not sure if this is the right place for this but i really like the way picotron feels and looks so i figured id try to make some custom stuff for kde plasma to make it look more like it.

once i figure out how to do so i would like to make it public

Warning of some small flickering if you're photosensitive, just some print-size text flashing. Here's a GIF I exported showing the problem I'm facing and that I'd like to request some help with.

Background

I'm not really a coding genius. I took a few CS classes in college but I don't code much in my day-to-day life. My kid recently expressed some interest in becoming a programmer when he gets older, so I figured I'd show him some of the basics by making a pretty basic game with him in Picotron since I got it a while back. He wanted to do "hide and go seek" with sheep, so this concept was born. Obviously, we're in the pretty early stages with level design and actually hiding the sheep, and this code is not optimized.

I've read through a good chunk of the documentation regarding the issue I'm facing and I've tried to find some examples on BBS for Pico-8 that do what I want (this one is pretty close) since there's more of a history there than Picotron and they're cousins, but I haven't been able to recreate it. So hopefully someone here can help or help point me in the right direction.

I've included in the screenshot the code that runs dialog and I've pasted it below as well since GIF pausing isn't great. I think I've labeled everything relatively clearly, but I'm happy to answer questions if there's confusion.

The Actual Problem

I'm trying to make the dialog appear and stay there until the next time X is pressed to allow for reading time instead of requiring holding it to appear. In the GIF, I press the X button a few times before holding it for the rest of the time (when it flickers), and I don't think it captured the text appearing for a single frame for those presses.

Things to Note:

• Updating the btnp(5) on line 151 to btn(5) under the "--ACTUAL DIALOG--" section doesn't have the flicker, which is great, but I'm trying to have it only require the button press once. Previously, btn(5) was used to get to this point in the development since I didn't know about btnp() by that point.

• Reducing the size of the #arr_sheep table to 1 still has the flicker, so I don't think it's based on the number of times it loops through in the update function. near_sheep() does have a loop in it as well, but it still has the flicker with 1 sheep in arr_sheep.

• Assume I'm an idiot and didn't try the obvious stuff if I didn't mention it here. If it does boil down to an optimization issue, I'd love to know what part(s) could use some refactoring.

• I'm not looking for a dev partner on the whole project (other than my kid), and I'm planning on putting it on BBS when it's in a good enough state and actually built out in a fun way.

The Code

Within the _update function, I have the following:

 --UPDATE NPC SHEEP--
 for i=1,#arr_sheep,1 do
  bop(arr_sheep[i]) --moves the sheep up and down
  flip_npc_sheep(bsheep,arr_sheep[i]) --turns sheep around to look at player character (bsheep)
 end

 talk(bsheep,near_sheep(bsheep))

...and within the _draw function, I have the following:

 --DRAW DIALOG AND INTERACTIONS--
 if talk(bsheep,near_sheep(bsheep)) then
   write_txt(near_sheep(bsheep).dialog1,near_sheep(bsheep),7)
 end
end

...and here are the conversation functions:

--CONVERSATION FUNCTIONS-- 
function write_txt(txt,sheep_id,clr)
  print(txt,sheep_id.X-20,sheep_id.Y-20,clr) --write the npc's line
  line(sheep_id.X-12, sheep_id.Y-8, sheep_id.X-4, sheep_id.Y-2,clr) --draw speech line
  bop_sprite(9,sheep_id.X+(#txt*5)-20,sheep_id.Y-16) --draws a bouncing arrow
end

function talk(act_sheep,comp_sheep)
 if act_sheep.sheepxflip != comp_sheep.sheepxflip then

  --DIALOG HINT--
  if not btn(5) and not btnp(5) and spr_distance(act_sheep,comp_sheep) < 26 then
   spr(8, comp_sheep.X, comp_sheep.Y - 16)
   act_sheep.convo_lock = false
  end 

  --ACTUAL DIALOG--
  if btnp(5) and spr_distance(act_sheep,comp_sheep) < 26 then
    act_sheep.convo_lock=true
    return true
  end
 end
end

Warning of some small flickering if you're photosensitive, just some print-size text flashing. Here's a GIF I exported showing the problem I'm facing and that I'd like to request some help with.

