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thattomhall

Game Designer. Co-founded id, ION Storm, Monkeystone. Did Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM, Rise of the Triad, Anachronox, DASH games. VR/AR/Photography/puns/Switch!

Waiting for Good Dot
by thattomhall
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Here's a thread to tutorialize how to do the most common Pico-8 commands in Picotron. Show how they are the same, or how they may be slightly different.

So:

--spr
--sspr
--sfx
--music
--rects, circs, lines
--pset, pget?
--mset, mget?
--fget, fset?
--math stuffs
--etc.

Please note if a) the command is part of the list of Picotron commands and b) if it currently works (or may just not be implemented yet).

Picotron API functions: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=143245#p

Please no questions, only answers here. Thanks!

P#143520 2024-03-17 15:26 ( Edited 2024-03-17 15:28)

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It's out! We're all stoked, it looks great. We're all excited to explore its possibilities.

But we are also PICOTRON PIONEERS...

So post your bugs here!

P#142940 2024-03-14 20:06 ( Edited 2024-03-14 20:11)

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Cart #tookbooks-5 | 2023-12-30 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | No License
18

It's just before Christmas, and Santa needs to know...

WHO TOOK THE BOOKS?

This is the sequel game to WHO STOLE THE COAL? - a Pico-8 holiday game from Dec 2020.

WHO STOLE THE COAL

A LONG LOST, UNRELEASED GAME!

There was a video game crash, with tons of unsold/unreleased cartridges for the ATOMI 3600 console being buried in the desert in 1983.

Years later in 2014, they were excavated. Amongst the cartridges was a finished sequel to WHO STOLE THE COAL?, which was the original immensely popular game when released. But by the time WHO TOOK THE BOOKS? was finished, the market has collapsed, and it never saw the light of day.

But ATOMI rose from the ashes, recently releasing the ATOMI 3600+, and on it, WHO TOOK THE BOOKS? finally got released to the public. Game players and historians rejoiced!

Primitive now, it was a technological feat for its day. But puzzle game fans and secret-finders will still love it!

CONTROLS

Arrows move.

Z/X: Swing canemaul. Santa's not happy till he has his canemaul!

To move across ice, you must find the FASKATES, which are, not surprisingly, fast skates. You can't steer skating across ice, but they let you cross it! You may have to BUY them at the SHOPPE. (New FASKATES cost five DIAMONDS!) WORTH IT!

You also run across SHAKY BRIDGES cuz they might collapse! Approaching from the side, you can walk UNDER bridges...

STORY

Santa recovered his coal from the Abominable Snowbeast in the past. But this year, he woke to find his NAUGHTY AND NICE BOOKS stolen! Plus his REINDEER and coveted COOKIES!

Sneak into the Snowbeasts lair while it's asleep! Recover the BOOKS. Rescue the REINDEER. And grab them COOKIES!

Winning means you find at least four books, so Christmas isn't totally a loss. Once you can "win", your sleigh will appear where you started. You can just go do that, or, you can try for the...

PERFECT ENDING!

Find all nine books, rescue nine reindeer, and find all eighty cookies! Also don't be naughty!

Buckle up, Santa! Can you SAVE CHRISTMAS?


Naughty Hint:

Don't canemaul snowpeople, reindeer, or elves, ya meanie!


Cartridge Cover Art: Father Christmas Skating on Duddingston Loch by Carol Lawson

Intro art: Toby Hefflin (mangled by me to add beard)

Music: Gruber

Label dithered with DEPICT.

Testing: Bikibird (thanks!) and Squirrel!

UPDATE 12/30/23: fixed two softlocks, made leaving easier to evade.

P#139114 2023-12-24 14:44 ( Edited 2023-12-30 18:44)

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Cart #stolecoal-4 | 2020-12-24 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | No License
25

WHO STOLE THE COAL?

A Personal Story and a Game

In 1977, I got an amazing gift from my parents...an Atari 2600. This game shares that story. (Company name changed for parody purposes.) It was one of the moments that changed the course of my life forever. Run the game to see that moment...

As for the game:

WHO STOLE THE COAL?

Santa got home and found no coal for his furnace! His house is cold. He hear whispers that the Abominable Snowbeast took all nine of his coal chunks, along with nine of his elves, and SIXTY of his cookies! Fortunately, the Abominable Snowbeast sleeps at sunset, so Santa can sneak in and get his coal back!

Santa can't heat his house tonight without at least FOUR COAL. Get four coal and return to Santa's House to win! (Then press then X+O buttons to see how you did!)

