World Core

Voltage controlled tile engine and collision processor

with the heart of a video synthesizer and the brain of a videogame console, ming mecca is the first of its kind: an ontological toy, a videogame easel, and a love letter to all things retrofuture. designed for use in eurorack format synthesizers but built to meet the demands of even the most seasoned micro-galactic interlopers, ming mecca modules will take your rig where no rig has gone before.

the world core is the centerpiece of the ming mecca system. by combining a tile-based complex digital video synthesizer with a videogame collision and physics engine, it allows graphical videogame environments to be constructed and manipulated with control voltage. turn off gravity at the flick of a switch, or scroll through seasons at the turn of a knob. populate your world with exotic creatures, then modulate their identities with random voltage. set objects in motion and use their collision to trigger cosmological events elsewhere in your modular. experiment with quantum position, step sequence destructible terrain, and patch wormholes into parallel dimensions.

the world core's assets are easily replaceable via a hot-swappable cartridge system. create your own palettes, tile maps, and bitmaps in our intuitive text-based world pack format. then save them to an sd card, reset the world core, and watch as your creations come to life as the raw matter of new alien worlds. attach a custom config file to your world pack and unlock hidden collision options, special color modes, and more. you can even personalize the boot screen with your own logo.

if you prefer, the world core can also create pseudo-random graphics algorithmically. inspired by howard scott warshaw’s famous programming technique in yar’s revenge, the world core’s graphics engine can be pointed to arbitrary regions of ram, in effect recursively visualizing its own program code. the world core will glitch on command without ever crashing or compromising operational stability. and with three gate inputs for independent selection of palettes, bitmap data, and tile maps, you are free to break your world in just the right places. integrate a circuit bent aesthetic into larger game designs and world systems, or create pure 8-bit video art synchronized to your modular sound patches.

a note for lzx users:
at launch the world core will not be compatible with the lzx color time base corrector. the world core outputs a 60fps progressive image, while the lzx tbc currently accepts interlaced 30fps video only. we're working with lzx to add an interlaced video output option to the world core, which will be available as a firmware update sometime after launch.

specifications:

-ntsc composite video, 60fps progressive
-160×192 pixel internal resolution
-Highly responsive engine maintains fast control rates and full 60 fps progressive video output
-2×4 simultaneous colors / 2×16 palettes / 86 total colors programmable
-2 voltage controlled sprites with 32 addressable bitmaps
-2 voltage controlled tiles with 32 addressable bitmaps / 16 tile maps
-assets replaceable via secure digital (sd) card, fat16 or fat32 format
-integrated gravity and collision processing rendered across 7 dedicated gate outputs
-includes 142 page, spiral bound, full color user's guide

http://www.specialstagesystems.com/world/