<!-- mobian-agent-page publisher="dailydev" canonical="https://daily.dev/posts/2026-retrocomputing-challenge-custom-risc-v-processor-for-retro-system-xfefcaphs" -->

---
title: 2026 Retrocomputing Challenge: Custom RISC-V Processor...
description: A custom RISC-V CPU was built on an FPGA and used to run a retro gaming console. The system runs on a Terasic DE0-Nano board with 32 MB of RAM and boots into a...
canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/2026-retrocomputing-challenge-custom-risc-v-processor-for-retro-system-xfefcaphs
twitter:card: summary_large_image
twitter:site: @dailydotdev
og:type: website
og:site_name: daily.dev
og:title: 2026 Retrocomputing Challenge: Custom RISC-V Processor For Retro System | daily.dev
og:description: A custom RISC-V CPU was built on an FPGA and used to run a retro gaming console. The system runs on a Terasic DE0-Nano board with 32 MB of RAM and boots into a...
og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/2026-retrocomputing-challenge-custom-risc-v-processor-for-retro-system-xfefcaphs
og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/xFefCapHs.png
og:image:alt: 2026 Retrocomputing Challenge: Custom RISC-V Processor For Retro System
og:image:width: 1200
og:image:height: 630
og:locale: en
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# 2026 Retrocomputing Challenge: Custom RISC-V Processor For Retro System

**[Hackaday](https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments

## Summary

A custom RISC-V CPU was built on an FPGA and used to run a retro gaming console. The system runs on a Terasic DE0-Nano board with 32 MB of RAM and boots into a launcher with 32 games. A 64×32 display limitation keeps the same aspect ratio as the original DOOM while sustaining 45 FPS. The project writeup covers bare metal design, the CPU itself, video signal timing, and a Wolfenstein-style raycaster implementation.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://hackaday.com/2026/10/28/2026-retrocomputing-challenge-custom-risc-v-processor-for-retro-system>

## Questions this post answers

### How much RAM does a custom RISC-V retro gaming console on an FPGA need to run games like DOOM-style raycasters?

32 MB of RAM is enough to run a custom RISC-V CPU design on a Terasic DE0-Nano FPGA board with a launcher of 32 games, including a Wolfenstein-style raycaster. The system limits its display to 64x32 pixels to match the original DOOM's aspect ratio and sustains 45 FPS despite being a low-power design.

_Readers building FPGA-based RISC-V systems can track similar hardware experiments on daily.dev._

## Similar posts on daily.dev

- [Running DOOM on our Custom CPU and Going Viral](https://daily.dev/posts/running-doom-on-our-custom-cpu-and-going-viral-cokoeapf1) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments
- [Hackaday Europe 2026 – Building A Retro PC From Scratch](https://daily.dev/posts/hackaday-europe-2026-building-a-retro-pc-from-scratch-fqbse5mn7) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments
- [GitHub - Wren6991/RISCBoy: Portable games console, designed from scratch: CPU, graphics, PCB, and the kitchen sink](https://daily.dev/posts/github---wren6991-riscboy-portable-games-console-designed-from-scratch-cpu-graphics-pcb-and-th-zozzz111p) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments
- [Running DOOM On A Custom CPU Built From Scratch](https://daily.dev/posts/running-doom-on-a-custom-cpu-built-from-scratch-ro5igvezm) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments

---

Tags: [#game-development](https://daily.dev/tags/game-development), [#fpga](https://daily.dev/tags/fpga), [#retrocomputing](https://daily.dev/tags/retrocomputing)

[View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/2026-retrocomputing-challenge-custom-risc-v-processor-for-retro-system-xfefcaphs)

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]}
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"2026 Retrocomputing Challenge: Custom RISC-V Processor For Retro System","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/2026-retrocomputing-challenge-custom-risc-v-processor-for-retro-system-xfefcaphs","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/2026-retrocomputing-challenge-custom-risc-v-processor-for-retro-system-xfefcaphs"},"datePublished":"2026-10-29T05:12:51.116Z","dateModified":"2026-10-29T05:13:14.031Z","description":"A custom RISC-V CPU was built on an FPGA and used to run a retro gaming console. The system runs on a Terasic DE0-Nano board with 32 MB of RAM and boots into a...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/fd6a72d075fb7082720742ee129f5b95?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/fd6a72d075fb7082720742ee129f5b95?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Hackaday","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Hackaday","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--JhDfhy70--/f_auto,q_auto/v1767541814/logos/hackaday","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/2026-retrocomputing-challenge-custom-risc-v-processor-for-retro-system-xfefcaphs","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"game-development,fpga,retrocomputing","timeRequired":"PT2M"}
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hackaday","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"2026 Retrocomputing Challenge: Custom RISC-V Processor For Retro System"}]}
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/2026-retrocomputing-challenge-custom-risc-v-processor-for-retro-system-xfefcaphs#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How much RAM does a custom RISC-V retro gaming console on an FPGA need to run games like DOOM-style raycasters?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"32 MB of RAM is enough to run a custom RISC-V CPU design on a Terasic DE0-Nano FPGA board with a launcher of 32 games, including a Wolfenstein-style raycaster. The system limits its display to 64x32 pixels to match the original DOOM's aspect ratio and sustains 45 FPS despite being a low-power design. Readers building FPGA-based RISC-V systems can track similar hardware experiments on daily.dev."}}]}
```

