Pico-8 – Blog. by Next Thing https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com News & Notes. Process & Projects. No BS. Srsly. Thu, 09 Nov 2017 03:16:07 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.5 PICO-8! Now Free for All C.H.I.P.s https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/pico-8-now-free-for-all-c-h-i-p-s/ https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/pico-8-now-free-for-all-c-h-i-p-s/#comments Mon, 14 Nov 2016 21:12:36 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1154

C.H.I.P.sters, PICO-8 is now available for C.H.I.P. and it’s completely free!

Plus, check out our new $29 PICO-8 Console Kit. It comes with a C.H.I.P., HDMI DIP, C.H.I.P. power adapter, game controller, and of course PICO-8! It’s the perfect little package for the aspiring game developer on your holiday shopping list.

splore

Whether you build a game from scratch or modify one of the 1000s of existing open source games, PICO-8 on C.H.I.P. is an easy and fun way to learn game development. Thanks to our super-friends at lexaloffle who created PICO-8, we are thrilled that every PocketC.H.I.P. and now every C.H.I.P. has access to PICO-8 for free! Here’s a step-by-step guide to get your game on with PICO-8 on C.H.I.P.!

1. Install PICO-8 on C.H.I.P.

Once installed, PICO-8 will automatically be added to the Game menu

Once installed, PICO-8 will automatically be added to the Game menu


With your C.H.I.P. connected to the internet, click the Computer Things! menu and select Terminal. Type the command below and then press enter. This updates the list of available packages on your C.H.I.P. and installs PICO-8. It’s that easy!
sudo apt update && sudo apt install chip-pico-8

To launch PICO-8, click the Computer Things! menu, hover over the Games submenu and select PICO-8.


2. Configure the Keys

Configuring the keyboard in PICO-8

Configuring the keyboard in PICO-8


By default, PICO-8 uses x to affirm a selection. To change the key bindings, press ESC, use the arrow keys to select Exit to Console, and press x to affirm the selection. At the new screen, type in keyconfig and press enter and configure the keys.


3. Take it to the Next Level!

PICO-8_1

Once you’ve installed PICO-8 on C.H.I.P., you’ll want to check out the following resources to really get the most out of the software. A great place to start is with the PICO-8 docs for PocketC.H.I.P.. Some of the information you’ll find there is PocketC.H.I.P. specific (like mention of the touchscreen), but it will provide you with a good starting point for gaining familiarity with PICO-8.

Here a few more helpful links:


chipLogo64x64

Now that PICO-8 is free for all C.H.I.P.s and PocketC.H.I.P.s, what type of game are you planning to write? Tell us in the comments below, share your screenshots on Twitter, and join the conversation in the forum. We can’t wait to see what you’ll create!

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PocketC.H.I.P. and PICO-8: A Dream Team at Dreamforce https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/pocketc-h-i-p-and-pico-8-a-dream-team-at-dreamforce/ https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/pocketc-h-i-p-and-pico-8-a-dream-team-at-dreamforce/#comments Fri, 07 Oct 2016 19:03:08 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=1083 Middle School students learning to code with PICO-8 and PocketC.H.I.P.

Jessica Koehler from Sparkiverse teaching students to code with PICO-8 on PocketC.H.I.P.

SAN FRANCISCO–170,000 Salesforce customers descended upon the massive 700,000 square foot Moscone Center for Dreamforce, the annual Salesforce conference for developers and power users. Tucked away in a corner of Moscone West, 50 of these attendees were middle school students who participated in the first ever Next Thing Co. learn to code camp.

Jake helping a student with tricky part of the code syntax

Jake helping a student debug his game

At the request of Salesforce.org, the philanthropic and community service division of Salesforce, Ari and Jake organized the coding camp with Jessica Koehler and our friends at Sparkiverse. Given a one hour session, the goal was to teach a middle school class how to program a basic PICO-8 game using PocketC.H.I.P.. For many of the students this was their first time programming.

Programming is better with friends

Koehler assisting two students with PICO-8 programming

Despite limited formal programming experience, the students were able to code the game in the allotted time and have a ton of fun while doing it. Koehler broke down the game mechanics into small parts and explained how to program each. The students then applied her instructions and worked on their own PocketC.H.I.P.s to create personalized version of the game. Some of the students even finished early and spent extra time drawing fancier character sprites.

pico-8_1

The game takes user input from the D-pad to control a character on the screen. You score points by moving the character to collide with the semi-random bouncing yellow ball. This simple game is a great introduction to creating your own games on PICO-8. Read the full source code below and download the handout we used during the event.

