Vortexion is a MSX/SG-1000 inspired shoot-em-up written in Python and uses the Pyxel game engine. I wanted to try porting a python game, here we are. Enjoy.
Xbox homebrew port built with nxdk.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Original title | Vortexion |
| Original platform | Pyxel |
| Original source | helpcomputer |
| Port status | BOOTABLE/Playable |
| Build date | 2026-02-25 |
| XBE size | 1.1M |
Some in game colors did not port well. Edge collision (top and bottom of screen) may behave slightly differntly Audio required quite a bit of tinkering to play without major audio clipping
It's close enough for me but I'm pubishing the modified source if anyone else would like to go for a PURE ACCURACY port.
Latest XBE: XBE/vortexion.xbe
Additional XBE variants may be available in the XBE/ folder.
Copy to your Xbox: E:\Games\vortexion\default.xbe
Bootable ISO: If you want to wrap to make this bootable in an iso make sure to rename to default.xbe then
extract-xiso -c /tmp/<tmpdir> lastFiles/<project>.iso
Features and outright sins committed during the Xbox port that are not present in the original Python/Pyxel source game.
| Action | Button | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Move | Left stick / D-pad | 8-directional, deadzone 8000 |
| Shoot | A | — |
| Pause / Unpause | Start | — |
Note these features are enabled and disabled exclusively from the pause menu. You MUST Start/PAUSE, KEYCOMBO (Confirm visual Indicator), Start/PAUSE.
| Feature | Button Combo | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| FPS Counter | Press and hold A+B while held Press Start (PAUSED only) | Displays BOTTOM RIGHT Green≥50fps Yellow≥40 Blue≥30 Red<30 |
| Invincibility + Auto Fire | Press and hold X+Y while held Press Start (PAUSED only) | Toggle. Auto-fires. "I" indicator top-right. Resets on title screen. |
| Feature | Notes |
|---|---|
| Pause screen subtitle | "A VIBEBOX PORT / BY GNJ" with rainbow color animation |
| Full-screen stretch | 512×384 game area upscaled to 640×480 with nearest-neighbour LUT |
- Original game: Python/Pyxel horizontal shmup
- Port target: Original Xbox (nxdk, XAudio direct, SDL bypassed for audio)
- Audio: Direct XAudio push model (SDL audio bypassed — SDL push model broken on nxdk)
No open tasks.
Full task history: TASK_LOG.md
This port targets the original Xbox and is built with nxdk, the open-source New Xbox Development Kit.
- nxdk — https://github.com/XboxDev/nxdk Follow the Getting Started guide for your platform.
- LLVM/Clang cross-compiler (required by nxdk — see nxdk docs)
- Set the
NXDK_DIRenvironment variable to your nxdk install path
export NXDK_DIR=/path/to/nxdk
makeThe compiled XBE will be at bin/default.xbe.
Copy to Xbox: E:\Games\vortexion\default.xbe
- Game design and art by badcomputer
- Music generator frenchbread1222
- Font by Damien Guard
Xbox port GamingNJncos |