height, Irish people donated to indigenous US tribes in memory of how the Choctaw nation donated to Ireland during the famine & if there’s any future for humanity as inhumanity runs amok, there it is. I gotta do more.

335861

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 02/03/2025

She’s 8,000 miles away, working her butt off and still finds time to show her love. She is the greatest gift.

1170

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 25/02/2025

Starting a new project is the hardest part. Once you've made a directory and put a few files in it then the rest is just typing. Months and months of typing.

370

Reposted by Martin Donlon

VGEsoterica @videogameesoterica.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Its time for more MiSTer FPGA arcade hidden gems you might not realize have cores! Because there's a metric ton of amazing retro gaming fun to be had on MiSTer FPGA! But whats your fav arcade core? youtu.be/_ikuAqmcYRo

1225

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 16/02/2025

I left about 20 PicoROMs (older hardware revisions) on the free tables at VCF SoCal. They were all gone within an hour so hopefully they found some good homes!

050

Reposted by Martin Donlon

John Riney III @8bithe.art · 14/02/2025

Hi @nanoraptor.danamania.com - I built your minitower C64 concept to exhibit at VCF SoCal this weekend (crediting you for the concept and design of course). It's not fully assembled in this photo. I hope you like it!

1936664

Reposted by Martin Donlon

Jason Moore @moorejh.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

My new YouTube video on "Tips for Diagnosis, Repair, & Modification of Vintage Computers". I will be giving this talk live next weekend at the Vintage Computer Festival SoCal www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2zo... #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing #commodore #atari #apple #amiga #vcfsocal

youtube.com

Tips for Diagnosis, Repair, and Modification of Vintage Computers

YouTube video by Jason Moore

1286

Martin Donlon @wickerwaka.com · 13/02/2025

I'll be down at VCF SoCal on Saturday.

140