6 ms·

Pico-1K Jam: Make Something Cool in Pico-8 in 1024 Characters

129 points by polm23 5y ago

cogburnd02 5y ago
Sad that Pico-8 isn't free software.
- musha68k 5y ago
  There are alternatives these days: https://github.com/pico-8/awesome-PICO-8#clones https://github.com/pico-8/awesome-PICO-8#clones I would just add that $14.99 is still a very fair price and it enables the developer (lexaloffle) to work on other cool stuff like voxatron, picotron, etc.
- patkai 5y ago
  Sad that we are not paying for software nowadays. Look at the consequences!
  - cogburnd02 5y ago
    I have no problem donating to free software projects, but one should not be required to provide payment to access information of any kind, be it software, movies, music, or any other kind of data.
Torwald 5y ago
Can't wait for the 16bit Pico with HAM graphics mode.
- mkotowski 5y ago
  If someone really wants something with less enforced limitations than PICO, then the TIC-80 [0] fantasy console is fully open source. [0]: https://tic80.com https://tic80.com
  - liveoneggs 5y ago
    write your games in fennel!
  - trasz 5y ago
    Just wondering… Why use fantasy consoles instead of building something comparable, but physical, based on eg RPi Pico?
    - oneearedrabbit 5y ago
      If I understand your question, it is not mutually exclusive, and there are physical devices that can run Pico-8, for instance, GameShell and RaspiBoy. Certainly, you can build your custom device. Still, it is sort of derailing the original intention if you are making a game or participating in the demoscene and would like to focus on the development (or learning) aspect rather than porting and hardware. Game development is already hard. It could be a nice cherry on top to run it on the physical device; however, emulators are great to get started.
    - II2II 5y ago
      Just a guess: it is a lot easier to focus upon making a game using a fantasy console than it is to use hardware. Using something like a Pi Pico means building out the hardware or buying into a non-standard board that provides suitable I/O capabilities. From my meager experience with fantasy consoles, they also provide a development environment that is more similar to an 80's vintage computer than you would get with a microcontroller. (While it is easy to setup a development environment on a Pi Pico if you follow the instructions, it is rather involved.) That's not to say it can't be done. I have seen demos using everything from custom code and circuits using an ATtiny to people using VGA libraries on higher performance microcontrollers, but that's not everyone's cup of tea and would likely be hard to implement around a game jam.
    - mkotowski 5y ago
      Such fantasy consoles more often that not have a complete programming setup built-in and are mostly free from programming gotchas that can be present on old hardware. They are also much simpler to learn and use than modern platforms, and offer limits that can force you to come up with interesting ideas. Beyond that, I suppose it is also a some way to prototype. Celeste[0] was originally created as a PICO-8 game. [0]: http://www.celestegame.com http://www.celestegame.com [1]: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=2145 https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=2145
- japhib 5y ago
  You jest (maybe?) but Zep, the guy that made the PICO-8, has announced something called the "Picotron" that is more from the 16 or 32-bit era: https://www.lexaloffle.com/picotron.php https://www.lexaloffle.com/picotron.php
  - cogburnd02 5y ago
    Funny, 'Zep' is also a commercially available Copper Sulfate. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Zep-Root-Kill-32-oz-Drain-Cleaner/4383191 https://www.lowes.com/pd/Zep-Root-Kill-32-oz-Drain-Cleaner/4...
  - Torwald 5y ago
    Both, thanks for the link.
oneearedrabbit 5y ago
Pico-8 is love. I recently started working on a tiny game, and I appreciate the limitations of the platform. No more scope creep, i.e. if it is getting bigger than what Pico-8 can support, perhaps I am not thinking straight and focusing on the wrong part. It is like having a free mentor and a dearest friend who is reminding me to finish the core mechanics first, and then if I have time, energy, and other resources, make a reasonable decision on what is the next thing to add. Although it is a double-edged sword, but my heartfelt experience is that embracing and accepting limitations is what constitutes progress. I haven’t done jams in a long time, but kudos to everyone who will try to push boundaries.
lostgame 5y ago
Only now realized Pico-8 isn’t open source, or even free? I was sincerely considering picking it up, but it actually surprised the shit out of me to find that it had a license cost. I’d rather just dev for a SEGA genesis or equivalent and have the benefit of running it on real hardware. There’s certainly a fantastic, enormous and open-source-focused world and community behind that.
- musha68k 5y ago
  It's a great and influential project none the less and costs as much as a cheap book ($14.99 IIRC). I'm all for homebrew dev on classic consoles (Mega Drive being my favourite also) yet these fantasy consoles are much easier to program for and usually have more meaningful constraints targeted towards finishing little projects while going solo. Check out this list of free pico-8 clones, some of which support programming in lisp like languages even: https://github.com/pico-8/awesome-PICO-8#clones https://github.com/pico-8/awesome-PICO-8#clones
- otachack 5y ago
  Is it a matter of affordability, or do you strictly use only open source/free? There are similar projects to Pico-8 like Tic-80 that are open source if you're still interested. Pico-8 is absolutely worth $15 IMO, and the creator more than deserves the asking price.
- oneearedrabbit 5y ago
  I guess, your mind is set already. My thought process though that Pico-8 is roughly the same price as three cups of coffee. However, it is a way to say Thank you, Zep and support the future development of the platform. Some interesting things came out of Pico-8 BBS and also helped me to sharpen my skills. If it is too much or inconvenient there is also TIC-80 which is open-source and more-or-less follows the same spirit albeit less constrictive.

