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Show HN: TinyCity – A tiny city SIM for MicroPython (Thumby micro console)

121 points14 hoursgithub.com
_joel12 hours ago

I hope it "Reticulates Tiny Splines" (good work btw)

inflam5212 hours ago

Haha thanks! Definitely adding that during map generation in next release.

JKCalhoun8 hours ago

Is it using the 1.3-inch monochrome OLED display of the Arduboy or something smaller? (Guessing the 72 × 40 display of the Thumby?)

inflam528 hours ago

This is for 72×40 display right now but I was also working on an interface layer to abstract Thumby specific functionality in order to play on potentially other platforms running MicroPython/Python. Going to try and add that in the next iteration.

westurner1 hour ago

There are a number of MakeCode-compatible devices with and without Microbit https://arcade.makecode.com/arcade-devices

bbcmicrobit/micropython: https://github.com/bbcmicrobit/micropython

But Pi Pico; RP2040, RP2350:

"Show HN: PicoVGA Library – VGA/TV Display on Raspberry Pi Pico" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35117847#35120403

"MaplePad – RP2040 Dreamcast controller, VMU, and Purupuru (rumble pack) emulator" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37522059 :

> PicoVision

pimoroni/picovision micropython: https://github.com/pimoroni/picovision :

> PicoVision enables you to create big, bold audio visual projects using MicroPython and an HDMI display of your choice.

> powerful digital video stick for bold audio visual adventures, with dual RP2040 chips and a conveniently HDMI-shaped output connector to boot!

> [...] dual RP2040 chips and a conveniently HDMI-shaped output connector to boot!

westurner54 minutes ago

TIL RP2350 support DVI video output with an HSTX: https://www.google.com/search?q=rp2350+dvi

And it's possible to convert from DVI to HDMI

gaudystead11 hours ago

I literally JUST bought a Thumby out of a vending machine this past weekend, so this post feels a bit serendipitous for me. Thanks for sharing, and I'll have to check this out!

inflam5211 hours ago

Congrats! Unplayable by most means but absolutely incredible how tiny it is so I love it.

allanrbo12 hours ago

SIM=subscriber identity module. sim=simulator. :-)

inflam5212 hours ago

I originally had sim but HN autocorrected it. I tried to edit it back to what I had but can't seem to now.

Tiberium12 hours ago

Small bug: the sim seems to double count residential population for taxes, industrial pop gets ignored. The duplicate logic seems to exist in UI but it's correct there.

Also I wonder if all the repetition could be reduced, or would it affect performance on MicroPython?

https://github.com/chrisdiana/TinyCity/blob/88d07cf98f13bb73...

inflam5211 hours ago

Yeah great catch. So I mentioned this in the README but much of the mechanics were heavily inspired by jhhoward's MicroCity. This is the same way he calculated taxes and I figured to test it out to see how it worked in game. I really liked the flow of how his game played and seems like there are some pros/cons to that inbalance.

Pros: - Makes residential population more valuable for taxes, which helps early‑game cash flow. - Encourages zoning residential since it has outsized budget impact. - Offsets the fact that residential growth can be more constrained by pollution/unemployment.

Cons: - Skews the economy away from industrial/commercial impact. - Makes budget feel inconsistent with “total population.” - Can mask balance issues by injecting extra money, making difficulty tuning harder.

coldcity_again10 hours ago

Looks super cool, nice job!

inflam529 hours ago

Thanks!

hei-lima12 hours ago

Really cool!

inflam5211 hours ago

Thank you!

mcsolid6 hours ago

very cool!

bowlcutWiz10 hours ago

looks awesome! can't wait to try the online version :)

inflam5210 hours ago

Thanks I'll post when it's available. Still waiting on the PR to merge in their Arcade repo.

tinfoilhatter13 hours ago

Looks neat! Great job!

inflam5213 hours ago

Thank you!