AND FOR THE BRAVE: get ALL NINE coal, rescue all NINE elves, and collect SIXTY COOKIES for a perfect win!

CONTROLS
Arrows to move.
X to swing your CaneMaul to break boulders.

TIPS

  • Look out for secrets! They're everywhere!
  • Remember: BE NICE to any SNOWMEN or SNOWWOMEN you meet!

THANKS
Thanks to Gruber for the song help, Toby for art, testing, and an idea, Squirrel for testing and design ideas, and Enargy, Jusiv & Kittenmaster for testing, and Enargy again for keeping me honest about a nice ending. If I missed anyone, thanks to you too!

P#85750 2020-12-25 16:15

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Since Pico-8 will import a graphic and adapt it to the default palette, seems like if someone has done poke(0x5f2e,1), it could simply adapt to the current palette? An external tool could be made, but it seems like it would be replicating what Pico-8 could probably do with little effort?

Hidden Palette people would really appreciate it!

Also, pretty please with sugar on top.

P#77745 2020-06-06 20:07 ( Edited 2020-06-06 20:07)

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Cart #spys_demise-3 | 2020-05-08 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | No License
9

Here's SPY'S DEMISE (an old Apple ][ game) in a TweetTweetCart!

CONTROLS: Arrows right and left. Avoid RedFaces, climb ladders to get to Star!

Once you start moving, you can't stop until the edge, so keep steering to avoid RedFaces!

WORLD RECORD: @Tleprie on Itch.io, 41.66!

Have fun!


(Added a restart for un-minified cart!)

P#76097 2020-05-07 22:01 ( Edited 2021-12-30 00:15)

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Cart #rndgame-9 | 2020-05-14 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | No License
19

RNDGAME

It's a random arcade game name generator -- press RIGHT ARROW to generate a new one! (LEFT ARROW goes back to previously created names.)

HISTORY

So in the game Anachronox, there was an arcade on the planet Hephaestus. I made a random arcade game name generator (for a sign in an arcade). It announced new games coming to the arcade, but just made up random silly ones. Every time you clicked on the sign, it made up a new one, just or silly fun.

Hope you enjoy it! Let me know if there are any (family-friendly) words you want added!

Updated: May 13, 2020 with typo fix.

P#75135 2020-04-21 19:13 ( Edited 2020-05-14 05:30)

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Cart #spritefont-0 | 2020-04-20 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | No License
17

SPRITE FONT PRINTING!

This cart -- all it does -- is provide a sprite font and routines to print to the screen.

All the routines print either a colorized font, or a colorized font on a color background (if provided). If the first color is black, it prints in black, assuming the background to be transparent (say, if you were printing on a white background).

The three print functions do the following:

  • SPRINT. Prints on 8x8 boundaries
  • SPRINTC. Prints centered in X, but on a Y at pixel resolution.
  • SPRINTXY. Prints at an X,Y at pixel resolution

The two SPRITE FONTS match the Pico-8 font, including the glyphs. (It doesn't contain Kana characters).

FONT 1

The first is a smallcaps font like the one in Pico-8. It also has small numbers, and includes six extra characters including Spades and Clubs (the Glyphs have a Heart and Diamond already.)

FONT 2

The second font contains actual lowercase letters. With the last six sprites, it includes simple rounded window tiles you can see surrounding the screen. Usually you would want 8 (so the edges can be unique and to-the-edge for nice layering) and a fill tile, but I had six sprites to work with.

THAT'S IT

Feel free to use these fonts and routines in any cart you want. Just credit ThatTomHall in a cart comment or cart description. Enjoy!

P#75073 2020-04-20 23:07 ( Edited 2020-04-20 23:14)

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Maybe the BBS code parsing is lagging behind the Pico-8 release?

https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=74848

Downloaded Code shows fine in pico8 app.

In Code tab that cartridges listing, it just says:

0001

P#74853 2020-04-16 19:35

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Cart #pico_arcade-2 | 2020-02-12 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | No License
231

WELCOME TO PICO ARCADE!

Pico Arcade is a game launcher that launches 36 arcade-style games from great cartmakers!

Use left and right arrows to go through the carts.

Press X to launch the cart!

You can get back to the Arcade from the Pause Menu.

Have fun!

MUSIC: Gruber


P.S. If you have other favorite high-quality, arcade-style Pico-8 games, let me know! I can publish another showcase in the future.

