============================================================================================ PICO-8 v0.1.11g https://www.pico-8.com (c) Copyright 2014-2018 Lexaloffle Games LLP Author: Joseph White // hey@lexaloffle.com PICO-8 is built with: SDL2 http://www.libsdl.org Lua 5.2 http://www.lua.org // see license.txt GIFLIB http://giflib.sourceforge.net/ WiringPi http://wiringpi.com/ ============================================================================================ Welcome to PICO-8! PICO-8 is a fantasy console for making, sharing and playing tiny games and other computer programs. When you turn it on, the machine greets you with a shell for typing in Lua programs and provides simple built-in tools for creating sprites, maps and sound. The harsh limitations of PICO-8 are carefully chosen to be fun to work with, encourage small but expressive designs and hopefully to give PICO-8 cartridges their own particular look and feel. :: Keys Toggle Fullscreen: Alt+Enter Quit: Alt+F4 or command-Q Reload/Run/Restart cart: Ctrl+R Quick-Save: Ctrl+S Mute/Unmute: Ctrl+M Player 1 defaults: Cursors + ZX / NM / CV Player 2 defaults: SDFE + tab,Q / shift A Enter or P for pause menu (while running) // use KEYCONFIG to change the defaults. :: Specs Display: 128x128, fixed 16 colour palette Input: 6-button controllers Cartridge size: 32k Sound: 4 channel, 64 definable chip blerps Code: Lua (max 8192 tokens of code) Sprites: Single bank of 128 8x8 sprites (+128 shared) Map: 128x32 8-bit cels (+128x32 shared) :: Hello World After PICO-8 boots, try typing some of these commands followed by enter: PRINT("HELLO WORLD") RECTFILL(80,80,120,100,12) CIRCFILL(70,90,20,14) FOR I=1,4 DO PRINT(I) END (Note: PICO-8 only displays upper-case characters -- just type normally without capslock!) You can build up an interactive program by using commands like this in the code editing mode along with two special callback functions _UPDATE and _DRAW. For example, the following program allows you to move a circle around with the cursor keys. Press escape to switch to the code editor and type or copy & paste the following code: X = 64 Y = 64 FUNCTION _UPDATE() IF (BTN(0)) THEN X=X-1 END IF (BTN(1)) THEN X=X+1 END IF (BTN(2)) THEN Y=Y-1 END IF (BTN(3)) THEN Y=Y+1 END END FUNCTION _DRAW() RECTFILL(0,0,127,127,5) CIRCFILL(X,Y,7,14) END Now press escape to return to the console and type RUN (or press CTRL-R) to see it in action. See the example cartridges for more complex programs. If you want to store your program for later, use the SAVE command: > SAVE PINKCIRC And load it again: > LOAD PINKCIRC :: Example Cartridges These cartridges are included with PICO-8 and can be installed by typing: INSTALL_DEMOS CD DEMOS HELLO Greetings from PICO-8 API Demonstrates most PICO-8 functions JELPI Platform game demo w/ 2p support CAST 2.5D Raycaster demo MANDEL Mandelbrot explorer COLLIDE Example wall and actor collisions BUTTERFLY Serpinsky triangles thing DRIPPY Draw a drippy squiggle STOMPY Music cart To run a cartridge, open PICO-8 and type: LOAD JELPI RUN Press escape to stop the program, and once more to enter editing mode. :: File System These commands can be used to manage files and directories (folders): DIR list the current directory CD BLAH change directory CD .. go up a directory CD / change back to top directory (on PICO-8's virtual drive) MKDIR BLAH make a directory FOLDER open the current directory in the host operating system's file browser LOAD BLAH load a cart from the current directory SAVE BLAH save a cart to the current directory If you want to move files around, duplicate them or delete them, use the FOLDER command and do it in the host operating system. The default location for PICO-8's drive is: Windows: C:/Users/Yourname/AppData/Roaming/pico-8/carts OSX: /Users/Yourname/Library/Application Support/pico-8/carts Linux: ~/.lexaloffle/pico-8/carts You can change this and other settings in pico-8/config.txt Tip: The drive directory can be mapped to a cloud drive (provided by Dropbox, Google Drive or similar) in order to provide a single disk shared between PICO-8 machines spread across different host machines. :: Loading and Saving When using LOAD and SAVE, the .P8 extention can be omitted and is added automatically. Saving to a .p8.png extention will save the cartridge in a special image format that looks like a cartridge. Use a filename of "@CLIP" to load or save to the clipboard. Once a cartridge has been loaded or saved, it can also be quick-saved with CTRL-S :: Saving .p8.png carts with a text label and preview image To generate a label image saved with the cart, run the program first and press F7 to grab whatever is on the screen. The first two lines of the program starting with '--' are also drawn to the cart's label. e.g. -- OCEAN DIVER LEGENDS -- BY LOOPY :: Code size restrictions for .png format When saving in .png format, the compressed size of the code must be less than 15360 bytes. To find out the current size of your code, use the INFO command. The compressed size limit is not enforced for saving in .p8 format. :: Using an External Text Editor It is possible to edit .p8 files directly with a separate text editor. Using CTRL-R to run a cartridge will automatically re-load the file if: 1. There are no unsaved changes in the PICO-8 editors, AND 2. The file differs in content from the last loaded version If there are changes to the cart on disk /and/ in the editor, a notification is displayed: DIDN'T RELOAD; UNSAVED CHANGES PICO-8 does not fully support upper-case characters, and they are automatically converted to lower-case when viewed in the code editor. Note that this also causes unsaved changes to exist, which means that CTRL-R will stop automatically re-loading the version on disk until it is manually LOAD()ed. Glyph characters (normally typed with shift-A..Z) are stored in .p8 format and in the host operating system's clipboard as rough unicode equivalents. :: Backups If you quit without saving changes, or overwrite an existing file, a backup of the cartridge is saved to {appdata}/pico-8/backup. :: Configuration :: config.txt You can find some settings in config.txt. Edit the file when PICO-8 is not running. Windows: C:/Users/Yourname/AppData/Roaming/pico-8/config.txt OSX: /Users/Yourname/Library/Application Support/pico-8/config.txt Linux: ~/.lexaloffle/pico-8/config.txt Use the -home switch (below) to use a different path to store config.txt and other data. :: Commandline parameters // note: these override settings found in config.txt pico-8 [switches] [filename.p8] -width n set the window width -height n set the window height -windowed n set windowed mode off (0) or on (1) -sound n sound volume 0..256 -music n sound volume 0..256 -joystick n joystick controls starts at player n (0..7) -pixel_perfect n 1 for unfiltered screen stretching at integer scales (on by default) -draw_rect x,y,w,h absolute window coordinates and size to draw pico-8's screen -run filename load and run a cartridge -x filename execute a PICO-8 cart headless and then quit -p param_str pass a parameter string to the specified cartridge -splore boot in splore mode -home path set the path to store config.txt and other user data files -desktop path set a location for screenshots and gifs to be saved -screenshot_scale n scale of screenshots. default: 3 (368x368 pixels) -gif_scale n scale of gif captures. default: 2 (256x256 pixels) -gif_len n set the maximum gif length in seconds (1..120) -gui_theme n use 1 for a higher contrast editor colour scheme -timeout n how many seconds to wait before downloads timeout (default: 30) -software_blit n use software blitting mode off (0) or on (1) -foreground_sleep_ms n how many milliseconds to sleep between frames. -background_sleep_ms n how many milliseconds to sleep between frames when running in background :: Controller Setup PICO-8 uses the SDL2 controller configuration scheme. It will detect common controllers on startup and also looks for custom mappings in sdl_controllers.txt in the same directory as config.txt. sdl_controllers.txt has one mapping per line. To generate a custom mapping string for your controller, use either the controllermap program that comes with SDL2, or try http://www.generalarcade.com/gamepadtool/ To set up which keyboard keys trigger joystick buttons presses, use KEYCONFIG. :: Screenshots, Videos and Cartridge Labels While a cartridge is running use: F6 Save a screenshot to desktop F7 Capture cartridge label image F8 Start recording a video F9 Save GIF video to desktop (max: 8 seconds by default) // if F6..F9 are not available on your system, use CTRL-6..9 You can save a video at any time (it is always recording) -- use F8 just to reset the video starting point if you want something less than 8 seconds long. To change the maximum gif length, edit gif_len in config.txt to specify the number of seconds to record for. The gif format can not match 30fps exactly, so PICO-8 instead uses the closest match: 33.3fps. :: Sharing Cartridges There are three ways to share carts made in PICO-8: 1. Share the .p8 or .p8.png file directly with other PICO-8 users Type FOLDER to open the current folder in your host operating system. 