bikibird [Lexaloffle Blog Feed]

PICO DAW

Sat, 01 Mar 2025 16:37:03 UTC

PICO DAW is a digital audio workstation for creating PICO-8 tunes. If you've ever been frustrated by the piano style layout keyboard layout of the music editor or just wished you could draw your music, PICO DAW is for you. It's a mouse-based alternative for tune creation.

Quick Start Guide

Open the PICO-8 console and enter load #daw.
Save the cart under a new name.
Optional: Add any desired custom instruments in SFX slots 0 through 7.
Run the cart.
Hold down the left mouse button and drag to draw a note.
Select the active track by scrolling the mouse wheel.
Pan through music patterns with left and right arrows.
Edit notes by right clicking on them.

There are many more keyboard shortcuts and tools. Keep reading to get the most out of PICO DAW.

Preliminaries

While you can use the version of PICO DAW embedded in this page, it is better to run the cartridge directly from PICO-8. Open the PICO-8 console and enter <kbd>LOAD #DAW</kbd>. Then save the cart under a new name so that you have a dedicated cart in which to store your tunes. Optionally, add any desired custom instruments in SFX slots 0 through 7.

PICO DAW assumes that you will use all 4 channels, 56 SFXs (8 through 64), and music patterns 0 through 13. If this does not reflect your wishes, go into the PICO-8 music editor and configure the music patterns to suit your project.

Once PICO DAW is configured according to your needs, run the cart to begin composing.

Saving

PICO DAW automatically saves your work every 5 minutes. You can force a save anytime by pressing Ctrl-S. Be sure to press Ctrl-S before exiting PICO DAW. If you forget to press Ctrl-S before exiting, enter <kbd>RESUME</kbd> in the console, press Ctrl-S, and then exit again.

Navigating

Composing is done one music pattern at a time. The music pattern occupies the major portion of the screen with a few notes of the previous and next music patterns displayed at the left and right margins. The current pattern number displays in the upper left of the screen at the top of the toolbar.

Each data-entry tub is 3 pixels wide. The tubs are arrange horizontally across the screen in sequence from tub 0 to 31, left to right. This is the time axis. The pitch axis is vertical. The potential pitch values are arranged sequentially from highest at the top to lowest at the bottom. The horizontal lines are <dfn>staff lines</dfn> corresponding to the currently selected scale and indicate potential pitch values that fit the chosen scale.

Change the active music pattern with the ⬅️ and ➡️ arrow keys or by left clicking in the left and right margins. Press Home or End to jump to the beginning or end of the tune.

Undoing and Redoing

Ctrl-Z and Ctrl-Y undo and redo editing actions. The size of the undo buffer is limited by PICO-8's memory. Cut and insert actions are especially memory intensive operations and decrease the number of actions that can be held in the undo buffer.

Drawing Notes

Compose by drawing notes. Notes are drawn one channel at a time. The cross-hair color reflects the current channel. Channel 0 is orange; channel 1, yellow; channel 2, green; and channel 3, blue. To change the active channel, scroll the mouse wheel while hovering over the pattern.

Notes may be placed on staff lines for scale notes or between staff lines for non-scale notes. To place a note, move the cross-hair anywhere within the current music pattern. Press the left mouse button to lock in a pitch. Then drag from left to right to elongate the note and finally release the mouse button to finish placing a note in the currently active channel.

Erasing Notes

Hover the cursor over the note to be erased. Hold down the ctrl key, click and drag across the note to erase it. Only notes in the current channel are erased. (See also the delete tool below.

Selecting

Some actions require selecting a group of data-entry tubs from the pattern. Hold down the shift key while dragging with the left mouse button to draw a rectangle over the selected notes. Release the mouse button and Shift key to finalize the selection. To cancel a selection, right-click outside of it.

Transposing

Select a group of notes and use the ⬆️ and ⬇️ keys to transpose the notes up and down the scale. Hold down the Ctrl key while transposing to transpose without regard to the scale. Move the mouse to cancel transposition mode.

Setting Note Options

To view or change the instrument, volume, and/or effect options for an individual note, right-click on a note to open the note options menu. To edit the options for a group of notes, first select them and then right-click on a note in the selection to serve as the model note. Changes will only be applied to notes that are in the same channel as the model note and only the actual changes to the model note are applied to the selected notes. Any unchanged options from the model note are ignored.

Hover over the first icon and use the mouse wheel to change the note's instrument. The standard instruments are represented with the same waveform icons found in the SFX editor. Custom instruments are represented by the numbers 0 through 7.

The next icon is the effect icon. Use the mouse wheel to change the effect.

The third icon is the volume icon. Use the mouse wheel to set the volume. A note's volume cannot be set to zero with the note options menu; erase or delete the note instead.

Click on the last icon, the speaker, to listen to the selected note(s) in the current channel. (See also playback.)

To close the note option menu, cancel the selection by right-clicking outside of the selection.

To see the current options for a note without opening the note menu, hover over the note with the cursor.

Toolbar

Right-click in the left margin to toggle the toolbar on or off.

Channel Tool

Each channel cursor has default attack, sustain, and release options for instrument, volume, and effect. When drawing a note, the attack settings are applied to the first tub of note, release settings to the last tub, and sustain settings to any tubs in between. To change the default note options for the current channel cursor, select a contiguous group of tubs from the current channel to use as a model. Then, click the channel tool to assign attack, sustain, and release settings to the channel based on the selected notes. The instrument, volume, and effect settings from the first tub in the selection is used for the attack, the last tub settings for the release, and the second tub settings for the sustain. To set all four channels to the same set of defaults, hold down the shift key while clicking on the channel tool.