P#72470 2020-01-30 19:45 ( Edited 2020-02-12 21:33)

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Cart #tbj2019_democart-0 | 2020-01-01 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | No License
9

This is the DEMO CART for Toy Box Jam 2019.

https://itch.io/jam/toy-box-jam-2019

The code is mostly atrocious, but on purpose -- it shows what sprite numbers to use and colors to change to make the most out of a limited number of sprites.

Enjoy the fine music by Gruber!

P#71620 2020-01-01 00:39

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Cart #tbj_launcher-10 | 2020-01-02 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | License: CC4-BY-NC-SA
37

TOY BOX JAM LAUNCHER

Here is the launcher for TOY BOX JAM!

All the games are here! Choose your cart with arrows then press X to launch it.

You can get back to the Launcher by pressing RETURN (Pause Menu) and choosing "Back to Launcher".

SHOUT OUT TO ZEP! His last minute heroics fixed some small issues and lets the launcher work perfectly! Thanks, Zep!

Have fun with the games/tech demos/stories/experiences!

Also, good things come to those who wait..... ;^)

P#71510 2019-12-29 22:42 ( Edited 2020-01-02 05:45)

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Cart #myrrhs_edge-3 | 2019-12-28 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | License: CC4-BY-NC-SA
61

MYRRH'S EDGE

You are BALTHAZAR, King of Tarse and Egypt! You are one of the Three Kings mythically following the North Star to find that baby Jesus! BUT you’ve woken up late -- you were supposed to be at the manger hours ago! On top of that you’ve forgotten your gift of Myrrh you were supposed to bring! (Maybe you can pick some up on the way?)

Parkour your way across Bethlehem, avoiding aggressive Bethlehem guards, picking up 50 myrrh to fill your gift box, and get to the barn's manger as fast as you can!

MYRRH’S EDGE: It’s a holiday parkour speedrun challenge!

Who can get:
--fastest to manger with 50 myrrh? (World Record So Far: 38.0 Crayonatee!)
--fastest to manger with all 200 myrrh? (World Record: DIDERO Time 602.9! Well done!)
--to see the secret message HI somewhere in the map?

Come on, Bal! You’re late! Get a move on!

CONTROLS

Left/Right: Run
L/R+Down: Slide
Up/Down: Climb ladders
Z (O): Jump
Z+Down: Jump down through semi-solid
X: Interact (unlock doors with keys, enter doors, grab zipline)
X+L/R: Move along horizontal zipline (brachiate)
L/R wall: Wall Slide (we call it a “Wally”)

HINT: Play multiple times to see different things at the end. ;)

THREE UNWISE MEN:

Brilliant Coding and Some Design Bits: Squirrel Eiserloh
Great Art/Animation: Toby Hefflin
Game / Map Design, Sfx, and Some Okay Art/Animation: That Tom Hall

Featuring a Talented and Wise Man Who Did Genius Music: Gruber
(Killer song, eh?)

This game got made because Tom thought of the punny title. Had to do it. It was a virtual development team, and we had fun making it! Enjoy!

P#71393 2019-12-25 19:03 ( Edited 2021-11-24 15:54)

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Cart #fruitlicker-2 | 2023-09-11 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | No License
8

FRUIT LICKER!

Lick fruit without guilt or shame RIGHT NOW in my easy little game, FRUIT LICKER! (My 560-char entry to #TweetTweetJam)

Get as many oranges as you can in 30 seconds! Play in your browser or on your phone! IT'S LICKALICIOUS!

Z to lick. Game ends in 30 seconds. Press X to restart.

Game minified and cool eye-moving by Paul Nicholas ( @Liquidream). Thanks!

WORLD RECORD IS 37 by Mango Man. Congrats!

P#69933 2019-11-15 23:48 ( Edited 2023-09-11 00:21)

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Cart #tater_evader-0 | 2019-05-20 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | No License
1

.
.

.
TATER EVADER!

You dropped some Honey Gold potatoes at a picnic, and they GAINED SENTIENCE, realized you were about to eat them, so they got mad and started to fire TATERIKENS at you! Try to survive as long as you can!

Use the arrow keys to evade the angry taters and their taterikens! If you touch either, you die and game ends. Press X to retry!


WORLD RECORD SO FAR: 77.26s, Taters (E:) 26.


P#64623 2019-05-20 17:19 ( Edited 2019-05-20 19:49)

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Cart #tater_evader-0 | 2019-05-20 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | No License
1

.
.

TATER EVADER!