2. Post the cart on the Lexaloffe BBS to get a web-playable version http://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php?page=submit 3. Export the cartridge to a stand-alone html/js or native binary player (see the exporters section for details) :: Exporters / Importers The EXPORT command can be used to generate png, wav files and stand-alone html and native binary cartridge players. The output format is inferred from the filename extention (e.g. .png). You are free to distribute and use exported cartridges and data as you please, provided that you have permission from the author and contributors. :: Sprite Sheet (.png) IMPORT BLAH.PNG -- expects 128x128 png and colour-fits to the pico-8 palette EXPORT BLAH.PNG -- use folder() to locate the exported png :: SFX and Music (.wav) EXPORT BLAH.WAV -- export music from the current pattern (when editor mode is MUSIC) EXPORT BLAH.WAV -- export the current SFX (when editor mode is SFX) EXPORT BLAH%D.WAV -- exports all of the SFXs as blah0.wav, blah1.wav .. blah63.wav :: HTML Player (.html) To generate a stand-alone html player (foo.html and foo.js): > EXPORT FOO.HTML Or just the .js file: > EXPORT FOO.JS Optionally provide a custom html template with the -p switch: > EXPORT FOO.HTML -P ONE_BUTTON This will use the file {application data}/pico-8/plates/one_button.html as the html shell, replacing a special string, ##js_file##, with the .js filename. :: Binary Player (.bin) To generate stand-alone executables for Windows, Linux (64-bit) and Mac OSX: > EXPORT FOO.BIN By default, the cartridge label is used as an icon with no transparency. To specificy an icon from the sprite sheet, use -i and optionally -s and/or -c to control the size and transparency. -I N Icon index N with a default transparent colour of 0 (black). -S N Size NxN sprites. Size 3 would be produce a 24x24 icon. -C N Treat colour N as transparent. Use 16 for no transparency. For example, to use a 2x2 sprite starting at index 32 in the spritesheet, using colour 12 as transparent, and bundling an extra cartrige C0.P8: > EXPORT FOO.BIN -I 32 -S 2 -C 12 C0.P8 :: Exporting Multiple Cartridges Up to 16 cartridges can be bundled together by passing them to EXPORT, when generating stand-alone html or native binary players EXPORT FOO.HTML DAT1.P8 DAT2.P8 GAME2.P8 During runtime, the extra carts can be accessed as if they were local files: RELOAD(0,0,0x2000, "DAT1.P8") -- load spritesheet from DAT1.P8 LOAD("GAME2.P8") -- load and run another cart :: Splore SPLORE is a built-in utility for browsing and organising both local and bbs (online) cartridges. Type SPLORE [enter] to launch it, or launch PICO-8 with -splore. It is possible to control SPLORE entirely with a joystick: LEFT and RIGHT to navigate lists of cartridges UP AND DOWN to select items in each list X,O or MENU to launch the cartridge While inside a cart, press MENU to favourite a cartridge or exit to splore. If you're using a keyboard, it's also possible to press F to favourite an item while it is selected in the cartridge list view. When viewing a list of BBS carts, use the top list item to re-download a list of cartridges. If you are offline, the last downloaded list is displayed, and it is still possible to play any cartridges you have downloaded. If you have installed PICO-8 on a machine with no internet access, you can also use INSTALL_GAMES to add a small selection of pre-installed BBS carts to your favourites list. :: Quirks of PICO-8 Common gotchas to watch out for: - The bottom half of the spritesheet and bottom half of the map occupy the same memory. // Best use only one or the other if you're unsure how this works. - PICO-8 numbers only go up to 32767.99. // If you add 1 to a counter each frame, it will overflow after around 18 minutes! - Lua arrays are 1-based by default, not 0-based. FOREACH starts at T[1], not T[0]. - cos() and sin() take 0..1 instead of 0..PI*2, and sin() is inverted. - sgn(0) returns 1. - Toggle fullscreen: use alt-enter on OSX (command-F is used for searching text). - When you want to export a .png cartridge, use SAVE, not EXPORT. EXPORT will save only the spritesheet! ============================================================================================ Editor Modes ============================================================================================ Press escape to toggle between console and editor Click editing mode tabs at top right to switch or press ALT+LEFT/RIGHT ** WARNING: The second half of the sprite sheet (banks 2 and 3), and the bottom half of the map share the same cartridge space. It's up to you how you use the data, but be aware that drawing on the second half of the sprite sheet could clobber data on the map and vice versa. :: Code Editor Hold shift to select (or click and drag with mouse) CTRL-X, C, V to cut copy or paste selected CTRL-Z, Y to undo, redo CTRL-F to search for text in the current tab CTRL-G to repeat the last search again CTRL-L to jump to a line number CTRL-UP, DOWN to jump to start or end ALT-UP, DOWN to navigate to the previous, next function CTRL-LEFT, RIGHT to jump by word CTRL-D to duplicate current line TAB to indent a selection (shift to un-indent) To enter special characters that represent buttons, use SHIFT-L,R,U,D,O,X Or press CTRL-K to toggle glyph mode :: Tabs Click the [+] button at the top to add a new tab. Navigate tabs by left-clicking, or with ctrl-tab, shift-ctrl-tab. To remove the last tab, delete any contents and then moving off it (CTRL-A, del, ctrl-tab) When running a cart, a single program is generated by concatenating all tabs in order. :: Code limits The current number of code tokens is shown at the bottom right. One program can have a maximum of 8192 tokens. Each token is a word (e.g. variable name) or operator. Pairs of brackets, and strings each count as 1 token. commas, periods, LOCALs, semi-colons, ENDs, and comments are not counted. Right click to toggle through other stats (character count, compressed size). If a limit is reached, a warning light will flash. This can be disabled by right-clicking. :: Sprite Editor The sprite editor is designed to be used both for sprite-wise editing and for freeform pixel-level editing. The sprite navigator at the bottom of the screen provides an 8x8-wise view into the sprite-sheet, but it is possible to use freeform tools (pan, select) when dealing with larger or oddly sized areas. Draw Tool Click and drag on the sprite to plot pixels Applies to visible area Hold CTRL to search and replace a colour Use right mouse button to select colour Stamp Tool Click to stamp whatever is in the copy buffer Hold LCONTROL to treat colour 0 (black) as transparent Select Tool // shortcut: LSHIFT or S Create a selection Enter or click to select none. If a pixel-wise selection is not present, many operations are instead applied to a sprite-wise selection. To select sprites, shift-drag in the sprite navigator. Pan Tool // shortcut: space View the spritesheet. Fill Tool Fill with the current colour Applies to the current selection If no selection, applies to visible area Extra keys CTRL-Z to undo // single step only in 0.2.0 CTRL-C to copy selected area or selected sprites CTRL-V to paste to current sprite location Q,W to switch to previous/next sprite 1,2 to switch to previous/next colour Tab to toggle fullscreen view Mousewheel or < and > to zoom (centered in fullscreen) Operations on selected area or selected sprites: f to flip v to flip vertically r to rotate (must be square selection) Cursor keys to move (loops if sprite selection) Sprite flags The 8 coloured circles are sprite flags for the current sprite. Each one can be true (on) or false (off), and are accessed by using the FSET and FGET functions. They are indexed from 0, from the left (0,1,2..7). See fset() for more information. :: Map Editor The pico-8 map is a 128x32 (or 128x64 using shared space) block of 8-bit values. Each value is shown in the editor as a reference to a sprite (0..255), but you can of course use the data to represent whatever you like. The tools are similar to the ones used in sprite editing mode. Select a sprite and click and drag to paint values into the map. To draw multiple sprites, select from sprite navigator with shift+drag To copy a block of values, use the selection tool and then stamp tool to paste To pan around the map, use the pan tool or hold space Q,W to switch to previous/next sprite Mousewheel or < and > to zoom (centered in fullscreen) :: SFX Editor There are 64 SFX ("sound effects") in a cartridge, used for both sound and music. Each SFX has 32 notes, and each note has: A frequency (C0..C5) An instrument (0..7) A volume (0..7) An effect (0..7) Each SFX also has these properties: A play speed (SPD) : the number of 'ticks' to play each note for. // This means that 1 is fastest, 3 is 3x as slow, etc. Loop start and end : this is the note index to loop back and to // Looping is turned off when the start index >= end index There are 2 modes for editing/viewing a SFX: Pitch mode (more suitable for sound effects) and tracker mode (more suitable for music). The mode can be changed using the top-left buttons, or toggled with TAB. 1. Pitch Mode Click and drag on the pitch area to set the frequency for each note, using the currently selected instrument (indicated by colour). Hold shift to apply only the selected instrument Hold CTRL to snap entered notes to the C minor pentatonic scale 2. Tracker Mode Each note shows: frequency octave instrument volume effect To enter a note, use q2w3er5t6y7ui zsxdcvgbhnjm (piano-like layout) Hold shift when entering a note to transpose -1 octave .. +1 octave New notes are given the selected instrument/effect values To delete a note, use backspace or set the volume to 0 Click and then shift-click to select a range that can be copied (CTRL-C) and pasted (CTRL-V) Navigation: PAGEUP/DOWN or CTRL-UP/DOWN to skip up or down 4 notes HOME/END to jump to the first or last note CTRL-LEFT/RIGHT to jump across columns 3. Controls for both modes - + to navigate the current SFX < > to change the speed. SPACE to play/stop SHIFT-SPACE to play from the current SFX quarter (group of 8 notes) A to release a looping sample Left click or right click to increase / decrease the SPD or LOOP values // Hold shift when clicking to increase / decrease by 4 // Alternatively, click and drag left/right or up/down Shift-click an instrument, effect, or volume to apply to all notes. :: Effects 0 none 1 slide // Slide