PICO-8

Has anyone messed around with PICO-8? How is it? Would you say its a good starting point to test the waters of game development?

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github.com/ftsf/picolove
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Like the text editor?

It's a noble idea but it lacks in execution, for me the main problem is the lack of variety for colors.

I want to try it but I don't want to spend the $14. RIP.

just pirate it

Got your PocketC.H.I.P.?

I was able to get hold of a beta key. Its pretty fun to play around with but limits your source to around 12 kb for lua i think. Also it misses a few math functions like swrt but thats not really a problem.

Just use love2d or godot

I really like the concept, but something like this needs to be free/open source to reach its potential. Love2d is getting community ports to a bunch of platforms; without source or so much as a proper spec, we won't be seeing any ports of pico8. Top bad, since it seems like pico8 could run on all kinds of weird embedded platforms.

where senpai?

I'll have to check out love2d. I was fucking stunned. When I heard about Pico-8 I heard that all the games were open source so I assumed the platform would be as well. Fucking nope. Its available DRM free for $15 so it should be easy to pirate but I can't find it.

Yeah, right now Pico-8 is more of a toy/curiosity. Then again it is billed as a "fantasy console". It does run off Lua so I'm fairly certain you can apply most of your knowledge programming in Pico-8 and convert it to Love2d.

I highly recommend love2d. Great framework, great docs, great community.

I've never really used Pico-8 or Love2D, but from their sites, I'm gathering they're a way to make videogames... What does Love2D have over Pico8?

get this
github.com/ftsf/picolove

Nice! Wait...

>What it isn't:
>
>A replacement for Pico-8
>A perfect replica
>No dev tools, no image editor, map editor, sfx editor, music editor
>No modifying or saving carts
>Not memory compatible with pico-8

Nice attempt, a perfect clone would be nice though, it would be a good project.

>>No dev tools, no image editor, map editor, sfx editor, music editor
they are so limited that you either make them or get bored with them after a day or two. Also you can torrent the real thing rip out the lua that powers it.

>>No modifying or saving carts
there are FOSS tools for that.

>>Not memory compatible with pico-8
thats the biggest issue you got me there but next weekend i give it a try reimplementing the memory handling and addresses

Yeah, I also meant the last one mostly. It really should be fully compatible with PICO-8 "cartridges" (binaries).

Pico8 is a deliberately limited engine that's specifically for making games with a certain retro aesthetic. This is not a bad thing, since limitations can really stimulate creativity, but it's not for everyone. It's closed source, and costs $15. As far as I know, no notable games have been made with it, but that's expected since it is still quite new. I've personally never used Pico8, but I'm really tempted to buy it because it looks like so much fun to use.

Love2D is a more generally useful engine, for making just about any 2D game. It's free, and open source. It's been around for a few years, and there's a couple indie games on Steam that were built with it. (maybe more, haven't checked in a while!) I've used Love2D quite a bit, and can highly recommend it. It's easy to learn and remarkably powerful/versatile once you get into it.

Huh.... Thank you!

I'll definitely look into Love2D! (but a magnet link to Pico9 wouldn't go unappreciated)

>limitations can really stimulate creativity
That's so true. I've done some pixel art in the past and I love being put in a box like that. Unlimited possibilities are too many possibilities.
>I'm really tempted to buy it because it looks like so much fun to use
If you do senpai you know I'd love you for a link.

>a magnet link to Pico9 wouldn't go unappreciated
Pico-8, but yeah. Same.

Typo... Sorry bout that!

Yeah, for a long time the only decent art I made was pixel art! I've had some luck with making vector art in Inkscape recently, though, and it's a good way to try escaping the tile-based style of most pixel art games.

Yeah, I'm trash at art desu. But its fun to try some times. I've never really tried any kind of game development but that's why I'm looking into things like Pico-8 because it seems like a good point of entry.