Jusiv [Lexaloffle Blog Feed]

Spirit Solstice

Fri, 31 Dec 2021 21:30:29 UTC

Spirit Solstice

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

You can also play it on itch.io here!

CONTROLS
Arrows: Move
X: Toggle Lantern
Z/X: Advance Text

You can also skip dialogue from the pause menu.

ABOUT
It's the Winter Solstice and you've been tasked with inviting the local nature spirits to join the celebration. Use your lantern to navigate three different areas of the forest in this mini seasonal adventure!

This was made over November and December 2021 for the 2021 PICO-8 Advent Calendar. This ended up being my first time really exploring the extended PICO-8 color palette.

This version of the game is expanded from the original one released through the Advent Calendar on December 21, 2021 with a whole third area and some extra bits of polish.

And if you'd like to follow my work, check out my Twitter: @Jusiv_

UPDATE 1/1/2021: More Polish & Quality of Life Tweaks!

Hints now display if you're struggling in the Deer section.
The lantern can now be aimed regardless of whether you can move.
Re-tuning in the Wolf section.
Extra visual flair in the Deer and Wolf area endings.
Minor punctuation fixes.

UPDATE 1/2/2021: Better Hints & Nicer Wolves!

Some folks are still struggling with the Deer section, so I've improved the hint system!
There are now more, smaller hints given more often and they can be repeated from the pause menu at any time in the area.
The Wolf section was also a bit needlessly difficult so I've retuned it further.

UPDATE 1/29/2021: tiny bugfix

Fixed an issue where you could walk out of bounds in the Eagle's room.
This is belated but since no other issues have come up I'm just pushing this now.

Cursed Flail

Sun, 13 Jun 2021 20:29:31 UTC

So it turns out that fancy new flail you picked up in this dungeon is mega cursed and now it's trying to kill you. Whoops.

Cursed Flail (Jam Version)

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

Controls:

Walk: Arrows
Jump: Z / X / C

This was made in 48 hours for the 2021 GMTK Game Jam. The theme was "Joined Together," so I took inspiration from the trope of cursed weapons being impossible to unequip and ran with it to make a game about trying to dodge a hostile weapon that's tethered to you while tricking it into cooperating so you can progress.

All code, design, and assets are my own work.

You can also download and play this on itch.io!

Strange Palette Bug

Sat, 06 Feb 2021 11:05:16 UTC

Hey so I just noticed that one of the more recent PICO-8 updates (not sure which) appears to make palettes work inconsistently on text in certain cases.

How to Reproduce:
Play my game Night Fright Flight here on the forums: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=30133.
Try to change the palette through the pause menu, and you'll notice that some of the text (specifically the score and the game over message) doesn't entirely change palette. Most strangely, it applies only partially to outlined text created by calling print repeatedly with different offsets (despite pal() not getting called in the text drawing function at all).
I get the same issue running the game with 0.2.1b on my computer.

Example 1: The partially-purple text outline here should be all green.

Example 2: The orange text with an upper purple shadow here should be white with a red shadow.

If you play it on itch.io, however, it displays as intended (with consistent 3 simultaneously-used colors per palette): https://jusiv.itch.io/night-fright-flight

Timeframe of the Issue:
The PICO-8 forums version was last updated in October 2017, and it displayed correctly back when it was posted.
The itch.io browser version was last updated in April 2018, making this the most recent date I know for certain that the bug didn't exist. Unfortunately I don't have any more recent points of concrete reference to pinpoint it better with.

Has anyone noticed this on other carts?

Winterwood

Fri, 25 Dec 2020 21:02:16 UTC

Winterwood

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

You can also play it on itch.io here!

CONTROLS
Arrows: Walk
Z/X: Rotate Camera

ABOUT
This is a short but sweet game about trekking through the woods to make a special delivery.

This was made over parts of October and December 2020 for the PICO-8 Advent Calendar 2020. It was a great excuse for me to finally dig into some of the newer PICO-8 features added since my last big project, particularly tline and oval drawing.

Special thanks to thattomhall for playtesting and freds72 for providing me his textured polygon function! (It is used with minor modifications for drawing various elements of the house.)

