Hello. Long time no write. I'm the author of a few curious programs for an ever-curious programming language, Pico-8:

https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=32028

https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=31518

https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=30679

I just have one question.

Is it possible to convert PICO-8 to single .APK files for Androids and cellphones now ?

If so, I've got some new ideas for games and tools up my sleeve and would like to share them. :)

Hi dw! welcome back!
(incomplete) answer: yes you can!
you can export as html and pack it in an apk that launches it as a webview. I did that months ago and it was pretty easy. can't say much more from the top of my head but I think you can pull it off with some googling. caveat is, it can be sluggish on older phones (like mine) but could run well on newer ones. to give you an idea: bpod

Thanks for writing back, UB !

No, I was afraid of this ... What I would like is to have is a true APK that can run Offline of the Internet.

I can sort of see how to do this. Likely there is some wizard program out there that can convert a local HTML and its attachments to an APK.

I know they have this for Windows and years back I made all kinds of EXEs that ran demos of my eBooks.

However, I am seeing that PICO is so advanced now that you can make a raw EXE for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. WOW !

This is definitely enough to get me back in the scene.

Since I've been gone I was working on a true APP for Android which held a resolution of 256x144, and even then it ran horrendously slow, much MUCH slower than PICO ever did.

And that's not because of my code, the language actually really REALLY slow.

My Haunted House game also earned $5 from purchasers on ITCH while I was gone. I put it there for $1. The last time I earned any money for writing a game - I was 12-years old.

So, yes ... I still don't like the memory limitations, the graphic limitations, the resolution limitations, and the sound limitations - but so far this programming language is the best in town for those who want to kick it back old-school with pixeled graphics.

And I can compile to a true EXE file. That by itself is quite a golden feature.

Did the keyboard situation ever get figured out ?

where you can save an EXE and write a program that might ask for your name and instead of using arrow keys or the mouse, you can type directly using your regular real keyboard ?

Note that using something like Apache Cordova would achieve what you want - e.g. a native package.
(still, it would run the HTML/JS version but that should be enough in most cases no?)

Hi Fred72:

• What is Apache Cordova ?

I got limited results compiling my House game using, "Website 2 APK Builder" to a true and single APK. W2AB is a true Windows compiler program, the kind I am looking for.

It did indeed convert the JS and HTML to APK and installable and runnable. unfortunately, there is no sound, it does not recognize (Z) nor (X) keystrokes as input, nor clicking on []FullScreen does anything at all and maintains a small window centered in the Android tablet.

If Apache Cordova is a monster to operate, is there a simpler solution - one that is specifically a dedicated Windows program that compiles HTML/.JS to APK ?

Try a different HTML file? I've never packaged as an APK, but this one works much better in the web browser than stock on my phone at least: https://headjump.github.io/pico8_html_template/

As for regular keyboard input: Yes, you can activate "devkit mode" with poke(0x5f2d, 1) and read input with stat(31) (stat(30) is true if a key is pressed).

Tobiasvl, you are figured prominently HERE:
https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=31598

Good information regarding raw keyboard input !

As for the HTML template, that does look pretty neat, but I think I'm going to sit down and make one from scratch for myself.

Thanks for the link though !