TIC-80 version 0.80 | Hacker News Reader

TIC-80 version 0.80

github.com

102 pointsandraaspar26 comments

TIC-80 is a fantasy computer for making, playing and sharing tiny games. Version 0.80 brings numerous enhancements and a new UI.

As you can see here: https://github.com/nesbox/TIC-80/releases/tag/v0.80.1344

I wonder if there are aspects of this that would make it difficult or impossible to port to, say, the Esp32 microcontroller? An inexpensive and ubiquitous hardware implementation would make this perfect!

There's apparently a port floating around to run it on OpenDingux devices (little handheld gaming devices with MIPS CPUs), so it is at least fairly portable. If the OpenDingux port works- I haven't tested it yet- that's a good bet for a cheap platform that'll run it.

Of course a MIPS device is a lot more powerful than the ESP32.

It would be useful if there were links to examples of tic-80 games. Nonethelesw, this looks very promising and is noncommercial which is great for growing a community. I’ll definitely give this a try when i get a chance

There are loads of them on the website: https://tic80.com/play

There's also possible to explore and load them from within the TIC-80 by executing SURF command. All projects are loaded as code/sprites/maps/music so you can freely browse and make changes. Really awesome project.

Thank you! These are wonderful!!

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.

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 :)

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.

Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16967664

Also this small thread from a few weeks ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24403211

I'm quite charmed by the code editor aesthetics.

Renkel are you behind this? It's cool, but looks like a clone to me (i.e. APIs)..

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 development of the platform. There is an open atmosphere around it. Anyone can be a developer in the TIC-80. Students don't need to ask mom to buy a license for them. On the opposite, PICO-8 feels like a walled garden. This was the main reason I chose to develop my tiny games in the TIC-80.

Thanks, that clears it!

Well, for one thing, PICO-8 is a commercial product, whereas TIC-80 is free and open-source.

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.

I really like this model. Users get free stuff, they create content to attract more users. Bigger fans spend a bit of money on full version, which fuels the development. Potential contributors build from source code and get full version. The full version is little more than quality-of-life improvement and WIP modules that will likely reach free version when done. It's hard to see any downside.

Compare it to other models. Donations don't work at all, they just make developers downhearted. Ads are huge betrayal of user's trust (and hard to do across platforms). Freemium is based on addiction-forming patterns. Commercial products create walled gardens for privileged, they severely limit adoption rates and they are reserved for first-comer (PICO-8).

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.

And by the way the license is MIT, so there aren't even any worries about modifying the source and incorporating into your proprietary project.

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).

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