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I've played around with the TIC-80 and I gotta say that the development environment is something that is enjoyable for small projects but larger projects are a headache.
The programming system looks really interesting, but that font is super annoying.
https://itch.io/t/58932/configure-system-font-and-palette-in...
Maybe this is a good time to plug PICO-8 which describes itself as a "fantasy console for making, sharing and playing tiny games and other computer programs." https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php I don't even know the difference between the two programs, but someone interested in TIC might also be interested in PICO.
They are conceptually very similar and both obviously inspired by the old CHIP-8. TIC-80 is a bit more 'powerful' in that it's a bit higher resolution with double the sprite count. The most substantial differences: >PICO-8 has its own BASIC-like language >TIC-80 is programmed in Lua or JS > >PICO-8 is commercial software, costs $15 >TIC-80 is open source
The author, "zep" (of lexaloffle games), is also a wonderful human being that goes out of their way to support people who buy it / play PICO-8 games and deserves every penny for it.
While I hope they some day consider open sourcing PICO-8 so it may live on, for now, it provides them with meaningful income and lets them actively develop it, which I wholeheartedly support.
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They are conceptually very similar and both obviously inspired by the old CHIP-8. TIC-80 is a bit more 'powerful' in that it's a bit higher resolution with double the sprite count. The most substantial differences: >PICO-8 has its own BASIC-like language >TIC-80 is programmed in Lua or JS > >PICO-8 is commercial software, costs $15 >TIC-80 is open source
PICO-8 may be commercial software for creators, but players can play PICO-8 games published via the web app for free. The author, "zep" (of lexaloffle games), is also a wonderful human being that goes out of their way to support people who buy it / play PICO-8 games and deserves every penny for it. While I hope they some day consider open sourcing PICO-8 so it may live on, for now, it provides them with meaningful in…
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The PICO-8 is where the current trend for fantasy consoles began. There's a growing number of them (I'm making one myself). They all have slightly different areas of focus. Some are scripting language based, some emulate CPUs. TIC-80 programs are "64KB of Lua or Moonscript or JavaScript". My own is 8-bit AVR (128k rom, 64k ram). Z80 seems a popular base as well.
Celeste, which was released to rave reviews this past year for the Switch, started life as a PICO-8 game. I played it on the PICO-8 at first and was blown away! Enjoy: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=2145
TIC-80 uses SDL, which doesn't have a working port (for the Switch) so far as I know.
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Indeed, for an 8x8 pixel font one can't really go wrong with something more similar to what was used in the early microcomputers: https://int10h.org/oldschool-pc-fonts/fontlist/ Edit: it actually looks like a 5x7, in which case the best font would probably be something like the 5x7 a lot of character LCDs use: https://www.pjrc.com/mp3/lcdfont2a.jpg
I don’t remember them being that annoying in the 80s, or maybe we just read less text back then.
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Celeste, which was released to rave reviews this past year for the Switch, started life as a PICO-8 game. I played it on the PICO-8 at first and was blown away! Enjoy: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=2145
Do you know how it was ported to the Switch? TIC-80 uses SDL, which doesn't have a working port (for the Switch) so far as I know.
I've played around with the TIC-80 and I gotta say that the development environment is something that is enjoyable for small projects but larger projects are a headache.
If you're doing a larger project on it then I think you need to re-calibrate your expectations. It's more for educational play.