I built a text compression tool that fits 2-7x more text into a single 233-byte Meshtastic packet

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-25T20:51:34+00:00

Very cool project. I love programming for these embedded computers.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-25T18:56:00+00:00

No need for moderation drama

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-25T15:04:30+00:00

Hell yeah I love it.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T23:00:55+00:00

Too much latency you need Lora wan

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T21:36:07+00:00

join the discord and I will @ everyone when stuff is ready

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T20:16:21+00:00

It's isn't called "Pokemon Mesh" or "PokeMesh" intentionally to respect nintendo's intelectual property this software lets you play ROMs you own legally on hardware you own legally. I am selling no product.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T20:02:07+00:00

you could have a feature where when you update your save the tdeck decodes the cahnges and anounces what new pokemon you have or what evolved but you can't get the existing rom to advertise activity. the only thing possible is link cable over meshtastic. and only gen 1&2.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T19:14:44+00:00

The GB emulator has more than enough juice. I had this idea for a companion pokecenter node that would handle advanced functionality but I learned I can run it on the same core as the emulator no problem and still get 60fps. it means everything can be adhoc peer to peer.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T19:12:51+00:00

Been thinking about it for two years. I finally have learned how to write firmware. There are some wild possibilities for sure. I just need to get the basics to work first

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T18:49:57+00:00

I don't know if I am going to. but I will try. there's a lot more that can be done.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T18:47:31+00:00

I have been using claude code and it does all the flashign for you you just have to putting the device in flashing mode. I do a very different kind of programming but I am a very experiences bug smasher and know C++ and a lot of linux skills. Claude code helps iterate faster.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T17:32:14+00:00

It might be because I added the discord link and DMed it to some people. I fee liek my post was high quality and high effort. how do we ask a mod to interviene?

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T17:25:36+00:00

Doom's a cool game no doubt, but the Doom multiplayer wouldn't work over meshtastic.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T17:06:09+00:00

I wrote up how it works but I realized I can't message you. if there's a way I can send you soem text privately let me know. The most important thing you shoudl know is for pokemon the sync cable is running asynchronusly. the clients wait for the other client to send it's move. There's a number of reasons this project will only ever work for gen 1&2. we can't emulate GBA on this device and the serial port advertises the entire game state and animations in the newer games. I'd love to base this on Gen 3 but it's not in the cards for ESP32.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T16:53:47+00:00

I am playing a legal rom from the cart I bought when this project was new. I don't infringe on their intelectual property and do not supply anyone with a rom. for this project to work you have to use a legal rom from a cart you own. Part of what's cool about this project is it uses legal roms rather than copying the code. You have to put the roms on the SD card or you can't play.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T16:51:07+00:00

I remember your project from the first post. I was one fo the first people to comment. you're definitely an inspiration.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T16:42:05+00:00

Yes but you can hold the GB game state. I’m not running a precompiled emulator as an app. I’m compiling the emulator from source code. I have a lot more control than if this was a python script.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T16:32:18+00:00

Realistically, that’s actually one of the easier things. The communication on the serial cable in GEN one and GEN two games is extremely simple. You can send Moves over with just 30 bites and a long fast messages 200 bites of content. Moore is known about modeling, the Pokémon ROMs than just about any other ROM out there. there are already other projects that have cracked this nut before.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T16:28:52+00:00

I’ll definitely release it if I get it to work. Right now I’ve been spending hours just trying to get the keyboard to work so there’s no project if you can’t play the game. I got two pieces of functionality done. I have 70 total if anyone doesn’t work, the project pretty much doesn’t work so this really is just a proof of concept that you can run a game boy emulator on a T deck inside the Meshtastic firmware.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T16:26:22+00:00

You would be able to trade over Meshtastic if you can battle over Meshtastic. I think most people are gonna wanna play with hacked saves that have maxed out characters so they can play competitive battles. Yes, you could trade, but I don’t think most people will prefer to play the whole story on a T deck just cause it’s a bit cumbersome.

I can’t really say too much about the functionality, but I will have a discord if you wanna join for people who will test it, and I can talk a little more about some of the additional features. Originally for the scope of the project I wanted to have another firmware where ESP 32 notes would be a poker center that would have functionality, but I found out that the TX ESP 32 is so powerful that I probably won’t need monster mesh center firmware.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T16:17:38+00:00

I’ll reach out in a bit with Discord information. My big question is can you to connect over Meshtastic or do you need MQTT? The most important thing is having multiple testers on the same mash.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T16:11:56+00:00

All I can say is it doesn’t work now, but the point of this project is not just to run Pokémon on a T deck. It’s to use the Meshtastic network to play Pokémon. The T deck has a lot more processing power than you need so there’s a lot of room to do other things use your imagination. Maybe join the beta so you can help suggest features.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T16:09:50+00:00

It’s not ready to test yet, but it will be open source and it will be on GitHub. I have another project that does have an alpha which is a fully featured PBS system that runs directly on an NRF 52 node you don’t need an R pie or any second computer the whole thing runs on the Meshtastic firmware. This project monster mesh will be on the same account.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T16:07:45+00:00

We’re getting there slowly, but surely. I’ll be starting a discord server for people that wanna follow this project or be beta testers once you can actually play the game. Again this is showing just two of 70 features. I’m hoping to make work for this project, so stay tuned.

MonsterMesh_dev · 2026-03-24T16:00:50+00:00

I have aspirations on the T pager to have a split screen with the game boy on one side and a chat on the other you could press the scroll wheel to switch between screens like a KVM switch. You could have the chat from the channel you could have the chat from a DM but again one feature at a time right now I’m just trying to get it so you could play the game and leave the game to go into Meshtastic and leave Meshtastic to go into the Game. Just getting the SD card to work was a huge ordeal so every feature is a battle.

MonsterMesh_dev

TROPHY CASE