4 ms·

Write Playdate Games in Zig

143 points by hasheddan 4y ago

srgpqt 4y ago
Appears to be something like a Zig SDK for https://play.date/ https://play.date/
ducktective 4y ago
So after watching their teaser [1], playdate is a handheld gaming device with exclusive games on it every week available via WiFi. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdF3CnFvxg4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdF3CnFvxg4
danb91 4y ago
Oh wow, thanks for the post here, hasheddan! Just an FYI for everyone, I had heard people were interested in writing Zig for the Playdate, so I put out some code I have for a game I've been developing on Twitch. I do plan on having a more complete template in a proper Github repo at some point in the future when the code is more complete. When that is finished I'll post it on my Twitter @dbokser91. Feel free to reach out if anyone has questions about this code!
jedisct1 4y ago
Oh, yes, this is Panic's game system. I didn't follow that the project had made so much progress. Damn, it looks insanely cool. A black & white screen is quite limiting for games, though. Zig looks like a perfect language for such a platform.
- otachack 4y ago
  Applying limits is a catalyst for creation. Not having to deal with limitless colors, in Panic's Playdate example, frees up to think about gameplay, mechanics, and story instead.
  - tgv 4y ago
    Color does appeal to buyers, though. A B/W game system is doomed to a niche position.
    - jakelazaroff 4y ago
      Why is a niche position bad? Panic's goal isn't to dominate the handheld games market.
    - shakna 4y ago
      The PlayDate was intentionally designed to be a niche product, so that doesn't really seem to detract at all from the platform.
    - solar-ice 4y ago
      It's made by a company that publishes niche games, in collaboration with a company that designs niche hardware. Finding an interested niche was the goal.
  - Uehreka 4y ago
    Personally, I think it’s an interesting gimmick, but if I’m being honest I wouldn’t say that dealing with color actually limits my ability to think about other things when developing software/games.
- sonofhans 4y ago
  It is insanely cool, and fun. For sure it would be a different type of fun with a color screen, and not all to the benefit. For one thing, they’re somewhat expensive for little toys: $179. I bet a megacorp making 10 million at a time could do it more cheaply, but Panic seems to be doing it in batches of thousands. A backlit color screen would boost that cost. Then they’d need a bigger battery to provide the same life (~8 hours playtime), which would increase cost and maybe size. Then yes, while the games would be cooler in some ways, they’d also take more time to develop. One nice thing about Playdate gameplay so far is that it feels very pure: just a few controls and an interesting puzzle. They’ve distilled the fun down to as simple an experience as they can.
  - cableshaft 4y ago
    That $179 price includes 24 newly made games (by that I mean not just tossing some retro roms on the device) by various developers, including some bigger names. I'm sure those developers are getting a cut of that for compensation for their efforts. Wouldn't be surprised if at least $40-50 of that cost is just going to the developers of those games. Assuming there's 24 developers, that means they're only getting between $1-2 per device sold, that's nothing huge.
