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> Changed: Controller inputs are accepted even when PICO-8 is not the foreground application

PLEASE change this back. This is totally counter to how apps are supposed to work in a windowing environment. If an app doesn't have focus, the whole point is that it's not the one receiving input.

This is causing problems for me already because I can't safely pause a PICO-8 game while I play something else that uses a controller.

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+1


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Second this.


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There might be some niche use case though. Maybe an opt-in option?


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... or make it optional, @Felice. By default yeah it shouldn't. But with an obscure POKE it could be enabled. I'm not sure I just don't like the idea of removing it entirely. There are some programming languages like Blitz that can read keystrokes even if the window is not focused.


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Yeah it's totally fine if it's something you opt into, but it shouldn't be the default and it absolutely should NOT be mandated like it is in 0.2.4b.


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@zep, please do a hotfix on this, it's seriously broken, don't let this fester for a year while you work on PicoTron. That's just not fair to us.


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not fair to assume he is maliciously ignoring this complaint.
and pico8 is clearly the priority from all the lexaloffle consoles and games


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@merwok

Who said anything about malice? I think zep is one of the most even-keeled people I've met. Don't project emotions onto me, please.


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FYI I specifically requested this feature so it was probably added in response to my thread (?) but my idea was definitely that it would be opt-in, not default behavior :)


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@kittenm4ster
Yeah, as mentioned above, I think features like this are fine as long as they're opt-in. I imagined there were use cases like yours.


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This just bit me today—I couldn’t figure out what was going wrong! Absolutely agree it should be opt-in.

I don’t think it should be a POKE; it should be a user setting, not something controlled by a cart.


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Alright no problem -- it's now optional (and off by default) for 0.2.4c. I have to admit I thought "who's going to be running a PICO-8 cart in the background while they are using the controller for something else?". Lack of imagination.

@Felice -- fwiw, there's a lot of overhead in releasing an update, so I generally can only justify doing hotfixes when there are severe show-stopping bugs, and even then only when there aren't other pressing things going on. It's perhaps inadvisable to juggle so many projects as a solo developer, but these are the side effects and PICO-8 wouldn't exist in the first place otherwise ¯\(ツ)


Wouldn't it be better to pause the game and block input when 1. a game is running and 2. PICO-8 is not the focused window?


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There are cases where you'd want to leave the cartridge running when not in focus -- e.g. listening to background music or defragging your PICO-8.


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@zep

May I suggest that, if there's that much overhead in the process of releasing an update, then your current project ought to be to find a way to streamline that process.

You've been talking about creating a new game development platform/ecosystem in Picotron, where other creators can make and publish full games or apps or whatever. If you can't update a simpler platform like PICO-8 with any kind of regularity or timeliness, that's going to turn into a much bigger problem with Picotron.

Sorry, but I'm going to keep hammering on this point.


Fully agree, @zep. Please take your time. I think most of us would rather have an outstanding release later than a premature one now.

I love your work but you know this. :)



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