Clicking the channel tool without a selected group of notes, reveals the SFX options menu for the current channel and music pattern. Hover over the menu items to reveal the settings and scroll the mouse wheel to change them. Setting changes are applied immediately to the current channel displayed by the channel icon.

The noiz and buzz filter icons are on/off switches. A switch is off when it is slid to the left and on when slid to the right. The detune, reverb, dampen filter icons are three way switches. The left position indicates no effect, the right position indicates moderate effect, and a completely filled switch indicates maximum effect.

The metronome icon indicates the SFX spd setting and the brackets icon indicates the SFX len setting.

To change settings for all the SFXs associated with the current pattern (instead of just the SFX associated with the current channel,) hold down the shift key while adjusting a setting.

To apply the current channel's SFX settings to the same channel's SFXs in all the patterns from the current pattern through the end of the tune, click the end icon in the settings menu. You will hear a confirmation "bloop" to let you know the settings have been applied. To apply all the channels' SFX setting to all the patterns from the current pattern through the end of the tune, hold down the shift key while clicking the end icon.

Copy Tool

Select a group of notes and click the copy icon to copy the notes for stamping. The cursor automatically changes to the repetition/transposition stamp. Ctrl-C may also be used to copy.

Stamp Tools

Click one of the stamp icons to stamp with previously copied notes. The stamps are, from top to bottom: repetition/transposition, inversion, retrograde, and retrograde inversion.

Move the mouse to position the stamp pattern. Note intervals automatically adjust to the scale you are currently using. Hold down the Ctrl key while stamping to ignore the current scale and stamp chromatically. Left-click to place notes. If you click near the left or right margin, any notes that do not fit the current music pattern will spill into the previous or next pattern.

Optionally, scroll the mouse wheel before stamping to change which channel(s) the notes are assigned to.

Right-click anywhere in the music pattern to cancel stamp mode and return to draw mode.

Insert Tool

To insert empty data-entry tubs in the current music pattern, draw a selection rectangle from the desired insertion point to the desired width of the inserted space. Left-click the insert icon to push notes right from the insertion point to the end tune by the width of the selection. Right-click the insert icon to limit inserting to the current channel.

For this tool the selection height has no meaning, only the selection width. There must be space in the music patterns for the shifted notes to flow into. Otherwise, notes at the end of the composition will be lost. Also, if some channels are muted downstream of the current music pattern, the notes in some channels may be stopped from shifting while continuing to shift for unmuted channels. Take care that you know the structure of your composition and that you understand how the notes will flow prior to using insert.

The Insert key may be used instead of left-clicking the insert icon.

Cut Tool

To cut notes from a music pattern, Select a group of notes and left-click the cut icon. The selected notes are copied and ready for stamping with any of the stamp tools. The notes to the right of the cut section are shifted left to replace the cut section. For this tool, the selection height only applies to the notes copied for stamping and otherwise has no meaning. Right-click the cut tool to limit cutting to the current channel.

Ctrl-X may also be used be used left-clicking the cut icon.

Delete Tool

Select a group of notes and click the delete icon to delete them. You may also press the Delete key. (See also erasing notes.)

Scale Dial

By default PICO DAW shows staff lines for the Natural C Major scale. To select a different scale, hover over the scale dial and scroll the mouse wheel. To shift the scale mode, hover over the scale dial and hold down the Shift key while scrolling the mouse wheel. To change the tonic, hover over the scale dial and hold down the Ctrl key while scrolling the mouse wheel.

To create a custom scale, draw a group of ascending notes with the current channel cursor to represent the custom scale and select them. Then left-click the scale dial icon. The new scale is added to the scale dial tool and the staff lines are updated to reflect the new scale.

Chord Tool

Hover over the chord icon and scroll the mouse wheel to change the chord number. The root of the chord is displayed as a dotted line. (When the chord number is set to I, the root of the chord and the tonic are the same. So, the chord icon may also be used to highlight the tonic.)

Press the 3, 5, and/or 7 keys to toggle on display of the 3rd, 5th, and/or 7th intervals. Press the keys again to toggle them off.

Press shift-3 repeatedly to rotate between display the major, minor, or scale third interval.

Press shift-5 repeatedly to rotate between display the diminished, perfect, augmented or scale fifth interval.

Press shift-7 repeatedly to display the major, minor, or scale seventh interval.

Click the chord icon to toggle interval highlighting on and off as a group.

Measure Tool

Click the measure icon (whole note symbol) to toggle measure markers on and off. By default there are 4 measures of eight notes per music pattern.

To change the measure width, select a group of data-entry tubs equal to the width of the new measure and click the measure icon. It's usually best to do this on the first music pattern of the tune and select tub zero through the desired width.

Subdivision Tool

Click the subdivision icon (quarter note symbol) to display subdivision markers when the measure markers are displayed. Click the icon again to toggle off the subdivision markers.

To change the subdivision width, select a group of data-entry tubs equal to the width of the new subdivision and click the subdivision icon.

