I have been having a blast working with Pico-8 as a new game dev. There is definitely a learning curve coming from the likes of Godot and Unity for a bit before this, but I really enjoy getting to make everything from the ground up. It feels like your own thing, the, "I made this!" feeling is amazing and frequent. Thank you Lexaloffle.

Been coding for a while now on side projects here and there, mostly in Python, C# and JS, but for the longest time I wanted to make a game. I have felt it in my blood since I was a boy. I loved video games, how great would it be to get to make my own!

I am not sure, and I hope I am not alone here, but I feel a BIG barrier to entry when it comes to making video games is art. For me, art was a capacity for possibility that my mind could never wrap my head around. I mean with a thousand or more color options, who wouldn't have choice anxiety?? This is where I think Pico-8 shines the brightest and where it has roped me in:

THERE ARE ONLY 16 COLORS and EACH TILE ONLY HAS 64 PIXELS!!

Of course, my breakout game looks like this and I am only following a tutorial so far, but I have big hopes. Thank you Krystman for your incredible videos and insightful advice!

For new or experienced people in any creative field, limits are the hands down best way to engage with creativity. The limits bend your mind towards creative ways to solve problems, it feels like solving a puzzle. As opposed to simply choosing a path that looks right; similar to choosing which brand of BBQ sauce in the Walmart aisle is the right one. If you are anything like me, you just go with the one you know.

It brings me back to my days as a trumpet player 4 years in trying to learn to improvise over a simple 12-bar blues. The instructor told us to create a solo using only 3 notes of the scale we were learning.

I thought he was crazy, ONLY 3 NOTES??

See the parallel? I will still use this technique to this day to make some of the most rhythmically interesting and intense improvisations I can muster, of course I elaborate a bit more than only 3 notes, but it is a great place to start crafting something meaningful.

I will end this post from a beginner, to a beginner, maybe even to future me, collision detection is a challenge, put your mind to it and you can figure it out. It has been done before, and it will be done again, with or without you.

That being said, anyone have any general tips when it comes to collision? What works for you? How do you deal with two different objects that have varying movement speeds?

Anyways, I intend to post here about my journey through Pico-8 and game dev in general. Let me know how you are doing down in the comments, or post about your story in game dev so far! Remember, someone loves you and cares about you. Have a great day <3