And if you'd like to follow my work, check out my Twitter: @Jusiv_

UPDATE 1/5/2021: By popular request I've added a checkpoint to the lake!
I did increase the difficulty of the end portion a little to compensate, but it should still be less punishing overall.

Jack-o-Random

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 18:59:34 UTC

I decided to make a Tweetcart today and it ended up being a simple little Jack-o-Lantern generator, but I found it entertaining enough to watch that I figured I'd release it here for y'all too!

Jack-o-Random

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

There's no controls whatsoever, it just periodically generates a new pumpkin. The quality of the expressions varies but overall I'd say they come out remarkably well.

Snowman Builder

Fri, 20 Dec 2019 21:48:15 UTC

Snowman Builder

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

We're decidedly into the snowy part of the year, so here's a little cart to celebrate the winter cheer!
The outside cold you need not fear, for you can decorate a snowman from right here!

CONTROLS
Keyboard (Default)
Arrows: Move
Z: Grab/Place
X: Rotate/Cycle Colors

Mouse (Enabled from pause menu)
Left Click: Grab/Place
Right Click: Rotate/Cycle Colors

OTHER NOTES
Switching Control Modes: The cart will automatically switch to Keyboard or Mouse control when you use an arrow key or click, respectively. You can also switch between control modes from the pause menu. The cart will default to Keyboard control.
Moving Pieces: In both Mouse and Keyboard modes, Snowman Builder supports both click-to-grab and drag-and-drop methods for moving and placing items! If you click/press and release the grab button quickly the object will be held until you click again, or if you hold the button down it will be released when you let go instead.
Photo Mode: This hides the UI, making it easy to take a screenshot of your snowman! It does not take a photo on its own, unfortunately.
Music: You can mute and play the music from the pause menu.

ABOUT
I made this little interactive toy for the 2019 PICO-8 Advent Calendar. Check out the full calendar here!

All code and assets are my own work.

And if you'd like to see more stuff that I do, check out my Twitter: @Jusiv_

Post your creations below!

Sidewind

Tue, 14 May 2019 21:58:06 UTC

A tiny 1-button arcade game written in 560 characters.

Sidewind

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

(Also playable on itch.io!)

This was made for the second TweetTweetJam, hosted by @eggnog!

Your thread is constantly moving and turning. Press Z to switch which direction you turn in. Avoid obstacles and the encroaching walls as long as you can!

You have to reset the cart to play again.

FUZ

Sun, 12 May 2019 19:30:22 UTC

A PICO-8 demake of FEZ.

FUZ

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

FUZ (Mobile-Friendly Version)

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

You can also find this game on itch.io!

CONTROLS (Original Version)
Left/Right: Walk
Up: Jump
Down: Drop/Interact
Z/X: Rotate the world

CONTROLS (Mobile-Friendly Version)
Left/Right: Walk
Z: Jump
Down: Drop
Up: Interact
Left/Right while holding X: Rotate the world

ABOUT
This is a tiny adventure based directly on FEZ, a game by the Polytron Corporation. It is a fan work, and was not made in collaboration with or endorsed by them.

FUZ features a total of 8 distinct areas. Its visuals, mechanics, and puzzles are all based off those in the original.

I made the music myself, as while FEZ has a phenomenal soundtrack a lot of it does not translate well to PICO-8. I can't claim to be very musically inclined, but I hope it works well enough.

Also, while there is no save system, the game is completable very quickly if you know what to do so getting back to your previous place is not hard.

And if you'd like to follow my work, check out my Twitter: @Jusiv_

Thanks for playing, and let me know what you think!

If you'd like to hear more about the process of developing this game, I did a whole write-up here!
http://www.jusiv.me/blog/fuz-reflections/

Alarmed! (Jam Version)

Sun, 24 Mar 2019 21:57:55 UTC

A tiny anti-stealth puzzle game.

alarmed

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

GOAL: Have every alarm in the level active at once.
CONTROLS:

Arrows: Move
Z: Wait
Reset or Skip Levels from the pause menu (Enter)

This was a tiny puzzle game I made in under 24 hours based on themes from WPI's 2019 Cutthroat Game Jam.
(It wasn't an official submission since it was a competitive jam and I was one of the people running it.)

