Introduction to Picotron

[@LazyDevs]

⚠UPDATE⚠ A new version was released just as I uploaded the video (0.1.0C). It already fixed some of the issues I show off. For instance, you can now right click on the desktop to create files. It is also now possible to have maps with different tile sizes. Check out the Changelog! www.lexaloffle.com/picotron.php?page=resources EDIT: But it seems now drawing Maps is broken. Oh no!

[@bgelais]

yes, but there's an issue with the map() function that display nothing (Windows) but zep put back the mget(), so I fan do something, but Zep got a lot to fix! loll

[@robertjohnson9187]

Krystian, you inadvertently started building a horror game by creating a map lined with fleshy hearts.

[@skarrmann]

Your thought about using Picotron to create editor tools for PICO-8 is exciting! It would be very cool to see you create tools like those in your advanced shmup tutorial in this workstation.

[@richardhunter9779]

We are getting closer and closer to returning to monke with now this comfy pixel art OS.

[@LiquidreamUK]

Great intro to Picotron, thx Krystian - exciting times! 🤓 FYI, you can test/launch screensavers with double-click (arguably another UI crime 😜)

[@kevinmakesgames]

KZbin wont let me both like and dislike this comment. :D

[@spikmin]

Thanks so much for this great introduction! You made this a lot more approachable for me and I had a ton of fun following along and messing around with things. I would love to see more Picotron content in the future!

[@DcTurner]

More excited about Picotron than any upcoming console. ❤ Feels like when the SNES launched.

[@CyberCreeper22]

as a synthesist I love seeing a non musician trying to figure out FM which is ones of the most complicated forms of synthesis (unless you go into the L.A. roland post dx7 stuff)

[@humanmerelybeing1966]

“Turn the knob towards Mecca” is a legitimate musical technique.

[@bigbodge]

At some point last year I was watching a video on the Amiga (Ahoy!) and all the early software that came out around it, and it made me wish that could happen again, like a completely fresh start at computing, all ready to be built from the ground up but without the expectations of modern computing. Looking at the BBS forum, I get the feeling that Picotron could well be that. People are building web browsers and calculators and package managers, it's really exciting to be there in these early stages

[@m4t7eo]

It's so cute it looks like a parallel universe Mac OS 8. I'm still in the process of learning pico8, but I kinda want to start using this now, if only for the tracker real estate. And I want to recreate all the vintage desktop gadgets.

[@WildVoltorb]

It actually looks like a modern tiling window manager

[@austinjones265]

I want to make picotron bonzi buddy

[@scrapsavage]

You can double click the screensaver in the system settings to preview it 😉

[@edlifannarra]

I'm looking forward to the raspberry pi version. I think it might be fun to set up a Pi400 to boot straight into Picotron

[@edtuckerartist]

That would be awesome! Would be even cooler if it would run on my RGB30.

[@xTHETRINCHOx]

Im trying to do that in POCKETCHIP! Headless just With picotron!

[@puppeli]

I would like if RPi400 (or maybe Pi500 or Pi600 if they ever make them), came with Picotron and couple of game pads. Back when i was a kid, that would have been something i would have lost my mind over :D

[@mattc-beam637]

Came for the Pico8 upgrade - stayed for the 8-Track-Tracker!

[@trevor_mounts_music]

With this, Furnace, and Milkytracker we are kinda overloaded with sweet tracker options these days

[@fabiocastello3118]

This tool is blowing my mind 😍 Already bought it and I can't wait to try it out! It seems like it may become the perfect Pico-8 development environment (altough I can see there is a different focus for it and I can understand it)

[@Zomerset]

I really like how this is more accessible for partially sighted people. Also, not having a random combination of uppercase and lowercase lettering is much nicer.

[@danandtab7463]

ohhh I had to pick this up because I'm fascinated now, also noticed the discounted price now for perpetual updates onwards.

[@BlazertronGames]

I always wanted something like pico8 but a bit higher quality so the text editor looked nicer. I'm going to buy this!

[@StarContract]

The absolute madlad behind this project

[@noisetv1863]

Great intro, looking forward to more Picotron tutorials! Perhaps one on making a desktop and/or screensaver, etc for starters. Of course, will be great to make a game, too! Thanks!!!

[@midwinter78]

For me, it's a fantasy Amiga, running the 21st century equivalent of AMOS.

[@DIYTAO]

As an old Amiga user, second screen looked so familiar.