And don’t feel the need to stop there. PICO-8 allows you to build in your own code on top of existing games or start from scratch and truly make it your own. For more resources that will help you learn to code, check out our suggested reading, learn how NTC’s very own Richard learned to code using PICO-8, and gain inspiration from the latest PICO-8 game jam, a highlight of some of the best PICO-8 games around.

dudex = 64
dudey = 64
thingx = 15
thingy = 10
thingdx = 1
thingdy = 1
score = 0

function _draw()
 rectfill(0,0,127,127,13)
 spr(001,dudex,dudey)
 spr(002,thingx,thingy)
 print(score,5,5,8)
 if score > 10 then
  print("you are cool!",10,5,8)
 elseif score >4 then
  print("you're pretty good..",10,5,8)
 end
end

function _update()
 movedude()
 bump()
 movething()
 bouncewall()
end

function movedude()
 if btn(0) then
  dudex = dudex -1
 end
 if btn(1) then
  dudex = dudex +1
 end  
 if btn(2) then
  dudey = dudey -1
 end
 if btn(3) then
  dudey = dudey +1
 end
end

function bump()
 if abs(dudex - thingx) <= 3 and
    abs(dudey - thingy) <= 3 then
   thingx = rnd(120)+0
   thingy = rnd(121)+0
   score+=1
 end
end

function movething()
 thingx = thingx + thingdx
 thingy = thingy + thingdy
end

function bouncewall()
 if thingx < -1 then
  thingdx = -thingdx
 end
 if thingx >121 then
  thingdx = -thingdx
 end
 if thingy < -2 then
  thingdy = -thingdy
 end
 if thingy > 120 then
  thingdy = -thingdy
 end
end


chipLogo64x64

Thanks to Sparkiverse for helping us teach the students PICO-8 programming on PocketC.H.I.P. and Salesforce.org for the opportunity to teach them! Happy hacking everyone, and if you know how to code, make sure you take a moment and share your skills with someone else!

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Resources to Help You Learn PICO-8 Game Development https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/resources-to-help-you-learn-pico-8-game-development/ https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/resources-to-help-you-learn-pico-8-game-development/#comments Tue, 14 Jun 2016 17:00:10 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=476 Kurtz and Joseph White Working on PICO-8 for PocketC.H.I.P.

Joseph White, the creator of PICO-8, Chatting with Kurtz at the NTC office

PocketC.H.I.P. comes with a free copy of PICO-8, an 8-bit game console perfect for developing your own custom video games. Unlike most game consoles, all the games for PICO-8 are free to download and open source ready to be hacked.

Of course, you’ll need to learn a bit about programming to take advantage of access to the source code. Here are a few resources to get you started programming for PICO-8.


The PocketC.H.I.P. Docs Explain PICO-8 Basics

Start with the PocketC.H.I.P. docs. While they won’t teach you how to program, they explain all the ins and outs of the PICO-8 game development tools. Once you’re familiar with where the tools are located in PICO-8, and what you can do with them, then move on to more technical PICO-8 material.


Read the PICO-8 Fanzine

Compiled by superfans of the console, the fanzine is my personal favorite resource for learning PICO-8 programming. Each issue is available as a “pay what you want” PDF or a ~$10/issue old-school print edition.

Averaging at least 40-pages an issue, the zine provides instructions how to create games from scratch, compose sound effects and a custom soundtrack, and even highlights which games well written enough that it’s worth time to study their source code. There are more issues in the works, but these four should get you well on your way to PICO-8 game creation!


Watch PICO-8 Video Tutorials

Visual learners will find PICO-8 video tutorials a great way to learn game development. Simply google for PICO-8 tutorial and you’ll get tons of hits. I’ve found the video series by Rabidgremlin particularly helpful. It walks you from your first line of code all the way until you have a fully working game.

Matt Tuttle’s four-part video series is a must for anyone interested in better understanding the sound effects and music tools of PICO-8.

And, we have a few short PICO-8 videos starring Kurtz that are worth a quick watch too. Check them out in our YouTube channel.


Consult the PICO-8 Manuals

manual

For a more technical resource, the PICO-8 manual gives a good overview of the application. It’s a dense read, but a great reference to keep handy. YellowAfterLife created a cheat sheet version of the manual that’s easier to navigate, but is still a quite technical.

If you’re completely new to programming, bookmark these resources, but look to the fanzine and videos first. The manual and cheat sheet are helpful references, but they are not the best place to start for beginners.


Learn from the Community

Make sure to take advantage of the community’s knowledge! Our forum has a dedicated PICO-8 section and there are always people ready to help answer questions. Also, browse by the official PICO-8 forum hosted by Joseph White’s Lexaloffle.

Of course, this isn’t an exhaustive list of resources on PICO-8. If you find one that’s not mentioned in the post, be sure to share it with the rest of the community on our forum.

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How I Became a Hacker Using PICO-8 on PocketC.H.I.P. https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/how-my-programming-journey-began-with-free-software-pre-installed-on-a-49-gameboy/ Thu, 02 Jun 2016 18:07:01 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=478 Playing the PICO-8 game Celeste on Mega PocketC.H.I.P.!

Playing the PICO-8 game Celeste on Mega PocketC.H.I.P.!

To be completely honest, I didn’t get PICO-8 the first time I saw it back in October of 2015. At first glance, it was difficult to see why I’d love game developer software.

Now it’s June 2016, PICO-8 ships for free on PocketC.H.I.P. and I can’t stop playing with it.