The main theme was "Reverse," and I also chose the subtheme "Hidden [in Plain Sight]." Based on these, I decided to make an anti-stealth game where you try to trigger all of the alarms.

This is more of a proof-of-concept than a full proper game, and could use some more interesting puzzle design and mechanics, but I did what I could in the time I had.

Aurora Railway

Mon, 07 Jan 2019 03:18:58 UTC

A short story-based game.

Aurora Railway v2

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

I made this over winter break (December 2018 - January 2019) for WPI's Chill Jam. It's mostly dialogue but there are some gameplay bits throughout.

The jam theme was "chill," which inspired the setting and failstate-free gameplay and also plays into one other detail.

Controls:

Z/X/C: Advance Text and Interact
Arrows: Move

You can also get this game from itch.io!

And if you want to follow my work, check out my Twitter: @Jusiv_!

- - - CHANGELOG - - -
v1.0 - Initial Release (9/01/2019)
v2.0 - Revision (7/21/2017)

Fixed an exploit with Scene Sledding
Tweaked Scene Sledding timing and internal requirements
The game is now slightly less silent! (in certain places)

Bring Back the Old "Featured" Sort

Wed, 05 Dec 2018 21:53:12 UTC

I don't have a problem with there being a running, searchable list of featured carts, as was added in the new BBS update. However, it is problematic that adding that seems to have removed the option to sort through all carts by the number of stars they've been given. It would be appreciated if we got that feature back in addition to the new one.

P8 Awards 2018

Mon, 03 Dec 2018 06:51:02 UTC

The 2018 P8 Awards are over!

The winners are announced in the cart and listed below.

P8 Awards

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

Controls:

Left/Right to change award

(O) to reveal winners (hold to slowly cycle through carts)

Up/Down to change selected cart

(X) to load selected cart

Hide All in the pause menu to reset the winner reveals

These are an (unofficial) set of awards, similar to the Steam Awards, designed to celebrate PICO-8 carts.
The community nominated carts over the course of December, and voted on them over the course of January.
CLARIFICATION: For this set of awards, any existing cart could be nominated, no matter how old. As no PICO-8 awards events have been done before, it didn't seem fair to exclude any carts on the basis of age.

ALL OF THE WINNERS AND HONORABLE MENTIONS CAN BE PLAYED FROM THE AWARDS CART!
(One of them isn't on the BBS, so instead I've provided a popup with its URL.)

THE AWARDS

	[0x0]

#1. "Has to be Nano" Award
This goes to a cart that defies what you though PICO-8 could do.
WINNER:

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

	[0x0]

#2. "Underrated" Award
This goes to a cart that deserves waaay more stars than it has.
WINNER:

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

	[0x0]

#3. "Out of the Box" Award
This goes to a cart that stands out for how unique it is.
WINNER:

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

	[0x0]

#4. "Ephemeral" Award
This goes to a cart that's brief but nevertheless captivating.
WINNER:

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

	[0x0]

#5. "Vortex" Award
This goes to a cart that keeps pulling you back to it again and again.
WINNER:

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

	[0x0]

#6. "Beep Boop Banger" Award
This goes to a cart that with outstanding music.
WINNER:

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

	[0x0]

#7. "Novella" Award
This goes to a cart that tells an exceptional story.
WINNER:

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

	[0x0]

#8. "Sparkling" Award
This goes to a cart that positively shines with polish.
WINNER:

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

(Two categories have 3 honorable mentions instead of 2 because they had a tie for 3rd place.)

THE DETAILS

Cart nominations ended at 11:59PM Eastern Time on December 31, 2018.
Cart voting ended at 11:59PM Eastern Time on January 31, 2019.
Winners were announced on February 18, 2019. (I had to put it off for a bit to deal with college work.)

Down the Deepgrotto (Jam Version)

Mon, 03 Dec 2018 00:34:41 UTC

A turn-less, world-less RPG made in 48 hours.