The measure will be divided as evenly as possible with any remainder appearing as the width of the last subdivision. You may adjust the width of individual subdivisions by holding down the Alt key. (This is helpful for odd meters and swing rhythms.) The cursor will change to the divider icon. Move the mouse over a subdivider (lavender dots), and drag with the left mouse button to resize the subdivision. Individual subdivisions cannot be deleted. Instead, change the number of subdivisions by changing the width.

Play Tool

To listen to your composition, left-click the play icon. To record, right-click the play button. The composition will play from the current music pattern to the last music pattern for the tune. If recording, a wave file will be created on the computer's desktop.

Select a group of notes prior to clicking the play icon to limit playback to the selection.

The Spacebar may also be used instead of the playback icon.

Stop Tool

To stop playback, click the stop icon or press Spacebar.

Snowblowers

Wed, 11 Dec 2024 12:33:47 UTC

snowblowers

by bikibird

[Click to Play]

Old Man Winter and Santa Claus have been feuding all year. It started with yard signs and then things escalated. Now OMW is blowing up a big storm on Christmas Eve!

You, Jack Frost, must blow away the snow so that Santa can get out and make his deliveries.

Controls

Controls are simple. Just use 🅾️ (Z key on computer keyboard) to blow a puff air. This propels jack backward and changes the air currents to redirect the snow, hopefully away from Santa's house.

Credits

Art, SFX, music and coding by @bikibird
with easing functions borrowed from https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=40577
and tline rotation borrowed from https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=38548.

Special thanks to @NarcolepticFrog, @dredds, @ericb, and @freds72 for playtesting and advice.

This cart is part of the 2024 Advent Calendar. Be sure to check out all the great games in this year's calendar.

Recruiting Elves for 2024 Advent Calendar

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 17:30:41 UTC

Good news! After intensive labor negotiations, Santa's elves have decided not to go on strike. In an effort to meet the elves' demands for less stress and more fun, management has agreed to start the PICO-8 Advent Calendar Bundle a few weeks earlier than normal and manage the project with a game jam on Itch. We're hoping to get far more participants than last year and streamline the onboarding process. Please don your elf cap and join us. https://itch.io/jam/pico-8-advent-calendar-2024

Album Cart for Free Music Jam

Thu, 01 Feb 2024 00:28:01 UTC

Album Cart for PICO-8 Free Music Jam

by bikibird

[Click to Play]

Album is a collection of music visualizers for the PICO-8 Free Music Jam. Just add your music, cover art, and a little bit of meta-data to make your own album.

Controls

Press ⬆️ to dismiss the credit for the tune.
Press ⬇️ to see the credit.
Press ⬅️ to listen to the previous tune.
Press ➡️ to listen to the next tune.
Press ❎ or 🅾️ to replay a tune.

Suggested workflow

From the PICO-8 console load #album.
Save the album under a new name to make it yours.
Create your music in the cart or manually copy the SFXes and music pattern from another cart.
Replace the cover art and label.
import my_image.png for album cover.
import -l my_image.png for cart label.
Select the code editor and navigate to tab 2: tunes.
Fill out the data in the tunes table, adding one entry per tune.
If you are using custom instruments, navigate to tab 3 to add transposition data
Save the cart.
Run the cart to see and hear your music!

Customization

Cover Art

Be default, your sprite sheet is your cover art. The cart uses map(0,0) to draw the cover art. This area of the map is occupied by the entire sprite sheet. By editing the map you can assemble a different cover based on elements of the sprite sheet if you prefer.

Properties

At a bare minimum, each entry in the tunes table must have the following properties defined: pattern, title, credit and visualizer:

{
        pattern=0,  --music pattern number to play
        title="title of tune", -- tune title
        credit="me",
        visualizer=cover, 
},

The choices for visualizer are bubble, cover, harp, piano_roll, ripples, and stars. (If you are good at coding, you can add some new ones!)

Additional properties may be used to customize the look:

{
        pattern=0,  --music pattern number to play
        title="title of tune", 
        credit="me",
        visualizer=piano_roll,
        text=12,
        outline={13,13},
        background=-1, -- for map(0,0) or color 0 through 15
        palette={[0]=0,130,141,13,12,140,1,131,3,139,11,138,135,10,9,137},
        foreground={10,10,10,10},
},

Set text to a color number, 0 through 15, to set the color of title and credit text. Defaults to 7. Supported by all visualizers.

set outline to a table of two colors, for example outline={6,6} to set the left and right outlines of the text. Defaults to {1,1}. Supported by all visualizers. outline also sets the shadow colors in the bubble, ripples, piano_roll visualizers. To omit the outline, set outline to {-1,-1}.

Set background to -1 to use the cover art in the background or to a color number to select a solid color. background defaults to black. Supported by all visualizers

Set palette to specify a custom palette for all draw operations. Defaults to PICO-8 standard palette. Supported by all visualizers. Harp visualizer expects colors 4 through 15 to form a color gradient. For example: palette={[0]=0,130,141,13,12,140,1,131,3,139,11,138,135,10,9,137} causes consonant note pairs to appear close in color, with more dissonant notes creating more visual contrast.

Set foreground to a table of 4 colors representing the 4 audio channels. For example: foreground={8,8,8,8} displays each channel in red. Defaults to light blue for ripples and red for piano_roll. Supported by piano_roll and ripples visualizers only.

