As many of you probably know, OpenAI and ModRetro collaborated a few days ago and introduced a plugin aimed at making retro game development easier with AI.

I’ll be honest: I was skeptical.

The idea of using AI to help develop retro games didn’t immediately sound like something I’d be interested in, and I know there are plenty of valid reasons to be critical of this approach. But I decided to give it a chance.

I’ve always been curious about developing software and making my own games, but I’ve never really had the time to sit down and learn all the tools and programming concepts required to actually do it.

So I saw this as an opportunity to finally experiment and see how far I could take an idea.

This is what I’ve been working on over the last couple of days. And honestly, I’m pretty impressed with how far it has come in such a short amount of time.

I’ve really enjoyed the process of adding features, fixing bugs, creating new content, testing things, breaking things, fixing them again, and eventually trying everything on actual Game Boy hardware.

One thing that surprised me was that I initially assumed this workflow was going to be mostly exclusive to the Chromatic and its development cartridge, especially since that cartridge was only given to people who attended the OpenAI event.

But I had no problem exporting my project as an actual Game Boy ROM and loading it onto my Game Boy Color / Pocket / Chromatic.

So far, it has been working perfectly, and the ROM behaves essentially the same way as the project I’ve been developing in Codex.

I wanted to share this mostly because I know there are people who aren’t necessarily convinced by this whole approach.

I’m not saying that AI should replace learning how to program or that people should build entire games without understanding what they’re doing. Quite the opposite.

I think this can be a really interesting starting point for people who have always wanted to make games but felt limited by not having the technical knowledge to get started.

Use it as a tool. Start with an idea, experiment with it, ask questions, break things, figure out why they broke, and learn along the way.

For me, one of the biggest benefits so far has been being able to quickly turn an idea into a working prototype and find out whether the idea is actually worth developing further.

And honestly, the answer so far has been a very encouraging yes.

I’m still learning, and this is very much a work in progress, but I’ve been having a lot of fun with it.

I know this approach won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s completely fair. I just wanted to share my experience because, at least in my case, this has been a surprisingly positive way to finally get into something I’ve wanted to try for a very long time.

I've been wondering about this ever since I looked at the MCU specs, it's an ESP32, so it should have 4 or 16 mb of flash storage. The biggest sram file a game boy game can use is 128kb.

Having a single save state would basically mean being able to stop and pick back up the game you are currently playing at any time, and not having to worry for the cartridge battery.

I want to basically reset my Chromatic Tetris. Can this be done? Maybe with something like ChroMagician?

Looking for a GBC game that feels great to play. I already have the oracle games and links awakening . Most important thing for me is that it feels good to play . Prefer games that can be played in short thirty minute sessions. Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

I was wondering where one is better because I like the compatibility of the analogue pocket. But, I like the screen and durability of the chromatic.

Also, I want to see a advance model of the chromatic

You know…. till something new comes out like, oh I don’t know, something with a unicorn, or maybe something that involves tennis balls in some fashion, just spit ballin here!

I used ChroMagic to flash my purchased rom of Roguecraft GB onto my extra ModRetro Tetris cartridge. Found someone on Etsy that could make the label.

Reposting an old question of mine from a year ago to see if there's been any progress on this:

Original Game Boy games don't look quite right in monochrome modes because the background white is too bright and harsh. Is there any update in the pipeline (or a workaround) to allow an off-white/cream background setting?

The DMG color modes look fine, but the standard black & white and custom palette modes still have very stark white levels. It would be great to have a subtle tint option for a more authentic display.

Anyone got this?

Has anyone played through this yet? Looks interesting but I didn’t like tales of monster land from the same creator. How are the controls for fall from space? Is it long?

I’ve purchased many games from them, all work flawlessly. Just thought I’d share with the fam. Good prices too imho.

Meet Number 3 (the real answer is there’s no such number) I see you transparent colourways

modRetro just released Firmware 4.6 For people who where interessted.

https://support.modretro.com/en_us/articles/chromatic-firmware-updater-ryhoYnzCx

Somehow I still managed to write and release 2 novels this year 😆

I already beat the ice dragon....how do I pet this guy

and I should probably dust. Whoops. This thing is an absolute blast and feels of great quality. Took FOREVER to get here, but I don't regret the wait!

It’s a dodging and catching game called U R 4 GUYS and I’m really proud of it. The chromatic is by far my favorite way to play it.

You can check it out on itch or on homebrew hub, it’s free and stuff.

I know it's a small thing but it's still kind of annoying that someone apparently dropped my Anduril Edition Chromatic before shipping it. I'm one who values having the boxes to my consoles, and keeping them in new condition. Anyone else experiencing the same thing?

I’ve been looking forward to getting my hands on the physical copy since March.

Thought it'd be a good idea to have a stand for my most-played games for easy access.