Show HN: WASM-4 is a virtual game console with a WebAssembly CPU

wasm4.org

9 points·aduros··3 comments

This is a project I'm working on to try to make WebAssembly game development more accessible and fun. Here are the key features:

* No Glue Code: If you've ever tried to write even a simple "Hello World" with WebAssembly before, you'll know it usually involves writing a bunch of JS and HTML glue. WASM-4 removes all of that, games interface directly with the system through a small API.

* Minimalist: Fantasy consoles force developers to work with limited resources. This makes them simple to learn, and easier to focus on finishing your game.

* Language Agnostic: Use any programming language, as long as it can compile to WebAssembly. Out of the box we currently support: AssemblyScript, C/C++, Rust, Go.

* Portable: WASM-4 is designed to run on any device that can execute WebAssembly, even outside of the web! We're planning a lightweight implementation written in C that will run even on a potato.

I like it but still want multiplayer. Any ideas around abstractions to support that?

I'd fully expect to need a websocket server and interconnect etc. eg on physical hardware this might be a serial port.

Does the gamepad support also allow real gamepads or would this be injected directly into the memory map io locations?

Physical gamepads are supported by memory mapping, the game itself doesn't know if the player is using a keyboard, touchscreen, or real gamepad.

I think if multiplayer will ever be supported, it should be abstracted in the same way. We might create a runtime for libretro, which could enable adhoc netplay "for free".

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