You can change where the notes appear on the screen using two properties, offset and spacing. The visualizer code converts the pitches to numeric values between 0 and 64. Each successive value is one half-step (semitone) apart. C0 maps to zero and D#5 maps to 64. offset is the number of half-steps to add to the pitch value for display purposes. (It does not affect how the pitch is played.) Use a negative value to shift left and a positive value to shift right. In the case of stars and ripples every multiple of 8 shifts the display up or down by full rows.

spacing is the factor by which to multiply the pitch value for display purposes. Values greater than 1 will spread the pitch display apart. Values less than 1 will compress them. piano_roll and harp defaults to a spacing of 2. stars and ripples default to 16. Using a value of 8 for stars, will cause the night sky to appear in the top half of the screen only. Using a value of 8 for ripples will cause the puddles to appear in the bottom half of the screen.

Clever use of spacing and offset allows for optimal placement of the notes on top of your cover art.

Custom Instruments

If you are using custom instruments that transpose the pitch being played, the pitch display will be incorrect by default. You may correct this by clicking on tab three in the code editor to edit the instruments table. Enter the number of half-steps (negative or positive) to transpose the display pitch value for each custom instrument you are using.

Record Function

A record function is included for your convenience. To record a tune, enter record(pattern, repeats, fadeout) in the PICO-8 console, where pattern is the starting pattern number of your tune, repeats is the number of times to repeat a looping tune, and fadeout is the number of milliseconds to fade out a loop after is done repeating. repeats defaults to 2 and fadeout defaults to 5000. The wave file should appear on your desktop after recording is complete.

Credits

Visualizers by @bikibird
Label Art by @paraK00PA
Record function based on code by @packbat

To credit this cart when used in your own work add this statement wherever you list the credits for your project:

Visualizers provided courtesy of the PICO-8 Free Music Jam.

Polar Distress

Sat, 23 Dec 2023 15:15:30 UTC

Polar Distress

by bikibird

[Click to Play]

Help Santa pass his audition with the Norse Ursine Merriment Band.

Hints:

Credits:

Created for the PICO-8 Holiday Bundle 2023
Label Art by @paraK00PA
Jingle Bells by James Lord Pierpont
We Wish You a Merry Christmas popularized by Arthur Warrell
Everything else by @bikibird

PICO-8 Advent Calendar

Sun, 01 Oct 2023 15:04:09 UTC

ZOMG! I just realized it's October already! The PICO-8 advent calendar is just around the corner. Or, maybe not... We're still looking for tons more people to contribute a winter holiday themed PICO-8 project to the calendar. It doesn't have to be an epic masterpiece. Small games and demos are welcome. You can even reskin a game you previously released.

If you're interested, make sure you've joined the PICO-8 Discord server and then see https://discord.com/channels/215267007245975552/220602714982318081/1146905525158682665 for info on how to contribute, cuz we sure need you.

Music Theory Tutorial

Sat, 02 Sep 2023 12:10:52 UTC

I've released the first thirteen lessons of my music theory tutorial, available here: https://bikibird.itch.io/music-theory. It's designed for people who want to make their own music for PICO-8 games, but feel they don't have the skill or talent to do so.

The tutorial provides an introduction to the basics of pitch, melody, harmony, rhythm and composition within the context of PICO-8. It explores music in a decidedly mathy way through a series of interactive demos that use spatial relations to connect sound to vision.

Only the parts of music theory that are relevant to PICO-8 are covered. No prior knowledge of music is assumed. There's no reading sheet music or needing to play an instrument.

Puffy Coats

Sun, 18 Dec 2022 05:05:51 UTC

Puffy Coats

by bikibird

[Click to Play]

You were so excited to try your brand new skates on Christmas day that you skated out to the middle of the lake without checking the ice conditions. Now you are on thin ice and just want to get back to your friend on the shore.

Game Play

Control your skates with the left and right buttons. Alternate left and right to speed up. Hold to turn. You haven't exactly learned to stop yet, but if you start turning circles, you will eventually slow down. You can walk on the snow, but it is very slow.

Credits:

Music composed by Vince Guaraldi
Christmas Time Is Here arranged by @Gruber
3d effects: @Mot's Instant 3d Plus Library
Special thanks to @thattomhall for advice on the ending
Everything else by @bikibird

Created for the 2022 Advent Calendar

Santa Scouts

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 04:53:45 UTC

Santa Scouts

by bikibird

[Click to Play]

This is the year you find out if Santa is really real. You and your siblings are staying up late to finally get proof. The light are out, but you're not scared!

Game Play

Requires mouse. Hold down left mouse button to turn on flashlight. Drag mouse across screen to catch Santa in the act. Press ❎ to snap a picture.

Credits

Up on the Housetop composed by Benjamin Hanby
Midilib flute by @ericb https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=49487
Flashlight effect informed by @Krystman https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=46286
Fizzle fader borrowed from @DrPete https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=29862
Everything else by @bikibird

Created for the 2022 Advent Calendar

WARNING: SPOILERS IN COMMENTS. SCROLL AT YOUR OWN RISK.

*
WARNING: SPOILERS IN COMMENTS. SERIOUSLY, GO BACK.

*
WARNING: SPOILERS IN COMMENTS. WELL, YOU CAN'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU.

WARNING: SPOILERS IN COMMENTS. HERE THEY COME.

Speako8 Speech Synthesis Library

Tue, 30 Aug 2022 19:14:15 UTC

Speako8

by bikibird

[Click to Play]

Add speech synthesis to your games with Speako8, a speech synthesis library for PICO-8 in under a thousand tokens! It's loosely based on a Klatt synthesizer and will remind some folks of Software Automatic Mouth (S.A.M.)

