Hello!
I’m an Art School Professor teaching Game production and Game design for BFA students.
- I teach mostly capstone classes (ambitious 3D games), but also a mid-cursus Game design class (we focus on Board games) and an Intro to Game development class.
- The intro class is the one relevant to this forum, as I have my students use MakeCode Arcade to quickly prototype 2D games to start some early discussions on Game design, Level design, Player narrative, etc..
You can view some info about this class, and some student work sample here: http://luxregina.com/portfolio/intro-to-game-development/
This summer, I’ve started developing a custom hardware to possibly offer a class where students build their own handheld consoles. But I do have some questions! 
I assume tagging @jacqueline.russell is the proper etiquette?
The Project so far
I’ve been following the “MakeTato” tutorial > https://austonstewart.com/posts/maketato-diy-handheld/ and Maketato - A DIY, Pico-based handheld students can build
I have designed a shell prototype, 3D printed, and I do have a functioning console prototype:
I’m very new to electronics, so I’m in the process of learning the whole thing. So far, everything is working as expected, but I’m running into some questions I need help with
My questions
-
Is there any future plan to support the PICO2 (RP2350 microcontroller): the RP2040 is fine, but the pico2 has more power, which would allow more ambitious MakeCode Arcade games (like this one > https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Mt57WJGPy08 ).
-
I want to upgrade the screen size: I’ve purchased a larger screen, a 2.4" SPI TFT LCD Display ST7735 240×320 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D5HCDNY5?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title).
I’m having issues with the wiring or the bootloader: the screen illuminates white. I’ve tried debugging using this wiki ( https://github.com/Microsoft/uf2/blob/master/cf2.md ) and used the patcher to update the bootloader, but I must be doing something wrong.
Is there anyone here that can answer bootloader questions and help me out?
Finally, I’m looking forward seeing some of you: I’ve registered for the talk on July 31st, about Custom Hardware!
Thanks in advance!