to the next note and volume 2 vibrato // Rapidly vary the pitch within one quarter-tone 3 drop // Rapidly drop the frequency to very low values 4 fade in // Ramp the volume up from 0 5 fade out // Ramp the volume down to 0 6 arpeggio fast // Iterate over groups of 4 notes at speed of 4 7 arpeggio slow // Iterate over groups of 4 notes at speed of 8 If the SFX speed is <= 8, arpeggio speeds are halved to 2, 4 :: Music Editor Music in PICO-8 is controlled by a sequence of 'patterns'. Each pattern is a list of 4 numbers indicating which SFX will be played on that channel. :: Flow control Playback flow can be controlled using the 3 buttons at the top right. When a pattern has finished playing, the next pattern is played unless: - there is no data left to play (music stops) - a STOP command is set on that pattern (the third button) - a LOOP BACK command is set (the 2nd button), in which case the music player searches back for a pattern with the LOOP START command set (the first button) or returns to pattern 0 if none is found. When a pattern has SFXes with different speeds, the pattern finishes playing when the left-most non-looping channel has finished playing. This can be used to set up time signatures that don't divide into 32, or double-time drum beats etc. :: Copying music between or within cartridges To select a range of patterns: click once on the first pattern in the pattern navigator, then shift-click on the last pattern. Selected patterns can be copied and pasted with CTRL-C and CTRL-V. When pasting into another cartridge, the SFX that each pattern points to will also be pasted (possibly with a different index) if it does not already exist. :: SFX Instruments In addition to the 8 built-in instruments, custom instruments can be defined using the first 8 SFX. Use the toggle button to the right of the instruments to select an index, which will show up in the instrument channel as green instead of pink. When an SFX instrument note is played, it essentially triggers that SFX, but alters the note's attributes: Pitch is added relative to C2 Volume is multiplied Effects are applied on top of the SFX instrument's effects For example, a simple tremolo effect could be implemented by defining an instrument in SFX 0 that rapidly alternates between volume 5 and 2. When using this instrument to play a note, the volume can further be altered as usual (via the volume channel or using the fade in/out effects). In this way, SFX instruments can be used to control combinations of detailed changes in volume, pitch and texture. SFX instruments are only retriggered when the pitch changes, or the previous note has zero volume. This is useful for instruments that change more slowly over time. For example: a bell that gradually fades out. To invert this behaviour, effect 3 (normally 'drop') can be used when triggering the note. All other effect values have their usual meaning when triggering SFX instruments. ============================================================================================ Lua Syntax Primer ============================================================================================ PICO-8 programs are written using Lua syntax, but do not use the standard Lua library. The following is a brief summary of essential Lua syntax. For more details, or to find out about proper Lua, see www.lua.org. :: Comments -- use two hyphens like this to ignore everything until the end of the line --[[ multi-line comments ]] :: Types and assignment Types in Lua are numbers, strings, booleans and tables; NUM = 12/100 S = "THIS IS A STRING" B = FALSE T = {1,2,3} Numbers in PICO-8 are all 16:16 fixed point. They range from -32768.0 to 32767.99999 Hexadecimal notation with optional fractional parts can be used: 0x11 -- 17 0x11.4000 -- 17.25 Numbers written in decimal are rounded to the closest fixed point value. To see the 32-bit hexadecimal representation, use PRINT(TOSTR(VAL,TRUE)): ?TOSTR(-32768,TRUE) -- 0x8000.0000 ?TOSTR(32767.99999,TRUE) -- 0x7fff.ffff Dividing by zero evaluates to 0x7fff.ffff if positive, or -0x7fff.ffff if negative. :: Conditionals IF NOT B THEN PRINT("B IS FALSE") ELSE PRINT("B IS NOT FALSE") END -- with ELSEIF IF X == 0 THEN PRINT("X IS 0") ELSEIF X < 0 THEN PRINT("X IS NEGATIVE") ELSEIF X > 0 THEN PRINT("X IS POSITIVE") ELSE PRINT("THIS IS LINE IS NEVER REACHED") END IF (4 == 4) THEN PRINT("EQUAL") END IF (4 ~= 3) THEN PRINT("NOT EQUAL") END IF (4 <= 4) THEN PRINT("LESS THAN OR EQUAL") END IF (4 > 3) THEN PRINT("MORE THAN") END :: Loops FOR X=1,5 DO PRINT(X) END -- prints 1,2,3,4,5 X = 1 WHILE(X <= 5) DO PRINT(X) X = X + 1 END FOR X=1,10,3 DO PRINT(X) END -- 1,4,7,10 FOR X=5,1,-2 DO PRINT(X) END -- 5,3,1 :: Functions and Local Variables Y=0 FUNCTION PLUSONE(X) LOCAL Y = X+1 RETURN Y END PRINT(PLUSONE(2)) -- 3 PRINT(Y) -- 0 :: Tables In Lua, tables are a collection of key-value pairs where the key and value types can both be mixed. They can be used as arrays by indexing them with integers. A={} -- create an empty table A[1] = "BLAH" A[2] = 42 A["FOO"] = {1,2,3} -- Arrays use 1-based indexing by default A = {11,12,13,14} PRINT(A[2]) -- 12 -- The size of a table indexed with sequential 1-based integers: PRINT(#A) -- 4 -- Indexes that are strings can be written using dot notation PLAYER = {} PLAYER.X = 2 -- is equivalent to PLAYER["X"] PLAYER.Y = 3 -- see also the tables section in the api reference below. :: PICO-8 Shorthand PICO-8 also allows several non-standard, shorter ways to write common patterns. 1. IF THEN END statements on a single line can be expressed without the THEN & END IF (NOT B) I=1 J=2 -- is equivalent to: IF (NOT B) THEN I=1 J=2 END -- everything must be written on the same line, and with the condition in brackets 2. unary math operators a += 2 -- equivalent to: a = a + 2 a -= 2 -- equivalent to: a = a - 2 a *= 2 -- equivalent to: a = a * 2 a /= 2 -- equivalent to: a = a / 2 a %= 2 -- equivalent to: a = a % 2 3. != operator Not shorthand, but pico-8 also accepts != instead of ~= for "not equal to" ============================================================================================ API ============================================================================================ PICO-8 is built on the Lua programming language, but does not include the Lua standard library. Instead, a small api is offered in keeping with PICO-8's minimal design and limited screen space. For an example program that uses most of the api functions, see /DEMOS/API.P8 Functions are written here as: function_name parameter [optional_parameter] System functions called from commandline can omit the usual brackets and string quotes: load blah.p8 --> load("blah.p8") -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- System -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- load filename [breadcrumb [param_str]] save filename Load or save a cartridge When loading from a running cartridge, the loaded cartridge is immediately run with parameter string param_str, and a menu item is inserted and named breadcrumb, that returns the user to the loading cartridge. Filenames that start with '#' are taken to be a BBS cart followed by its id: load("#1234") -- download [and run] cart number 1234 If the id is of the cart's parent post, then the latest version is downloaded. BBS carts can be loaded from other BBS carts or local carts, but not from exported carts. folder Open the carts folder in the host operating system. dir (also aliased as ls) List files in the current directory. When called from a running program, returns a list of all .p8 and .p8.png files in the same directory. run Run from the start of the program Can be called from inside a program to reset program. stop [message] Stop the cart and optionally print a message resume Run from the existing cart state (flakey) reboot Reboot the machine Useful for starting a new project info Print out some information about the cartridge: Code size, tokens, compressed size Also displayed: UNSAVED CHANGES When the cartridge in memory differs to the one on disk EXTERNAL CHANGES When the cartridge on disk has changed since it was loaded (e.g. by editing the program using a separate text editor) flip Flip the back buffer to screen and wait for next frame (30fps) Don't normally need to do this -- _draw() calls it for you. If your program does not call flip before a frame is up, and a _draw() callback is not in progress, the current contents of the back buffer are copied to screen. printh str [filename] [overwrite] Print a string to host operating system's console for debugging. If filename is set, append the string to a file on the host operating system // (in the current directory -- use FOLDER to view) Setting overwrite to true causes that file to be overwritten rather than appended. Use a filename of "@clip" to write to the host's clipboard. // use stat(4) to read the clipboard, but the contents of the clipboard are only // available after pressing CTRL-V during runtime (for security reasons). stat x Get system status where x is: 0 Memory usage (0..2048) 1 CPU used since last flip (1.0 == 100% CPU at 30fps) 4 Clipboard contents (after user has pressed CTRL-V) 6 Parameter string 7 Current framerate 16..19 Index of currently playing SFX on channels 0..3 20..23 Note number (0..31) on channel 0..3 24 Currently playing pattern index 25 Total patterns played 26 Ticks played on current pattern 80..85 UTC time: year, month, day, hour, minute, second 90..95 Local time 100 Current breadcrumb label, or nil extcmd x Special system command, where x is a string: "pause" request the pause menu be opened "reset" request a cart reset "go_back" follow the current breadcrumb (if there is one) Additional commands that are ignored when running as a BBS cart: "label" set cart label "screen" save a screenshot "rec" set video start point "video" save a .gif to desktop "audio_rec" start recording audio "audio_end" save recorded audio to desktop -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Program Structure -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are 3 special functions that, if defined by the user, are called during program execution: _update() Called once per update at 30fps _draw() Called once per visible frame _init() Called once on program startup _draw() is normally called at 30fps, but if it can not complete in time, PICO-8 will attempt to run at 15fps and call _update() twice per visible frame to compensate. :: Running PICO-8 at 60fps If _update60() is defined instead of _update(), PICO-8 will run in 60fps mode: - both _update60() and _draw() are called at 60fps - half the PICO-8 CPU is available per frame before dropping down to 30fps Note that not all host machines are capable of running at 60fps. Older machines, and / or web versions might also request PICO-8 to run at 30 fps (or 15 fps), even when the PICO-8 CPU is not over capacity. In this case, multiple _update60 calls are made for every _draw call in the same way. