Revision 1: Ditched sprite-based notefield frame; better background pattern; shrunk info panel due to lack of important things to put there; refined hitzone sprite code; general size/positioning adjustments
i can't think of how to write this so i'll just make bullet points because faeshnrfioujkgvle;nhs r
- Arrows + buttons will light up hitzones
- Aiming for 5-key era style
- Absolutely not final; suggestions are welcome
- Results screen has yet to be made
- Will definitely need help with logistics (i.e. handling keysounds with a 64 sfx limit) and songs once this is ironed out
- thanks
Previous version:
2 comments
X or C to continue.
Basically, I'm gonna release 4 projects at the same time.
PICO-8 Projects to be released:
-Oatmeal Adventure
-Scrolleste Upgrade
Scratch Projects to be released:
-Partnership
-Tile Platformer Creator
My Scratch Profile: https://scratch.mit.edu/users/ooooggll/
Also, look at this if you want: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/579006253/
Does anyone know if it's possible to run "splore" from inside a game? My situation right now is that I've got Pico8 up and running on my Emulation Station arcade machine, and I'm wondering if I could make a Splore program which opens splore at runtime.
Currently, I've got pico8 setup so that selecting a cart will run it with pico8, but there was another method that just runs pico8 with splore, but won't let you access your carts that are already loaded onto the machine.
Any help is appreciated!
Cheers, Leo
in my code I have a variable named "times" and I am trying to add one to that variable
I do so with:
times+=1 |
however it throws this strange error
syntax error line 12 (tab 2) times+=1 ')' expected near '=' |
my whole code is this:
function move_x(x,obj,flag)
local times=0
local my_x=obj.x
repeat
my_x+=x/abs(x)
if (collide(obj,flag))
then
times=abs(x)-1
end
times+=1
until (times = abs(x))
end |
plz help!
This is a modified version of my Stargate for pico8 to make it identical to its predecessor, Defender.
Controls :
X - Fire laser
O - Hyperspace
O while holding X - Smartbomb
About smartbombing pods : If you smartbomb pods when there are more than 2 pods in the level, the smartbomb will wipe out both the pods and swarmers at once. otherwise swarmers will survive !
Since there were tons of tokens left after removing stargate contents, I added scoreboard and various gameplay options :
Start lives - number of lives at start. number of smartbombs at start is lives+1.
Bonus at - the required score for extra live and smartbomb. 0 means no bonus at all.
Humanoids per planet - number of humanoids in each planet. 1 to 10.
Waves per planet - Number of waves until moving to the new planet. 0 means never moving to new planet.
Start difficulty - Initial difficulty of the game.
Max difficulty - hardest difficulty of the game.
Risky hyperspace - when it's set to yes, the player has a potential of causing self-destruct after using hyperspace. No means you will always be safe after using it.
Fire on release - when it's set to yes, you can fire laser by both pressing and releasing the button like atari-8bit port of defender, which allows to rapidly fire laser without too much effort of mashing the button.
Had an idea for a game last night. After some fun learning how to rotate things in 3d, here's where I'm up to.
I think it will involve maybe collecting things as you fall, maybe doing some stunts, and eventually pulling the parachute cord at the right time to avoid splatting on the ground too hard :)
Let me know if you have some ideas.
Brief
Cao Cao the duck is hungry and loves shiny things. Can you help him fill his ravenous hunger? This game is basic and meant to be easy.
Controls
Move the duck using left and right arrows
there is a sliding mechanism once you stop using the keys
Rules
Collect the fruit and treasures to increase your score, see how high you can get!
Don't miss them or you will lose a life!, lose all your lives and the game ends.
Start with 5 lives, new life everytime you increase your score by 50 to max of 5 lives --------------------------------------------- |item |collect |drop |spawn | ============================================= |fruit and vegge |+5 |-2 |80% | --------------------------------------------- |bread, candy, cheese |+10 |-10 |15% | --------------------------------------------- |treasure |+25 |-50 |5% | --------------------------------------------- |
Background
I created this game for my daughter to play. She is young and almost ready to enjoy gaming, she loves ducks and calls them Gaga.
Credits
- All the many pico8 developers out there
- Various pixel artists
- NerdyTeachers
- @Krystman
- @freds72
- This BBS
Available at itch.io as well: GaGa on itch.io
Update 1.1
- Adjusted fruit drop rate
- Adjusted fruit scores
- Fixed splash error
Hi there!
New PICO-8 programmer and relatively new programmer in general.
I'm making a very simple "pong" game just to get the hang of PICO-8 and Lua, but I can't figure out how to start a game paused. I considered setting a variable "paused" and flip it between 0 and 1 using keyboard input (and then running the update functions when paused = 0), but then it would have to be the Z or X key which I might use later on for something else.
How does everyone else handle this? Or can you point me to a web-resource that explains the best way to handle this?
Thanks for putting up with newbie questions!
Sincerely,
MorsdenMan
This is a small game where you can see the entire world at once!
This is a simple simulation of the classic DVD logo screensaver. Thought this would be a fun exercise to get my feet wet with pico-8! How long will it take to get a perfect corner hit?!
