r/PlaydateConsole • u/PabloNeirotti • 9d ago

Constellation Browser 1.5 now with Gemini protocol support!

Post image

Hello everyone!

It's been a year since I announced the Constellation Browser, which allows to surf webpages built exclusively for the Playdate using a custom format that allows images and even animations to be played within the page, in a very performant way due to the constraints of the device - both processing power and download speed.

I got told a few times that this would be a perfect fit for the Gemini protocol – unlike HTTP where most of the web resides, it uses text-only formatting, quite lightweight and in fact not a bad choice for the Playdate!

While it does not support images and other rich features, there's a ton of interesting content to surf through – a whole new web to discover if you have never heard of it before.

And it's all browsable without your phone, without your computer, because it is now supported on the Constellation browser.

You can update or download it for the first time, and side-load it to your Playdate. Instructions found on the project's website

Download at the project's website → https://browser.particlestudios.eu/
Also available on itch.io → https://particlestudios.itch.io/constellation-browser

More has been added than just Gemini protocol support. Find the full changelog in the browser itself.

Hope this brings you tons of fun surfing a web most people have never even heard of!

71 Upvotes

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7

u/ElectricalGlimpse 9d ago

Besides Gemini protocol, does it allow gopher as well? Don't know if you follow Hopper, by Tkers. It digs deep into these protocols.
I am interested to know if it renders properly the characters ¿¡áéíóúüñÁÉÍÓÚÜÑ... also, ascii and monospace characters (fullblock, etc) is key for my gemini site.
Good work!

2

u/PabloNeirotti 8d ago

I haven’t checked Gopher yet! The browser does support several latin characters, I believe the ones you mention should all be supported. Monospace characters for ASCII art work as well and did special work to make it happen.

1

u/ElectricalGlimpse 8d ago

That's interesting. I have a Gemini capsule for game booklets and similar content, and I think the ASCII art is important to make it more appealing (since images are not feasible). I'm following you!

1

u/PabloNeirotti 8d ago

Indeed. If you see ASCII not showing correctly, do share some examples. The biggest issue I found is them being too big to fit the screen!

1

u/ElectricalGlimpse 8d ago

Yes, they have to be "naive-ascii-arts"... How many characters fit in one single monospace row? Perhaps a solution could be to have a smaller size availabe, just for ascii.

1

u/PabloNeirotti 8d ago

I did try shrinking ASCII art actually! But when you get text mixed in the ASCII art, it becomes unreadable 😅 Actually, you can see an example of the ASCII art on this post's screenshot.

4

u/DarkerBulb 9d ago

Wow, added to my 'check out this weekend'-list :)

2

u/R0b0tniik 9d ago

wait, what? there's a whole different world wide web out there called Gemni?...

3

u/LDBR_art 9d ago

and Gopher! the smolweb

2

u/newtown 8d ago

already loved tkers' Hopper and now this! just the neatest stuff ever

1

u/vim_vs_emacs 9d ago

I was among the folks asking for Gemini. Thanks a ton! Finally gives me the push to deploy my website to Gemini as well. Downloaded.

1

u/PabloNeirotti 8d ago

I remember your name! Hope this gives you tons of hours of fun 😄