To add Speako8 to your games, copy and paste the library below:

Speako8's voice must be configured prior to first use:

function _init()
spk8_pitch,spk8_rate,spk8_volume,spk8_quality,spk8_intonation,spk8_if0,spk8_shift,spk8_bandwidth,spk8_whisper=
140,1,1,.5,10,10,1,1,1
end

Warning: This application may generate loud and harsh sounds. Protect your hearing! Do not test with headphones on and turn down the volume.

Variable	Range	Explanation
spk8_pitch	60-230	Fundamental pitch of voice (F0) in hertz
spk8_rate	.1-2	Standard rate of speech divisor— below 1 is slower; above 1 is faster.
spk8_volume	.1-2	Standard volume factor— below 1 is quieter; above 1 is louder.
spk8_quality	.1-2	Glottis open period— below .5 is creakier voice; .5 is modal voice; 1 is breathy voice; above 1 is weaker voice.
spk8_intonation	0-20	Degree of pitch prosody in hertz— set to zero for robotic monotone.
spk8_if0	0-20	Degree to which the inherent pitch (F0) of vowels varies (in hertz)— set to zero for robotic monotone.
spk8_shift	.8-1.2	Factor by which to shift formant frequencies (F1, F2, F3)— above raises formant frequencies; below one lowers
spk8_bandwidth	.5-5	Factor by which to alter bandwidth of formant frequencies (F1, F2, F3)— below 1 narrows the bandwidth of the formants; above 1 widens. When formants are shifted upward, it is recommended to widen bandwidths as well.
spk8_whisper	1 or 2	Speaking mode— Normal voice is 1; whispering is 2.

To enable speech synthesis, you must call speako8 in the _update function. Then call say with a speech string:

function _update() 

  speako8()  -- must appear once unconditionally in _update.

  if btnp(5) then --❎ button
    -- use speaking if you want to check if anything is currently being said.
    -- if not speaking() then
    say("_/hh/-1.57/eh/-1.07/l/-1.33/3/ow/-1.03/-3/w/1.27/-3/er/1.65/-3/l/-1.64/-3/_/d")
    -- end
  elseif btnp(4) then -- 🅾️ button
    mute()  --flushes the sound queue and immediately stops whatever is currently being said.
  end
end

Speech strings represent text phonetically and include prosody markup. The easiest way to create and test them is with the Declare web app. You can also try out different voice options with it.

If you are interested in learning more about speech synthesis, try googling these key words: Klatt synthesizer, formant, acoustic phonetics. It's a fascinating topic. An unminimized version of the library is included in the demo cart.

Special thanks to the gang on the Discord server for lending me their ears and keeping me motivated, especially @packbat, who did it for science. Thanks also to @IMLXH for finding the Klatt prosody rules.

Defy: PCM Boombox and Audio String Library

Wed, 23 Mar 2022 21:56:25 UTC

Defy: PCM Boombox and Audio String Library

by bikibird

[Click to Play]

Defy Audio Player

The Defy Audio Player plays Defy formatted audio files via PICO-8's PCM channel. It's a PCM boombox! You can also use it to create binary strings of audio data for playback in your own cartridges.

Convert almost any audio file format to .defy here: https://bikibird.itch.io/defy.

This cart is intended to run in PICO-8, not play on the BBS, which is limited to a maximum files size of 250K. Instead, open PICO-8 and enter load #defy. Then enter run.

Controls

Drag and drop your .defy file onto PICO-8 to play it. You do not have to wait for a file to finish before loading another.
Press 🅾️ (z key) to pause playback. Press it again to resume.
Press ⬅️ or ➡️ to switch visualizers.
Press ⬆️ to eject and stop playback.
Press ⬇️ to display title and format.
Press ❎ to record binary string. If you press record prior to playing the file, Defy will start recording it as soon as the file is dropped. The binary string is copied to your computer's clipboard.

Audio String Player

The library below plays Defy formatted audio strings. For support for @luchak's QPA formatted audio strings see https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=53933 and https://github.com/luchak/qpa-format/.

Warning: Be careful testing new audio strings. Playback with a mismatched playback mode sounds terrible. Do not test with headphones. Protect your hearing.

When record is pressed, the first 32,000 bytes of audio data are copied to the clipboard as a binary string during playback. Use the code below in your own carts to play the binary string. Be aware that only a few seconds of audio will fit in a cart. If the captured string contains too much data, you may truncate it. One second of audio equates to approximately 5500, 2250, 1840, 1125, and 690 characters for 8, 4, 2.6, 2, and 1 bit formats respectively.

