TIC-80 tiny computer | Hacker News Reader

TIC-80 tiny computer

tic80.com

265 pointsatan226 comments

Has a Raspberry Pi bare metal variant, too. As in, boots to the console with no OS underneath.

https://github.com/nesbox/TIC-80/tree/main/build/baremetalpi

Oh, that's interesting. That makes the whole thing a LOT more like an 'actual computer'. Way more interesting to my mind if you include 'and it can run as a replacement OS on this very commonly available hardware, which you're used to seeing with a whole UNIX inside'.

That means anything TIC-80 can do, can also incorporate teeny hardware to host it.

I made this game last year after my first year as a parent. Its also my first ever game and the most fun bits for me were learning how to make the music and sprites. I had no prior experience with either but with tic80 you just kinda open the tab and do it.

https://tic80.com/play?cart=2586

If you’re like me, you probably love spending the holidays doing advent of code or something. Maybe write a game this year :)

The clock doesn't stop upon a game over state.

Love the idea, very cute.

This is really cool. Well done! Congratulations! You should make more games and programs. :)

I've played around a bit with TIC-80, but I always find myself going back to Pico-8. The larger resolution is nice, but I find in a weird way I'm able to do more with the stricter limitation of Pico-8 than the more lenient TIC-80. Take the sprites for example, Pico-8 you're locked into the same 16 colors all the time (there's actually another secret palette, but it's a bit of a hassle to use), where as TIC-80 you also have a 16-color palette, but you can change those colors to be anything you wish. I find that additional freedom to be almost paralyzing, and many aspects of the system are like that for me.

Thanks, ROAD TXTR made my day.

https://tic80.com/play?cart=3043

Yup! Very clever game.

Best thing about TIC-80 for me is it's Android app. I can use it on my tablet with a keyboard to have a whole game dev environment. I don't think there is any other equivalent of this on mobile devices. I don't know if it's a usecase for anyone else, but I love it.

I did the same thing on a road trip when I was bored... Worked really well.. created a video on the experience https://youtu.be/FxQpRoZI3kM

Worth noting (for parenthesis-lovers!) the Fennel support added by Phil Hagelberg, as demoed e.g. in one of his Lisp Game Jam writeups here: https://technomancy.us/193

TICO-80 rocks! The TIC-80 support for multiple programming languages inspired me to write a TypeScript -> Lua transpiler for PICO-8.

https://github.com/tmountain/pico-8-typescript

I find it interesting they limit the music capabilities to something approximating an NES/gameboy rather than going with a sample/tracker-based system like on the Amiga. That was what really good games of that early era used. (There's an incessant mind bug that these retro computer things need to either use bips and boops or support full .wav playback with no inbetween.)

It occurred to me recently that, arguably, the first "fantasy console" was CHIP-8.

So projects like this keep alive a very old microcomputing tradition.

For a moment I daydreamed this was a reference to the 1980 PC-1 computer from Radio Shack

http://oldcomputers.net/trs80pc1.html

Three years before the well known PC100 laptop sized popular with journalists, etc.

Had one, thought it was the amazing future, I guess smartphones are the great-great-great-grandchilden.

I love how F6 simulates a CRT screen, to give the full 80's experience

The game, DRIVING TEST, was surprisingly simple, challenging and fun. https://tic80.com/play?cart=3045

Thumbs up!

The name is a little too reminiscent of a graphing calculator.

And Tandy TRS-80

And TIS-100

I created many games for the TI-84 and TI-92 so this is in-theme for me.

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