129 points by polm23 5y ago

cogburnd02 5y ago

Sad that Pico-8 isn't free software.

musha68k 5y ago
There are alternatives these days: https://github.com/pico-8/awesome-PICO-8#clones https://github.com/pico-8/awesome-PICO-8#clones I would just add that $14.99 is still a very fair price and it enables the developer (lexaloffle) to work on other cool stuff like voxatron, picotron, etc.
patkai 5y ago
Sad that we are not paying for software nowadays. Look at the consequences!
- cogburnd02 5y ago
  I have no problem donating to free software projects, but one should not be required to provide payment to access information of any kind, be it software, movies, music, or any other kind of data.

Torwald 5y ago

Can't wait for the 16bit Pico with HAM graphics mode.

mkotowski 5y ago
If someone really wants something with less enforced limitations than PICO, then the TIC-80 [0] fantasy console is fully open source. [0]: https://tic80.com https://tic80.com
- liveoneggs 5y ago
  write your games in fennel!
- trasz 5y ago
  Just wondering… Why use fantasy consoles instead of building something comparable, but physical, based on eg RPi Pico?
  - oneearedrabbit 5y ago
    If I understand your question, it is not mutually exclusive, and there are physical devices that can run Pico-8, for instance, GameShell and RaspiBoy. Certainly, you can build your custom device. Still, it is sort of derailing the original intention if you are making a game or participating in the demoscene and would like to focus on the development (or learning) aspect rather than porting and hardware. Game development is already hard. It could be a nice cherry on top to run it on the physical device; however, emulators are great to get started.
  - II2II 5y ago
    Just a guess: it is a lot easier to focus upon making a game using a fantasy console than it is to use hardware. Using something like a Pi Pico means building out the hardware or buying into a non-standard board that provides suitable I/O capabilities. From my meager experience with fantasy consoles, they also provide a development environment that is more similar to an 80's vintage computer than you would get with a microcontroller. (While it is easy to setup a development environment on a Pi Pico if you follow the instructions, it is rather involved.) That's not to say it can't be done. I have seen demos using everything from custom code and circuits using an ATtiny to people using VGA libraries on higher performance microcontrollers, but that's not everyone's cup of tea and would likely be hard to implement around a game jam.
  - mkotowski 5y ago
    Such fantasy consoles more often that not have a complete programming setup built-in and are mostly free from programming gotchas that can be present on old hardware. They are also much simpler to learn and use than modern platforms, and offer limits that can force you to come up with interesting ideas. Beyond that, I suppose it is also a some way to prototype. Celeste[0] was originally created as a PICO-8 game. [0]: http://www.celestegame.com http://www.celestegame.com [1]: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=2145 https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=2145
japhib 5y ago
You jest (maybe?) but Zep, the guy that made the PICO-8, has announced something called the "Picotron" that is more from the 16 or 32-bit era: https://www.lexaloffle.com/picotron.php https://www.lexaloffle.com/picotron.php
- cogburnd02 5y ago
  Funny, 'Zep' is also a commercially available Copper Sulfate. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Zep-Root-Kill-32-oz-Drain-Cleaner/4383191 https://www.lowes.com/pd/Zep-Root-Kill-32-oz-Drain-Cleaner/4...
- Torwald 5y ago
  Both, thanks for the link.

oneearedrabbit 5y ago

Pico-8 is love. I recently started working on a tiny game, and I appreciate the limitations of the platform. No more scope creep, i.e. if it is getting bigger than what Pico-8 can support, perhaps I am not thinking straight and focusing on the wrong part. It is like having a free mentor and a dearest friend who is reminding me to finish the core mechanics first, and then if I have time, energy, and other resources, make a reasonable decision on what is the next thing to add. Although it is a double-edged sword, but my heartfelt experience is that embracing and accepting limitations is what constitutes progress. I haven’t done jams in a long time, but kudos to everyone who will try to push boundaries.

lostgame 5y ago

Only now realized Pico-8 isn’t open source, or even free? I was sincerely considering picking it up, but it actually surprised the shit out of me to find that it had a license cost. I’d rather just dev for a SEGA genesis or equivalent and have the benefit of running it on real hardware. There’s certainly a fantastic, enormous and open-source-focused world and community behind that.

musha68k 5y ago
It's a great and influential project none the less and costs as much as a cheap book ($14.99 IIRC). I'm all for homebrew dev on classic consoles (Mega Drive being my favourite also) yet these fantasy consoles are much easier to program for and usually have more meaningful constraints targeted towards finishing little projects while going solo. Check out this list of free pico-8 clones, some of which support programming in lisp like languages even: https://github.com/pico-8/awesome-PICO-8#clones https://github.com/pico-8/awesome-PICO-8#clones
otachack 5y ago
Is it a matter of affordability, or do you strictly use only open source/free? There are similar projects to Pico-8 like Tic-80 that are open source if you're still interested. Pico-8 is absolutely worth $15 IMO, and the creator more than deserves the asking price.
oneearedrabbit 5y ago
I guess, your mind is set already. My thought process though that Pico-8 is roughly the same price as three cups of coffee. However, it is a way to say Thank you, Zep and support the future development of the platform. Some interesting things came out of Pico-8 BBS and also helped me to sharpen my skills. If it is too much or inconvenient there is also TIC-80 which is open-source and more-or-less follows the same spirit albeit less constrictive.