Paste the library below into a new cart.
To save tokens, delete defy_play functions for any unused bit formats

do  --defy audio string library by bikibird
	local buffer=0x8000  -- required all formats
	local clips={}  -- required all formats
	local cued  -- required all formats

	-- locals required for 4, 2.6, 2, and 1 bit formats below

	local step, new_sample, ad_index,c,direction 
	local index_table = {[0]=-1,-1,-1,-1,2,4,6,8,-1,-1,-1,-1,2,4,6,8} 
	local step_table ={7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 28, 31, 34, 37, 41, 45, 50, 55, 60, 66, 73, 80, 88, 97, 107, 118,130, 143, 157, 173, 190, 209, 230, 253, 279, 307, 337, 371, 408, 449, 494, 544, 598, 658, 724, 796, 876, 963, 1060, 1166, 1282, 1411, 1552, 1707, 1878, 2066, 2272, 2499, 2749, 3024, 3327, 3660, 4026, 4428, 4871, 5358, 5894, 6484, 7132, 7845, 8630, 9493, 10442, 11487, 12635, 13899, 15289, 16818, 18500, 20350, 22385, 24623, 27086, 29794, 32767}
	local adpcm=function(sample,bits) --adapted from http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~hgs/audio/dvi/IMA_ADPCM.pdf
		if bits >1 then	
			local delta=0
			local temp_step =step
			local sign = sample &(1<<(bits-1)) --hi bit of sample convert to 4 bit
			local magnitude =(sample & (sign-1))<<(4-bits)  -- convert sample to 4 bit
			sign <<=(4-bits) -- convert sign to 4 bit 8==negative 0== positive
			local mask = 4
			for i=1,3 do
				if (magnitude & mask >0) then
					delta+=temp_step
				end
				mask >>>= 1
				temp_step >>>= 1	
			end
			if sign> 0 then  -- negative magnitude
				if new_sample < -32768+delta then 
					new_sample = -32768
				else	
					new_sample-=delta
				end
			else  -- positive magnitude
				if new_sample >32767-delta then
					new_sample =32767
				else
					new_sample +=delta
				end
			end	
			ad_index += index_table[sign+magnitude]
		else --1-bit
			if sample==1 then  -- negative
				if new_sample < -32768+step then 
					new_sample = -32768
				else	
					new_sample-=step
				end
			else  -- positive 
				if new_sample >32767-step then
					new_sample =32767
				else
					new_sample +=step
				end
			end	
			if sample==direction then --if direction same, try larger step. if changed, try smaller step
				ad_index+=1
			else
				ad_index-=1
				direction =sample
			end	
		end	
		if ad_index < 1 then 
			ad_index = 1
		elseif (ad_index > #step_table) then
			ad_index = #step_table
		end	
		step = step_table[ad_index]
		return new_sample\256+128
	end	
	defy_load=function(clip) -- required all formats
		add(clips,{clip=clip,start=1,endpoint=#clip, index=1, loop=false, done=false}) 
	end
	local cued=false -- required all formats
	defy_cue=function(clip_number,start,endpoint,looping)  --required all formats
		clips[clip_number].start=start or clips[clip_number].start
		clips[clip_number].index=clips[clip_number].start
		clips[clip_number].endpoint=endpoint or #clips[clip_number].clip
		clips[clip_number].loop=looping or false
		clips[clip_number].done=false
		step, new_sample, ad_index,delta,direction=7,0,0,0,0
		cued=clip_number
	end	
	defy_play=
	{	
		[8]=function()  -- 8 bit format
			if cued and not clips[cued].done then
				while stat(108)<1536 do
					for i=0,511 do
						poke (buffer+i,ord(clips[cued].clip,clips[cued].index))
						clips[cued].index+=1
						if (clips[cued].index>clips[cued].endpoint) then
							if (clips[cued].loop) then
								clips[cued].index=clips[cued].start
							else
								serial(0x808,buffer,i+1)
								clips[cued].done=true
								return
							end
						end
					end
					serial(0x808,buffer,512)
				end
			end
		end,
		[4]=function() -- 4 bit format
			if cued and not clips[cued].done then
				while stat(108)<1536 do
					for i=0,255 do
						c=ord(clips[cued].clip,clips[cued].index)
						poke (buffer+i*2,adpcm((c&0xf0)>>>4,4),adpcm(c&0x0f,4))
						clips[cued].index+=1
						if (clips[cued].index>clips[cued].endpoint) then
							if (clips[cued].loop) then
								clips[cued].index=clips[cued].start
							else
								serial(0x808,buffer,i+1)
								clips[cued].done=true
								return 
							end
						end
					end
					serial(0x808,buffer,512)
				end
			end
		end,
		[3]=function() -- 3 bit format
			if cued and not clips[cued].done then
				while stat(108)<1536 do
					for i=0,170 do
						c=ord(clips[cued].clip,clips[cued].index)
						poke(buffer+i*3, adpcm((c>>>5)&0x07,3), adpcm((c>>>2)&0x07,3), adpcm(c&0x03,2,true))
						clips[cued].index+=1
						if (clips[cued].index>clips[cued].endpoint) then
							if (clips[cued].loop) then
								clips[cued].index=clips[cued].start
							else
								serial(0x808,buffer,i+1)
								clips[cued].done=true
								return 
							end
						end
					end
					serial(0x808,buffer,510)
				end
			end
		end,
		[2]=function() -- 2 bit format
			if cued and not clips[cued].done then
				while stat(108)<1536 do
					for i=0,128 do
						c=ord(clips[cued].clip,clips[cued].index)
						poke(buffer+i*4, adpcm((c>>>6)&0x03,2), adpcm((c>>>4)&0x03,2), adpcm((c>>>2)&0x03,2), adpcm(c&0x03,2))
						clips[cued].index+=1
						if (clips[cued].index>clips[cued].endpoint) then
							if (clips[cued].loop) then
								clips[cued].index=clips[cued].start
							else
								serial(0x808,buffer,i+1)
								clips[cued].done=true
								return 
							end
						end
					end
					serial(0x808,buffer,512)
				end
			end
		end,
		[1]=function() -- 1 bit format
			if cued and not clips[cued].done then
				while stat(108)<1536 do
					for i=0,64 do
						c=ord(clips[cued].clip,clips[cued].index)
						poke(buffer+i*8, adpcm((c>>>7)&1,1), adpcm((c>>>6)&1,1), adpcm((c>>>5)&1,1), adpcm((c>>>4)&1,1), adpcm((c>>>3)&1,1), adpcm((c>>>2)&1,1), adpcm((c>>>1)&1,1),adpcm(c&1,1))
						clips[cued].index+=1
						if (clips[cued].index>clips[cued].endpoint) then
							if (clips[cued].loop) then
								clips[cued].index=clips[cued].start
							else
								serial(0x808,buffer,i+1)
								clips[cued].done=true
								return 
							end
						end
					end
					serial(0x808,buffer,512)
				end
			end
		end
	}	
	function eject()  -- required all formats
		clips[cued].done=true
	end
end