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Graphics -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PICO-8 has a fixed capacity of 128 8x8 sprites, plus another 128 that overlap with the bottom half of the map data ("shared data"). These 256 sprites are collectively called the sprite sheet, and can be thought of as a 128x128 pixel image. All of PICO-8's drawing operations are subject to the current draw-state. The draw-state includes a camera position (for adding an offset to all coordinates), palette mapping (for recolouring sprites), clipping rectangle, a drawing colour, and a fill pattern. The draw state is reset each time a program is run. This is equivalent to calling: clip() camera() pal() color(6) Colours indexes: 0 black 1 dark_blue 2 dark_purple 3 dark_green 4 brown 5 dark_gray 6 light_gray 7 white 8 red 9 orange 10 yellow 11 green 12 blue 13 indigo 14 pink 15 peach clip [x y w h] Sets the screen's clipping region in pixels clip() to reset pget x y pset x y [c] Get or set the colour (c) of a pixel at x, y. sget x y sset x y [c] Get or set the colour (c) of a spritesheet pixel. fget n [f] fset n [f] v Get or set the value (v) of a sprite's flag f is the flag index 0..7 v is boolean and can be true or false The initial state of flags 0..7 are settable in the sprite editor, using the line of little colourful buttons. The meaning of sprite flags is up to the user, or can be used to indicate which group ('layer') of sprites should be drawn by map. If the flag index is omitted, all flags are retrieved/set as a bitfield fset(2, 1+2+8) -- sets bits 0,1 and 3 fset(2, 4, true) -- sets bit 4 print(fget(2)) -- 27 (1+2+8+16) print str [x y [col]] Print a string If only str is supplied, and the cursor reaches the end of the screen, a carriage return and vertical scroll is automatically applied. cursor x y Set the cursor position and carriage return margin color col Set the default color to be used by drawing functions cls [col] Clear the screen and reset the clipping rectangle camera [x y] Set a screen offset of -x, -y for all drawing operations camera() to reset circ x y r [col] circfill x y r [col] Draw a circle or filled circle at x,y with radius r If r is negative, the circle is not drawn line x0 y0 x1 y1 [col] draw line rect x0 y0 x1 y1 [col] rectfill x0 y0 x1 y1 [col] Draw a rectangle or filled rectangle pal c0 c1 [p] Draw all instances of colour c0 as c1 in subsequent draw calls pal() to reset to system defaults (including transparency values and fill pattern) Two types of palette (p; defaults to 0) 0 draw palette : colours are remapped on draw // e.g. to re-colour sprites 1 screen palette : colours are remapped on display // e.g. for fades c0 colour index 0..15 c1 colour index to map to palt c t Set transparency for colour index to t (boolean) Transparency is observed by spr(), sspr() and map() e.g. palt(8, true) -- red pixels not drawn palt() resets to default: all colours opaque except colour 0 spr n x y [w h] [flip_x] [flip_y] draw sprite n (0..255) at position x,y width and height are 1,1 by default and specify how many sprites wide to blit. Colour 0 drawn as transparent by default (see palt()) flip_x=true to flip horizontally flip_y=true to flip vertically sspr sx sy sw sh dx dy [dw dh] [flip_x] [flip_y] Stretch rectangle from sprite sheet (sx, sy, sw, sh) // given in pixels and draw in rectangle (dx, dy, dw, dh) Colour 0 drawn as transparent by default (see palt()) dw, dh defaults to sw, sh flip_x=true to flip horizontally flip_y=true to flip vertically fillp p The PICO-8 fill pattern is a 4x4 2-colour tiled pattern observed by: circ() circfill() rect() rectfill() pset() line() p is a bitfield in reading order starting from the highest bit. To calculate the value of p for a desired pattern, add the bit values together: .-----------------------. |32768|16384| 8192| 4096| |-----|-----|-----|-----| | 2048| 1024| 512 | 256 | |-----|-----|-----|-----| | 128 | 64 | 32 | 16 | |-----|-----|-----|-----| | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | '-----------------------' For example, FILLP(4+8+64+128+ 256+512+4096+8192) would create a checkerboard pattern. This can be more neatly expressed in binary: FILLP(0b0011001111001100) The default fill pattern is 0, which means a single solid colour is drawn. To specify a second colour for the pattern, use the high bits of any colour parameter: FILLP(0b0011010101101000) CIRCFILL(64,64,20, 0x4E) -- brown and pink An additional bit 0b0.1 can be set to indicate that the second colour is not drawn. FILLP(0b0011001111001100.1) -- checkboard with transparent squares The fill pattern can also be set by setting bits in any colour parameter: POKE(0x5F34, 1) -- sets integrated fillpattern + colour mode CIRCFILL(64,64,20, 0x114E.ABCD) -- sets fill pattern to ABCD -- bit 0x1000.0000 means the non-colour bits should be observed -- bit 0x0100.0000 transparency bit -- bits 0x00FF.0000 are the usual colour bits -- bits 0x0000.FFFF are interpreted as the fill pattern -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tables -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- add t v Add value v to the end of table t. Equivalent to t[#t+1] = v FOO={} -- create empty table ADD(FOO, 11) ADD(FOO, 22) PRINT(FOO[2]) -- 22 del t v Delete the first instance of value v in table t The remaining entries are shifted left one index to avoid holes. Note that v is the value of the item to be deleted, not the index into the table! del() can be called safely on a table's item while iterating over that table. A={1,10,2,11,3,12} FOR ITEM IN ALL(A) DO IF (ITEM < 10) THEN DEL(A, ITEM) END END FOREACH(A, PRINT) -- 10,11,12 PRINT(A[3]) -- 12 all t Used in FOR loops to iterate over all items in a table (that have a 1-based integer index), in the order they were added. T = {11,12,13}; ADD(T,14) ADD(T,"HI") FOR V IN ALL(T) DO PRINT(V) END -- 11 12 13 14 HI PRINT(#T) -- 5 foreach t f For each item in table t, call function f with the item as a single parameter. FOREACH(T, PRINT) pairs t Used in FOR loops to iterate over table t, providing both the key and value for each item. Unlike all(), pairs() iterates over every item regardless of indexing scheme. Order is not guaranteed. T = {["HELLO"]=3, [10]="BLAH"} T.BLUE = 5; FOR K,V IN PAIRS(T) DO PRINT("K: "..K.." V:"..V) END Output: K: 10 v:BLAH K: HELLO v:3 K: BLUE v:5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Input -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- btn [i [p]] get button i state for player p (default 0) i: 0..5: left right up down button_o button_x p: player index 0..7 If no parameters supplied, returns a bitfield of all 12 button states for player 0 & 1 // P0: bits 0..5 P1: bits 8..13 Default keyboard mappings to player buttons: player 0: cursors, Z,X / C,V / N,M player 1: ESDF, LSHIFT,A / TAB,Q,E btnp [i [p]] btnp is short for "Button Pressed"; Instead of being true when a button is held down, btnp returns true when a button is down AND it was not down the last frame. It also repeats after 15 frames, returning true every 4 frames after that (at 30fps -- double that at 60fp). This can be used for things like menu navigation or grid-wise player movement. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Audio -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- sfx n [channel [offset [length]]] play sfx n on channel (0..3) from note offset (0..31) for length notes n -1 to stop sound on that channel n -2 to release sound on that channel from looping Any music playing on the channel will be halted offset in number of notes (0..31) channel -1 (default) to automatically choose a channel that is not being used channel -2 to stop the sound from playing on any channel music [n [fade_len [channel_mask]]] play music starting from pattern n (0..63) n -1 to stop music fade_len in ms (default: 0) channel_mask specifies which channels to reserve for music only e.g. to play on channels 0..2: 1+2+4 = 7 Reserved channels can still be used to play sound effects on, but only when that channel index is explicitly requested by sfx(). