Hi there,

Sorry if this isn't the right place for this, but I work IT at a school and have been curious about working to implement PICO-8 as part of the school's STEAM program. The school has a 1-to-1 laptop program with Chromebooks, but they easily run PICO-8 in the few test cases I've tried it on after installing Linux on them. I would like to work with the STEAM teachers at our school to get this implemented, but I'm worried about misuse of it, especially when it comes to the SPLORE command. Because it's not working through a web browser, it gets around what we have in place for our content filter policies, and while it's not a huge worry, there are some available carts that have stronger language than would probably be appropriate in a middle school setting. I want the option for other games to be available because I believe being able to dig through the code of other games is an amazing learning tool, but I would prefer to have it so these students are only able to access other games through a web browser so our content filtering policy can still be in place. Is there a way to disable SPLORE or some other way I can accomplish this?

You know, @ZazSaysStuff. That's not a bad idea to limit commands for the educational environment. And yes it could be done by @zep.

He has Pico8 switches you can find HERE:

https://www.lexaloffle.com/dl/docs/pico-8_manual.html#Commandline_parameters

And while he does not have it now, he COULD add some command line functions like:

-nosplore ..... disable SPLORE ability in this run
-nointernet ... do not access the internet at all this run
-nosave ....... cannot save or CTRL+S any code to HD this run
-noclipcode ... disable CTRL+C and CTRL+V and "save @clip" this run
-noclipspr .... disable CTRL+C and CTRL+V for sprites this run
-noclipmap .... disable CTRL+C and CTRL+V for MAP tables this run
-noclipsfx .... disable CTRL+C and CTRL+V for SFX tables this run
-noclipmusic .. disable CTRL+C and CTRL+V for MUSIC tables this run
-noload# ...... disable "load #" from internet this run
-noload ....... disable "load" command entirely this run
-nodir ........ disable ability to view directory this run
-noimmediate .. disable typing in immediate mode, can still view output, this run
-noviewcode ... cannot see or tab to source code this run
-noviewspr .... cannot see or tab to sprites this run
-noviewmaps ... cannot see or tab to maps this run
-noviewsfx .... cannot view or tab to SFX tables this run
-noviewmusic .. cannot view or tab to MUSIC tables this run
-nobrowser .... disable SPLORE "open thread in browser"
-nofavorites .. disable SPLORE ability to view and mark "favorite" carts
-nosploreloc .. SPLORE lists only remote carts, none local
-sploreloconly. SPLORE lists only local carts, none remote
-lockcode ..... code cannot be edited, can be viewed, this run
-lockspr ...... sprites cannot be edited, can be viewed, this run
-lockmap ...... maps cannot be edited, can be viewed, this run
-locksfx ...... SFX tables cannot be edited, can be viewed, this run
-lockmusic .... MUSIC tables cannot be edited, can be viewed, this run
-kiosk1 ....... specify filename, runs this cart, ESC verifies exit, no other access
-kiosk2 ....... specify filename, runs this cart, full-screen, no other access
-allowsplore .. allow SPLORE to be run in code

For noload you would need to either type in brand new code or use the existing -run command to load up a cart. Combine with -nosave and you have a true teacher's tool that won't mess with your hard-drive.

For -kiosk2 while you can still use the mouse and keyboard to PLAY you can only shut down via ALT-F4 or TASK MANAGER (CTRL+ALT+DEL) or other task manager. If you physically removed the ALT keys from the keyboard, you could run a Pico-8 cart at a gaming convention and no-one could shut it down outside of powering down the computer itself. If you had -allowsplore selected, you could use SPLORE() in one line of code and have a true gaming machine to demonstrate at that same gaming convention.

Yeah! Thanks for the thoughts @dw817. Something like your proposed -nosplore or -nointernet commands would be exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. I've spent a good portion of my downtime trying to find some way to limit the online connectivity of Linux-based applications through our admin tools, but something like that would be a great and easy solution!

Some crude ways can be used now:

• uninstall wget from the computers (splore uses wget to download bbs carts)
• set firewall rules to block bbs access
• edit /etc/hosts to redirect bbs to custom server (or to nowhere)

Thank you so much for your suggestion, @merwok. Uninstalling wget seems to be a pretty good solution for now.

note that bbs carts are cached in ~/.lexaloffle/pico-8/bbs so you may want to clean that up (or review cached carts and let them there)

PICO-8 does not have a Settings icon.
Maybe you are referring to one type of launcher for one type of operating system?