Microsoft Tilecode

#1

Post by Impossible » Sat, Oct 24, 2020, 3:42 PM UTC

Re: Microsoft Tilecode

#2

Post by cableshaft » Sat, Oct 24, 2020, 4:11 PM UTC

Looks pretty cool. I was messing around with MakeCode for about an hour the other day, just to see what it could do, but board games are more in my wheelhouse, and it looks like I could maybe come up with some interesting things here.

The messing about I did was just having a flamingo running around eating algae and avoiding spawning lions, called Flamingo Panic. If you're curious, it's up here: https://bacable.github.io/flamingo-panic/

Re: Microsoft Tilecode

#3

Post by lifthrasiir » Sat, Oct 24, 2020, 4:17 PM UTC

It strongly looks like PuzzleScript [1]. In fact, I would be surprised that this wasn't inspired by PuzzleScript; the paper [2] seems to have no mention of PuzzleScript though.

[1] https://www.puzzlescript.net/

[2] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/uploads/prod/2020/0...

Re: Microsoft Tilecode

#4

Post by hanselot » Sat, Oct 24, 2020, 4:19 PM UTC

When was the last time microsoft made something someone actually wanted to use.

Not, had to use because their employer forced it on them.

Re: Microsoft Tilecode

#5

Post by atum47 » Sat, Oct 24, 2020, 4:28 PM UTC

Well, I was working on a 2D engine that could do these kind of games (but mostly top down RPGs).

I end up developing a tile map editor[1], giving the user the ability to develop their own maps. I end up liking this tile editor so much that I spent more time adding isometric features to it. Both because I love isometric maps and it seems to please people playing the game.

So, as in right now, I have a tile map editor (in a usable state) and a 2D engine that is not near close to be used, and I don't know what to do with neither of them.

Anyways, isometric maps would hugely improve the looks of these 2D games. I would consider adding this options to your platform as well.

1 - https://github.com/victorqribeiro/tileEditor

Re: Microsoft Tilecode

#6

Post by stephc_int13 » Sat, Oct 24, 2020, 4:34 PM UTC

It seems to be based on cellular automata kind of rules.

I've done experiments with this almost twenty years ago, and it's surprising how much can be done with simple rules.

However, it can also be difficult to debug when you have a large amount of rules.

Re: Microsoft Tilecode

#7

Post by mittermayr » Sat, Oct 24, 2020, 4:45 PM UTC

With Christmas coming up soonish, and many of us going to be locked in at home (even more than ever before), there's a device I can recommend that is fun to build and reasonably fun to build on. It's basically a GameBoy (and runs emulators for it and other devices) for a laughably low price: https://www.hardkernel.com/shop/odroid-go/ (first link I found, there may be better ones — I bought it in Europe, where a few of the bigger electronics retailers had it).

It has a color screen and has quite a few tricks up its sleeve. I think I remember it even runs Wifi-Scanners and whatnot (ESP32). Here's some more background info: https://wiki.odroid.com/odroid_go/go_assembling

Just thought that could be an interesting platform to try this on.

Re: Microsoft Tilecode

#8

Post by cdaringe » Sat, Oct 24, 2020, 5:01 PM UTC

cableshaft wrote: post #2

Looks pretty cool. I was messing around with MakeCode for about an hour the other day, just to see what it could do, but board games are more in my wheelhouse, and it looks like I could maybe come up with some interesting things here. The messing about I did was just having a flamingo running around eating algae and avoiding spawning lions, called Flamingo Panic. If you're curious, it's up here: https://bacable.githu…

Great game.

Re: Microsoft Tilecode

#9

Post by Impossible » Sat, Oct 24, 2020, 5:25 PM UTC

lifthrasiir wrote: post #3

It strongly looks like PuzzleScript [1]. In fact, I would be surprised that this wasn't inspired by PuzzleScript; the paper [2] seems to have no mention of PuzzleScript though. [1] https://www.puzzlescript.net/ [2] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/uploads/prod/2020/0...

There is a whole class of visual term rewriting programming languages, usually targeted at children. I think KidSim https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/176789.176795 was the first of them. PuzzleScript is awesome and definitely in the same category. One of the interesting things about TileCode is that it works on a Gameboy like device with minimal inputs and no mouse or keyboard.

Re: Microsoft Tilecode

#10

Post by spicybright » Sat, Oct 24, 2020, 5:28 PM UTC

I always have a soft spot for little game dev kits like this. Strict limitations often lead to a lot of creativity. The Arduboy is one I've used a lot.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduboy

And I guess I'll share this here because I don't know when else I'd ever be able to talk about it.

A few years ago I created a portable game console that consisted of two buttons (left and right) and a row of 9 LEDs (and an on off switch). It was powered by an Arduino Teensy and Lipo battery, letting it run for a pretty decent amount of time.

The idea is given the ultra minimal hardware, what's the craziest games you can make with it?

I made a 3d """ray tracer"" that would show your surroundings and walls using just the leds (flatland style). Left and right turned, and pushing both walked forward.

I also made a dungeon crawler with each LED being a specific indicator for the state of the world (I wanted to make overlays to help with ideas like this)

The best one imo was an ebook reader. I only simulated it due to code size constraints, but I made each LED blink out morse code for each letter in a book, and used left and right to scroll through it. I loaded Neuromancer in and it worked fine. Pretty ridiculous but one of the more interesting projects I've done! I should really look for that device....