TLDR: This is a game that I started years ago and didn't finish. I went back to it on a whim and got it playable. You can download it. But really this is a story about returning to game design and PICO-8 and the joy it brought.
Don't call it comeback
Hello. I'm Brian aka @morningtoast. I jumped on the PICO-8 bandwagon back in 2016 and made a handful of games. For those that remember and played my games, thank you! For everyone else, please check out my old carts - they're still fun. But after a few years of pumping out games, I got a little burned out. I ran out of creative juice, got frustrated, and just had other things to do so I left the gamedev scene.
Scoot ahead a few years and I get an alert that someone commented on an old cart post here in the forum. It felt great seeing someone had played (and enjoyed) an old game. It reminded me a) why I make things, and b) games live beyond their release date...it's all about who finds them.
But that was enough for me to crack open my PICO-8 folder and revisit some of old work. What I found was a treasure trove of unfinished games, a few of which were honestly near-complete that I just never pushed across the finish line. Not sure why...but I decided to try and make one of them at least playable and release as a "lost cart" or something like that.
Destructopillar
The game I chose was the last game I worked on called Destructopillar that has you controlling a monster caterpillar that tries to destroy cities and fight off military attackers. Kind of like the old Snake game mixed with SimCity if you were the disaster.
I remember working hard on the game trying to get it right but kept running into blockers. I don't remember if it was token count (probably) or just the game design at large, but nonetheless, I was never happy enough with it to have folks play it. I was one of those PICO-8ers that only released completed games (shame on me). But now I'd rather share something that is 90% complete than nothing at all. I mean, who am I? Just some doof making cheap games on PICO-8 for other doofs. P8 is about sharing and learning so why not do that.
So what did I find when I opened up my Destructopillar cart? What I found was that I had forgotten everything! I'm looking at the code and trying to remember the quirks of P8 and moreso what the hell I was thinking when engineering the thing. It's weird coming back to a project years later and asking, "why I'd do that?" and so on...you get mad at yourself! But after a few plays of the cart as it was, I listed out the things that were not finished and set out to fix them.
And frankly, there wasn't much to fix...a few bad sprites, a few missed ID#s that caused some grief, and a little overweight but otherwise it was pretty close. I got Destructopillar very playable and then realized that the reason I never finished it was just some poor design decisions. I'm guessing I got the game to a point where I thought I was done(ish) and then did some playtesting only to realize it was missing a lot of fun. And at that point I was too pooped to undo everything and try to fix it.
My goal now was not to fix the design problems but rather just get the game playable so I could share it. I'm so out of practice with PICO-8 that diving into that old code would be futile. It'd be easier to start over but now I'm at the point where I need to re-learn P8! Maybe soon but not right now.
The main problem I see with Destructopillar is mostly balance. It gets way too easy, way too quickly...sucking some of the fun out of it by the 4th level. I still dig the concept and the controls but it does get kind of boring and grindy, especially for an endless arcade game. I'm also bummed there's no music...
But it's very playable and not un-fun, so I hope you try it out on your console. The cart for Destructopillar is below. Just save the image locally and load it with your PICO-8 client.
Please enjoy Destructopillar
How to play
Controls:
- Use left/right to control your snake
- Action button will use a boost to shoot your snake across the board (hit it again to stop)
Each segment of your snake is a weapon! Your weapons will automatically attack enemies, so all you have to do is control Destructopillar to crush buildings and avoid damage. If a segment takes too much damage, it will die. If your snake gets hit in the head, you lose a heart. Lose all your hearts and game over.
As you destroy buildings, your power meter will fill up. When it gets full, a piece of fruit will appear. Run over the fruit to add a new segment to your snake. The type of fruit will determine the weapon of the segment.
- Pear: Machine gun, attacks air & ground targets
- Blueberry: Laser, attacks air targets only
- Orange: Flamethrower, attacks ground targets only
- Cherry: Heals all segments
If you manage to collect 3 of the same fruit in a row, those segments will combine to create a powered-up segment with a stronger weapon.
After you reach the goal of each level, an exit will open up on one side of the map. Just find it and enter to advance. This game is endless. I never got around to make a boss battle or anything like that...but levels do get bigger and get more enemies as you go.
But wait, there's more!
After I had fixed Destructopillar, I discovered another cart that was half-done that was also labeled as Destructopillar! I loaded the cart thinking it was just another copy of the other game but found it was pretty different. Lets call it Destructopillar Alpha.
Destructopillar Alpha
The concept of being a snake that destroys towns was the same but some of the gameplay aspects were different. Like progressing based on people killed rather than just destruction. The pacing is a lot slower and the weapons & enemies are different. But in Alpha you can re-order your snake segments to match colors but the speed boost feature is not there. There are also achievements and different modes in Alpha. The effects were somewhat different too...and I liked them better in Alpha than the other even, I dig the smoke.