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Map -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The PICO-8 map is a 128x32 grid of 8-bit cels, or 128x64 when using the shared memory. When using the map editor, the meaning of each cel is taken to be an index into the spritesheet (0..255). However, it can instead be used as a general block of data. mget x y mset x y v get or set map value (v) at x,y map cel_x cel_y sx sy cel_w cel_h [layer] draw section of map (in cels) at screen position sx, sy (pixels) if layer is specified, only cels with the same flag number set are drawn // Bitfield. So 0x5 means draw sprites with bit 0 and bit 2 set. // defaults to all sprites exception: sprite 0 is always taken to mean empty. e.g. map(0,0, 20,20, 4,2) -> draws a 4x2 blocks of cels starting from 0,0 in the map, to the screen at 20,20 If cel_w and cel_h are not specified, defaults to 128,32 (the top half of the map -- use 128,64 for the full map including shared memory) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Memory -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PICO-8 has 3 types of memory: 1. Base RAM (32k): see layout below. Access with peek() poke() memcpy() memset() 2. Cart ROM (32k): same layout as base ram until 0x4300 3. Lua RAM (2MB): compiled program + variables Technical note: // you probably don't need to know this While using the editor, the data being modified is in cart rom, but api functions such as spr() and sfx() only operate on base ram. PICO-8 automatically copies cart rom to base ram (i.e. calls reload()) in 3 cases: 1. When a cartridge is loaded 2. When a cartridge is run 3. When exiting any of the editor modes :: Base ram memory layout 0x0 gfx 0x1000 gfx2/map2 (shared) 0x2000 map 0x3000 gfx_props 0x3100 song 0x3200 sfx 0x4300 user data 0x5e00 persistent cart data (256 bytes) 0x5f00 draw state 0x5f40 hardware state 0x5f80 gpio pins (128 bytes) 0x6000 screen (8k) User data has no particular meaning and can be used for anything via memcpy(), peek() & poke(). Persistent cart data is mapped to 0x5e00..0x5eff but only stored if cartdata() has been called. Colour format (gfx/screen) is 2 pixels per byte: low bits encode the left pixel of each pair. Map format is one byte per cel, where each byte normally encodes a sprite index. peek addr poke addr val Read and write one byte to an address in base ram. Legal addresses are 0x0..0x7fff Reading out of range returns 0 Writing out of range causes a fault peek4 addr poke4 addr val 32-bit versions. Read and write one number (val) in little-endian format. addr does not need to be aligned to 4-byte boundaries. memcpy dest_addr source_addr len Copy len bytes of base ram from source to dest Sections can be overlapping reload dest_addr source_addr len [filename] Same as memcpy, but copies from cart rom The code section ( >= 0x4300) is protected and can not be read. If filename specified, load data from a different cartridge. // (must be local -- bbs cartridges can not be read in this way) cstore dest_addr source_addr len [filename] Same as memcpy, but copies from base ram to cart rom cstore() is equivalent to cstore(0, 0, 0x4300) Can use for writing tools to construct carts or to visualize the state of the map / spritesheet using the map editor / gfx editor. The code section ( >= 0x4300) is protected and can not be written to. If a filename is specified, the data is written directly to that cartridge on disk. Up to 64 cartridges can be written in one session. See the 'Cartridge Data' section for additional notes on using cstore. memset dest_addr val len Set len bytes to val (quite fast -- can use to draw unclipped horizonal scanlines etc) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Math -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- max x y min x y mid x y z Returns the maximum, minimum, or middle value of parameters For example, mid(7,5,10) returns 7 flr x ceil x Returns the closest integer that is equal to or below / above x ?flr ( 4.1) --> 4 ?ceil( 4.1) --> 5 ?flr (-2.3) --> -3 ?ceil(-2.3) --> -2 cos x sin x Returns the cosine of x, where 1.0 indicates a full circle sin is inverted to suit screenspace e.g. sin(0.25) returns -1 If you'd prefer radian-based trig functions without the y inversion, paste the following snippet near the start of your program: cos1 = cos function cos(angle) return cos1(angle/(3.1415*2)) end sin1 = sin function sin(angle) return sin1(-angle/(3.1415*2)) end atan2 dx dy Converts dx, dy into an angle from 0..1 As with cos/sin, angle is taken to run anticlockwise in screenspace e.g. atan(1, -1) returns 0.125 sqrt x Return the square root of x abs x Returns the absolute (positive) value of x rnd x Returns a random number n, where 0 <= n < x If you want an integer, use flr(rnd(x)) srand x Sets the random number seed The seed is automatically randomized on cart startup Binary Operations band x y bor x y bxor x y bnot x rotl x y rotr x y shl x n -- shift left n bits shr x n -- arithmetic right shift lshr x n -- logical right shift -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Custom Menu Items -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- menuitem index [label callback] Add an extra item to the pause menu Index should be 1..5 and determines the order each menu item is displayed label should be a string up to 16 characters long callback is a function called when the item is selected by the users When no label or function is supplied, the menu item is removed example: menuitem(1, "restart puzzle", function() reset_puzzle() sfx(10) end) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Strings -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- s = "the quick brown fox" -- length print(#s) --> 19 -- joining strings print("three "..4) --> "three 4" -- sub() to grab substrings print(sub(s,5,9)) --> "quick" print(sub(s,5)) --> "quick brown fox" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Types -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- type val returns the name of the type of value x as a string tostr val [hex] returns val as a string if hex is true and val is a number, an unsigned hexadecimal writing of the number is returned in the format "0x0000.0000". You can use this to inspect the internal representation of PICO-8 numbers. if val is a boolean, it is written as "true" or "false" all other val types are written as "[typename]" tonum val converts val to a number if val is a string, the number is taken to be decimal unless prefixed with "0x" if the conversion fails, tonum returns no value. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cartridge Data -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Using cartdata(), dset(), and dget(), 64 numbers (256 bytes) of persistent data can be stored on the user's PICO-8 that persists after the cart is unloaded or PICO-8 is shutdown. This can be used as a lightweight way to store things like high scores or to save player progress. It can also be used to share data across cartridges / cartridge versions. If you need more than 256 bytes, it is also possible to write directly to the cartridge using cstore(). The disadvantage is that the data is tied to that particular version of the cartridge. e.g. if a game is updated, players will lose their savegames. Also, some space in the data sections of the cartridge need to be left available. Another alternative is to write directly to a second cartridge by specifying a fourth parameter to cstore(). This requires a cart swap (which in reality only means the user needs to watch a spinny cart animation for 1 second). CSTORE(0,0,0x2000, "spritesheet.p8") -- later: RELOAD(0,0,0x2000, "spritesheet.p8") -- restore the saved data cartdata id cartdata() opens a permanent data storage slot indexed by id, that can be used to store and retrieve up to 256 bytes (64 numbers) worth of data using DSET() and DGET(). CARTDATA("zep_dark_forest") -- can only be set once per session -- later in the program.. DSET(0, score) id is a string up to 64 characters long, and should be unusual enough that other cartridges do not accidentally use the same id. e.g. cartdata("zep_jelpi") legal characters are a..z, 0..9 and underscore (_) returns true if data was loaded, otherwise false cartdata can not be called more than once per cartridge execution. Once a cartdata id has been set, the area of memory 0x5e00..0x5eff is mapped to permanent storage, and can either be accessed directly or via dget/dset. dget index Get the number stored at index (0..63) Use this only after you have called cartdata() dset index value Set the number stored at index (0..63) Use this only after you have called cartdata() There is no need to flush written data -- it is automatically saved to permanent storage even if POKE()'ed directly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GPIO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GPIO stands for "General Purpose Input Output", and allows machines to comunicate with each other. PICO-8 maps bytes in the range 0x5f80..0x5fff to gpio pins that can be poke()ed (to output a value -- e.g. to make an LED light up) or peek()ed (e.g. to read the state of a switch). GPIO means different things for different host platforms: CHIP: 0x5f80..0x5f87 mapped to xio-p0..xio-p7 Pocket CHIP: 0x5f82..0x5f87 mapped to GPIO1..GPIO6 // xio-p0 & p1 are exposed inside the prototyping area inside the case. Raspberry Pi: 0x5f80..0x5f8f mapped to wiringPi pins 0..7 // see http://wiringpi.com/pins/ for mappings on different models CHIP and Raspberry Pi values are all digital: 0 (LOW) and 255 (HIGH) Note that to have access to gpio pins, you may need to run pico8 as root: sudo pico8 A simple program to blink any LEDs attached on and off: t = 0 function _draw() cls(5) for i=0,7 do val = 0 if (t % 2 < 1) val = 255 poke(0x5f80 + i, val) circfill(20+i*12,64,4,val/11) end t += 0.1 end :: HTML Cartridges exported as HTML / .js use a global array of integers (pico8_gpio) to represent gpio pins. The shell HTML should define the array: var pico8_gpio = Array(128); -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mouse and Keyboard Input -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- // experimental! The html implementation is still limited & buggy. Mouse and keyboard input can be achieved by enabling devkit input mode: POKE(0x5F2D, 1) Note that not every PICO-8 will have a keyboard or mouse attached to it, so when posting carts to the Lexaloffle BBS, it is encouraged