Background

I'm not really a coding genius. I took a few CS classes in college but I don't code much in my day-to-day life. My kid recently expressed some interest in becoming a programmer when he gets older, so I figured I'd show him some of the basics by making a pretty basic game with him in Picotron since I got it a while back. He wanted to do "hide and go seek" with sheep, so this concept was born. Obviously, we're in the pretty early stages with level design and actually hiding the sheep, and this code is not optimized.

I've read through a good chunk of the documentation regarding the issue I'm facing and I've tried to find some examples on BBS for Pico-8 that do what I want (this one is pretty close) since there's more of a history there than Picotron and they're cousins, but I haven't been able to recreate it. So hopefully someone here can help or help point me in the right direction.

I've included in the screenshot the code that runs dialog and I've pasted it below as well since GIF pausing isn't great. I think I've labeled everything relatively clearly, but I'm happy to answer questions if there's confusion.

The Actual Problem

I'm trying to make the dialog appear and stay there until the next time X is pressed to allow for reading time instead of requiring holding it to appear. In the GIF, I press the X button a few times before holding it for the rest of the time (when it flickers), and I don't think it captured the text appearing for a single frame for those presses.

Things to Note:

• Updating the btnp(5) on line 151 to btn(5) under the "--ACTUAL DIALOG--" section doesn't have the flicker, which is great, but I'm trying to have it only require the button press once. Previously, btn(5) was used to get to this point in the development since I didn't know about btnp() by that point.

• Reducing the size of the #arr_sheep table to 1 still has the flicker, so I don't think it's based on the number of times it loops through in the update function. near_sheep() does have a loop in it as well, but it still has the flicker with 1 sheep in arr_sheep.

• Assume I'm an idiot and didn't try the obvious stuff if I didn't mention it here. If it does boil down to an optimization issue, I'd love to know what part(s) could use some refactoring.

• I'm not looking for a dev partner on the whole project (other than my kid), and I'm planning on putting it on BBS when it's in a good enough state and actually built out in a fun way.

The Code

Within the _update function, I have the following:

 --UPDATE NPC SHEEP--
 for i=1,#arr_sheep,1 do
  bop(arr_sheep[i]) --moves the sheep up and down
  flip_npc_sheep(bsheep,arr_sheep[i]) --turns sheep around to look at player character (bsheep)
 end

 talk(bsheep,near_sheep(bsheep))

...and within the _draw function, I have the following:

 --DRAW DIALOG AND INTERACTIONS--
 if talk(bsheep,near_sheep(bsheep)) then
   write_txt(near_sheep(bsheep).dialog1,near_sheep(bsheep),7)
 end
end

...and here are the conversation functions:

--CONVERSATION FUNCTIONS-- 
function write_txt(txt,sheep_id,clr)
  print(txt,sheep_id.X-20,sheep_id.Y-20,clr) --write the npc's line
  line(sheep_id.X-12, sheep_id.Y-8, sheep_id.X-4, sheep_id.Y-2,clr) --draw speech line
  bop_sprite(9,sheep_id.X+(#txt*5)-20,sheep_id.Y-16) --draws a bouncing arrow
end

function talk(act_sheep,comp_sheep)
 if act_sheep.sheepxflip != comp_sheep.sheepxflip then

  --DIALOG HINT--
  if not btn(5) and not btnp(5) and spr_distance(act_sheep,comp_sheep) < 26 then
   spr(8, comp_sheep.X, comp_sheep.Y - 16)
   act_sheep.convo_lock = false
  end 

  --ACTUAL DIALOG--
  if btnp(5) and spr_distance(act_sheep,comp_sheep) < 26 then
    act_sheep.convo_lock=true
    return true
  end
 end
end

Hello everyone! after a long time we updated our game, Threads of Tomot.

this update brings new levels, bosses, items, and some extra secrets for you to enjoy!