So it looks like Alpha was trying to be a more "complete" game but one that I'm guessing didn't get done due to token limit. Given the extras like unlocks, modes, and seeing how some of the graphics got simplified, it tells me this was done due to filesize. But...there were gains in the refactoring process: more enemies, better weapons, faster play, and better performance. I don't think Alpha is a better version of the game, just a different version that shows the evolution of design and engineering.
If you want to play Destructopillar Alpha, you can download that cart and play locally. Just save the image and load it in your PICO-8 console. However, mind you, I have not touched the Alpha version! No fixes or attempts to make it better. It'll probably crash.
Try out Destructopillar Alpha and compare it to above. Which do you like better?
This dive back into PICO-8 was very refreshing and rewarding. Even though it wasn't that long ago, it feels like forever since I've thought about or tried making games. It's something I love and always seem to return to when I need comfort. I guess now is one of those times.
And taking a look at games I had designed that never quite got finished was VERY interesting. I don't often go back and look at old projects...I make and move on...but this trip back was enlightening and motivating. I'm going to see what other unfinished games I can revisit and make available for play - even if it plays rather poorly. If nothing else, maybe it will inspire someone or give them an idea for a new game; one that will get finished and loved by all.
If you're interested in trying out other games I've made, please check out my Itch.io page or my profile here on the BBS. I might suggest Alien Harvest and BuzzKill as they're a couple of my favorites that I'm proud of.
Again, to everyone that helped me make these games way back when, thank you! Maybe I'll hop back on this horse soon and see what new fun I can come up with.
Thanks & cheers
~Brian
A remix I made with a bit of my spare time.
Feel free to use it if you want as long as you credit me.
Credit @tesselode for some SFX Intruments used
WARNING!!!
If you are sensitive to flashing colors/lights DO NOT play this game.
Description
A de-make of a Fitbit game called Color Flash (which you can find here)
Controls
Color control
Press ⬆, ⬇ or up arrow key, and down arrow key to switch between 32 different colors!
Flash control
Press ⬅, ➡ or left arrow key, and right arrow key to subtract or add to the flash speed!
Save & Load
Press ❎, 🅾 or Z and X to save and load respectively.
Credits
Andor Czafik (creating the original game)
A Healthy Dose of Dungeon. Made completely from scratch in 72 hours for ludum dare #49. You don't know how you ended up in a dungeon, but you must escape it with nothing but your bare hands. An experience like this could make anyone's mind unstable!
Standard PICO-8 controls (arrows/z/x). Press x to hit enemies. Press z to dodge roll. Use the arrows to move. Every time you hit an enemy, your attacks do more damage and your character is faster. When you take damage you enter into an angry state in which you are super strong and you cannot get hurt. Your character is also invincible while dodge rolling.
There are 6 different medical conditions the character can be diagnosed with at the end of the game. Here is how to get diagnosed with each one:
- unstable - beat the game normally.
- hyperactive - beat the game in under 1 minute.
- healthy - beat the game without killing any enemy (except the boss).
- insane - kill all enemies in the game.
- obsessive - kill all enemies in the game without dying.
- possessed - kill all enemies in the game without dying and beat the game in under 3 minutes.
View the game submission on Ludum Dare too:
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/a-healthy-dose-of-dungeon
Unstabled Horse Game!
You play as a horse who has recognized what life could be like outside of the stable. Battle the stable in a continuous game that changes to fight for your freedom!
The stable is a fickle being that may change the game you’re playing at any time!
Controls–
Joust - just press the z button a bunch
Checkers - Left/Right arrows to change piece, z to select and move, and x to cancel a selected piece — When someone gets a king the stable changes his mind!
Billiards - arrow keys to choose ball/aim, z or x to select/shoot
The stable isn’t quite smart enough to play billiards, so you may need to grab a friend to play (we ran out of time :) )
Blasted Companion Ludum Dare 49
New game made by Burb aka Liam Williamson
best used if p2 O and X are d and b respectively.
Stability Failing
A short story sets off a grand adventure of arcady, platform-hopping fun in an increasingly unstable world.
This is my submission for Ludum Dare 49, Theme: "Unstable"
Controls
Left/Right: Move character
Up/Down: Slow down or Speed up the platforms
Z/X: Jump
Note: you can press ENTER and SKIP TUTORIAL if you'd like to start the game at level 12
Gameplay
As the levels progress, various aspects of the game begin to breakdown...
(try to reach at least level 11 to see the full instability)
Spoilers:
Versions
External Links
How far can you get? Post your highest level reached in the comments :)
A game jam entry for Ludum Dare 49, with the theme "Unstable". This jam entry was a father-and-son venture, with SestrenExsis doing the coding and EqualEnergy doing everything else!
Controls are left and right arrow keys to move, X to throw a pail of milk, and Z to jump. It should also be compatible with a gamepad.
The goal of the game is to defend the heart of the city from waves of flying enemies. Your milk bar is your ammo, your jumping fuel, and your health, but you are immortal and you regen your milk over time. If your milk goes empty, you will fall unconscious for a short period while you recuperate.
Survive the wave of enemies for 2 minutes to save the city!
Entry page: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/cowabunga
Source code: https://github.com/SestrenExsis/LD49_Unstable/releases/tag/jamentry
