Embedded Files
PICO-8 behaves a lot like an 8-bit computer from the early 80's, but it is a program that can run in a window on a Windows, Mac or Linux computer. It can be used to create and run programs that include sprites, music and sound effects. It provides a great way for students to learn computer programming, but it also provides a worthwhile challenge to expert programmers all over the world.
Today's powerful computers are often used as a tool to create sophisticated simulations and video games, but in the case of PICO-8, an important feature is its limitations. The screen is only 128 by 128 pixels an offers a palette of 16 colors. Programs that are written of the PICO-8 are known as "carts", and a cart must occupy less than 32K of memory space. You could fit more than 32,000 carts on a single 1GB flash drive.
PICO-8 games show up on popular gaming sites like itch.io and Kongregate.
itch.io: Heiroglyph, Pico Pop, The Lair
Kongregate: Katana Senpou, Pico Racer, The Lair
PICO-8 uses the Lua programming language, which looks like this:
function sprint1(x, y, s)
local i
if (state != oldstate) then
tm1 = 0
oldstate = state
end
tm1 = tm1 + 1
i = flr(tm1 / 6) + 1
end
Which is to say it looks similar to many other programming languages, and once you learn Lua, you won't have a hard time learning some other programming languages.
A concise and official manual for using PICO-8 is here.
One of the most important details is the location of where your work is stored. Under Windows this will be
C:/Users/StudentName/AppData/Roaming/pico-8/carts
and under Linux
~/.lexaloffle/pico-8/carts
To start PICO-8 on the da Vinci Coders laptops, you should be able to click on the PICO-8 symbol on the left side of the screen.
Creating Graphics
Creating Sounds and Music
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