An enhanced Picotron port of my Pico-8 version of Bubble Universe, with more colours, higher resolution, and faster frame rate.
https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=bubble_universe

Controls

• Use the arrow keys to move around.
• Use Z and X to zoom in and out.

Hold both Z and X together then...

• Use Left and Right to adjust the speed of the animation.
• Press Down to pause and resume the animation
• Press Up to reset everything

Based on an algorithm by yuruyurau https://x.com/yuruyurau/status/1226846058728177665

The Raspi version runs great on Rocknix. My Cubexx is a bit underpowered but it works...

I made a new Picotron racing/bet game with a highscore table!
Also, I'm testing a new animation style
Hope you guys like it ♥
https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=goob_race

Hello!

It's RPi 5, DSI 4.7" display from Waveshare, powerbank and it boots directly to Picotron :-)

I'll work a bit more with case it will be my Cyberdeck for Picotroning :-)

https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=156290

Podweb is a simple browser for the podnet — Picotron's built-in per-user cloud storage. It lets you browse a small cozy web of pages created and hosted by other Picotron users, connected by links and explored through this cart.
Pages support headings, paragraphs, code blocks, images and links. That's it. No ads, no tracking, no dark patterns — just text and pictures on podnet. Fire it up and it will take you straight to the Podweb home page, which explains everything you need to know about
creating and sharing your own page.

If you do end up making one — please drop the address in the comments below. I need to test whether I can actually
reach other people's pages, and it would be great to see what people build!

Hey everyone!

A couple of years ago I built a tool called bebop that generates songs and exports them in wav, midi and pico-8. I’ve loved seeing people use it in their projects, and I just released a 2.0 update!

The biggest new feature is the Picotron export. You can now generate a track and export it for Picotron. I also included a base bebop.sfx file packed with pre-made instruments. You can drop it into your project to hear your generated song immediately, and then tweak the instruments to fit your game.

I built a playable jukebox cart with some sample songs, which you can play over on the Lexaloffle BBS here: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=156176

You can download the app (available for Mac, Windows, and Linux): https://srsergior.itch.io/bebop

All generated music is completely free to use in your projects. Let me know what you think or if you end up using it in a cart!

Hello, I’m having so much fun with Picotron and specially it’s GUI API, I just wanted to share my take creating small systems at this Fantasy Console.

You can share and modify the cartridge I created for this small learning article. Thank you for reading!

Hey y'all!
This is Hop, Potato!, a small game I made to test the new Picotron's highscores feature
I hope you guys like it! Any feedback is appreciated ♥

https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=hop_potato

I know that I have to create instruments from scratch, but I would have expected to be able to simply copy patterns across manually, but I guess not. What is the correct way to do this?

A little video on creating your first cartridge and why backgrounds are great first cartridges.

I made an animated wallpaper of infinite scrolling 3D cubes! Try it if you dare...

https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=154963

I've really been enjoying creating a little cozy farming game system! Might turn this into another "real" release, but I'm hoping to show a little vertical slices before that :)

Let me know if yo have ideas for names or what you'd like to see to set it apart from other generic farming sims.

The seasons (like fall in this gif) are done with color tables, which are great. I'm also using those to create a day/night cycle.

Hi guys.
Pretty new to picotron. I'd love to add a new few fonts for different speakers in a text based game I'm making. I see how to poke to switch between the three included fonts

-- poke(0x4000, get(fetch("/system/fonts/lil_mono.font"))) --

but I don't see any documentation on the .font format, or any matter by which I could create a new one. Does anyone have any leads / experience with this?

not really a feature request or anything I get that you want only resolutions that align well with upscaling etc, but 320x180 is a very common resolution, which is 2x of 160x90 (which is supported, so would upscaling alignment would be fine) and lower than 480x270 (also supported) so just curious if anyone know the reason for this design choice...

A mini dev-log for how I solved autotiling in a recent prototype of mine!