demake - One source project, ROMs for every retro console
Show HN: demake – one source project compiles to any retro game console ROM
demake is a revolutionary tool that lets you write a game once and compile it to ROMs for any retro game console, all in your browser. With a simple, high-level language and built-in asset management, you can create games like Pong without worrying about platform-specific code. The project includes a live demo, unit tests, and a CLI for local development. It's perfect for indie developers, hobbyists, and educators who want to bring their games to classic hardware with minimal effort.
Nothing here names a console: `1 cell` is absolute, `15vw` is 15% of the playfield.
- andai
I saw this cool article yesterday about edge aware pixelation. That might give better results when pixelizing AI generated pixel art.
https://yogthos.net/posts/2025-12-11-edge-aware-pixelation.h...
More broadly I often find pixel art that has been upscaled and I'm wondering if anyone knows a good way to convert that back into the original?
In theory you just need to sample the middle of each blob, but I haven't found traditional image editors to be very helpful in this process.
- bensyverson
This is super cool! I like the idea of expressing the game declaratively, with a language that an LLM can easily understand. Do you have any other demos of what the language is capable of? I'm wondering if this could do a platformer or adventure style game.
Are there any device capability guards, so more capable systems within a tier (like SNES vs NES) could attempt more complex graphics, sounds or interactions? What works on the Game Boy is different enough from what's possible on the SNES that you may want some way to express that. Or to make it dynamic, like "make the number of enemies the number of supported sprites - 2"
- Dwedit
There seems to be a bug in the code for handling input, certain combinations of pressing or releasing left and right can cause the paddle to get stuck moving to the left or right, especially when Left and Right are held down simultaneously.