Hi. I'd really like to build some games for Pico-8, maybe Love2D as well, but I'm hopeless at coming up with an idea for a game and It doesn't interest me to just make some kind of clone. I'd be very happy to let someone else do the art and game concept and I could concentrate on the coding. Would that interest anybody here?
I want to make something genuinely fun to play and polished with nice presentation and spot-on controls.
I could also handle music - I'm not experienced in making chip-tunes but I know how to write and arrange music.
I don't really know, that's my whole problem. I think tile based puzzle games work very well on Pico-8 and some kinds of arcade/action games. If it was a platform based game it'd have to have some unique gimmick to make it interesting, like that LBP2 user-created level where you toggled platforms on and off with a button.
Right now I'm building the basic mechanics of a puzzle game based on placing conveyor belts and shifting items around. Its not a fully formed idea but I figured I'd start building it and see if I get more ideas from that.
I can think of one game off the top of my head that does exactly this. It comes for the Atari 2600 entitled, "Cakewalk."
https://youtu.be/yNNsSfGlb80?t=5
Notice how CLICKING on a conveyor belt stops it for a short time so you can catch the other cakes.
I could use a hand with Harambe Kong Country! It's really just focused on barrel cannon sequences, rocket barrels, mine carts and the like; not the core platforming of DKC at all. Unless maybe there's room for that sort of thing at the end with space remaining, and all.
Tony, wasn't there talk that Harambe is something about animal abuse ? Forgive me if I am wrong. I can check message history.
A kid climbed over a cage at the zoo, and dies falling down. But because it's the gorilla "Harambe's" cage; law states that the gorilla, having done nothing wrong here, had to be "put down."
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/harambe-the-gorilla
This became something of an outrage, which then became something of a joke; and now he's a meme on the internet that's saluted by "Dicks out for Harambe!". Hence, the consideration of making everything in the game look like a dick (pending). In fact, the more I thought about mine carts and rocket barrels and barrel cannons and vines all looking like dicks - and don't even get me started on fish buddy/water levels here - the more hilariously irreverent the idea became!
But mostly, the coincidence of Harambe and DK being gorillas is what I'm going with.
Also, everyone loves barrel cannon levels! And they shouldn't be too intensive to make as a complete theme to the game, along with the rocket barrels and mine carts - we literally only need birds and bees as obstacles (everything with movement patterns)... "naynays" (bananas) and balloons to collect (and maybe a four-letter word like DICK or PICO?) as targets.
Tony, if you just want a famous gorilla, let's see ... There is KOKO, very friendly, gets along with other people just fine, intelligent, and a pro at sign language.
If your game, however, is going to about 'wieners,' may I suggest it be titled NOT after any apes at all, but be a tribute to the new movie, "Sausage Party."
There should be ample adult material in there for a videogame.
Adult material+Tile based puzzle+Arcade/Action games = Gonta the Diver
Gameplay is very fun. Would love a demake sans nudity
This gorilla idea seems in poor taste to me.
@dw817 Regarding my conveyor belt idea, its more like a 2D top down Infinifactory. Belt placement works like Factorio more or less. I did get the basics working last night but I need to play around with it to see what the gameplay potential is there. In a way Chu-Chu rocket was similar, with arrows instead of conveyors, but that wasn't a puzzle game as such.
Chu Chu Rocket was most DEFINITELY a puzzle, Kam3k. A tricky one to be sure on the higher levels.
I'm viewing the Infinifactory game now ...
"If there is one thing I wish for in the future, it is videogames to not be accompanied by annoying deejays !"
Okay, I see what's going on here. This is also sort of like Pipe Madness, where you redirect a water flow based on the turns of pipes you receive.
I think this won't be too difficult a game to write.
To get started, I would doodle the conveyors, each 8x8, each of the following:
horizontal, vertical, up then right, up then left, down then left, down then right.
I'd love to help out with the Pixel Art for your game and maybe a bit of coding. You can check out some of my art and games on Twitter. Send me a DM on Twitter if you're interested!
Belt placement and following:
I'd like to have curved pieces at the corners (like Factorio) but I don't know if they can be rendered well as an 8x8 sprite, at least and have them animate as well.
Looks good, Kam3k ! If your conveyor belt puzzles are all of a small size, you could go with 16x16-pixel tiles for greater image clarity.
So far what I'm seeing what you did is quite nice !
Might penalize player if cargo hits the floor.
Might auto-create conveyor that handles turns when two direction tiles are atop each other.
Kam3K, would love to collaborate with someone as I am an artist with some knowledge of code, but I really stink at it. I've just spent all day trying to figure out how to change the speed of my walk cycle animation in Pico-8 to no avail. I've been going through cartridge after cartridge looking at code, none is the same and the more I look, the more overwhelmed I become.
