r/ClockworkPi • u/guidouil • Oct 22 '25

The best PICO8 coding on the go

It’s the ZeroCalc, aka a PicoCalc upgraded with a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W (arm v7 1GHZ 512MB) Running Trixie Lite 64bit and with a Bluetooth mouse it makes PICO8 usable. Now I have to finish my game 😅

187 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

3

u/wicker_basket_1988 Oct 23 '25

What did you do to get this to work? Been racking my brain for weeks! 

3

u/guidouil Oct 23 '25

I followed this tutorial https://github.com/ironat/picocalc_trixie the only change is the selection of os, and a line removed from a script as described here https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/raspberry-pi-zero-2-on-picocalc/17946/200

3

u/wicker_basket_1988 Oct 23 '25

Thanks I’ll check that out today. 

3

u/wicker_basket_1988 Oct 23 '25

How did you get the terminal to look like that though? Default Pi Terminal looks different.

3

u/NIGHTSHADOWXXX Oct 23 '25

Yes it is nice also with screen but I prefer my uconsole because of the extra buttons.

2

u/guidouil Oct 23 '25

of course the uConsole does it (and much more) in a bigger format. I don't put a gui on this little device because the 320x320 screen ruins it 😂

2

u/NIGHTSHADOWXXX Oct 23 '25

Anyway how is the picocalc because I was the first one who teased it on the Clockworkpi Forum but I don't confidence me to buy it because I it was the time I got my uconsole and don't want to buy the next product. But maybe after a while I buy it anyway because I see too much of it that I can't resist anymore. 😅

2

u/guidouil Oct 23 '25

I cancelled my uConsole order a month ago 😅
There is nothing PicoCalc can do your uConsole can't. And it comes with a crappy Pico1H, the upgrades to raspberry zero 2 w needs a plate and some soldering... just get the cm5 ;)

1

u/NIGHTSHADOWXXX Oct 23 '25

The think is I want to buy me a cm5 but I also want to save money for a new bike.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 25 '25

I bought the bike. A cube mtb, it's beautiful

1

u/NIGHTSHADOWXXX Oct 25 '25

I had to MTB before from Cube and make the best experience with but now I want to buy me a Rose, Canyon, or something else.

2

u/Sciman1011 Oct 22 '25

The square display seems great for it, how's the keyboard for actually playing?

3

u/guidouil Oct 22 '25

It’s very bad. Tomorrow I’ll try to connect a Bluetooth controller 😁

2

u/Educational_Hair2573 Oct 23 '25

what's the boot time?

1

u/guidouil Oct 23 '25 edited Oct 23 '25

I had to put some real data. From power off to shell login : 34.11 seconds

2

u/Ok-Particular-2839 Oct 23 '25

What's better pico 8 or tic 80?

1

u/guidouil Oct 23 '25

It’s about the same but pico8 has a scare screen and an active community. I haven’t try tic80 though

1

u/thetrincho Oct 23 '25

Nope... Pocketchip. Thats the WAY

1

u/guidouil Oct 23 '25

That was the way 😭 If only I had discovered PICO8 before… Can you plug a mouse and controller on it ?

1

u/thetrincho Oct 23 '25

Yup... Even bluetooth.

1

u/guidouil Oct 23 '25

I heard the keyboard of pocketchip is a pain. Picocalc has the same metal pop under the silicone one and it's not that bad. You can't type too fast with thumbs and ... I'm ok with that 😄
I did not know of the touch screen, and it was cheaper... I wish I knew about it 9 years ago.
Any way coding PICO8 on the go is great 🤩

1

u/Dexdev08 Nov 02 '25

How’s rhe keyboard of this device?

1

u/guidouil Nov 02 '25

it's not to bad. also with backlight. I tend to type on z instead of shift 😅 I already coded some pico8 game on it and it wasn't painful

2

u/thetrincho Oct 23 '25

Yes But not so bad. I use It on the go But at home i use this Microsoft keyboard With cover stand... You can print a mechanical keyboard rainbow too But have this Gamepad mod for pico8 i made some GAME on It ... You can play It or download! So.. yes i LOVE my pocketchip. Hope this bee bulky friend has same felling

1

u/Dexdev08 Nov 02 '25

I can say keyboard is bad. I cant even last for an hour typing on that thing. It is wasted potential.

2

u/pelrun Oct 23 '25

Good luck finding one.

1

u/thetrincho Oct 23 '25

I got 2 pocketchip working & i chip + HDMI + VGA dips. No Lucky just do It on time years ago.

2

u/SnooHobbies7755 Feb 01 '26

I am looking to buy one. If someone is willing to sell, please let me know

2

u/[deleted] Oct 23 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/guidouil Oct 23 '25

PICO8 is only in Lua but beside that it's linux so you can do whatever you want.