You dropped some Honey Gold potatoes at a picnic, and they GAINED SENTIENCE, realized you were about to eat them, so they got mad and started to fire TATERIKENS at you! Try to survive as long as you can!

Use the arrow keys to evade the angry taters and their taterikens! If you touch either, you die and game ends. Press X to try again!

It's not quite two tweets yet, hope to get it down to there... maybe.....

WORLD RECORD SO FAR: 77.26s, Taters (E:) 26.

P#64571 2019-05-19 02:04 ( Edited 2019-05-20 19:49)

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Cart #gooddotgame-8 | 2019-04-27 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | License: CC4-BY-NC-SA
9

.


Controls: Arrows. Get to the highest level you can before you run out of shoes.

Okay, let us travel back to ... 1980!

Our family got an Apple ][+ on June 9th, 1980. I LIVED on that computer all summer. Making text adventures, graphics demos...

One of the first games I made was WALK INTO THE DOT. It was in Apple ][+ lo-res graphics. There are BAD DOTS. Do not walk into them. There is a GOOD DOT. Walk into it if you can!

It wasn't great, BUT it did bring up some subtle game design ideas, and was part of me learning, 39 years ago, how to design games.

But how to re-make it now? Make it with cool graphics? NO. I would make it like it was. Crappy, primitive, but hiding some interesting lessons.

So, I programmed the old Applesoft lo-res commands of PLOT, HLIN, and VLIN and re-made this crappy old game.

HOWEVER, there is something about it! As you get above level 10, level 20, you start feeling that "slot machine" feeling and "I almost made it"! That weird frustration-success feeling is addictive, and is worth study, even in such a primitive game as this! Also, you can learn the secrets of the game's collision: if ANY pixel of your dude touches the good dot (even if other parts touch the bad dots), you win the level! Often you may see you can win when it looked hopeless.

Caution, this is a quickly done game, not well-coded, but it's an interesting study in very raw game design. AND... there is... A CHALLENGE.

THE WORLD RECORD IS LEVEL 36. Playing, you will see how hard that is!

CAN YOU GET HIGHER?


CRT Shader version on itchio:

https://thattomhall.itch.io/waiting-for-good-dot-crt

P#63938 2019-04-24 19:04 ( Edited 2019-04-27 20:54)

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Cart #gooddotgame-7 | 2019-04-24 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | License: CC4-BY-NC-SA
6

Controls: Arrows. Get to the highest level you can before you run out of shoes.

Okay, let us travel back to ... 1980!

Our family got an Apple ][+ on June 9th, 1980. I LIVED on that computer all summer. Making text adventures, graphics demos...

One of the first games I made was WALK INTO THE DOT. It was in Apple ][+ lo-res graphics. There are BAD DOTS. Do not walk into them. There is a GOOD DOT. Walk into it if you can!

It wasn't great, BUT it did bring up some subtle game design ideas, and was part of me learning, 39 years ago, how to design games.

But how to re-make it now? Make it with cool graphics? NO. I would make it like it was. Crappy, primitive, but hiding some interesting lessons.

So, I programmed the old Applesoft lo-res commands of PLOT, HLIN, and VLIN and re-made this crappy old game.

HOWEVER, there is something about it! As you get above level 10, level 20, you start feeling that "slot machine" feeling and "I almost made it"! That weird frustration-success feeling is addictive, and is worth study, even in such a primitive game as this! Also, you can learn the secrets of the game's collision: if ANY pixel of your dude touches the good dot (even if other parts touch the bad dots), you win the level! Often you may see you can win when it looked hopeless.

Caution, this is an alpha, not well-coded, but it's an interesting study in very raw game design. AND... there is... A CHALLENGE.

THE WORLD RECORD IS LEVEL 32. Playing, you will see how hard that is!

Can you get higher?

About to publish it as finished!

P#63803 2019-04-22 03:09 ( Edited 2019-04-24 03:08)

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Cart #a2fontandbeep-0 | 2019-04-02 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | License: CC4-BY-NC-SA
7
I just entered the basic uppercase Apple ][+ font in sprites and added a SFX that is the tone of the boot beep of the Apple ][. If this is exciting to you, use it in whatever project you want with a lil' credit in the comments.

I also added a few character I wish I'd had back then in spritesheet 1.

Initial running of the cart cuts off the beep. Reset the cart to hear it properly (hit Return and choose).

Enjoy!

P#63202 2019-04-02 23:37 ( Edited 2019-04-02 23:40)

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