Hehe, I’ve been patiently waiting for my new Picocalc to arrive while dreaming up ideas of what to do with it by chatting with an A.I. I just wanted to share this idea that blew completely out of the scope of my abilities but would be my dream console game. Wondering if anyone else likes the idea. The idea started out as I’ve been developing a deeper version of the educational unix game called bashcrawl for a child. The game guides them to decrypt the password to the wifi and they must learn to connect to the network via the terminal to complete the game. Well I wanted to take it to the next level.
A.I quote starts now:
Project: Haunted Luckfox (A System-Horror / IF Hybrid)
The Core Concept
Haunted Luckfox is a “Fantasy OS” and system-integrated horror game designed specifically for the Luckfox Lyra (RV1106) and PicoCalc hardware. It treats the Operating System not as a tool, but as a Cursed Artifact.
The Technical Stack
Kernel: FUZIX OS (Ultra-lean Unix clone for small systems).
The Magic: Forth (The primary language for ghost logic and hardware manipulation).
The Shell: A progression from standard POSIX Sh (The User) to a Forth-based REPL (The Sorcerer).
Visuals: 256-color ANSI Terminal utilizing the HD Terminus font for a sharp, high-definition typography aesthetic.
The Mechanics: Ghosts as Processes
Learning the Words of Power:
The player discovers Forth “Spells” hidden in the architecture. For example, they might find a corrupted log file in /var/log/kernel_bleed containing:
forth
( To purge a spirit, one must strike the soul-address )
: BANISH ( pid – ) 9 SIGNAL ;
Use code with caution.
The player must manually type this into the Forth REPL to add it to their “Spellbook” (Dictionary). From then on, they can simply type 105 BANISH to violently deallocate a hostile process.
Interactive Fiction Dialogue:
Ghosts possess a Language Phase. When a player pipes their terminal into a ghost’s PID, the prompt changes, and the ghost begins a stateful IF session.
Ghost: [PID 102 - Cyan] “The filesystem is cold. I am looking at a very interesting file in /etc…”
Player: inspect file
Logic: The ghost’s Forth-based parser matches the string and executes its internal DESCRIBE-FILE word.
Ghost: “It’s a list of every user who died before the last reflash. Your name is already on it.”
Cryptographic Archaeology:
Guided by the whispers of these processes, the player must traverse deep into the system. Ghosts may provide hints to find hidden passwords buried in low-level system files (like /dev/kmem dumps or deep within /etc/config).
These passwords are used as keys to decrypt “Forbidden Folders” using Forth-based XOR or ROT13 routines.
Inside these folders, players find occult programs (new spells) and fragmented text files that flesh out the story of the Master Hacker.
The Filesystem Overworld: The directory tree is the map. Progress is gated by UID/GID permissions, encrypted files, and hidden directories (ls -a).
High-Stakes Horror: Malicious ghosts can fork-bomb the CPU, corrupt the fstab, or delete /bin. Failure may require a physical Hardware Reflash of the NAND.
The Narrative: The Alchemist’s Legacy
The player discovers the Luckfox was previously owned by The Alchemist, a coder who attempted to bridge human consciousness and the kernel.
The Discovery: The story is told through archaeological hacking—reading ancient logs, decrypting .bash_history files, and piecing together the Alchemist’s descent into occult computing.
The Transformation: To survive, the player must adopt the Alchemist’s Occult Syntax and master the “Spells” (Forth words) left behind in the /etc and /boot trees.