Down the Deepgrotto (Jam Version)

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

HOW TO PLAY
Controls:

Z/X/C: Advance/Select
Left/Right: Change Selected Character
Up/Down: Change Selected Action

Abilities:
The abilities aren't well explained beyond their names in-game, so here's a reference:

STRIKE: Deal elemental damage to the opponent.
SPECIAL: Each character has a completely different Special ability.
> Powderhound doubles the foe's remaining cooldown time.
> Rogue deals high non-elemental damage.
> Clover heals themselves.
BOLSTER: Heal the other two characters.

Attributes:
Each character, every enemy, and most attacks have an elemental attribute.
These are as follows: Frost (Blue), Hate (Red), and Zeal (Green)
Frost deals double damage to Hate, Hate deals double damage to Zeal, and Zeal deals double damage to Frost. (It's basically just Water/Fire/Grass.)

Tips:

All actions have a cooldown, during which the user cannot act again.
When a character falls, they can be revived by Bolstering them. They will revive with a cooldown dependent on how far below 0 their HP had fallen.
If all characters are defeated, the player must reset the cartridge to try again.
Some enemies can create elemental shields, which protect them from all damage. They must be hit with a Strike of the attribute which is effective against theirs to be removed.

ABOUT
This is a light linear RPG which consists entirely of dialogue and combat. There are 16 battles in total.

I made this by myself in 48 hours for the B-Term 2018 Game Jam at WPI. I didn't have time to make any audio for it, and some things could use more explanation and polish, but otherwise it is basically complete.

The jam theme was to use three name generators and make a game inspired by the results (one for finding your Werewolf name, one for finding your Skier/Snowboarder name, and one for finding your Leprechaun name). I wound up with Rogue Hound, Powderhound Snowscombe, and Clover McWoozy (respectively). These ended up becoming the names of the three characters and informed their personalities, attributes, and abilities.

I might go through and try to expand or improve this later somehow but we'll see.

And if you'd like to see more of my stuff, check out my Twitter: @Jusiv_

This Autumn Wind

Sun, 16 Sep 2018 20:06:22 UTC

A simple little arcade game made well within 48 hours.

This Autumn Wind

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

I made this for WPI's A-term 2018 game jam. I didn't have a ton of time to spend on it, but this is what I wound up with.

It was based on this poem.exe tweet:
before this autumn wind
flower face
awake

You play as a flower with a face trying to keep its petals from blowing off by leaning into the unpredictably changing wind.

Controls:

Z/X/C: Start Game / Retry
Left/Right: Lean

There's no music but there are sound effects.

And if you want to follow my work, check out my Twitter: @Jusiv_

I Just Wanna Land!

Sun, 02 Sep 2018 17:36:35 UTC

A "platformer" without platforms, originally made for the 2018 GMTK Game Jam!

I Just Wanna Land! v3

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

You play as a bird with a baseball cap on a search to find a new floating island after their first one crumbles. Instead of jumping off platforms, you flap your wings in mid air to propel yourself in the direction you're aiming.

There are four levels in total.

Controls:

Z: Flap
Left / Right: Aim

You can also get it on itch.io.
And if you'd like to see more of my work, check out my Twitter: @Jusiv_

Update Log:

October 2018 - Version 1

I Just Wanna Land!

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

The original release, made in under 48 hours for the 2018 GMTK Game Jam.

October 2018 - Version 2

I Just Wanna Land! v2

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

(Featured at WPI's 2019 PAX East booth!)
Added a scoring system, music, and some extra polish. The total development time was still under 48 hours.

June 2022 - Version 3

Fixed a bug where your final results always showed at least 3 retries.
Refined most hitboxes to better match the shapes of their objects.
Added a whole bunch of polish, particularly to death animations.

Oh Nose! Bees!

Sat, 24 Feb 2018 17:51:14 UTC

Oh Nose! Bees! (Post-Jam)

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

(The Post-Jam version has the score continually decrease, encouraging frequent sniffing! Aside from that it's identical.)

Oh Nose! Bees!