    - frosted-flakes 4y ago
      Panic have said that the parts alone cost ~$90 per device. That doesn't include assembly, shipping, writing the OS, developing the SDK, etc. Plus the season games. In all, the price seems very reasonable.
      - cableshaft 4y ago
        I agree, I preordered one. I'm in wave 3, so hopefully I'll get it before the end of the year. I also already have the gameplay to one of my video games ported to Playdate (using Lua). Still need to improve graphics, add sound, figure out how to make menus look nice with only 1 color graphics, etc., and I wasn't going to release it until I tested it on an actual device, not just the simulator.
davidwritesbugs 4y ago
Waiting for the Doom port. Though serious question: what if you get a game you really like can you opt to keep it? Is it a one game at a time?
- S1ngleM4lt 4y ago
  From their FAQ: Q: Do games get deleted when the week is over? A: Absolutely not. You keep the games forever. https://help.play.date/games/season/ https://help.play.date/games/season/
- sonofhans 4y ago
  No, the games stack up. Every Monday we get 2 new games, and all the prior games stay on the device. A Playdate has 4GB, and games are pretty small, so there’s lots of room. Panic has this documented — https://sdk.play.date/1.11.1/Inside%20Playdate.html#_game_size https://sdk.play.date/1.11.1/Inside%20Playdate.html#_game_si... You can delete games and then download them again. Panic fully supports sideloading games, too.
- PinkMilkshake 4y ago
  https://devforum.play.date/t/doom-on-playdate/852 https://devforum.play.date/t/doom-on-playdate/852
Shadonototra 4y ago
what a refreshing language, everything is in zig including the build script! that's perfect
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
TheDesolate0 4y ago
No, lol. That's what the world needs... More plastic garbage
- DrewRWx 4y ago
  Wow, that is shortsighted. The Playdate development community has cultivated a sense of art and exploration in gamedev from AAA to indie devs that I haven't seen in a long time! (Or at least since the PICO--8.)
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 4y ago
    Eh.... I kind of agree with parent actually. This could easily have been a VM for phones and PCs the intended audience almost certainly already have. Instead it produces a niche product that I suspect will 40% be bought to look good on people's shelves, 20% with vague intention to develop for it that never gets realized so it ends up in a drawer like so many Raspberry Pis and Arduinos, and 90% will be in a landfill in 30 years. I might have bought it in that case, but even though I know some of the developers listed for this thing are incredibly good, I just don't need more trinkets in my life personally, not even taking into account the environmental cost (which is admittedly relatively tiny).
  - TheDesolate0 4y ago
    No it's hand cranked plastic garbage.
    - DrewRWx 4y ago
      I dunno, I'm holding one in my hands right now and it is a pretty solid li'l device with a cute plastic exterior and a unique input scheme. You do realize that the crank isn't for charging it, right? It comes with a color-matched USB-C cable.
seba_dos1 4y ago
Last time I checked, doing things like that seemed forbidden by Playdate's SDK license. Did it change already?

