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933: Hackweek Overview - What Is It, What Did We Build

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Sep 1, 2025
The podcast dives into the exhilarating world of Hackweek, where creativity knows no bounds. The hosts discuss their unique projects, from developing a retro Sega Genesis game to crafting an interactive LED grid. They share the transformative journey of coding in C and the innovative tools that make game design exciting. Plus, they explore the role of AI in coding, highlighting both efficiency and challenges. This is a celebration of experimentation, collaboration, and the joys of building something from scratch!
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ANECDOTE

Making A Sega Game In Days

  • CJ built a Sega Genesis game using SGDK and got a Hello World within eight hours.
  • He routed his ROM to real hardware via an EverDrive to run the game on an actual Genesis console.
INSIGHT

Constraints Shape Creative Solutions

  • Working with retro hardware forces strict constraints: tiny memory, limited colors, and tile limits change how assets are built.
  • These constraints required CJ to adapt modern tools and reduce images to 16 colors and smaller tiles.
ANECDOTE

Using Modern Tools For Retro Games

  • CJ used Platformer Engine and LDTK to avoid hand-coding tile arrays and to design levels visually.
  • He finished one custom level that plays on real hardware but ran out of time to add a boss or full game.
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