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

Sniff flowers! Blow bees away! Don't sniff bees!

This is a game I made in 24 hours for WPI's "Take a Breather" Jam. The theme was "A Good Sniff." All assets and code are my own work.

If you're interested in seeing more of my work, check out my Twitter: @Jusiv_

CONTROLS:

Up: Inhale
Down: Exhale

TIPS:

Sniff flowers to score points. Exhaling first lets you get a longer sniff. The longer the sniff, the more points it's worth!
Bees sting you if you try to inhale them, but you can blow them away by exhaling.
You run out of breath if you exhale for too long.

[Unofficial Concept] P8 Awards

Sun, 11 Feb 2018 23:03:46 UTC

I've been thinking it would be really cool to have a set of awards that the community can nominate and vote on carts to receive, much like the Steam Awards.

Thus, I present the P8 Awards!

[Unofficial Concept] P8 Awards

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

(Use the arrow keys to look at different ones.)

I don't intend these to necessarily be the finalized options, or even to be a thing that we actually do, but I thought I'd at least mock up a "proof of concept" set to see what people think.

For the first set, I think it would make sense to allow any cart to be nominated, but in future ones (if this becomes a thing) it could be restricted to carts from the past year if people want.

So, what do people think of this idea? Feel free to give any suggestions for changes or alternate awards, too!

A Very Warm Fire

Sun, 07 Jan 2018 13:14:46 UTC

... in a cold, dark forest.

Keep the fire burning, stay warm, and don't get lost.
How long can you survive against the wilds?

A Very Warm Fire

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

ABOUT
I made this over the first week of 2018 for the Winter Break Jam held by Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Game Development Club. The theme for the jam was just the phrase "very warm."

All assets and code are my own work.

And if you want to see more of my stuff, check out my Twitter: @Jusiv_

CONTROLS

Arrows: Move
Z/X/C: Start Game

(Walk into something to interact with it.)

CHANGELOG

Initial Release - 1/7/2018
v2 - 1/10/2018
(I say Version 2, but I really just tweaked how shadows and fairy circles are drawn. Nothing major was changed.)

You can also find this game on itch.io: https://jusiv.itch.io/a-very-warm-fire

NULL

Fri, 22 Dec 2017 12:26:04 UTC

CAUTION: Some areas in this game cause a significant flickering effect.

NULL

by Jusiv

[Click to Play]

ABOUT:
NULL is a surreal adventure game. What you see in the end depends on what you can find on the way.
A 100% playthrough can be completed in 10-15 minutes, if you know where everything is.

This is my third full Pico-8 game (not counting stuff from game jams)! I made it over the course of November and December 2017. All assets and code are my own work.

If you want to see more of my stuff, check out my Twitter: @Jusiv_

CONTROLS:

Arrows: Move
Z/X/C: Interact

TIPS:

There are two types of things to find. Each area has exactly one of each.
Some hidden things will only appear once you've reached the end of an area.
If you get totally stuck, maybe try resting for a minute.
This won't help you progress, but maybe play this: Messages. It might be significant.

CHANGELOG:
v1.0 - Initial Release - 12/22/2017
v1.1 - Minor Tweaks - 12/22/2017

Cursor Bug in Editor

Mon, 20 Nov 2017 08:42:39 UTC

The Bug:
I've been noticing lately that the cursor in Pico-8's code editor sometimes will get "stuck." It will suddenly start moving continuously to either the start or end of the current line, and even if I try to move the cursor it will just move itself directly back. Holding down the arrow key opposing the direction it's moving in will make it stay in place, a character away from the start/end of the line. For whatever reason, this never makes the cursor change lines, so it doesn't appear to be something as simple as a single input getting repeated unnecessarily. It also affects the cursor command line.

The Cause:
This bug does not appear to have a consistent cause that I can identify, though I think it most often happens when I'm hitting multiple keys at once.

Solutions:
As far as I'm aware, the only way to restore normal functioning is to closing and re-opening Pico-8.

Have other people have encountered this? Does anyone know of any other solutions to this issue?
(I'm using 0.1.11D, but it happened with earlier versions too.)