143 points by hasheddan 4y ago

Appears to be something like a Zig SDK for https://play.date/ https://play.date/

So after watching their teaser [1], playdate is a handheld gaming device with exclusive games on it every week available via WiFi. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdF3CnFvxg4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdF3CnFvxg4

danb91 4y ago

Oh wow, thanks for the post here, hasheddan! Just an FYI for everyone, I had heard people were interested in writing Zig for the Playdate, so I put out some code I have for a game I've been developing on Twitch. I do plan on having a more complete template in a proper Github repo at some point in the future when the code is more complete. When that is finished I'll post it on my Twitter @dbokser91. Feel free to reach out if anyone has questions about this code!

jedisct1 4y ago

Oh, yes, this is Panic's game system. I didn't follow that the project had made so much progress. Damn, it looks insanely cool. A black & white screen is quite limiting for games, though. Zig looks like a perfect language for such a platform.

otachack 4y ago
Applying limits is a catalyst for creation. Not having to deal with limitless colors, in Panic's Playdate example, frees up to think about gameplay, mechanics, and story instead.
- tgv 4y ago
  Color does appeal to buyers, though. A B/W game system is doomed to a niche position.
  - jakelazaroff 4y ago
    Why is a niche position bad? Panic's goal isn't to dominate the handheld games market.
  - shakna 4y ago
    The PlayDate was intentionally designed to be a niche product, so that doesn't really seem to detract at all from the platform.
  - solar-ice 4y ago
    It's made by a company that publishes niche games, in collaboration with a company that designs niche hardware. Finding an interested niche was the goal.
- Uehreka 4y ago
  Personally, I think it’s an interesting gimmick, but if I’m being honest I wouldn’t say that dealing with color actually limits my ability to think about other things when developing software/games.
sonofhans 4y ago
It is insanely cool, and fun. For sure it would be a different type of fun with a color screen, and not all to the benefit. For one thing, they’re somewhat expensive for little toys: $179. I bet a megacorp making 10 million at a time could do it more cheaply, but Panic seems to be doing it in batches of thousands. A backlit color screen would boost that cost. Then they’d need a bigger battery to provide the same life (~8 hours playtime), which would increase cost and maybe size. Then yes, while the games would be cooler in some ways, they’d also take more time to develop. One nice thing about Playdate gameplay so far is that it feels very pure: just a few controls and an interesting puzzle. They’ve distilled the fun down to as simple an experience as they can.
- cableshaft 4y ago
  That $179 price includes 24 newly made games (by that I mean not just tossing some retro roms on the device) by various developers, including some bigger names. I'm sure those developers are getting a cut of that for compensation for their efforts. Wouldn't be surprised if at least $40-50 of that cost is just going to the developers of those games. Assuming there's 24 developers, that means they're only getting between $1-2 per device sold, that's nothing huge.
  - frosted-flakes 4y ago
    Panic have said that the parts alone cost ~$90 per device. That doesn't include assembly, shipping, writing the OS, developing the SDK, etc. Plus the season games. In all, the price seems very reasonable.
    - cableshaft 4y ago
      I agree, I preordered one. I'm in wave 3, so hopefully I'll get it before the end of the year. I also already have the gameplay to one of my video games ported to Playdate (using Lua). Still need to improve graphics, add sound, figure out how to make menus look nice with only 1 color graphics, etc., and I wasn't going to release it until I tested it on an actual device, not just the simulator.

davidwritesbugs 4y ago

Waiting for the Doom port. Though serious question: what if you get a game you really like can you opt to keep it? Is it a one game at a time?

S1ngleM4lt 4y ago
From their FAQ: Q: Do games get deleted when the week is over? A: Absolutely not. You keep the games forever. https://help.play.date/games/season/ https://help.play.date/games/season/
sonofhans 4y ago
No, the games stack up. Every Monday we get 2 new games, and all the prior games stay on the device. A Playdate has 4GB, and games are pretty small, so there’s lots of room. Panic has this documented — https://sdk.play.date/1.11.1/Inside%20Playdate.html#_game_size https://sdk.play.date/1.11.1/Inside%20Playdate.html#_game_si... You can delete games and then download them again. Panic fully supports sideloading games, too.
PinkMilkshake 4y ago
https://devforum.play.date/t/doom-on-playdate/852 https://devforum.play.date/t/doom-on-playdate/852

Shadonototra 4y ago

what a refreshing language, everything is in zig including the build script! that's perfect

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

TheDesolate0 4y ago

No, lol. That's what the world needs... More plastic garbage

DrewRWx 4y ago
Wow, that is shortsighted. The Playdate development community has cultivated a sense of art and exploration in gamedev from AAA to indie devs that I haven't seen in a long time! (Or at least since the PICO--8.)
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 4y ago
  Eh.... I kind of agree with parent actually. This could easily have been a VM for phones and PCs the intended audience almost certainly already have. Instead it produces a niche product that I suspect will 40% be bought to look good on people's shelves, 20% with vague intention to develop for it that never gets realized so it ends up in a drawer like so many Raspberry Pis and Arduinos, and 90% will be in a landfill in 30 years. I might have bought it in that case, but even though I know some of the developers listed for this thing are incredibly good, I just don't need more trinkets in my life personally, not even taking into account the environmental cost (which is admittedly relatively tiny).
- TheDesolate0 4y ago
  No it's hand cranked plastic garbage.
  - DrewRWx 4y ago
    I dunno, I'm holding one in my hands right now and it is a pretty solid li'l device with a cute plastic exterior and a unique input scheme. You do realize that the crank isn't for charging it, right? It comes with a color-matched USB-C cable.

seba_dos1 4y ago

Last time I checked, doing things like that seemed forbidden by Playdate's SDK license. Did it change already?