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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperTechnical (Moderator: ThemsAllTook)Let's discuss PICO-8!!
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Author Topic: Let's discuss PICO-8!!  (Read 3933 times)
baconman
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« on: September 08, 2015, 03:36:30 AM »

Here's the link.

http://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php

Begin discussion?
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oahda
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« Reply #1 on: September 08, 2015, 03:56:42 AM »

tho cute tho *o*
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InfiniteStateMachine
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« Reply #2 on: September 08, 2015, 06:41:36 AM »

Cute is the word I'd pick too.

Really cool that the games are embedded in a png
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diegzumillo
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« Reply #3 on: October 04, 2015, 11:09:52 PM »

I have been playing around with this for a few days now. I didn't know I had it! apparently anyone who bought voxatron got it automatically. So I downloaded and started messing around.

Pico-8 is a very interesting thing. I wouldn't recommend it for beginners. I wouldn't recommend it as a way to make quick prototypes. I wouldn't recommend it as the go-to engine for whatever project you have, commercial or otherwise. But it's a great challenge for game designers, and the limitations are definitely a strong drive for creativity. It had been said before but it is true.

So it has a very limited audience, I think.
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BorisTheBrave
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« Reply #4 on: October 12, 2015, 01:57:26 PM »

Are the limitations actually "fun"? Stuff like UPPER CASE suggests it's more just aiming for nostalgia factor.
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qMopey
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« Reply #5 on: October 12, 2015, 02:18:09 PM »

I think it's amazing. Will probably buy + play with it in the near future.

Also the cartridge idea is SUPER cool. Genius. So has anyone here made anything with it yet?
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diegzumillo
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« Reply #6 on: October 12, 2015, 04:48:52 PM »

Are the limitations actually "fun"? Stuff like UPPER CASE suggests it's more just aiming for nostalgia factor.

It kinda is. Depends on the kind of person you are probably. I like the fact that all you need to make a game is contained in that environment. You write your code in a tab, make your sprite on the second tab, music in the other etc. This totally contributes to the fun factor.

The retro look is nice but it's not the point, it's the simplicity that comes with it that makes it interesting. You are writing your code and need a GUI element of an arrow, so you quickly jump to the sprite tab, in 30 seconds you have your sprite, jump back to the code tab and use its id number. It's that quick because you don't have a choice. The sprites are very low resolution and you have few colors to work with. I guess it's not directly fun but the limitation has this liberating effect on me, and it makes the process more fun as consequence. You'll never think "I could make my game look more awesome with 3d models and particles" because it's off your hands. This effect goes for every aspect of Pico-8.

The coding part is pretty complicated. I think it's more fun for more experienced programmers. Because it doesn't give you much to work with. For every game you make you will have to make your own actor system, your own scene changing code, your own animation handling system etc. And you have to keep these things simple and clever because you don't have many lines of code to spare either.

I actually like coding low level stuff like this. It's kinda fun. Instructive even, because every element in a complex engine is there in a simpler form. Manipulating pixels on screen directly is basically a shader. But I'm not used to any of it! so my projects are kept simple for now and are not yet scratching my game design itch, if you know what I mean.
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Sik
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« Reply #7 on: October 14, 2015, 06:53:37 AM »

You'll never think "I could make my game look more awesome with 3d models and particles" because it's off your hands.

And then somebody proves you wrong (saying this as somebody who does that regularly on a Mega Drive =P)
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Richard Kain
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« Reply #8 on: October 15, 2015, 12:38:15 PM »

Are the limitations actually "fun"? Stuff like UPPER CASE suggests it's more just aiming for nostalgia factor.

Limitations aren't fun, but they are useful. Working within limitations has always fueled ingenuity. Necessity is the mother of invention. While not true for everyone, there are quite a few people who flourish when working under limitations. Sometimes these take the form of deadlines, or customer demands, or just simply structure. Poetry tends to be appealing and creative because of the structural limitations it imposes on the writer.

Working on "retro" systems like PICO-8 strikes me as being similar.
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Pizzamakesgames
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« Reply #9 on: October 26, 2015, 08:23:04 AM »

I like making music with it, also games but those take too long to make.

Uh, here is some Contra music I made with the tracker:

« Last Edit: October 27, 2015, 02:21:30 AM by Pizzamakesgames » Logged

travis_foo
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« Reply #10 on: October 27, 2015, 03:28:24 PM »

It would be cool to have a "Pico Cart" that is just a little cartridge that you could plug into HDMI sources and into your computer to download new games for it. I think the Raspberry PI would be a good fit, and recently I learned about PiPlay (http://piplay.org/) which allows you to make games for the Pi so... definitely possible I think. Not that I have the time to do it. But cool in theory.
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gemudezaina
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« Reply #11 on: October 28, 2015, 10:21:10 AM »

I'm not sure if anyone has seen it but Matt Thorson and Noel Berry made a pretty fun little game with it...
http://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=2145&pid=11724&autoplay=1#pp
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indie11
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« Reply #12 on: October 28, 2015, 04:05:03 PM »

a little bit off topic but.. is this game worth the money?
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Polly
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« Reply #13 on: October 28, 2015, 05:33:42 PM »

.. is this game worth the money?

PICO-8 isn't a game. It's a "emulator of a fantasy console" / "retro inspired run-time" that comes with a integrated development environment allowing you to easily create games / software for it. You can find some creations / ROMs for PICO-8 here.
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qMopey
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« Reply #14 on: October 28, 2015, 05:40:37 PM »

a little bit off topic but.. is this game worth the money?

yes
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indie11
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« Reply #15 on: October 28, 2015, 08:55:12 PM »

.. is this game worth the money?

PICO-8 isn't a game. It's a "emulator of a fantasy console" / "retro inspired run-time" that comes with a integrated development environment allowing you to easily create games / software for it. You can find some creations / ROMs for PICO-8 here.

sorry i mistyped it. How much freedom does it gives? I just don't want to end up having that "I wasted my money" feeling
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Polly
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« Reply #16 on: October 30, 2015, 06:37:54 AM »

How much freedom does it gives?

As quoted from the PICO-8 manual - "The harsh limitations of PICO-8 are carefully chosen to be fun to work with, encourage small but expressive designs and hopefully to give PICO-8 cartridges their own particular look and feel."

You can compare it to developing for a ( relatively powerful ) classic 8-bit computer, except that it comes with a easy-to-use IDE and you code in LUA ( instead of ASM / BASIC / C ). Below are some screenshots to give you a idea ...



And i'd recommend trying some of the games made with PICO-8 ( such as PAT Shooter, Celeste and PICORACER-2048 ) to see whether you'd be interested in developing for the platform.
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Pineapple
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« Reply #17 on: October 30, 2015, 04:07:12 PM »

I decided to make a Minesweeper clone, still WIP:

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Conker
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« Reply #18 on: October 30, 2015, 04:49:06 PM »

looks good  Hand Thumbs Up Left Hand Thumbs Up Left Hand Thumbs Up Left
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Photon
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« Reply #19 on: October 30, 2015, 04:51:46 PM »

Is that code editor any good? Not sure that mini screen looks like fun to code in.
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