Bare Metal Console Family
MINERVA now covers two console ideas with the same direct-start spirit: purpose-built play systems that do not need a desktop operating system underneath.
Minerva Fantasy Console is the console in this project: a custom retro platform for original cartridge games, sprite rendering, audio traps, and a comfortable IDE.
Minerva Emulator Console is a bare-metal multi-emulator console that boots straight into emulation without Linux, Windows, or another underlying OS.
The MINERVA family splits into a creation-focused fantasy console and a playback-focused emulator console. Both keep the machine close to the player by booting directly into the console experience.
The console in this project. It defines its own retro hardware model, cartridge format, toolchain, and IDE for building new MINERVA games.
A separate bare-metal console concept for running multiple emulator cores directly on the hardware, without a general-purpose OS below it.
| Focus | Minerva Fantasy Console | Minerva Emulator Console |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Build and play original MINERVA cartridge games. | Play multiple classic systems through emulator cores. |
| Runtime | Custom fantasy console runtime and host emulators. | Bare-metal multi-emulator runtime without an underlying OS. |
| Content | MINERVA ROM cartridges created with the project toolchain. | Legally supplied game images for supported emulator systems. |
| Best for | Developers who want a constrained retro platform for new games. | Players who want a dedicated emulation console experience. |
Minerva Fantasy Console feels like a console from an alternate future: strict creative limits, a real toolchain, clean hardware abstraction, and enough room for your own engine ideas.
An IDE featuring projects, assets, GameObjects, animations, and maps. Built for small games that become visible fast.
C/C++ gameplay code travels through the MINERVA Fantasy Console pipeline into FASM and then gets linked into the ROM format together with the assets.
Cartridges can be played locally before they run on the Raspberry Pi as a bare-metal console.