The Question
Hello everyone,
I am ludicrously close to finishing the engine for my game, but some physics equations have me stuck. Here is what I'm trying to achieve:
- The players are effectively nodes that can switch between being pendulum bobs and fulcrums. One can be anchored to serve as a fulcrum while the other swings. If both are anchored, neither moves. If both try to un-anchor themselves, they fall.
- In order to let the players navigate the playfield, I want the swing of a pendulum bob to increase bit by bit. (This will let players climb the playfield by swinging upward instead of just descending.)
- Once a bob makes a full loop around the fulcrum, I want it to continue in a circle at a more-or-less consistent speed.
With the help of this math writeup, I managed to assemble a simplified set of physics variables and equations that do an okay job of simulating momentum and creating a non-degrading swing (i.e., the swing distance never shrinks due to friction). But I haven't figured out how to make the desired increase in swing distance happen. I'm sure it's a single value or sign that I haven't identified.
I made a function to draw an equilateral triangle that I could animate:
function triangle(_x,_y,_size,_angle,_clr) for i=0,2 do local _offset=.33*i local _x1=_x+(cos(_angle+_offset)*_size) local _y1=_y+(sin(_angle+_offset)*_size) line(_x1,_y1,_clr+i) end end |
Pico 8 does something weird when I try to draw 2 triangles made out of lines:
I can draw each triangle just fine, but when I put the triangle() function twice it weirdly connects the triangles.
I have no idea why it does that, I could use some help.
here's the full code
function _init() end function _update() end function _draw() cls() triangle(64,64,30,0.255,8) triangle(64,64,30,0.255+0.5,12) end function triangle(_x,_y,_size,_angle,_clr) for i=0,2 do local _offset=.33*i local _x1=_x+(cos(_angle+_offset)*_size) local _y1=_y+(sin(_angle+_offset)*_size) line(_x1,_y1,_clr+i) end end |
You are Stickyfoot, a squishy sewer creature who dreams of escaping to the surface world. Leap and dodge through a host of dangerous levels to escape the sewer and bask in the sunny, flowery fields above!
A short, challenging puzzle-jumper in the vein of Chip’s Challenge, Tomb of the Mask, and Pac-Man. Do you have what it takes to beat the gauntlet?
How to Play
Arrow Keys: Move
Z/X: Self-destruct
Enter: Pause/menu
Collect all coins in each level to win. There are 56 unique levels to beat!
Aim for the target score to get a gold trophy. Beat every target speed to prove you’re the best!
Astrox is a thrilling pico-8 shoot-'em-up (shmup) game inspired by the classic Galaga. Players navigate their ship through waves of diverse spaceship enemies, engaging in intense firefights and dodging enemy fire. With retro aesthetics and fast-paced gameplay, Astrox offers an exhilarating arcade experience.
Mechanics
Astrox comprises 15 enemy waves you need to clear to win the game. Kill them before they respawn back at their location, as they will restore their health. Enemies will shoot and move towards you. Avoid colliding with enemies or comets and don't get hit without a shield or you'll lose 1 life. If you lose all your lives, you lose the game.
Here's my latest version of Nybble Quest, an adventure game with a 4-bit aesthetic.
Since the last dot release, I've put a ton of work into the map. It's not done, but most of the pieces are there. The city to the NE still needs to be filled in.
This isn't all that playable because only a few of the objects have been moved to appropriate places from their initial testing locations. The win state trigger is in the old location, but the king is in his new location, for example. The enemies are all in the NW wasteland. There aren't enough keys for all the doors. Some of the loot isn't really visible against the wasteland.
But you can wander about the full map instead of just 2 screens worth or so in prior versions. The full map is 8x4 screens. With its 4-bit aesthetic, you get a pseudo-resolution of 32x32 tiles on-screen, which makes for a lot of map tiles overall.
Controls
Press "X" to drop a bomb.
Rules
This a one button game. The aircraft flies by itself and will descend each time it reaches the end of the screen. Destroy all the buildings to land safely on the ground! A bomb has to explode {destroying 1-4 building blocks) before you can drop another, so use them wisely!
Behind the Scenes
This is my first Pico-8 game and is based on the Commodore Pet game, Air Attack, by Peter Calver. It was released in 1979 by Supersoft. This was the game that sparked my interest in computers and video games. We had a Commodore Pet at college and I typed in the code for this game from a magazine (possibly the December 1979 edition of Personal Computer World). The magic of being able to play this game, even with no understanding of the code at the time, was certainly a seed for my career in software and my love for game development.
In the second part of my blog (first part here), I show off my process designing and assembling a custom PCB that is able to run a simple PICO-8 demo! You can read it here (medium link)
If you like what you are seeing you can join the waitlist (https://pex-labs.com/) and hop on our discord (https://discord.gg/KzFn8Vb4qw) to stay updated on development!