Yep, I just received my first PICO Magazine, a lovely 47-page magazine dedicated entirely to PICO-8.
Opening the pages, here are the table of contents:
3 ... A Brief History Of PICO-8
We interview ZEP himself ! The founder of PICO-8, and what a tangled tale he weaves ! Telling us not just about the origins of PICO but systems he created prior including POIDO (Pointy Dough), Lex500, and Voxatron.
10 ... Squashy
Your first PICO game ! Introduces you to Command Mode, some command functions, user input, sprites, sound effects, and putting it all together - with full source code and screenshots included.
22 ... Let's Make Some Music
Gives you firsthand experience of the sound and music editor, and how to build effects and songs in them.
30 ... Toy Train
A more advanced look at programming introducing topics such as object-oriented programming, switch states, and having one object follow another through recursion. As SQUASHY is, full-source code and screenshots for all images are included for this game as well.
38 ... Geodezik
A simple program to type, complex in its execution, however. Draws lines out as vectors and creates a type of Spyrograph effect in the center.
39 ... Smoke Particle
Particle effects to me are one of the most exciting features of PICO. With it, you don't just hit a bad guy and flash a single POW sprite. No, you can have particles, hundreds of 'em ! All dashing off with their own properties to give you some serious and true eye candy for the agile player.
The example code demonstrates the ability to create 'smoke.' Complete with source and text on just what is happening and where in the code.
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Between chapters are some niceties, like a truly retro picture of what PICO would look like were it a real console for its time and some lovely vector graphics below.
43 ... Welcome to PICO-8 !
ZEP returns and talks about his wonderchild, CELESTE. Not just your basic platformer but a high-powered one with special moves any super heroine would want.
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What follows are screenshots descriptions, instructions, and download links by the programming author.
Stories At The Dawn
A decidedly darker platformer with tricky puzzles to say the least.
Pat Shooter
A serious topview shooter with lots of particle effects, ship's shielding, and enemy strengths.
Transdimensional Butterfly
A PICO program that explores the beauty and complexity of math to make this mesmerizing and most-colorful animated display.
The Tower Of Archeos
A tricky turn-based puzzle where you must survive by intelligently picking your battles with a large number of critters and enemies. Do well and you are granted the next level of play.
Tempest
A work-in-progress that is still in beta but still holds a few bugs. The premise is amazing for tiny little PICO-8 to run though - a topview adventure game where survival is key, including finding food and shelter.
WormWormWormWorm
Another Screen Teaser, this time a kaleidoscopic worm wanders the screen and computer-generated music plays in the background.
MTRX
You're familiar with the special MATRIX effects of the green characters descending from the top of the screen, right ? Well, in this program they collide from all 4-corners, crashing into each other with a cacophony of sound effects.
Delia Mute In Grave Grotto
An impressive rogue-like game with item pickups, combat, and traveling further underground through a series of descending stairs.
The Adventures Of Jelpi (with Corrupt mode)
A curiously unusual game to say the least. It's your basic platformer but enemies here poke values directly into memory causing your game to glitch. It's up to you to find the exit before PICO crashes !
All programs include an ONLINE LINK to each of the featured carts so you don't have to code them in yourself.
Additional carts mentioned w playable and download links are: Stray Shot, Endless Train, Random Sound Generator, Video Poker, Piano Simulator, Duangle 2015 Intro, Thopter Escape, Bounce, Puzzle Cave, and Sumo Pico.
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While the hardcopy magazines of PICO-8 are now sold out, you can still get the digital version of the magazine to read from Online. And that link can be found right HERE:
This a brilliant way to get started - thanks for putting this together!
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