Powkiddy Q90 - Unable to play any Pico8 Games

[Timmmydx]

Hi Team,

I just installed the CFW 1.3.3 on my powkiddy Q90. after that I tried downloading Pico8 games from their official website [https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php] but after transferring it to my Q90. all the games are unable to run.

Any advice on what I should do :<

[Timmmydx]

anyone having this same issue ?

[salvacam]

If pico 8 doesn't work for you, you can try Retroarch's retro8 core.

[Rezzy-dev]

You can also try Fake08 -- I had better luck with it:

fake08.zip

(Use the Select or Start button -- I can't remember exactly -- to cycle through view modes.)

Note that Pico-8 support on Miyoo is still fairly new, and that the emulators are not up-to-date with the latest in Pico-8's development. They're behind a bit. So chances are that older games will work better than newer ones (that are using new Pico-8 engine features).

[Timmmydx]

Hi @Rezzy-dev how do i add that file to my powkiddy ?
just unzip and drag in to the SD card ?

[Rezzy-dev]

Unzip it, and if you look on your SD card, inside the "emus" folder, there is the "pico8" folder. Inside that you'll find a file named the same as this one: "pico8.elf". Rename or delete that file (your choice) and copy/move this one to take its place. Simple as that. :)

[Rezzy-dev]

The big benefit you have with RetroArch is that the emulators are more up-to-date there, which is relevant when it comes to something still constantly in development, like the Pico-8 engine. But you do need to be a little more technically apt to use RetroArch, as it requires a bit of setting up.

[Rezzy-dev]

Note: before you quit this emulator (Fake08), make sure you always "exit to menu" in the Pico-8 games, otherwise with some games you may experience the emulator freezing on you. If that ever happens, hold down the Reset (Minus) button and press the Select button. That will force quit the emulator and shut down the device cleanly. After the screen turns black, you can flip the power switch safely.

[Timmmydx]

noted thanks @Rezzy-dev will give it a try when im free

[jSTE0]

Upstream does have BittBoy binaries https://github.com/jtothebell/fake-08/releases and the current v0.0.2.15 works fine on my V90. It looks like v0.0.2.14 fixed the intermittent freezing on exit for BittBoy.

[wviana]

Is there a way to fix this device Pico8?

[Rezzy-dev]

For newer releases, your best bet is Pico-8 through RetroArch. The bundled release of the Pico-8 player/emulator is for older releases of Pico-8 games, as it's not up-to-date with the latest. The RetroArch version is more up-to-date.

Alternatively, you can find the latest (experimental) builds of Fake-08 (which is another Pico-8 emulator/player for Miyoo) here:

https://github.com/jtothebell/fake-08/actions

(You'll probably want the BittBoy build.)

If the emulator freezes on you for whatever reason and you can't quit it, hold the Reset (or Minus) button and press the Select button. This will force quit the emulator and neatly shut down the console. Once the screen turns off, you can flip the power switch.

[Rezzy-dev]

Is there a way to fix this device Pico8?

If you know how to build from source and have some coding knowledge, you can also make fixes to Fake-08 yourself, and submit them back upstream (create a pull request):

https://github.com/jtothebell/fake-08

(Instructions on how to install the build on Miyoo/BittBoy devices are also here.)

Help is welcome in improving Fake-08 and keeping it up-to-date.

[Rezzy-dev]

Note that Pico-8 playback/emulation is still fairly new on Miyoo, and still very much in active development (as is Pico-8 itself).

[Rezzy-dev]

I can confirm that the latest BittBoy build of Fake-08 successfully runs Captain Neat-O (albeit in slo-mo), and the latest of releases featured on the Pico-8 site, such as Terra and the 3D Tennis!

It's come a long way in development since I've last checked it out. (Which was only a few months ago.)

[Rezzy-dev]

Ah, Captain Neat-O runs, but not without bugs. Some of the projectiles and items lack transparency, and the game gets stuck when loading a new area/level.

But Tennis, Pengo, Warehouse Panic, and Terra all seem to work fine, from what I can tell. (Although I'm still new to Pico-8.) Sybil's Tail is slo-mo, like Captain Neat-O.

So, overall, it's still a hit-and-miss. Some games work right, others don't. The earlier released games have a higher chance of running well on Fake-08. The newer the game, the more likely there are missing features and bugs.