I am a trained game designer as I was in the 3rd class of the Full Sail game design degree program. That was back in 2001 and I've been out of it for quite some time. Pico-8 rekindled my imagination, but realizing even the basics of this tool are beyond me is popping my dream bubble.
I co-founded a cell phone game company back in 2004. I was the artist/designer. My partner and business manager failed to uphold his end of our collaboration and we folded. Some of my designs might be right up your alley. You can email me: [email protected] or look me up on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eric.myers.7509
Kam3K another volunteer here. Just learning the code part of Pico but I have some experience with game art and a lot of experience with concepts, design and chiptunes. DM =)
Kam3k, I am in need of a programmer for my thesis. I am currently working on a sandbox game about a honey bee. I plan on incorporating a lot of visual effects. A couple of examples are a rainstorm (screen shaking and flashing) and reflections for when the bee flies over a body of water. Let me know if you are interested. I would compensate you for your time. You can find me on social media for a taste of what I do. ;-)
Still working on my first title here, But I'm up for any pixel arts you might need later. I'm sorta good at working in the limited space and palette. (Heck half the time I can't be bothered to program, I'm making carts just of sprites and assets out of boredoom!)
bit late for this, but I could help with writing or managing if you'd like
Might be late to the party but it'd be wicked if you still wanna collab. I'm bubbling with an overwhelming amount of fleshed out ideas. Mostly quirky and eccentric they really pop and linger in your thought bubbles. If you dig that sort of thing I'd love to chat about it. I desperately require a programmer or somebody who is confident and well versed with PICO-8
My discord is analogsprout#2199 add me!
MOCKUP
Reading the comment of Triumverent. Yep, it's old. But it has an important point.
That's the problem with a lot of things. It's maybe okay to collab on a project if no money is involved. But get that devil money and profit in there and unless you have a 3rd party doling out the liberties, the whole thing will often fall flat on its face.
Me ? I'm a fair coder, sometimes obsessive for detail. I can really solve any programming problem at all if you don't mind me being a bit of a dinosaur in my solution. Not so great a Pico-8 artist or Pico-8 musician.
I don't see the forest for the trees rather I see the majority of both being the color green. That describes my mentality pretty well.
I've worked with budding game companies in the past in my teens and usually they dissolve pretty quickly leaving me with the "Art Guy" and I'm somehow supposed to do all the coding, mechanics, design, and production. It never works out long term.
What you want is a carefree open-policy, no real rules kind of friendship going on for a long-term collab I believe. Short-term collabs might work, once again, non-profit and just bumping elbows with lots of sincere smiles and waving.
SpaceCadetKelly, you've got maaad art and design skills from what I see. Here's hoping you make a career out of video games and earn a good living. You deserve it.
@dw817 thanks! I'm h3lla flattered you think so! Do you have discord? I'm trying to acquire more gamedev friends and become more actively involved in the PICO-8 community. :o
You might get in touch with Scrub. He's got this chat thing going on for Pico-8. Might be what you're looking for.
Best wishes !
Scrub wrote me HERE:
https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=35207
A year or so ago I was chatting with him in this type of shell environment thing for communication. Not sure what the name of it was.
He's an accomplished Pico-8 musician and Pico-8 programmer - strength high in music especially.
Hey there, @Kam3k!
I'm not what you are looking for, since I'm also mainly a coder, not very good at art. I can do some 3d modelling but that's not very helpful for pico8 :P
However, for a long time I've been thinking about a "a carefree open-policy, no real rules kind of friendship going on for a long-term collab". My problem is not with coding or art (well, I try to make games that don't need art) but with having no one to bounce ideas back and forth with. I assure you that you are full of good ideas and designs, you just need someone. Probably.
I'm also a huge fan of Zachtronics, and I enjoy Factorio.
Right now I'm bouncing ideas in my head about a game similar in style to Zachtronics and based on strands of DNA and proteins that modify them and then the new strand makes proteins etc. Like factorio but there's only 4 base materials and if you want a conveyor or an inserter you got to design it and maybe later improve on it, like in Zachtronics games.
My discord is mago314#4865, my email [email protected]
Hi! Are you still looking for collaborators? I can make PICO music and art. I recently did the music for this game: https://sourencho.itch.io/mimic
@notehead, if you're not looking for financial profit I would be honored if you would do music for one of my upcoming games. It's not coming out immediately, probably in January. I will definitely be in touch.
Hey, I have @notehead as a worker because I am building a team and I am looking for a programmer, would you be interested in working with me?
[Please log in to post a comment]
