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The Uzebox is an open source, retro-minimalist games console. It is based on an 8-bit Atmel AVR microcontroller and is distinguished by its interrupt-driven game engine and lack of a frame buffer. Functions such as video sync generation, tile rendering and music mixing are all handled in software by background tasks in order to ease development. Games are written in plain C using the Uzebox API.
The design goal was to be as simple as possible yet provide good enough sound and graphics to implement interesting games. Emphasis was put on making it easy and fun to assemble and program for hobbyists. The final design contains only two chips: an ATmega644 and an AD725 RGB-to-NTSC converter.
Uzebox Project Pages
- Project Homepage
- Forums
- News Blog
- Facebook Page
- Twitter feed
- Schematic Downloads - You can view the PCB gerber files using KiCad.
- Sources
- Tool Binaries
- Uzebox Wikipedia Entry
Games & Demos
Documentation
- Getting Started on the Uzebox
- User Guide
- API Functions
- API Types
- AVR Bootloader FAQ
- C language resources
- Uzebox FAQ
- UZE File format specification
- French Translation
- How it Works (PDF)
- Troubleshooting
- Video Modes
Tools
- AVRdude: AVR Flashing command line tool
- Eclipse Development Environment
- Emulator
- Gconvert: Tile Graphics Converter
- GconvertJs: Alternative web-based Gconvert.
- inc2img: Converts Uzebox Gconvert '.inc' files back into actual graphics.
- Layer Export GIMP Script
- LePlatz: Platz Level Editor
- Mode 7 multiplexer
- Packrom: .HEX to .UZE converter
- Pixen: bitmap graphics editor for OS X
- grafx2: bitmap graphics editor, multiplatform
- Platz: Platformer Toolset
- Python Script for Generating Tile Data
- MilkyTracker: .mod/.s3m/.it chiptune editor
- Tiled Map Editor
- Tile Studio: Bitmap Graphic Editor and Tile Map editor. Tile Studio Tutorial: Part 1 and Part 2.
- PyxelEdit: Bitmap Graphic Editor and Tile Map editor (With zoom on tileset)
- Emscripten - How to compile Uzem into JavaScript (to play Uzebox games directly inside a web page)
- Uzebox Patch Studio: Create, preview, and mix sound effects directly on your PC!
Resources
Help, Tips & Tutorials
- Animating Oscillations
- Assembler Tips
- AVR Hardware Programming
- Calling the Emulator in AVRStudio
- C Tips, Tricks and Optimizations
- Configuring Kate for use as a Uzebox IDE
- Convert an image into a row of tiles using the GIMP
- Controller Event Handling
- Creating new Uzebox Game Projects
- Exporting Gimp Layers in a Strip
- Generating Tiles and Maps with gconvert
- Hello World (Uzebox style)
- How I write Uzebox Games
- How Video Modes Work
- Jhysaun's Tutorial-a-Day
- Let's Code for the Uzebox - Video tutorial series covering setting up a dev environment, using various graphics tools, and composing a MIDI track from scratch
- Mac OS X Specific
- Mode 7 Encoding
- PCB Making Tutorials
- Program Arcade Games With Python And Pygame - If you're new to programming and games development but wish to learn how to write video games you are recommended to read this book. Although it teaches the reader how to write games in python using pygame, most of the concepts are applicable to writing games in C or any other language. It prepares the reader nicely for learning godot and gdscript, one of the most popular open source game engines, which could be used to prototype Uzebox games.
- Sound and Music Resources
- Source Control (Windows, Linux, Mac)
- Uzebox Mode 3 with Scrolling Guide
- Uzebox SMD soldering - video demonstration of soldering the AD725 chip and the SD socket
- Uzebox_Tutorials_And_Such - Many new tutorials covering many topics from beginning to end.
- Uzebox Pixel-Art with Gimp
- Video Generation
- Weber's Rants
Guidelines and Best Practices
Hardware
- Homemade Uzeboxes & derived projects
- Uzebox JAMMA virtual DIP switch configuration
- Uzebox JAMMA controller pin allocation
- Uzebox JAMMA EEPROM block ID Reservation List
- ATmega644 Pin Allocation
- ATmega644 Fuse Settings
- Uzebox SCART Interface
- Uzebox Keyboard Interface
- Uzebox Mouse
- Uzebox 128+
- Uzenet
- ESP8266
- Expansion Port
- UART
- RGB HDMI Video
- SPI Ram
- How SNES controllers work
- SNES controller schematic
Other
- EEPROM Block ID Reservation List
- EUzebox TV compatibly List
- FAT16 Research
- SD Card Compatibility List
- SD Save Sector Reservation List
- To do list
- To do list (Uzebox JAMMA)
Related Projects Links
License & Copyrights
All content on this WIKI is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
The Uzebox hardware design, kernel, API, tools and emulator are licensed under a GNU GPL 3.0 Public License.