Load Other Carts

Step 1: Load Bios #1 (SL31253 or SL90025):

Step 2: Load Bios #2 (SL31254):

Step 3: Load Cart:

Or just Run Bios

What is this?

An emulator for the Fairchild Channel F, the first console to use programmable ROMs and a microprocessor.
The console was released in 1975, so don't expect much in the way of graphics, gameplay, or usability.
See Wikipedia for more info.

And what's that game running?

That's a homebrewed (i.e. - NOT original) game made by Blackbird and e5frog. You can find it here.
Any sound glitches are due to the emulator, not the game, by the way. (See below)

It pushes the capabilities of the console to its limits, so its quality is considerably higher than that of the other games for the console.
It's also anachronistic - the original Pac-Man wasn't released until 1980.

And how do I play other games?

In order to play other games, you first need the console's BIOS files and the ROM for the other game you want to play. (Having these is up to you and they cannot be shared)

Use the "Load Other Carts" controls above. These allow you to upload the BIOS and cart files straight to the emulator running inside pico-8! (Via the gpio pins, if you're wondering)

By the way, a BIOS is needed since the "BIOS" included with the emulator is a homebrewed one which is only good enough for running a few games which don't use it much.

What are the controls?

In "1P" mode (default), the controls are:

• arrow keys = move
• Z = push
• S/F = rotate left/right
• E/D = push/pull
• left shift = hold to control player 2 instead of player 1

In "2P" mode, the controls are:

• arrow keys = move
• N + arrow keys = rotate/push/pull
• S/F/E/D = player 2 move
• left shift + S/F/E/D = player 2 rotate/push/pull

In both modes, additional controls are:

• X + left/down/up/right = press console key 1/2/3/4. (can also use the mouse)
• X + Z = switch between 1P/2P modes. (can also use the mouse; only affects the controls)

What's working well?

All functionality is working and most likely bug-free, so all original and homebrew games work well, including the carts with extra memory.
(Exception: no support for the homebrewed multicart, which is too large for pico8 anyway)

Thanks to some optimizations, games now usually run at full speed.

What's not working well?

Sound has occasional glitches (either due to pico8's sound limitations or my implementation).

Keys sometime need to be pressed for a few moments to work in some games. This might be due to the original console's controls being slow to press.

What's the point of this?

Proving that emulators for non-trivial systems are possible to do in pico-8.
And just for the fun of creating and/or playing an emulator!