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   Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Thursday, 03-Oct-2024 23:42:16 JST Andrew (Television Executive)

   I was commissioned by some friends to build game consoles for their kids.

   We're building with some peculiar constraints because they're peculiar kids.

   At some point, I'll start asking for game recs (I am not asking for game recs at this time.)

   The goal is to build a Cartridge Based Game Console on top of retroarch or another open source project.

   The "cartridges" will just be flash drives.

   The game console might have one or two games installed on it's internal memory, but the rest of the games play *from* the flash drive, show up in the library when the flash drive is inserted, and disappear from the library when the flash drive is removed.

   Rather than browsing based on console, all games from the local disk should be visible in one menu and all games from the flash drive should be available in another menu.

   I *think* I can do this in retroarch without much extra configuration, but I haven't set up retroarch from scratch ... ever.

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     silverwizard (silverwizard@convenient.email)'s status on Friday, 04-Oct-2024 00:40:21 JST silverwizard

     in reply to

     @ajroach42 My kids are loving:
     Freddie Fish, the Scooby Doo adventure games (Jynx at the Sphinx mostly but there's three in that pack), Plants Vs Zombies, Animal Crossing, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_C… Kirby

     He really loves games where you build things like Bridge Constructor.

     All of these are running on Linux (except animal crossing). He's a non-reader.

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     Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Friday, 04-Oct-2024 00:40:22 JST Andrew (Television Executive)

     in reply to

     As far as game selection goes... It's complicated.

     We're exclusively looking for games that don't feature guns. We're looking for slower paced and turn based games with an emphasis on reading for one of the kids. He's an early reader, but progressing quickly.

     For the other kid, we're looking for games with constraints and external goals. He gets lost (as in very deeply invested) in open world and sandbox games like minecraft, to the detriment of everything else around him, so we're looking for games where that's not possible. He's still barely reading, so games that *teach* reading are great, but games that *require* reading are probably out.

     The whole thing is going to run on linux, so ... games that run on linux or can be emulated on linux are a must.

     My morals dictate that we should focus on indie games when possible, but that's just personal preference and not a requirement.

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     Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Friday, 04-Oct-2024 00:40:22 JST Andrew (Television Executive)

     in reply to

     So far, for games we're looking at

     For the reader:
     - Super Mario RPG (the SNES one)
     - The Oregon Trail (2016)
     - Animal Crossing
     - perhaps Harvest Moon
     - Other RPGs like Dragon Warrior Monster

     For the non-reader:
     - Reader Rabbit/Freddie The Fish/etc.
     - Maybe also Animal Crossing
     - Paleo Pines?

     For both:
     - Pikimin
     - Pokemon snap (or any pokemon snap style game I can find that isn't tied to a massive media franchise which is likely to lead to stress for their parents)
     - Harvest Moon

     but ... That's all I got.

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     Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Friday, 04-Oct-2024 00:40:23 JST Andrew (Television Executive)

     in reply to

     The goal is to re-create the "blockbuster night" experience of renting games.

     We're trying to break the older kid out of a pattern of obsessive and occasionally violent behaviors around access to specific games.

     One of the strategies we're trying for that is providing a rotating selection of games that are available for checkout, but only for one week at a time, and never for two weeks in a row (in addition to a much smaller number of games that they always have access to, or that are available every week to "rent".)

     If I can nail the format of the flash drives and the configuration of retroarch or whatever, we can use this setup to encourage a more healthy, slow paced, and intentional relationship with tech.

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     silverwizard (silverwizard@convenient.email)'s status on Friday, 04-Oct-2024 00:49:42 JST silverwizard

     in reply to

     @ajroach42 Bridge Constructor is great because it's a series of individual challenges rather than a sandbox!

     I got Animal Crossing and Kirby running on RetroArch on a Le Potato, so it should be doable.

     Also - there's Spy Fox and Putt Putt to put next to Freddy Fish.

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     Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Friday, 04-Oct-2024 00:49:43 JST Andrew (Television Executive)

     in reply to

     • silverwizard

     @silverwizard

     Animal crossing is high on my list (assuming I can get the n64 or GC version running on linux) Freddie The Fish is on the list for both kids already.

     I think Plants Vs Zombies was a problem in the past, but I don't know if it is *still* a problem. I'll look in to it.

     They loved Kirby the one time they played it.

     Bridge Constructor looks really interesting. It might solve the Sandbox Simulator want without leading to compulsive behavior. I'll take a look.

     Thank you!

   • Embed this notice
     Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Friday, 04-Oct-2024 00:57:33 JST Andrew (Television Executive)

     in reply to

     • silverwizard

     @silverwizard Awesome. Thank you!

     silverwizard likes this.
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     Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Friday, 04-Oct-2024 01:00:34 JST Andrew (Television Executive)

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     • silverwizard

     @silverwizard The whole humongous entertainment package, yeah. Pajama Sam, etc.

     silverwizard likes this.
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     silverwizard (silverwizard@convenient.email)'s status on Friday, 04-Oct-2024 01:29:19 JST silverwizard

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     @ajroach42 Oh yeah! I forgot Pajama Sam!

     studios.ptilouk.net/superfluou… I was also planning on previewing this for young kids in the next few days, since it's a game made for making an open engine!