to make keyboard and/or mouse control optional and off by default, if possible. When devkit input mode is enabled, a message is displayed to BBS users warning them that the program is expecting input beyond the standard 6-button controllers. The state of the mouse and keyboard can be found in stat(x): STAT(30) -- (Boolean) True when a key STAT(31) -- (String) character returned by keyboard STAT(32) -- Mouse X STAT(33) -- Mouse Y STAT(34) -- Mouse buttons (bitfield) STAT(36) -- Mouse wheel event -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Additional Lua Features -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PICO-8 also exposes 2 features of Lua for advanced users: Metatables and Coroutines. For more information, please refer to the Lua 5.2 manual. :: Metatables Metatables can be used to define the behaviour of objects under particular operations. For example, to use tables to represent 2D vectors that can be added together, the '+' operator is redefined by defining an "__add" function for the metatable: vec2d={ __add=function(a,b) return {x=(a.x+b.x), y=(a.y+b.y)} end } v1={x=2,y=9} setmetatable(v1, vec2d) v2={x=1,y=5} setmetatable(v2, vec2d) v3 = v1+v2 print(v3.x..","..v3.y) -- 3,14 setmetatable t, m set table t metatable to m getmetatable t return the current metatable for table t, or nil if none is set :: Coroutines Coroutines offer a way to run different parts of a program in a somewhat concurrent way, similar to threads. A function can be called as a coroutine, suspended with yield() any number of times, and then resumed again at the same point. function hey() print("doing something") yield() print("doing the next thing") yield() print("finished") end c = cocreate(hey) for i=1,3 do coresume(c) end cocreate f Create a coroutine for function f. coresume c [p0 p1 ..] Run or continue the coroutine c. Parameters p0, p1.. are passed to the coroutine's function. Returns true if the coroutine completes without any errors Returns false, error_message if there is an error. ** Runtime errors that occur inside coroutines do not cause the program to stop running. It is a good idea to wrap coresume() inside an assert(). If the assert fails, it will print the error message generated by coresume. assert(coresume(c)) costatus c Return the status of coroutine c as a string: "running" "suspended" "dead" yield Suspend execution and return to the caller. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VERSION HISTORY -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- v0.1.11g Added: CTRL-C to copy contents of commandline Added: stat(100..102) for current breadcrumb label, bbs cart id, and hostname (web) Added: content_filter in config.txt Added: Cartverse cart id support (not live server-side yet though) Fixed: Tab preview does not show on mouseover Fixed: Can't paste uppercase characters into commandline Fixed: Preprocessor can't handle glyphs in form: "♥.x += 1" Fixed: Unsaved changes sometimes reported when filename is not set Fixed: Pause menu doesn't open inside infinite loop inside _draw Fixed: load() crashes when "parameter string" parameter is not a string Fixed: cstore(),reload() crash when external cart filename is not a string Fixed: printh(str, "@clip") fails for glyph characters in str v0.1.11f Fixed: Pause menu doesn't open inside an infinite loop Fixed: Binary and hex string digits outside of 0xffff.ffff alter result v0.1.11e Added: stat(30..31) for devkit keyboard input Added: extcmd("pause") extcmd("reset") extcmd("breadcrumb") Added: lshr(), ceil(), rotl(), rotr(), peek4(), poke4() Added: stat(12..15) to grab the position of the pause menu (x0,y0,y1,y1) Added: DPAD game controller buttons mapped to LRUD Added: CTRL-click on song navigator to scroll by 4 patterns Added: Can type and paste glyphs in commandline Added: Notification when CTRL-R fails to reload because of unsaved changes Added: Notification when code automatically converted to lower-case Added: INFO() checks for "external changes" (e.g. when using a separate text editor) Added: .p8.png format can be used with cstore() and carts bundled in multicarts Added: Can optionally set fill pattern using colour parameter Changed: Glyphs can be used as variable names Changed: Glyphs stored in clipboard and .p8 format as roughly corresponding unicode Changed: .p8 format skips storing tailing rows of data that match default state Changed/Fixed: shr(x,n) is now equivalent to calling shr(x,1) n times when n >= 32 Fixed: Error message and stack trace line numbers 0 or slightly out Fixed: Unclosed block error navigates cursor to rather than start of block Fixed: Exported binaries can load carts outside of bundle Fixed: BBS cart loaded from a local cart loses data cstore()ed during previous run Fixed: btn() returns same as btnp() Fixed: btnp(6) always returns false Fixed: Missing mask pixels in cart download animation frame Fixed: Crash when try to load a directory as a cart Fixed: Sometimes cursor position set by keyboard mouse emulation in code editor v0.1.11d Added: t() aliased to time() Fixed: time() always returns 0 when there is no _update function Fixed: (raspi) Keyboard stops responding after pressing CTRL-F, CTRL-Z Fixed: (raspi) Double keypresses in sound editor when entering notes Fixed: stat(6) pads parameter string with spaces v0.1.11c Added: Local and UT time queries using stat() Added: host_framerate_control (config.txt) to improve performance on slower machines and web Added: Control over cpu usage when running in background (-background_sleep_ms / config.txt) Added: Windows icon in exported exe Added: F11 to toggle fullscreen Added: export -c switch to indicate transparent icon colour Added: show_backup_messages (config.txt) to turn off backup notifications Added: SFX instruments documentation in pico8.txt Added: Error message when trying to export carts with code size over the compressed limit Changed: If config.txt is not found, the same directory as the executable is searched Changed: If sdl_controllers.txt exists in the same directory as the executeable, it is processed first Changed: Shorthand if () statements must be written on a single line Fixed: reload() from bundled, non-primary cart in exported html multicart reads only original data Fixed: Exported binaries wrongly observe F7 (capture label) Fixed: Loading carts from earlier versions alters SFX data not intended for audio Fixed: Old version of fill patterns documentation near end of pico8.txt Fixed: 'backed up unsaved changes' message displayed during runtime for cstored() carts Fixed: PICO-8 runs too slowly when in background (new default background_sleep_ms: 20) Fixed: Saving screenshots and videos from exported binaries are named 0_* Fixed: Compressed size limit warning on save doesn't mention exported carts Fixed: btn(), btnp() don't work in infinite loops Fixed: btnp() timing inconsistent between 30fps / 60fps / during frame-skipping / with no _update Fixed: Can't move between channels while music is playing in song mode v0.1.11b Fixed: Preprocessor bug regressions: "if (..) or", "a.b -= c - d" Fixed: Crash when pressing menu button on an empty favourites list v0.1.11 Added: Binary exporters (Windows, Linux, Mac OSX) Added: Code tabs Added: Splore cart menu Added: Fill patterns Added: Custom sfx instruments Added: load("#1234") to load [and run] a BBS cart Added: -x switch // execute a cart headless, for making command-line tools Added: Compressed size display and limit warning lights in code editor Added: CTRL-L to jump to a line number in code editor Added: numbers can be written in binary: 0b10100010 Added: tostr(), tonum() Added: extcmd(): audio_rec, audio_end to record all audio output. Added: ls() returns a list of local files if called while running Added: getmetatable() Added: coroutine error reporting // wrap coresume() in assert() Added: sfx() can take a 4th parameter: number of notes to play Added: Live sfx and music editing + better navigation controls Added: Transpose selected sfx notes relative to C by entering a note w/ SHIFT held Added: Insert and delete sfx rows with enter and backspace Added: Hidden note data is shown in sfx editor when relevant (slide, arps) Added: Warning displayed when unsaved changes backed up Added: Separate animation for downloading vs. loading a cart Added: export -p switch to supply a customized html template Added: Mousewheel when devkit mouse enabled: stat(36) // not supported in web Added: < > to change zoom level in gfx and map editors Changed: Rebalanced / fixed api cpu costs Changed: Screenshot and gif filenames based on current cart if available Changed: add() returns the added object Changed: removed global hpf on audio Changed: (sfx) can slide to volume 0 Changed: removed master low pass filter Changed: assert() can take an optional error_message parameter Changed: ? (shorthand for print()) can be prefixed by whitespace Changed: shl(), shr() return 0 if second parameter >= 32 Changed: Automatically drop down to software blitting mode if opengl fails Changed: Lua memory limit set to 2MB (was 1MB) Changed: Some options (-width, -show_fps) apply only to the session; not saved to config.txt Updated: Internal game controller mappings from SDL_GameControllerDB Fixed: Pops & clicks in audio when switching between playing SFX Fixed: Crash in audio mixer because of bad locking Fixed: Crash when loading .p8 files with more than 64k of code Fixed: Indexing of sparse tables fails after removing n/2 elements Fixed: Calling stat() inside an infinite loop crashes Fixed: Resetting cartridge corrupts cartridge data in range 0x5e00..0x5eff Fixed: Can not recover from a cart error caused by glitchy data on resetting Fixed: String->negative number conversion off by 0x0.0001 (-1 --> 0xffff0001) Fixed: Crash when running cart closed to 64k char limit Fixed: Cursor can't move to the