Changelog:
May be missing a few changes.

• Fixed a bug that would make your ship take off when trying to delete or place another launch-pad
• Fixed a bug that allowed you to destroy asteroid blocks by building on them
• Fixed a bug that allowed you to mine all the gold on the screen by going out of bounds
• Fixed many other small issues
• Improved space usage on the tool-bar
• Added a simple dotted background to create more depth and sense of movement
• Mining gold now gives the player gold resources
• Added gold cost for station blocks to the tool-bar when in build mode
• Added gold count to tool-bar during flight
• Destroying station parts now gives back 1 gold
• Added world boundries that push the player back if they fly too far away
• Added a new 'ship workshop' block that allows the player to buy ship upgrades and customization's
• Changed the world map around a bit

Controls:
Ship:

• Z = Get out/Into ship (whilst on top of space-craft)
• Z = Land on space stations (whilst in space-craft on a landing pad)
• X = Mining laser (whilst near ore)
• Arrow Keys = Float/Fly around

Construction:

• Z = Place station block
• X = Change current block

Menus:

• Arrow Keys = Navigation
• Z = Select item
• X = Exit Menu

StarBase 0.4

by PixelCod

Cart #40529 | 2017-05-13 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | No License

66

Changelog:

• Improved the particle system
• Changed some sounds
• Changed ships particle effects
• Reduced the number of blocks in the build menu
• Added explosions and screen-shake
• Added item/block names

Known Bugs:

• Building over asteroids gets rid of them
• Building landing pads causes you to take off

Future Ideas:

• Mining lasers on your space-craft that allow the gathering of materials from asteroids
• Different coloured asteroids that will provide different materials when mined
• Different station parts that provide unique utilities (space-craft construction etc.)

Controls:
Ship:

• Z = Get out/Into ship (whilst on top of space-craft)
• Z = Land on space stations (whilst in space-craft on a landing pad)
• X = mining laser (whilst near ore)
• Arrow Keys = Float/Fly around

Construction:

• Z = Place station block
• X = Change current block

StarBase 0.3

by PixelCod

Cart #38745 | 2017-03-26 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | No License

66

Changelog:

• Controls are now shown on the transition screen at the start
• Revamped the scoring system to be more intuitive and make more sense
  • You now score 1 point for destroying a bamboo shoot
  • You have 30 seconds to destroy as many as you can
• Changed collisions with bamboo shoots and power-ups to be more fair
• Added a game count on the end screen so you know how many games you've played
• Changed the kunai ability (knife throw ability) to now always throw one kunai in each of the four directions making it a lot more reliable and useful
• Optimised some bits of code

Known Bugs:

• When a kunai destroys a bamboo you don't get the point for it - Fix for this coming very soon!
• Some graphical issues with bamboo shoots appearing on top of each other

Shuriken Toss 1.1

by PixelCod

Cart #31939 | 2016-10-28 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | No License

16

M.OPTIONS={"OPTION 1", "OPTION 2", "OPTION 3"} 

This will display each item as a separate option in the menu. To add more options simply add more items to the array separated by commas.

IF BTNP(4) AND --If the button 'z' is pressed
MENU_TIMER>1 THEN
  INIT_SETTINGS() --Do something
END

We set MENU_TIMER to 0 in any init() functions to do with the menu (e.g. INIT_MENU() or INIT_SETTINGS() ) and then increment it by 1 in the UPDATE_MENU() function. We check that MENU_TIMER is bigger than 1 to ensure that we don't select more than one option at a time.

Instead of calling INIT_SETTINGS() here you could make it do something else, for example, start the game.

--Inside an _init() function

PALS={{7,0},{6,5},{10,8}}

PALS is the variable that will store our palettes (sets of 2 colours). Each item in PALS is another array containing 2 values, a colour 1 and a colour 2. Our first example palette in PALS is {7,0}. Colour 1, represented by 7, is the colour white in PICO-8 and colour 2, represented by 0, is black. By setting our text to draw using colour 1 and the background to draw using colour 2, we can end up with a menu that is white with a black background.

To do this we need to create some variables to store the active colour 1 and colour 2 that we want to use:

--Inside an _update() function

COL1=PALS[PALNUM][1]
COL2=PALS[PALNUM][2]

PALNUM refers to the number of the palette you wish to use. For example, if PALS={{7,0},{6,5},{10,8}} then PALS[2] would give us the second index, which in this case is palette {6,5}. PALNUM can be a hard coded palette number or can be dynamically changed in-game by selecting a menu option as I have done in the example cartridge.

For COL1 we firstly referenced PALS, then the palette to look for inside PALS (using PALNUM) and then we searched for '1'. The number 1 here means 'the first item in PALS[PALNUM]' or 'item 1 in PALS[PALNUM]' which will give us the first value of one of our palettes! We can then use this to select the first and second colours of our chosen palette and assign them to COL1 and COL2.

