Log In  

Hi guys !

I have a license for PICO-8 and Voxatron. But many of my friends don't. They downloaded PICO-8 on pirate sites and are still able to develop games.

So I was wondering: except access to future updates and a remuneration for PICO-8 creators, what is a license for? The right to submit carts on BBS?

Thanks !

P#68882 2019-10-14 19:25

2

They won't be able to keep up !

A big part of you purchasing PICO-8 legitimately is to have unlimited upgrades. That is, you are entitled to all the updates and improvements that @zep makes.

And if they're using an inferior version or model, it won't run half the cool stuff being made today.

Check your documents and you'll see that up to version C where we are today, a lot has been added and improved upon.

It's a shame about your colleagues as $15 is nothing compared to the joy and learning experience this unique programming language offers.

And ZEP may crack down and start adding security so unless you are running the absolute latest version - NO older version of their code will work at all - and could possibly be identified by a digital fingerprint showing they stole it.

P#68883 2019-10-14 19:58 ( Edited 2019-10-14 20:00)
5

I don't think zep will ever bother with drm, there are too many beautiful things to care about and too little time in one life.

anyway each time a filthy pirate launches an illegal pico-8 exe there's a cute little cat that dies somewhere in the world. But they don't care do they? their heart is cold as ice.

P#68886 2019-10-14 20:45
1

I commend your friends for wanting to learn how to program games, and I understand if for what ever reason they cannot purchase a Pico-8 license, but please encourage them to either purchase a copy, or if that's not possible try a free/open source alternative such as Liko-12, TIC-80, PX8 or LÖVE 2D. Piracy is not only insulting to the hard work and time developers put into their product (Zep is the lone developer of Pico-8) but also can end up costing more in the long run if you end up with malware. If you do try one of the alternatives and like them, consider donating a little extra cash to them too! It's really awesome to have all of these tools at our disposal and we should do what ever we can to foster them.

P#68893 2019-10-15 04:23 ( Edited 2019-10-15 04:37)
2

Software piracy is one of the things I hate most in this world. Not only is it illegal but it is also very selfish. As far as I know, software sales are Zep's main source of income. When people pirate his software they are saying that they don't care enough about him or his work to pay him for it. He didn't have to share pico-8 with us, He could have kept it to himself and his personal friends. We show our love and appreciation for him and his work by purchasing his software. Not only does it encourage and enable him to keep making stuff but its just the right thing to do. If people don't care enough about zep or his work then why do they use his software at all?! There are so many ways to learn programming that do not require piracy. So many free/open-source software tools that enable you to make anything you want. If your friends can't afford pico-8, they should find an alternative. Liko-12 is free and in terms of tools and layout its almost identical to pico-8. Tic-80 is free, LOVE2D is free, LibGDX is free, Processing is free, even Unity is free. For sound, there are many chiptune trackers and sound editors that are free. BeepBox and SFXR are great ones that you can even run in your browser without having to download anything. Gimp is one of the best pixel art tools I've ever used and it's totally free. Inkscape is opensource and it's my favourite tool for vector art. There is absolutely no reason to resort to piracy except maybe for software that is no longer distributed or sold by the developer. Zep is quite alive though, so there is absolutely no reason to pirate his stuff. If your friends truly cannot afford a license then maybe they should find some chores to do that they can get paid for. Have them offer to mow their neighbour's grass, wash windows, or rake leaves for a price. They could get what they need pretty quickly that way. I used to do this as a kid for things that I wanted to buy. I usually made around $40-$50 a day if I worked hard enough. Around the time I was 14-16, I started doing bigger jobs and got paid more. If this still doesn't work for some reason(e.g. your friends are physically disabled) then just ask the Lexaloffle community to buy licenses for them. We care about zep and love his work so much that most of us would be willing to give him extra cash as a sign of our love for him and his work. Voxatron only costs $20 and you get pico-8 included with that price. You could easily make that money in a day if you were motivated enough to try.

It seems like pico-8 piracy is becoming more common. People are willing to pirate pico-8 behind zep's back but would they be willing to say "You aren't even worth $20 to me." to his face? It's all the same to me.

P#68902 2019-10-15 18:47 ( Edited 2019-10-15 19:10)

Thanks for your answers.

I totally agree with the fact that it's a shame because 15$ is nothing. I think @zep should consider allowing cart submitting or Splore access only to accounts with proper license.

P#68989 2019-10-17 23:14

Interesting idea, RC, but that might block some teachers from posting. I know we had one teacher in here at a point.

Really nice to see the work she was doing in Pico-8.

I also don't know how far the coding in HTML would go to confirm a user has a license or not.

I think some of the best advertising Zep can have is non-members reading the posts in here and trying out the carts Online.

But, yes, perhaps to only block posting messages and carts, might be deterrent enough and encouragement enough to purchasing a license.

P#68992 2019-10-17 23:57 ( Edited 2019-10-18 00:00)

[Please log in to post a comment]

Follow Lexaloffle:          
Generated 2024-03-28 12:19:47 | 0.007s | Q:21