right of last character in code editor Fixed: Missing highlighted keywords: in, add, del, menuitem Fixed: Preprocessor bugs: "a+=1+2\n*3", "a+=(1)ba=42", "a[(1)]+=1" Fixed: Preprocessor performs replacements inside a string printed with ? Fixed: Display freezes when terminating a program running at >100% cpu Fixed: Quick-running (CTRL-R) clobbers some editor state (e.g. current sprite page) Fixed: Loading a .p8 file with a future version reports a generic failure Fixed: alt-enter to toggle fullscreen also triggers pause menu Fixed: Splore scrolling jumps around when list gets too long v0.1.10c Fixed: atan flips sign for very negative values of x close to zero v0.1.10b Fixed: HTML exporter carts don't run Fixed: HTML export 60fps support broken Fixed: HTML export when path has a space in it (common for OSX) Fixed: atan2 ignores sign of y Fixed: (Raspberry Pi) Crash when access gpio not as root v0.1.10 Added: Multi-cart export in html Added: Cart reset glitch Added: Demo carts: bounce, sort Added: .p8 format can now store cart labels Added: Splore navigation keys: pageup/down, home, end Added: Splore usage hint shown on empty favourites list Added: Warning on boot when data folder is read-only or can't be created Added: Pressing tab with code selected indents those lines (shift-tab to un-indent) Added: Double click word to select it Added: Trigger screenshot/video/label capture from inside program: extcmd() Changed: CTRL+left/right in code editor skips to end of word or span of non-whitespace Changed: When a cart terminates from splore, button press is required to continue Changed: load("@clip") can only be called from commandline (security) Fixed: Can over-allocate host memory if exceed it within one frame Fixed: atan2(-1, -32768) crash, and error for small values of dy Fixed: (Web) using cstore() on self causes unloadable cart (bug introduced in 0.1.8?) Fixed: (web) Pressing ctrl-v crashes the player (should do nothing) Fixed: (Raspberry Pi) WiringPi library required in static build Fixed: (Raspberry Pi) Crash on exit when launching via desktop icon Fixed: (Raspberry Pi) keyboard input broken (observed on raspi2s) v0.1.9b Added: Alternative function key mapping: ctrl-6..9 for F6..F9 Added: Alternative glyph entry method: (ctrl-k) to toggle glyph mode Changed: Enter glyphs with shift a..z, but can be disabled in config.txt Changed: Increased emscripten ram to 128MB (some carts at risk of running out) Fixed: Crash when window size is tiny or minified Fixed: Crash on toggling fullscreen mode Fixed: printh can write files outside filetree (security issue) Fixed: show_fps (can also now be toggled with ctrl-1) Fixed: Shorthand if/then syntax error when using the form: (functionname)(param) Fixed: log.txt not saved in path specified by -home switch Fixed: Default application data folder created even when -home specified Fixed: Missing dynamic builds (pico8_dyn) from linux archives Fixed: Removed unneeded RPATH from linux binaries Fixed: export foo%d.wav fails to write multiple files v0.1.9 Added: Copy and paste sprites and whole cartridges directly to BBS posts Added: JAM category in splore Added: GPIO support for Raspberry Pi Added: Read clipboard using stat(4) after user presses CTRL-V Added: printh() can optionally write to a file or the host clipboard Added: Editor tool information and tips shown on mouseover Added: Set desktop path with -desktop (screenshots and gifs are saved here) Added: Warning on saving .p8 when compressed code size exceeds .p8.png limit Added: Alternative editor colours // config.txt: gui_theme 1 Added: Dotted line every 8 rows in song view Added: -screenshot_scale (default: 3) and -gif_scale (default: 2) Added: Can use ctrl-up, ctrl-down to jump to start and end of code Added: CTRL-M to mute/unmute sound Added: HTML5-exported carts support 60fps Added: Timeout switch for splore downloads: -timeout Changed: Glyph characters typed with alt + a..z Changed: stat(0) does not include allocations waiting to be garbage collected Changed: Unfiltered screen stretching at integer scales by default Changed: Removed -aspect and -scale settings (use draw_rect instead) Fixed: -home has no effect under Windows Fixed: Sometimes frame skipping starts before CPU usage has reached 100% Fixed: Double-speed BTNP() timing in 60fps mode Fixed: Exported HTML fails when _update60 is used instead of _update Fixed: Can't copy and paste button glyphs Fixed: Lines containing glyphs do not scroll far enough horizontally Fixed: Loading .p8 renamed as .p8.png from splore freezes Fixed: Bucketfill in map doesn't sync to shared memory Fixed: fset fails when de-setting flags Fixed: Syntax error when beginning with the form: IF (..) [OR|AND]\n Fixed: cls() costs twice as much cpu as it should Fixed: wav file exporter missing some data / writing truncated buffers Fixed: Entering new notes in song view doesn't observe current volume, instrument Fixed: alt-tab sometimes generates alt character text entry event Fixed: Resuming a cancelled download in splore causes crash Fixed: Controller attributes in log.txt always shown as -1 v0.1.8 Added: 60fps support Added: Music exporter Added: Custom GIF length (maximum 120 seconds) Added: -,+ to navigate sprite tabs, sfx, music patterns Added: sfx editor: navigate with home, end, pageup/down, mousewheel Added: <, > to modify sfx speed, or click and drag Added: Middle mouse button to pan around spritesheet / map Added: Shortcut command for splore: S Added: Pre-installed selection of BBS cart (use INSTALL_GAMES) Added: Warning when saving .p8.png with no label Added: (OSX) logging to ~/Library/Logs (viewable with Console.app) Added: -pixel_perfect switch (on by default) Added: -draw_rect switch Changed: Can not CTRL-S save over a loaded bbs cart Changed: Only .p8 files listed by dir() and by splore Changed: Command history increased to 256 Changed: exit() / shutdown() have no effect while running cart Fixed: Memory usage (stat(0)) inconsistent across host platforms Fixed: Spinny disks shows when reloading current cart with load() Fixed: GIF saver does not respect 64x64 / mirrored modes Fixed: Miscellaneous multi-line comments / strings issues Fixed: Empty map cels cost cpu in mapdraw() Fixed: mapdraw() slowdown when drawing bottom half of map Fixed: preprocess changes semantics when += and : operators on same line Fixed: Identifiers starting with underscore counted as extra token Fixed: Saving .png exceeding compressed code limit fails silently Fixed: Right-clicking a sprite does not set the currently edited sprite Fixed: (Windows) extra space added to pasted lines Fixed: spr() expensive when drawn with low negative coordinates Fixed: pipe character identical to colon character Fixed: (Raspberry Pi) shift key appends a character when entering text Fixed: Editor mode buttons are still clickable during cart runtime Fixed: When loading a .p8.png file, label is reset and needs to be re-captured Fixed: export() does not report failure Fixed: mset()'d changes in shared memory not readable via peek() / sget() Fixed: cstore() saving edited code Fixed: audio pop between patterns during music playback v0.1.7 Added: menuitem() Added: button glyphs in code (shift-L, R, U, D, X, O) Added: Customisable data directory (e.g. pico8 -home mydata) Added: Web gpio pins: read and write pico8_gpio[] in javscript Fixed: SPLORE search doesn't reset Fixed: Splore skipping 33rd cart listing after loading more items Fixed: Crash when selecting a local binary file in splore Fixed: Semicolon can't be used as a list or statement separator Fixed: Exported html can not cstore self v0.1.6 Added: SPLORE local & bbs cartridge explorer Added: setmetatable(), cocreate(), coresume(), costatus(), yield() Added: Spinning cart icon to show when a cart is swapped / written to Added: Permanent storage when carts played in a browser Added: Adjustable aspect ratio (-aspect 420 for 1:1) Changed: Lua memory limit: 1024k (was 512k) Changed: Music channel now resumes after being clobbered by an sfx Changed: Arpeggios double speed when SFX speed <= 8 Changed: Exceeding compressed code limit does not block saving in .p8 format Changed: spr() half as expensive, to be consistent with map() Changed: Fractional hex number notation: 0x0.3 == 0x0.3000, (was 0x0.0003) Changed: : operator doesn't count as an extra token (same as .) Changed: cstore() writes directly to disk Changed: cstore(), reload() return number of bytes read / written Changed: save() while running does nothing. (use cstore() instead) Changed: load() while running loads and runs the specified cartridge Fixed: Small pops in audio mixer caused by sound wave discontinuities Fixed: HTML5-exported sound clicks badly under Chrome Fixed: Display palette is not oberserved when exporting GIFs Fixed: Rapid keypresses causes duplicate readings in tracker & text editor Fixed: += inside comments breaks preprocessor Fixed: sspr() cpu cost the same when clipped Fixed: cartdata() with bad parameters crashes Fixed: EXPORT from commandline can not be used without brackets and quotes v0.1.5 Added: Raspberry Pi Build Added: Keyboard configuration for player buttons (KEYCONFIG) Added: Music tracker select / copy / paste Added: Single-level undo in audio tools Added: Live preview of frequencies in sound editor Fixed: Command history extends past last reboot Fixed: Sfx exporter broken Fixed: Slashes at end of path resolve to double slashes Fixed: Load cart from commandline under Windows v0.1.4d v0.1.4c Fixed: International character entry inserting extra characters Fixed: Lines with tabs have broken cursor placement and display boundary v0.1.4b Fixed: OSX command-key combinations broken v0.1.4 Added: spritesheet importing and exporting with import("blah.png"), export("blah.png") Added: sfx exporting with export("blah%d.wav") Added: External cartridge