To use our new COL1 and COL2 variables, all we have to do is replace anywhere we have hard coded in a colour with either COL1 or COL2:

PRINT("HELLO WORLD",64,64,[b][u]7[/u][/b]) ------> PRINT("HELLO WORLD",64,64,[b][u]COL1[/u][/b])
CLS([b][u]0[/u][/b]) ------> CLS([b][u]COL2[/u][/b])

For changing palettes for sprites, you can draw all of your sprites in black and white and then use PAL(7,COL1) or PAL(0,COL2) before you draw your sprites. This will replace the white on your sprite with COL1 and replace the black on your sprite with COL2. Here's an example using my little octopus sprite:

	[16x16]

No use of PAL()

	[16x16]

PAL(7,Col1)
PAL(0,COL2)

When doing this, remember to call PAL() with no arguments after drawing the sprites to reset the colors back and avoid coloring issues.

Update 1.4! - Overhaul!

So after another long break from the game whilst developing 'Shuriken Toss', I decided to revisit it and... completely remake it! That's right, completely re-write the game and strip it down to the bare bones and focus this time on the core gameplay mechanics and functions of the game. I felt that I kept wasting too much time before getting bogged down with trying to optimise the game (although it was never optimised!) and adding silly extras such as text systems and palette swapping when there was no core game there yet. This is a good thing, however, as I have learnt a lot from working on this and other projects that has helped to better this game.

Objective:
Your goal is to follow the direction of the objective arrow and collect the delivery orb. You then take it back to the drop off point marked by a:

	[8x8]

and land your ship on it by pressing 'Z' ('A' on a controller) in order to score a point. There is currently no win or lose conditions so you can keep scoring to your hearts content!

Future Ideas:
Next I think I will try and add some kind of threat to delivering the orbs like space mines or enemies that keeps the player on their toes. I may also add shooting, however I'm very tempted to keep the protagonist a pacifist as they are only a delivery courier, not a space marine ¯_(ツ)_/¯. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated ;) .

Feedback:
At the moment I'm very torn with whether to add the fuel system to the game or not as i feel as though it can be more of an inconvenience than a 'main feature'. I would love your feedback and ideas on this and any other aspects of the game, thank you!

Changelog:
-Changed the world size from 3x3 rooms big to 4x4
-Changed maximum fuel capacity
-Changed fuel bar size and position
-Added 'Delivery Orbs' that can be delivered for points

	[8x8]

-Added a score to the UI
-Added an objective pointer that points towards the 'Delivery Orb'
-Added a life bar for the player that decreases by one when you run out of fuel
-Added a classic building from the old versions of the game back in because I liked the design
-Removed sounds from the game (temporary)

I hope you enjoy this early version of the game!

Space Delivery! v1.4.1

by PixelCod

Cart #37114 | 2017-02-03 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | No License

29

Future Update Ideas:
My idea for this game is that you'll have to collect and deliver packages from around the map to certain places whilst dodging enemies and making sure you don't run out of fuel on the way! The fuel gauge can represent the players fuel AND also the players health so that your fuel decreases when you get attacked AND when you fly around.

Known Bugs:
-Explosion particles stay on the screen when you change room
-Player sometimes doesn't spin out of control when they run out of fuel

Changelog:
-Changed ship speed and acceleration/deceleration
-Changed the map to now support 3x3 rooms!
-Changed all of the contents of the rooms
-Changed landing/taking off speeds to be faster
-Changed all of the sounds in the game
-Changed the name of the game to 'Space Delivery'
-Changed screen border thickness
-Fixed when the player moves into the next room
-Fixed graphical glitch when changing rooms
-Fixed players minimum landing height
-Added a simple menu system for palette swapping
-Added a title screen for the menu
-Added a fuel system for the ship
-Added particle generator for explosions
-Removed the text system (for now anyway, it was creating clutter)
-Moved the palette swapper into the menu
Update 1.3.1
-Fixed a sound bug

Space Explorers! (WIP) 1.3.1

by PixelCod

Cart #30768 | 2016-10-12 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | No License

29

Changelog:
-Added the ability to take off/land
-Added text for takeing off/landing that lerps to the player
-Added some sounds for taking off/landing/flying
-Made the two colors dependant on a variable for future palette swapping
-Made the shadow further from ship to give a better sense of height
-Shadow now decreases if you fly over stations (buildings)
-Can't land on top of stations
-Can't land if you are moving too fast
-Re-implemented white border around the edge of the screen
-Added more buildings

Space Explorers! (WIP) 1.2

by PixelCod

Cart #27141 | 2016-08-21 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | No License

29

Changelog:
-Added multiple 'rooms' to explore and fly around
-Made the camera static instead of follow the player
-Added some new tiles for building space stations and small asteroids
-Now loops the player around a larger world instead of one screen
-Fixed player outline and shadow drawing

Space Explorers! (WIP) 1.1

by PixelCod

Cart #27108 | 2016-08-20 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | No License

29