Joy.js – make happy little programs (2017) • Hacker News Board

Joy.js – make happy little programs (2017)

#1

Post by mbildner » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 4:15 PM UTC

Joy.js – make happy little programs (2017)
ncase.me

Re: Joy.js – make happy little programs (2017)

#2

Post by spicybright » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 4:51 PM UTC

Sorry to post something unrelated, but I'm looking for a game engine posted to HN maybe a year ago.

It was a website you could make "games" on. The only tools available were 16 screens you could paint, with 16 colors. Each can be configured to jump to a different screen when clicked.

There was a gallery, with one of the more memorable games being a member from the band Kiss performing a card trick for you.

Re: Joy.js – make happy little programs (2017)

#3

Post by yig » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 5:05 PM UTC

This should have (2017) in the title. Source: The date heading on the projects list https://ncase.me/projects/

Re: Joy.js – make happy little programs (2017)

#4

Post by azeirah » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 5:06 PM UTC

spicybright wrote: post #2

Sorry to post something unrelated, but I'm looking for a game engine posted to HN maybe a year ago. It was a website you could make "games" on. The only tools available were 16 screens you could paint, with 16 colors. Each can be configured to jump to a different screen when clicked. There was a gallery, with one of the more memorable games being a member from the band Kiss performing a card trick for you.

Are you thinking of PICO-8 perhaps?

Re: Joy.js – make happy little programs (2017)

#5

Post by debacle » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 5:15 PM UTC

"Write JSON strings inside your JSON" is the kind of anti-pattern that software engineers have known about since before the advent of XML.

Re: Joy.js – make happy little programs (2017)

#6

Post by ripley12 » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 5:22 PM UTC

This is lovely. I really like that you can adjust numeric values by clicking and dragging and the visualization updates in real time; reminds me of the demos from Bret Victor's Inventing on Principle.

Re: Joy.js – make happy little programs (2017)

#7

Post by dlojudice » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 5:23 PM UTC

Nicky is much more than a developer, creating beautiful projects to explain complex concepts. There are projects involving complexity concepts that are mind blowing

Re: Joy.js – make happy little programs (2017)

#8

Post by scgrn » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 5:24 PM UTC

spicybright wrote: post #2

Sorry to post something unrelated, but I'm looking for a game engine posted to HN maybe a year ago. It was a website you could make "games" on. The only tools available were 16 screens you could paint, with 16 colors. Each can be configured to jump to a different screen when clicked. There was a gallery, with one of the more memorable games being a member from the band Kiss performing a card trick for you.

https://www.flickgame.org/

Re: Joy.js – make happy little programs (2017)

#9

Post by beaconstudios » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 5:36 PM UTC

Nicky's work is a joy and a blessing - one of a small number of great artists and creators online playing with systems and simulations in attempt to educate people through experimentation and play.

Other people worth checking out:

- Bret Victor (worrydream.com)

- Kevin Simler (https://meltingasphalt.com/)

- the "explorables" subreddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/explorables/)

If anyone else can recommend other writers or makers in this area, I'd love to hear about them! It's an area that I really enjoy and I hope to contribute to when I have a bit more free time.

[edit] also I'm happy about the fact that Nicky's work often has to do with systems theory, which is one of the biggest remaining frontiers of human understanding in the universe.

Re: Joy.js – make happy little programs (2017)

#10

Post by Dangeranger » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 5:39 PM UTC

This is wonderful.

I've appreciated Nikky's work for years, but didn't know they created something like this. A "Logo" for the modern web is something that I've felt has been missing for a while.