parameter for reload() and cstore() Added: Persistent cartridge data mapped to 0x5e00 Added: Click token limit to toggle token & char limit display Added: assert(), type() Added: P to pause Changed: code char limit: 64k (was 32k) Changed: local declarations and semicolons not counted as tokens Changed: Pairs of brackets and block delimitations count as one token Changed: Only _update() or _draw() need to exist to enter main loop Changed: Allow forward-slash in code editor Changed: info() reports current (last loaded or saved) filename Changed: html5 version compiled with NO_DYNAMIC_EXECUTION Changed: can only cstore up to 64 different files in one session Changed: load() automatically copies data section of cart to base ram Fixed: Shift-drag-copy sprites -> paste only pastes 1x1 Fixed: ".." should count as one token Fixed: Tracker displaying D instead of . Fixed: Multi-line comments Fixed: Crash on run when code close to char limit Fixed: When over token limit, can not run any command Fixed: Unused high bits in SFX section not saved in .p8 format Fixed: Camera position memory mapping out of sync Fixed: pico8.txt link broken in windows installer Fixed: print() crashes when parameter is not a string or numbers Fixed: Multi-line strings & escape chars mess up tokenizer and print() Fixed: Joystick not responding when left stick is up to the left Fixed: Alt-F4 saves screenshot before quitting Fixed: Sprite editor mode button doesn't show fullscreen mode Fixed: -sound parameter not working in html5 version v0.1.3 Added: paste into commandline Fixed: lua standard libraries accessible Fixed: command-line loading doesn't work Fixed: music pattern finished too early when all tracks set to looping Fixed: peek()ing odd bytes in sfx address space masks bit 7 Fixed: cstore and reload from code space should have no effect v0.1.2 Added: html5 cartridge exporter Added: Cartridge save data (64 fixed point numbers) Added: 8-player input Added: Demo carts: COLLIDE and BUTTERFLY Added: Command-line parameters // load cart, -run, settings Added: Alternative function keys (F6..F9 aliased as F1..F4) Added: pairs() Added: printh() for debugging Added: Tab completion for filenames in console Added: stack trace on runtime error Changed: music pattern length taken to be first non-looping channel's length Changed: noise instrument (6) has low frequency white noise scaled by volume Changed: screenshot captures whole window contents at display resolution Changed: del() moves remaining items up one index to maintain a packed table Changed: add(),del(),count(),all() no longer store extra fields Changed: removed count() from docs -- now just a legacy function. Use # operator instead. Changed: cursor only blinks while window is active Changed: peek(), poke() and binary operations (band()..) have no function call overhead Changed: yellow slightly warmer Changed: No camera snapping after pan in map mode Fixed: sqrt() crashing for 0 or >= 32761 Fixed: Semi-colon characters in text editor Fixed: Long lines split when saving in .p8 format Fixed: pget() does not respect camera position Fixed: Error message when peeking or poking outside of legal address space Fixed: Search replace colour fills one pixel outside of selected region Fixed: Playing an empty music pattern breaks subsequent music playback Fixed: Invalid sfx editing state on startup Fixed: Painting instruments values in frequency view also sets volumes Fixed: Inconsistent gif recording speeds Fixed: Unmapped joystick support Fixed: Compressed code size sometimes larger than uncompressed Fixed: mid() fails when first argument is not smallest Fixed: Scroll wheel changes sprite/map zoom while in code editor Fixed: CTRL-R (quick-run) drawing over current line in command mode Fixed: Label capture (F7) does not respect screen palette state Fixed: Syntax highlighting of api functions and hex numbers Fixed: Looping to 0 with negative step finishes at 1 Fixed: nil values printed as false instead of nil Fixed: Hexadecimal fractional parts Fixed: btnp() unresponsive when skipping frames Fixed: Editing mode is lost when using ctrl-r to run Fixed: Tracker note entry keys mapped, messing up piano-like layout Fixed: Shared gfx/map memory out of sync after some editor operations Fixed: Alt-gr character entry Fixed: Can map display palette to entries >= 16 using poke() Fixed: Using shift to select in code editor has wrong selection range Fixed: Dragging above top of text causes selection to flip to end Fixed: Duplicate at end of file listing v0.1.1 Added: Token-based code limiting (8192 tokens, 32k ascii text) Added: Freeform move, pan and selection in sprite and map editors Added: Flood-fill tool (sprite and map) Added: .GIF saver Added: CTRL-Stamp to stamp with transparency Added: Single-step undo for map and sprites Added: 2x2 brush Added: sqrt(), atan2() Added: CTRL-S to quick-save Added: CTRL-R reloads .p8 file and runs (useful for external text editing) Added: Automatic backups on overwriting or quitting without saving Added: Scroll wheel zooms in sprite editor Added: Customisable resolution // e.g. pico8 -width 580 Added: Strings highlighted as green Added: ALT-click can optionally simulate right click (see config.txt) Added: palt() to control transparency for spr(), sspr() Added: info() Changed: load() tries adding .p8.png, .png if file doesn't exist Changed: Draw operations apply only to selection when active Changed: Move operations (cursors) apply to selection if present Changed: Removed time() Changed: Random seed is random on cart startup Changed: api functions never read directly from cart rom Changed: sspr() can take negative values for dw, dh Fixed: Sparse table indexing with integers fails Fixed: Assignment operators and shortform if-then-else failing Fixed: sspr() failed when w0 == 128 Fixed: Circle drawing broken when camera not (0,0) Fixed: CPU hogging Fixed: Noise instrument clobbers rnd() sequence Fixed: Audio system not resetting on program reset Fixed: % operator sometimes wrong for negative values Fixed: Length operator (#) Fixed: Power operator (^) Fixed: Line clipping bug on right and bottom edges Fixed: print() precision for whole numbers Fixed: print() broken for negative y values Fixed: tokenization and keyword highlighting Fixed: sprite properties not copied/pasted Fixed: Only sfx 0..32 could be used as music patterns Fixed: Saving and loading a .p8 file adds newline to end of code Fixed: Drag selection to left margin in code editor -> selects all v0.1.0 Added: demo cart: hello.p8 (use install_demos) Added: CTRL-R from anywhere to run cart or restart cart Added: use a,s to select colour in gfx editor Added: consistent operation cpu costs Added: btn(), btnp() with no arguments returns bitfield Added: fget(id) returns bitfield of that sprite's flags Changed: renamed mapdraw() to map() for consistency Changed: default sleep time is 5ms (better cpu consumption for laptops) Fixed: memory limiter Fixed: wonky line and circle drawing Fixed: shift-click volume in sfx editor to set all Fixed: number formatting is now never in scientific notation Fixed: clipped error messages in console Fixed: text undo stores rollback points when chaning line number Fixed: print(str) carriage returns to previous x v0.0.5 Added: help() Added: Ctrl+F / Ctrl+G to search for text, repeat search Added: del key in code editor Added: Short-hand single-line IF statements Added: Unary operators += -= /= *= %= Added: srand(), time(), added rnd() to docs Added: Ctrl+D to duplicate line Added: interactive ls() for multi-page file listings Added: band() bor() bxor() bnot() shl() shr() Added: runtime error line number Added: dir() (aliased to ls()) Changed: print() only autoscrolls when called with no parameters Changed: alt+up/down to skip between function definitions (was ctrl) Changed: sspr() dw, dh defaults to sw, sh Fixed: Load crashes on files that are not .p8 format or directories Fixed: Misc editor cursor position glitches Fixed: Crash when syntax error occurs before viewing code Fixed: Broken newlines after rebooting Fixed: mkdir() called with no parameters creating "(null)" directory Fixed: scrolling past top of code with scrollwheel Fixed: alt-f4 to fastquit v0.0.4 Added: Jelpi demo cart Added: Internal carts // use install_demos() Added: Joystick support Added: Undo/redo in code editor Added: Scroll wheel in code editor Added: LCTRL + UP/DOWN to navigate functions in code editor Added: LALT + LEFT/RIGHT to switch editing modes Added: btnp() Added: Release looping sample (a in editor , sfx(-2, channel) in code) Changed: Music stops when pausing program execution Changed: Allow 8 settable sprite flags Changed: Made noise instrument more bassy Fixed: Home, end keys Fixed: Sprite flags 4,5 not saved Fixed: mset() discarding 4 high bits Fixed: Crash when highlighting long strings v0.0.3 Added: Palette mapping type 1 (on display) Added: Collections can be initialized with c={1,2,..} Added: holdframe() // used automatically by _draw(), update() Added: Sprite selections and operations across selections Added: Map selection and stamp tool Added: Immediate mode screen buffer preserved while switching views Added: Channel mask for music playback Added: Memory mapping for live sound data Added: .png cart format Added: Sprite navigation by keyboard (-, +) Fixed: Strict 4-channel sound Fixed: Automatic sfx channel selection (channel index: -1) v0.0.2 Added: Command history Added: P2 keys Added: Boot sequence Added: Windows, 64-bit linux builds Added: CPU cost of internal api functions Added: Separate song channel index and mute status Added: Memory mapping Added: Search/replace colour in sprite editor Added: Copy/paste sprites and map regions Improved: Immediate mode command editing Improved: Editor cursor behaviour Fixed: Automatic audio channel selection v0.0.1 First Alpha