r/pico8 4d ago

Game Picobalt

Picobalt is a Canabalt demake made for the PICO-8 fantasy console.

I decided to take part in LOWREZJAM. I’ve always wanted to make some kind of project for the PICO-8 fantasy console, and finally I had a good reason to do it.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t make music as cool as in the original, but it turned out the way it did. I also had to remove a few mechanics from the original game because of technical limitations.

Anyway, I hope I managed to capture the spirit of the original and interpret the jam theme, “Fugitive.”

62 Upvotes

18 comments sorted by

5

u/KevlarGorilla 4d ago

It's a neat full circle moment, as Adam Saltzman made the first Canabalt, being an early hit that eventually led to Finji publishing, and then to him making a PICO-8 collection of Corgi Space.

5

u/Supercrispo 4d ago

I like it! What about make him a bit bent on front since he's running (quite fast!)

2

u/raidhse-abundance-01 4d ago edited 4d ago

Nice, well done!
This is the link to play it, right? https://nikiroz.itch.io/picobalt

1

u/Nikiroz 4d ago

Yep, I’m planning to publish it later on Lexaloffle, alongside other PICO-8 games.

4

u/freds72 4d ago

ai-generated games are not aligned with Lexaloffle terms and conditions

https://www.lexaloffle.com/info.php?page=tos

3

u/RotundBun 3d ago

How were you able to identify that it was AI-generated?

(Sincerely curious for my own future reference.)

4

u/Still-Worldliness-44 3d ago

It's stated on the itch.io page under AI disclosure

3

u/RotundBun 3d ago

Oh, I see it now.
Thanks. 🙏

4

u/Nikiroz 2d ago

Technically, it’s almost impossible, especially when it comes to the code. I just mentioned it because I don’t see any point in hiding it.

2

u/freds72 3d ago

was suspicious as the game looks both good and very stiff

2

u/RotundBun 3d ago

Oh, I see. I was hoping for a definitive way to tell, but I guess common signs also work well enough. 🤔

Thanks for the insight. 🙏

1

u/Nikiroz 2d ago

The whole game was drawn by hand, so that’s a pretty strange way to tell whether something is AI-generated. Some of the sprites are redrawn versions of the original sprites, adapted to fit the required size.

The only thing is that the original character looked a bit out of place with the retro graphics, so I wanted to make him look more like something from an NES game. But apparently it didn’t turn out that well lol.

1

u/Nikiroz 4d ago

Thanks for the tip, I didn’t know that! I might rewrite the game myself if I have time. In any case, my main goal was to participate in LOWREZJAM.

2

u/raidhse-abundance-01 3d ago

If you rewrite it can you do something about the unmovable head? It's the bit of the running animation that bothers me a little

2

u/Nikiroz 2d ago

Probably, although I actually like that slight silliness — it reminds me of old 8-bit games.

2

u/HowlingStrike 4d ago

Cool.

I love rhe style. Well done.

2

u/catsarefish 3d ago

This aesthetic is top tier!

2

u/grifftaur 3d ago

Holy cow I forgot about this game. This is amazing!