game dev app hardware engineer
Okay, here’s my blog post about diving into game dev, app development, and hardware engineering, all in one go:
So, I’ve been messing around with this crazy idea of combining game development, app creation, and like, actually building the hardware it all runs on. Sounds insane, right? Well, it kinda is, but it’s also been a wild ride.
The Beginning (A.K.A. The “What Was I Thinking?” Phase)
It all started with a simple game idea. I wanted to make this top-down shooter, you know, retro-style. But I didn’t just want to make the game; I got this itch to control the entire experience. The software, the look and feel, even the buttons you’d mash.
First, I downloaded a game engine. I’d messed with a Game Engine before, so I had some clue what I was doing. Started blocking out levels, throwing in some placeholder sprites. You know, the usual game dev stuff.
The App Part (Because Why Not?)
Then, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool to have a companion app?” Something to track stats, maybe show off high scores, that kind of thing. So, I fired up a cross-platform framework. I figured I wanted the app to be usable on iOS and Android, and that seemed like the easy way to do it.
I fumbled my way through building a basic UI. Connected it to a throwaway back end (the game engine had a sample database). Got it kinda working. Showed my buddy. He said, “Neat.” Progress!
The Hardware Dive (Oh Boy…)
This is where things got…interesting. I ordered a bunch of components online – a microcontroller, a small screen, some buttons, a battery, the whole nine yards. I literally had a pile of wires and circuit boards on my desk.
I started soldering. I have a shaky hands at first. Burned myself a couple of times (okay, maybe more than a couple). Watched a ton of YouTube videos. Seriously, YouTube is a lifesaver for this stuff.
Slowly but surely, I started piecing things together. Wrote some basic code to get the microcontroller to talk to the screen. Made the buttons actually do something. It was messy. It was ugly. But it was mine.
- First attempt: Total failure. Screen wouldn’t turn on.
- Second attempt: Screen flickered! Progress! (But still no game.)
- Third attempt: Got a pixel to change color! I felt like a god.
- Many, many attempts later: I had a barely-functional, super-janky handheld console.
Putting it All Together…and Realizing the Challenges.
Getting the game to actually run on my homemade hardware was a whole new level of pain. Had to optimize the heck out of the game code. Stripped out anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary. Learned a lot about memory management (mostly by crashing the thing over and over).
The app integration was surprisingly smoother. Since I’d planned for it from the start, it was mostly a matter of making sure the data formats matched up. Still some bugs, but nothing catastrophic.
The whole thing is far from perfect. It’s bulky, the battery life is terrible, and the game itself is…well, let’s just say it’s a work in progress. But I built it. From the code to the circuits, it’s all something I put together with my own two hands (and a lot of help from the internet).
Would I recommend this to everyone? Probably not. It’s a lot of work, and you have to be okay with things going wrong (a lot). But if you’re like me, and you get that weird urge to control every aspect of a project, it’s an incredibly rewarding experience. Now I just have to refine and improve it to be not terrible.
