I've found a way to use the Pico8 language server extension for VSCode while developing with Picotron.
This give you all the "Pico" style changes to Lua as recognized commands that don't throw errors, things like:
a += 1 if (something) action() a = b \ c |
There is some Picotron syntax which will show up as warnings (such as 'fetch' or 'window'), but this is the best we've got until a proper Picotron Lua language server extension is released.
To use it - install the pico8-ls extension by Pollywog Games in VSCode.
In Picotron open main.lua and enter the following:
cd("/projectname")
include ("src/filename1.lua")
include ("src/filename2.lua")
-- etc for every lua file |
Your source LUA files go in the Picotron drive (type 'folder' at the Picotron command prompt to open it)
in drive/projectname/src
Save your .p64 file into drive/projectname/projectname.p64
Lastly, to get the Pico8 language server to think this is a Pico8 game and to include all your Lua files, you create a .p8 file: drive/projectname/projectname.p8 and edit it in VSCode. It should look like this:
0 comments
"Mesa"
(291 chars)
q="2709432941253125412567758699"pal(9,-7,1)poke(24372,2)h=circfill::_::l=mid(0,8,cos(t()/6)*16)n=l>4and 9or 0m=n<9and 9or 0cls(m)h(63,63,48,n|6144)k=8-l for i=24,33+k*6do for x=23,30do line()for e=1,#q,4do line(q[e]*l+q[e+2]*k+x,q[e+1]*l+q[e+3]*k+i)end end end h(63,63,56,m|6144)flip()goto _ |
1 comment
"Tatami"
(269 chars)
::_::x=55e=0g=1n=1y=47a=0w=16h=8d=8cls(7)for i=0,97do
if(i>n)f=e%4+1g+=({0,1,-1,1})[f]x+=({-h,-h,h,w})[f]y+=({h,-w,-h,h})[f]a=({0,h,0,-h})[f]d=({-w,0,w,0})[f]n+=g e+=1w,h=h,w
x+=a
y+=d
ay=y+min(t()*99-i*84)rectfill(x,ay,x+w,ay+h,15)rect(x,ay,x+w,ay+h,9)end
flip()goto _
|
0 comments
"AKIRA"
(299 chars)
s="htlaeh rof doog bad for education"n=circfill::_::cls(8) q=t()for i=1,33do a=i/34+.02e=50+max(sin(q+i/90)*9) ?"\^o2ff"..(i<17and"\^t"or"\f8")..sub(s,i,i),63+cos(a)*e,63+sin(a)*e end for f=0,1do for i=0,18do a=sin(q)*9+sin(q/2)*i if(f<1)n(i+53,63+a,9,14-i\12*2) n(i+50,60+a,2,7)end end flip()goto _ |
1 comment
"Excelsior" the procession enunciates ad infinitum.
Somewhere among the arbitrary torrent, a match will be made.
(300 chars)
q={}for i=0,99do
e="-"for i=0,3do
e=chr(rnd(26)+97)..e..rnd(9)\1end
add(q,sub(e,2,9))end
f=0o=rrectfill::_::for i,f in ipairs(q)do
y=((i-1)*44-t()*8+44)%999-44x=23+cos(t()/2+i/4)*24o(x,y,79,40,2,9)o(x,y,79,18,2,1)ovalfill(x,12+y,78+x,22+y,9)
?"\^wnew york\n⁴r\^t\^wᶜ1"..f,x+8,3+y
end
f+=1flip()goto _
|
0 comments
[PICO-8] DROP - A Juicy Arcade Rain Catcher ☔
Hello PICO-8 Community! 👋
I'm excited to share my first complete project: DROP. It's a simple yet addictive arcade game where you play as a thirsty hero trying to catch water drops while dodging poison.
Features:
Juicy Gameplay: Screen shake, particles and freeze frames.
Dynamic Difficulty: The better you play, the faster it gets. Can you survive the storm?
Controls:
⬅️ / ➡️ : Move Left / Right
Z : Start / Retry
Technical Details: I built this engine to learn good practices in PICO-8 (OOP, Scene Management, Entity System). Hopefully, the code is readable for anyone looking to learn!
Credits:
0 comments
Hi, I recently came across Pico8 and found it to be a great introduction to game development for me. I wanted to familiarize myself with the console first and am currently developing a little memory game. I deliberately chose simple basic game mechanics so that I could focus on the technology and graphics, etc.
I think I'll expand the game mechanics a bit so that it's not quite as trivial as it is now.
Until then, I welcome any feedback and suggestions.
Update v0.2 - 14.02.2026
- Refactor mouse/gamepad support/recognition
- Adjusted level difficulty
0 comments
Houndstooth
v1.0.1
A Lua pattern tester and quick reference
What's it do?
Houndstooth allows you to quickly test Lua patterns for use in your code, and visualise how/if they match a given test string. Lua patterns allow you to do complex and flexible searches within strings (similar to regex), and can be a very useful tool - but can be a bit fiddly to get working and there aren't as many good tools as there are for regex.
Just type your pattern in the top text box, and the string you want to compare it to in the bottom text box, and Houndstooth with give each matching part of the string a colourful outline. Each seperate match gets its own outline. Each line is treated as a seperate test for purposes of ^ and $.
0 comments
I created this project specifically to learn Lua coding and get comfortable with the engine. It is currently a work in progress, and I plan to update it soon with new functionalities and features as I learn more.
Controls:
Arrow Keys: Move
Z: FireThanks for playing, and any feedback is welcome!
0 comments
I needed to finally finish a game so I whipped up something simple.
Chase the Circle before it shrinks away. Press X on the circle to catch it. You can only move the optimal amount of times to get to the circle. If you run out of moves you lose.
ayo!
EDIT; changed reset game button from X to O
2 comments
Backrooms level 2
This is a mod of Electricgryphon's game, credits to him.
The game isn't finished, I only modified the textures.
When I figure out how to modify the map, I'll make the complete version.
The link to the original game:Backrooms-0
0 comments
So here's my attempt at a small Tarot app!
pushing down reveals cards and pulls new cards from the deck.
pushing right switches to GERMAN, pushing left switches back to ENGLISH
pushing up shuffles the deck back together, which also happens when you run out of cards
added more sound effects and improved contrast, also now changed major arcana to be a different color scheme.
tweaked probabilities of reversed cards (made them a little less common).
0 comments
i completed the cave diver tutorial and this is a test post, don´t review this cartridge like you are ign, it´s not meant to be taken seriously
0 comments
Why did I create this?
As is tradition, the first game I have to make on a new(to me) platform is a simple space shooter game.
Funny enough, this ended up being the most polished one of all my implementations so far. While I lost interest quickly with other platforms, pico-8 is just too delightful to not finish the game properly <3
Credits
Art
By me but inspired by https://kenney.nl/assets/space-shooter-redux
SFX
By Gruber Music https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=64837
Music
By snabisch https://snabisch.itch.io/free-music-sequences-for-pico-8
1 comment
Nintendo Switch Cover Art
I made a custom cover for my game, The Mine, that fits in a Nintendo Switch game card case. It was pretty easy and didn't cost much, so I'd like to share.
How to make:
- If you don't already have a case to use, they are actually purchasable at this link.
- Download a template from here
- Use an image editing software like PhotoShop or Canva to replace some of the elements in the template. All I did was put rectangles over certain things to erase and write over them or to use a different color.
- Replace all of the Nintendo logos with the PICO-8/Voxatron/Picotron ones.
- Add text where it's needed. The fonts the template uses are MarkPro and Roboto.
1 comment