PICO-8 is a modern interpretation of the 8-bit game consoles of the 1980s. Having grown up with the SNES and the SEGA Genesis, I was game to be thrown back into my childhood. Knowing that PICO-8 provides you all the tools needed to change any aspect of any game is a cool thought, but outside of context, it can be a difficult concept to grasp. Then I became obsessed with Celeste, a 2D jumping, puzzle game, and the gaps began to fill in themselves.


Leveling Up

Celeste is difficult, but in the best way. The puzzles themselves are challenging, as is the execution necessary to complete them. It’s beautifully rendered, the sound effects are fun, and the music is still stuck in my head. It’s the kind of game that you want to be really good at.

PICO-8_5

When I started playing, I was anything but good.  I wasn’t able to make the jump on the first level (yes, the first…) so I opened the editor to explore the creative tools PICO-8 offers. Discovering the map editor, I added a few ‘bridges’ to make level one a bit more beatable. It took about a minute and a half to make the change, load the game with my change and beat the first level.

PICO-8_9

Of course, level two was difficult as well, but the experience of changing the game was a game-changer for me. In addition to playing, my brain was actively looking what I would change next.


Change Everything

PICO-8_5
Celeste looks great as a redhead, but after entering the game editor, I thought “what if she went punky and dyed her hair neon green?”

PICO-8_6

After reloading the game with the hair change, I found that when she jumps, her red ‘roots’ show. If this ‘hair trail’ wasn’t in the sprite editor, how could I change it?


No Cheat Codes, Just Source Code

The answer certainly would lie in the source code. Somewhere. To be honest I still haven’t found it. While searching, I was distracted by a handful of other lines of code, namely the line that controlled Celeste’s jump height.

PICO-8_8

Thus began an intense period of trial and error, adjusting single values in the code to see what would happen to the gameplay experience. Speed. Acceleration. Gravity. Thanks to the help from a young girl at Maker Faire, I’m now experimenting with removing entire lines. Like the line that controls the death on the spikes. Exploring the source code is now just as much fun as the game itself.


The Game Within the Game

So now Celeste represents two different games for me. One in which I try to become the world’s best Celeste player (on PocketC.H.I.P.). That crown will be hard to win. Tina has been speed running Celeste for a month now, and she is really good.

PICO-8_9

The other in which I dig through code to see what I can change. Now that my feet are wet, I’m looking to see what lessons I can transfer to the other games available. It’s a sense of discovery that I’ve not had in a long long while and I hope (and foresee) others having a similar experience. Hacking PICO-8 games is fun and an organic introduction to the way games work.


What lies ahead

splore

With the tools available, the next step is making my own game. While I’ve not had the time yet, Crunch has! Using the tutorials in the latest PICO-8 Fanzine, he was able to make a game from scratch on PocketC.H.I.P. in around 3 hours. Check out CrunchBall.

I can’t wait to play (and hack) the games the C.H.I.P.ster community creates following Crunch’s footsteps. I’ll see if I can’t get him to write briefly about his experience. You hear that Crunch?! You’ve been challenged!

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PocketC.H.I.P.’s Grand Day Out: Maker Faire Bay Area 2016 https://ntcblogbackup.wpengine.com/pocketc-h-i-p-s-grand-day-out-maker-faire-bay-area-2016/ Tue, 24 May 2016 18:35:28 +0000 http://blog.nextthing.co/?p=563

Last weekend we took Mega PocketC.H.I.P. and pockets full of PocketC.H.I.P.s to Maker Faire Bay Area. Attendees got a chance to play PICO-8 games, code them, and even got a peek at the PocketC.H.I.P. user interface.

This is the first time we’ve taken PocketC.H.I.P. to a public event and it did not disappoint. The booth was packed all weekend and Mega PocketC.H.I.P. won two Editor’s Choice Blue Ribbons from Make: magazine.

For those of you who were not able to make it out to the event, you’ll find some photos from the three days we spent at the Faire below. Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth, it’s always a pleasure to meet C.H.I.P.sters and Pocketeers in person.

If you took any pictures of our booth, share them with us in our forums or tweet us @nextthingco.

We Won! The Make: editors awarded Mega PocketC.H.I.P. two Editor's Choice Blue Ribbon

We Won!

NTC_Makerfaire_220516048

Miles and Quincy designed a great denim filled booth, where every pocket is filled with a PocketC.H.I.P..

Wise move to team up with Richard, he's a Celeste expert!

Wise move to team up with Richard, he’s a Celeste expert!

Miles keepin it real

Miles keepin it real at our packed booth.

Dave shared our design requirements for PocketC.H.I.P.

Dave shares some of the design decisions we made while building PocketC.H.I.P.

NTC_Makerfaire_230516301

PocketC.H.I.P.s for every pocket!

NTC_Makerfaire_230516290

Thomas showing off PocketC.H.I.P..

PICO-8 lets you play games and change the source code.

Reading the Celeste source code.

Tina sharing some PICO-8 tips.

Tina sharing some PICO-8 coding tips.

NTC_Makerfaire_220516226

Warning! PocketC.H.I.P. is known to cause smiling!

Too focused on PICO-8 to smile for a photo with Miles.

Too focused on PICO-8 to smile for a photo with Miles.

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