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Show HN: 90s.dev – Game maker that runs on the web

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Re: Show HN: 90s.dev – Game maker that runs on the web

#41

Post by 90s_dev »

electroly wrote: post #28
90s_dev wrote: post #23

Hi, author here. Thank you everyone for the feedback. It's clear that I launched this far too soon. I'll work on the pain points you all noted, and come back in a few months.

It's just right for a Show HN. I was able to find the Hello World tour and grasp what's going on here, from previous PICO-8 and React experience. Looks pretty cool, and I think 16:9 is a good pick. PICO-8 being square is awkward.

Thank you to you and the other replies. You're very encouraging. I'll keep iterating, making it more usable and its usage more clear. Maybe I can at least finish at least a few tasks while it's on HN's front page(!!!) based on everyone's feedback. Going to work on finishing the paint app right now, hopefully done within an hour.

Re: Show HN: 90s.dev – Game maker that runs on the web

#42

Post by johnisgood »

90s_dev wrote: post #40
johnisgood wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll check it out. Would it technically be possible, without too much difficulty, to increase 320 x 180? Just wondering!

Technically it is possible right now. If you create usr/config.jsln (sample file is in sys/default/) and set its size, the screen automatically resizes to it. I didn't document this because I'm not sure it's the right decision. Allowing screen resize does make it more flexible, but also leads to decision paralysis for most users, who 320 x 180 is probably perfectly sufficient for. That was one of the genius moves of…

Oh, that is interesting. I think it could be worthwhile to document it for "advanced" or "power" users / developers perhaps, it is good to know that there is no such limitation, as I assumed there would be, meaning it is more flexible than I thought it to be!

Re: Show HN: 90s.dev – Game maker that runs on the web

#44

Post by 90s_dev »

90s_dev wrote: post #36
winslow wrote: post #31

Does the paint app work for anyone? https://90s.dev/os/#sys/apps/paint.app.js I tried in both Firefox and Chrome on Linux and picking colors and clicking I can't draw anything. No logs in the console that alert something is wrong. On a different note I think you've captured the 90s really well. I had a moment of realization that the 90s really were like this. On first look I was thinking this was more 70s/80s termina…

Oh, no, sorry for the confusion. The color picker is as far as I got with that app, it's relatively new. I can probably get it fully working within an hour though. Also thanks, that's exactly what I was going for! I wanted to capture the fun and excitement and raw power of creating GUI apps in the 90s (but without all the inconveniences). Hence the name 90s.dev

Working on paint app[1] now:

- [x] Add canvas with semi-transparent background

- [x] Make canvas resizable by dragging corner (min 1x1)

- [x] Show grid on canvas if grid button is checked

- [x] Make zoom adjustable by clicking and dragging zoom number up/down

- [x] Show selected color as square over canvas during mouse move

- [x] Allow click/drag to change square colors

- [x] Right-click/drag to erase squares

- [x] Support loading/saving bitmap

Hopefully I can finish it while this comment is editable! :D

As features are added, you will see them in the source code. Either:

1. Click the top-left button and click View Source

2. Download helloworld.zip from Downoad SDK and view /fs/sys/apps/paint.app.js

3. Open https://90s.dev/os/fs/sys/apps/paint.app.js in an incognito window

These all show the same live copy of the source for the paint app. The reason for the incognito window is because the service worker compiles TSX to JS at runtime.

[1] https://90s.dev/os/#sys/apps/paint.app.js

[edit] Ha, I did it! I got all the features working before the edit button went away! But it was about 2 hours, not 1. As a bonus I'll try to work on undo/redo.

Re: Show HN: 90s.dev – Game maker that runs on the web

#46

Post by sureglymop »

90s_dev wrote: post #44
90s_dev wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, no, sorry for the confusion. The color picker is as far as I got with that app, it's relatively new. I can probably get it fully working within an hour though. Also thanks, that's exactly what I was going for! I wanted to capture the fun and excitement and raw power of creating GUI apps in the 90s (but without all the inconveniences). Hence the name 90s.dev

Working on paint app[1] now: - [x] Add canvas with semi-transparent background - [x] Make canvas resizable by dragging corner (min 1x1) - [x] Show grid on canvas if grid button is checked - [x] Make zoom adjustable by clicking and dragging zoom number up/down - [x] Show selected color as square over canvas during mouse move - [x] Allow click/drag to change square colors - [x] Right-click/drag to erase squares - [x] S…

Hey don't stress yourself out okay :) This is so cool, cooler than 90% of stuff I see usually see in these posts.

