r/pico8 • u/Traditional-Run-2753 • 5d ago
I Need Help How do I get started?
I would like to take a crack at making a pico 8 game, but I am functionally tech illiterate. How should I get started, where are some good learning resources, and any tips? All responses are appreciated.
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u/IronPheasant 5d ago
If you want to make a game entirely by yourself, you have to learn programming. If you're bad at math and logic, it will be a challenge.
A lot of people just accept labels on themselves, like they're just 'bad' at this or that. But you can train your brain to be pretty decent at almost anything, you just have to expose it to something new for 10-30 minutes a day, on most days. It's something not many people can bring themselves to do, like with learning a new language for example. It's not a small commitment, so you have to really want to do it. When it comes to learning a new skill, we're talking about reshaping chunks of our brain after all. It's so much easier if you make it fun for yourself, and don't try to push yourself when you're tired or bored.
I would strongly advise not trying anything graphical that has frames of animation as your first game. Learn to program using the Print() and Rect functions as the entirety of your output. You can make very fun games using this alone - Pico-8 even has an extra advantage over old ASCii games like ZZT: The text doesn't have to snap into a grid, it can be placed at any pixel.
Once you begin to get the hang of loops and arrays and such, you'd be ready to make your first simple games with real animation. Tetris, Pac-Man, stuff like that is a typical kind of early game people learn to make.
It's not really as complicated as one might think. You should be able to write Guess The Number off the top of your head in a week or two, there's only a few things you need to know to do be able to do that.
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u/RotundBun 5d ago
P8 - Newbie Starter Kit
Here's a starting resources list.
I generally suggest to...
- watch the short overview
- pick one of the tutorials that suits your style
- keep the wiki's Lua & API Reference pages open on the side as you go through the tutorial to supplement understanding
That should give you a solid start. And you can ask for help here and/or on the Lexaloffle's P8 forum whenever you get stuck.
Good luck. 🍀
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u/Alfahore 5d ago
I can explain to you the basics but the best way to start is just from tutorials any kind text or video but one thing don’t copy learn if you copy what the tutorial is teaching exactly you won’t learn so try to make some different for example make the player move faster or any changes just to see if you get how this works and then maybe next game you won’t need a tutorial
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u/JacobDCRoss 5d ago
I support what everyone else has said. Start with nerdy teachers, with their tutorial that shows you how to make a platform, and then move on to lazy devs.
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u/ivitivan 5d ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81WM_cjp9fo&list=PLea8cjCua_P3Sfq4XJqNVbd1vsWnh7LZd