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TIC-80 version 0.80

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Re: TIC-80 version 0.80

#21

Post by tachyonbeam »

I tried some games at https://tic80.com/play. Looks cool and I'm impressed by how many games there are. Two comments:

1. I find the font really hard to read. I really wish it was 2x the resolution. I think it would still have a cool retro pixelated look but be so much more legible.

2. The keyboard controls don't always seem to register on my system (Chrome, MacOS). Or maybe it's just not obvious which keys to press. I tried playing two games, they loaded, music started, but I wasn't actually able to get to the point where I'm actually playing the game.

Re: TIC-80 version 0.80

#22

Post by bitwize »

dryfish wrote: post #10
dudus wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pico-8 other than licensing is superior. But TIC-80 has a pro version that is paid and has some features locked behind it. I generally dislike the practice. You either release the whole software as open source or release a commercial product.

From the README: > For users who can't spend the money, we made it easy to build the pro version from the source code.

This is actually how I released mobile games in the past. The binaries were for sale on Google Play, whereas the source was open and available for people to compile themselves if they wanted.

I may be revisiting this because Android is now requiring AABs for all Google Play apps.

Re: TIC-80 version 0.80

#25

Post by scambier »

I've not written TIC-80 games for like 3 years, but I'm still happy to see it grow. One major advantage (IMO) over PICO-8 is that you're not limited to Lua, and can write games in JavaScript.

And since JavaScript implies TypeScript, I once wrote a small tool to automatically build games from .ts files, with functions declarations for the whole API: https://github.com/scambier/tic80-typescript

I don't use it anymore, but try to keep the declarations up-to-date :)

Re: TIC-80 version 0.80

#26

Post by scambier »

baq wrote: post #11
dudus wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pico-8 other than licensing is superior. But TIC-80 has a pro version that is paid and has some features locked behind it. I generally dislike the practice. You either release the whole software as open source or release a commercial product.

Can you list what's better in your perspective in pico-8? I've been looking at both recently in the context of teaching kids programming basics and didn't really see that much of a difference.

They both have pros and cons, but they're indeed quite similar.

TIC-80 is less restricting: more languages (Lua, MoonScript, JavaScript, Fennel, Wren), custom color palette, higher res, and widescreen. The main advantage of PICO-8 is its community, which is the biggest of all "fantasy consoles", which means more help, more examples, and more released games.

I'd personally go with PICO-8, because it's more restricting, and thus allows for a better focus (IMO).

Re: TIC-80 version 0.80

#27

Post by abrookewood »

As an aside, I went down a rabbit hole trying to work out whether to look into this or PICO-8. I found a pretty good summary of the differences here: https://nerdyteachers.com/Explain/FantasyConsoles/

Personally, I'm still undecided as I like the use of JavaScript in TIC-80 and the fact that it is open source, versus the wealth of materials available for the PICO-8.

Re: TIC-80 version 0.80

#28

Post by sedatk »

andraaspar wrote: post #18
sedatk wrote: post #3

Is this a successor to PICO-8? Both projects look very similar.

Apart from design differences, the TIC-80 is free and open source. PICO-8 is not. This could mean that whatever you create in the PICO-8 will be playable only as long as the owner of the platform is interested. Whatever you create in the TIC-80 can continue to be playable even after the original developer loses interest in the project. There is a healthy community around the TIC-80 that cares about the continuous dev…

Thanks, that clears it!
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