Introduction

In a surprising twist that has delighted retro gaming enthusiasts, Electronic Arts recently made headlines by releasing several classic Command and Conquer games under the GPLv3 license. This unprecedented move has opened the floodgates for fans and developers alike to port these iconic titles to modern platforms and hardware. Among these adaptations, the astonishing feat of running Command and Conquer: Red Alert on the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 has ignited excitement in the gaming community.

Charlie's Journey

Tech enthusiast Charlie Birks has documented this remarkable process over a series of insightful posts on Mastodon. Starting in March, he took us on a thrilling journey of developing and optimizing the 1996 classic on the microcontroller. His updates showcased a well-documented progression—from the game barely booting up to successfully completing missions, culminating in a functional multiplayer experience between two Raspberry Pi Picos!

The Hardware

Birks elaborates that he’s been using the Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W model, an enhanced version of the official Pico 2, which incorporates the RP2040 chip. This variant boasts 8 MB of PSRAM and 16 MB of onboard flash, significantly improving its performance. The extra memory and an SD card are essential, as they allow the game data—originally processed in RAM on conventional computers—to be efficiently retrieved from the flash storage.

Enhancing the Experience

To elevate the gaming experience further, Birks integrates the Pico Plus 2 W into the Pimoroni Pico VGA Demo Base. This clever add-on not only houses an integrated SD card slot, providing seamless access to game files, but it also facilitates VGA output—transforming the Pico into a retro gaming powerhouse that can be connected to older monitors or VGA-compatible display devices.

Conclusion

This innovative endeavor to run Red Alert on such a compact and humble platform not only highlights the creativity of the gaming community but also underscores the endless potential of the Raspberry Pi Pico 2. With more developers inspired to take on similar challenges, we may soon witness a wave of retro ports making their way to countless new platforms. So, gamers and retro enthusiasts, prepare yourselves! The world of command-based strategy gaming is evolving, and it’s all within reach of a tiny microcontroller! Stay tuned for more updates in this thrilling tech saga!