Record some audio in the Defy Player. Once the binary string is created, playback will pause while the binary string is copied to the clipboard and then resume
In _init() add one or more load statements to add your audio clips to the clip table. Turn on puny font by pressing ctrl-p before pasting your string. Failing to do so will corrupt the string and distort the audio.

function _init()
 defy_load"my audio string" --Turn on puny font (ctrl-p) before pasting!!!
end

The cue function must be called before your audio string may be played. Cue your clip in the _update function. Use whatever logic you would use when using sfx(). Cue may also be called with additional parameters: defy_cue(clip_number,start,endpoint,looping). start and endpoint are indexes into the string. looping is a boolean.
Add a playback mode in _update, defy_play[format](). Where format is 8, 4, 3, 2, or 1, corresponding to 8-bit, 4-bit, 2.6-bit, 2-bit, or 1-bit.

function _update()
	if (btnp(4)) then
	  defy_cue(1)  -- cues clip 1 for play from beginning to end, no looping.
	end
	defy_play[4]() -- play back of 4-bit audio string.   called unconditionally in _update.
end

Use defy_eject(clip_number) to end a clip early or stop a looping clip.

Acknowledgements

Thank you, @luchak and @packbat, for all your sound advice. Thank you, @luchak for the antialiasing filter. Thank you, @Gabe_8_bit for feedback and your fancy oscilloscope code. It formed the basis of the simpler oscilloscope that was ultimately included. Thank you, @LazarevGaming, et al, for testing and feedback.

Lektrik Sportz Game

Sat, 26 Feb 2022 21:38:23 UTC

Lektrik Sportz Game

by bikibird

[Click to Play]

Lektrik Sportz Game

A Captain Neat-o Adventure

Let's get one thing straight. This is not Electric Football™. Doctor Lamento destroyed the football years ago because, you know, he's evil. But, I get ahead of myself. This is the story of Captain Neat-o who is far from home and falls into the clutches of Doctor Lamento.

The evil Doctor forces our hero to face off against his most formidable opponent, Neat-o himself, in a spectacle the Doctor calls Lektrik Sportz Game (because he can't spell and, you know, he's evil.)

Game Play

Run from one end of the field to the other while avoiding your opponents. You should make it home in under 5 minutes. Don't fall off.

Your teammates can help block the opponents and you can set their overall direction and confrontation style in the strategy session.

If you are using a keyboard to play, use the X key to advance to the next screen/teammate and the Z key to switch modes in the strategy session. Arrow keys select options, set direction, and move teammates.

The visiting team's strategy is randomly generated, but set for a single day. Learn their strategy over multiple plays and eventually defeat them in a single down! Then, come back tomorrow and play a new challenge.

Poetry Corner (Spoilers)

Credits

All assets used in the making of this game are courtesy of Toy Box Jam 3. I borrowed @Mot's Instant 3D Plus! library and hacked it a bit to get an additional camera angle. All other code, the poetry, and the idea for this adventure are my own.

Christmas Sneks 2: Home for The Holidays

Sat, 25 Dec 2021 01:41:37 UTC

Christmas Sneks 2: Home for The Holidays

by bikibird

[Click to Play]

This is the story of a hard working Christmas elf. I was never told their name. I call them Blinky. They had one last task to complete late one Christmas Eve: String some lights, plug them in, and connect them to the finial atop the tree. Easy for a smart elf like Blinky. Too bad they never finished that electrician's course...

Game Play

Connect the loose bulbs by touching them with the exposed wire from the light string. Loose bulbs are always safe, but if the string is connected to power and you touch the string to itself, some of the bulbs will explode. Electricity is powerful, but dangerous. Be careful with it.

There are three possible endings and eleven achievements to earn.

Controls

Press the Z key to disconnect the light string to/from the power outlet.

Press the X key to disconnect the light string to/from the finial.

Arrow keys set the direction of travel. If you wander off screen you will hear warning notes. Come back before you wander too far.

Denote: MIDI File Demake Tool

Thu, 24 Jun 2021 22:48:44 UTC

I made a web-based tool for extracting and converting MIDI file data to be played in PICO-8. It's nicely interactive and includes a PICO-8 console built into the page so that you can audition the results before you copy the SFX data. Give Denote a try and let me know what you think.