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     silverwizard (silverwizard@convenient.email)'s status on Monday, 07-Oct-2024 00:16:45 JST silverwizard

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     • Oblomov
     @oblomov @ajroach42 my son *loved* Ri-Li when he was quite young
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     Oblomov (oblomov@sociale.network)'s status on Monday, 07-Oct-2024 00:16:47 JST Oblomov

     in reply to

     @ajroach42 if you're still looking for game recommendations, you may want to look into Ri-Li <https://ri-li.sourceforge.net/> It's an old game where you drive a toy locomotive (in top-down perspective) to collect wagons along increasingly intricate tracks, trying to not make the train cross each other. Simple mechanism, no reading needed for the main game BUT at the end of each level there's a quiz for bonus score (guess the UDHR article number from the text).

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     Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Monday, 07-Oct-2024 00:16:48 JST Andrew (Television Executive)

     in reply to

     lol I found a raspberry pi and an SD card and a mouse and keyboard, but I don't have a spare monitor here for testing, and I can't find a USB drive.

     I have all those things at the makerspace, but I *can't find my keys* to get to the makerspace.

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     Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Monday, 07-Oct-2024 00:16:48 JST Andrew (Television Executive)

     in reply to

     My wife dropped me off a tthe bookstore this morning, so I'm stuck here until she gets home, I guess.

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     Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Monday, 07-Oct-2024 00:16:49 JST Andrew (Television Executive)

     in reply to

     (This is a lot of effort to put in to a project for some kids who have no frame of reference from which to appreciate it, but also I like these kids and their parents asked me to do it and I like their parents, so I'm putting a little extra effort in.)

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     Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Monday, 07-Oct-2024 00:16:50 JST Andrew (Television Executive)

     in reply to

     I hadn't planned on using Pis, but scummVM should run a treat on the pi, and I have a bunch of them that I have pulled out of other retired projects, so we can start small and build up from there.

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     Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Monday, 07-Oct-2024 00:16:51 JST Andrew (Television Executive)

     in reply to

     Oops, missed the attachments.

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     Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Monday, 07-Oct-2024 00:16:51 JST Andrew (Television Executive)

     in reply to

     Three more game covers and the rental cards.

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     Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Monday, 07-Oct-2024 00:16:52 JST Andrew (Television Executive)

     in reply to

     So, here's where we are:

     - I've slapped together some cases using the original box art and some free resources. (See attached) Obviously, I didn't do any of this art and I don't own any of this art. I just arranged it in this way so that it would fit in a bluray sleeve and represent these games for these kids.

     - I've made rental cards (see next post, probably) with "barcodes" for them to "scan" when they check out the games.

     - I found an assortment of clear bluray sized cases that I'll be able to use as our game boxes from the local game store.

     - I'm setting up retropi on a pi 3 now, because I think it'll be sufficient.

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     Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Monday, 07-Oct-2024 00:16:53 JST Andrew (Television Executive)

     in reply to

     (in case it wasn't obvious, I'm not demanding the above info. If you have a suggestion and you're not sure if it fits those constraints, that's fine. Tell me about it anyway, if you want. Or don't, if you don't want to?

     Those are just the base constraints within which I am working.)

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     Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Monday, 07-Oct-2024 00:16:53 JST Andrew (Television Executive)

     in reply to

     After lots of research and planning, I've landed on ScummVM as my starting point.

     We'll branch out from there, eventually, but so many of the games we care about right now are available on scummVM.

   • Embed this notice
     Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Monday, 07-Oct-2024 00:16:54 JST Andrew (Television Executive)

     in reply to

     So, I am accepting game recommendations for these kids, contingent on the constraints laid out in the previous four or five posts, but also contingent on a whole mess of other constraints that I'm not going to get in to publicly.

     The gist:
     - Needs to run on linux
     - No guns
     - If it needs reading, call that out so that I can put it in the right bucket
     - If it can be played by people who can't read well, call that out so I can put it in the right bucket

     - There's room for frustrating games, and difficult games, and challenging games, but they have to be selected sparingly.

     - Open world and sandbox games are OUT unless they contain some serious constraints or demand specific goals. (Minecraft is a trigger right now.)

     - I'm avoiding Steam or anything that requires an internet connection (even if it's just for DRM) for logistical reasons.

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     Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Monday, 07-Oct-2024 00:16:55 JST Andrew (Television Executive)

     in reply to

     Partially, I don't have more games on my list because I don't really know anything about video games anymore, and partially it's because I'm not thinking very hard about this.

     But it's also partially because I spent the morning coming up with an 8 page document exploring the constraints around the selection process for each kid.

     There are all kinds of constraints and requirements going in to this.

     Most of it is directly informed by the treatment plan their therapists developed, so I'm doing some things that feel counterintuitive to me at the doctor's recommendation. (like prioritizing games that are very limiting or otherwise frustrating as a way for the kid who gets frustrated easily to learn to cope.)

     The rest of it comes from their individual likes/preferences/triggers/trauma. There are topics we're trying to avoid, there are topics we're trying to encourage.