Re: Show HN: 90s.dev – Game maker that runs on the web

#47

Post by 90s_dev »

sureglymop wrote: post #46
90s_dev wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Working on paint app[1] now: - [x] Add canvas with semi-transparent background - [x] Make canvas resizable by dragging corner (min 1x1) - [x] Show grid on canvas if grid button is checked - [x] Make zoom adjustable by clicking and dragging zoom number up/down - [x] Show selected color as square over canvas during mouse move - [x] Allow click/drag to change square colors - [x] Right-click/drag to erase squares - [x] S…

Hey don't stress yourself out okay :) This is so cool, cooler than 90% of stuff I see usually see in these posts.

Thanks, though I'm not stressed. It's an exciting and fun challenge to see how much I can get done with my fancy GUI API before the edit button goes away :)

Re: Show HN: 90s.dev – Game maker that runs on the web

#48

Post by inanutshellus »

johnisgood wrote: post #42
90s_dev wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technically it is possible right now. If you create usr/config.jsln (sample file is in sys/default/) and set its size, the screen automatically resizes to it. I didn't document this because I'm not sure it's the right decision. Allowing screen resize does make it more flexible, but also leads to decision paralysis for most users, who 320 x 180 is probably perfectly sufficient for. That was one of the genius moves of…

Oh, that is interesting. I think it could be worthwhile to document it for "advanced" or "power" users / developers perhaps, it is good to know that there is no such limitation, as I assumed there would be, meaning it is more flexible than I thought it to be!

You can't both honor a constraint and give an out for it.

Remember OG twitter and someone complained about the 140 character limit. Imagine the reply was "ok fine we'll let you use more than 128 characters, but you have to click an 'advanced' tab." instead of the "be clever" retort we really got from Jack Dorsey. Immediately there'd be no constraint at all, just an annoying step where you had to click an annoying checkbox.

Point being - if the design is intended to be constrained, then it's perfectly reasonable to own that.

Re: Show HN: 90s.dev – Game maker that runs on the web

#49

Post by 90s_dev »

danielvaughn wrote: post #7
90s_dev wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! Explaining stuff is so hard! In fact, this entire article is just me trying to explain what this is in the shortest way possible. Maybe the shortest version is: 90s.dev is an API around a 320x180 web canvas, designed specifically for making games and game maker tools, with sharing capabilities built-in, and an innovative GUI for making game maker tools quickly and easily. No, that's still too vague. I give up…

It really is. It’s almost harder than building the thing. Every time I try explaining my side project, I end up just saying “you know…it’s easier if I just show you”

Yep, that's why I decided to make the pages able to have interactive demos. Though only the hello world tour and the refs guide use it so far.

Re: Show HN: 90s.dev – Game maker that runs on the web

#50

Post by johnisgood »

inanutshellus wrote: post #48
johnisgood wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, that is interesting. I think it could be worthwhile to document it for "advanced" or "power" users / developers perhaps, it is good to know that there is no such limitation, as I assumed there would be, meaning it is more flexible than I thought it to be!

You can't both honor a constraint and give an out for it. Remember OG twitter and someone complained about the 140 character limit. Imagine the reply was "ok fine we'll let you use more than 128 characters, but you have to click an 'advanced' tab." instead of the "be clever" retort we really got from Jack Dorsey. Immediately there'd be no constraint at all, just an annoying step where you had to click an annoying che…

I think your example is different, because we are talking about something that would be only my code, should it not be up to me? And even if it was not feasible right now, someone else would write the code to make it possible, for their own project. Twitter is not your product, you are only using it. And it is also possible to do it, so why not document it? That makes no sense. That is akin to security through obscurity.

Also he said "but also leads to decision paralysis for most users", but it does not have to be the case. Default can be whatever you want.

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