Accidental Musical Composition

Wed, 16 Jun 2021 17:26:42 UTC

So, I've been working on a web based MIDI to PICO-8 converter for a while now. It was going pretty well, but today I introduced a bug, which totally corrupted the SFX data. The input was the traditional melody, Ghost Of John. The output was this:

[sfx]

Surprisingly, I like the way it sounds. I guess I composed some original music here, but it was completely accidental. I guess if you make enough mistakes, some of them are bound to turn out ok.

Now I just need to figure out what kind of game goes with this soundtrack. Any suggestions? Feel free to use this in your own projects if it fits.

Iris Effect Coroutine

Sun, 16 May 2021 23:58:15 UTC

circularthinking

by bikibird

[Click to Play]

In my last game, I included an iris effect to transition between two scenes. I used the midpoint circle algorithm to calculate the edges of the iris. This algo avoids trig and square root functions and so is super fast. Even at 60 frames a second, there's no lag. I decided to make a more generalized version, implemented as a coroutine. I hope you find it useful for your projects.

To use:

Copy the iris function from the cartridge above into your own cartridge.
When it's time for a transition, assign the coroutine to a variable in your update function: effect = cocreate(iris)
In the draw function, call the coroutine: coresume(effect, 1, 128, 1, 15)

The parameters for the coroutine are starting radius, ending radius, step, and color. A positive step indicates by how much to open the iris on each frame. A negative step indicates a shrinking iris. See the code for examples.

Ice Cream Clouds

Thu, 22 Apr 2021 00:31:37 UTC

Ice Cream Clouds

by bikibird

[Click to Play]

Straight from the laboratory of Professor von Stroopwafel is a modest proposal to solve global climate change. Enjoy a lighthearted romp through a speculative future. It even has bells and whistles. Happy Earth Day, everyone.

Game Play

Catch falling scoops of ice cream and toppings to fulfill as many orders as possible before the timer runs out.

Controls

Press the X key to advance to the next screen.

Left and right keys move the cone.

Use the Z key at any time to see the ice cream order. Press Z again to dismiss it. The timer is always running so try not to look at the order too long or too often.

Bicycle/Ice Cream Bell

Sun, 04 Apr 2021 15:12:17 UTC

I'm working on an SFX that is supposed to sound like a bicycle bell, well actually an ice cream bell. Here's what I have so far:

[sfx]

Do you find it convincing? Do you have advice on making it better? If you have a better SFX of a bicycle or ice cream bell ding, please share.

Depict: Image Demake Tool

Mon, 01 Feb 2021 01:14:16 UTC

I made an image demake tool for PICO-8. Load any image and create a dithered image that uses PICO-8 standard colors and/or hidden colors and is reduced to a maximum width and height of 128 x128. Depict supports Ordered, Atkinson, Floyd-Steinberg, and Sierra2 dithering as well as some artistic dithers: Rivers, Streets, Rain, Wind. Drag and drop the final result into the PICO-8 sprite sheet. Free on itch: Depict

All feedback welcomed.

Mix and match standard and hidden colors, but do do not exceed 16.

Rivers dither adds horizontal ripples.

Streets dither creates maze-like artifacts.

Rain dither makes vertical steaks.

Wind dither produces slashes.

Atkinson Dither

Ordered Dither

No Dither

Christmas Sneks 1

Fri, 25 Dec 2020 20:17:53 UTC

Christmas Sneks 1: Into the Woods

by bikibird

[Click to Play]

My first Pico-8 game. Entered in Toy Box Jam 2020.

Tis the season to sing carols, drink nog, and decorate the night with Christmas sneks.

Press an arrow key to change the direction of the snek and connect bulbs to the live wire at the front of the snek to light them up. Build a long snek or a short snek. Ride the high speed rail to get around faster.

This is a mellow game with no set goals, but beware! If you touch the live wire to the snek you will create a short circuit!

When you are happy with your snek, press X to go to the forest and plant a tree decorated with your snek. Then go build another snek so you can plant another tree.

Merry Christmas and may 2021 bring you only good things.

bikibird [Lexaloffle Blog Feed]

PICO DAW

Quick Start Guide

Preliminaries

Saving

Navigating

Undoing and Redoing

Drawing Notes

Erasing Notes

Selecting

Transposing

Setting Note Options

Toolbar

Channel Tool

Copy Tool

Stamp Tools

Insert Tool

Cut Tool

Delete Tool

Scale Dial

Chord Tool

Measure Tool

Subdivision Tool

Play Tool

Stop Tool

Snowblowers

Controls

Credits

Recruiting Elves for 2024 Advent Calendar

Album Cart for Free Music Jam

Controls

Suggested workflow

Customization

Cover Art

Properties

Custom Instruments

Record Function

Credits

Polar Distress

PICO-8 Advent Calendar

Music Theory Tutorial

Puffy Coats

Game Play

Credits:

Santa Scouts

Game Play

Credits

Speako8 Speech Synthesis Library

Defy: PCM Boombox and Audio String Library

Defy Audio Player

Controls

Audio String Player

Acknowledgements

Lektrik Sportz Game

Lektrik Sportz Game

A Captain Neat-o Adventure

Game Play

Poetry Corner (Spoilers)

The Story So Far

The End?

Credits

Christmas Sneks 2: Home for The Holidays

Game Play

Controls

Denote: MIDI File Demake Tool

Accidental Musical Composition

Iris Effect Coroutine

Ice Cream Clouds

Game Play

Controls

Bicycle/Ice Cream Bell

Depict: Image Demake Tool

Christmas Sneks 1