[@humanharddrive1]

i'm so excited for picotron. i really like that desktop that you can uncover lol

[@thisisreallyme3130]

My favorite feature from the Picotron roadmap is: HTTP networking. Mainly for amusing DLC, getting the weather, etc. and going for an early-BBS or TELETEXT vibe (not really for player vs player, except maybe with turn based stuff... a Picotron 2 player remote Chess would be so 1980s)

[@peppidesu]

33:50 this is actually a very common UI pattern in VSTs, so i personally find this very intuitive and not an UI crime

[@LazyDevs]

Every UI crime is at least one person's "This is fine, actually"

[@GnobarEl]

Your videos are always amazing! Great work!

[@willbrown6456]

Thanks for the great preview

[@parkerlreed]

One thing of note, the background flickering in the music producer kinda shows up on the video but REALLY shows up in game. Might need to take a look at that. Kinda hurts.

[@LazyDevs]

Funny is, I haven't even noticed this until I edited the video, then I couldn't stand it

[@parkerlreed]

@@LazyDevs At least for 1440p it was happening constantly when making adjustments or playing sound (on my local computer). Using the Linux version.

[@edtuckerartist]

Picotron looks like going from a Spectrum/C64/Atari800 to an Sam Coupe/Amiga/ST - Basic programming language to GUI based system - maybe not quite the power jump but that's my thinking.

[@noisetv1863]

The synth/tracker is going to be fun

[@Pockeywn]

i’m so ready for someone to make pico8 in picoTron.

[@knoopx]

it looks so cool i wish it was a full-fledged 64-bit os

[@felixbaum1422]

Hi there, I've just started using Picotron and I'm not very experienced in programming with lua, do you know how to reference other scripts? I managed to do it In Pico-8, because all tabs are essentially the same script, but Picotron seems to handle it differently.

[@LazyDevs]

You need to include them using the include statement. Check out the carts in the App folder to see how that works

[@LupinosLionheart]

Hi Krystian. I have a major issue with Picotron. In coding I cannot make this { } or this [ ]. As soon as I hit Alt Gr + 7 which is { on the German keyboard layout, Picotron captures a label and for the other brackets it does nothing. How did you manage it? Do you use a US keyboard layout?

[@LazyDevs]

Dang! Yeah that is a huge Problem. I am using an English Keyboard so I haven't even noticed. Bummer

[@LupinosLionheart]

Yeah, it seems to be an issue with the latest update. As I've read in the community, in 0.1.0b this issue wasn't existing yet, so I hope it'll get fixed soon. For now I'm writing the code in an external editor and copy paste it. Very inconvinient but yeah, it'll work for now. Thanks for the reply, @@LazyDevs

[@theblah12]

Reminds me of Classic MacOS for the original Macintosh, with a splash of color.

[@MrAaronbreeding]

How do you use multiple .lua files in one program? That way I can organize my code in similar way to the pico-8 tab system. Also what is different between pico-8 and picotron functions?

[@LazyDevs]

Will try to go into that in a future video. For now you can look into the system/apps carts to see how a cart with multiple lua files works

[@cybersquib5669]

I used: include(“file_name.lua”) In my main.lua file and it worked, similar to import function in regular Lua programming.

[@heavysystemsinc.]

Did they just create Hypercard in a Pico8 style format? Cause I think they did.

[@edtuckerartist]

I can see myself in the near future (when I get Picotron) spending hours just in sound design lol.

[@edtuckerartist]

Got Picotron sat down this evening around 9.30pm added a waste bin and my own custom icon, then started experimenting with the sound engine, it's now 3.20am and hardly touched anything else - exhausted so I'm going to get some sleep!

[@blevi2695]

Would you consider doing some tutorials on picotron in the future?

[@LazyDevs]

58:53

[@the_Acaman]

I am a beginner in game development and programming as a whole and I was wondering, can this function as a game engine on its own? Like, if I want to make a simple pixel art game to eventually release for example? I've already started making it in a proper game engine, I'm just wondering.

[@LazyDevs]

Yes but if you are a beginner I would recommend Pico-8

[@lordofthe6string]

I wonder if you can access other running carts. A windowkill type game would be fun :3

[@JoshKit]

Enview got an update that will show you more info about LUA functions, including the code itself when possible - make sure to update!

[@pocketpixie6525]

I am so happy that Picotron is finally out now! I will have to wait until I can secure a copy

[@leogmaia]

I'm having the same issue on saving. Let's update for 0.1.0C and check if it's ok by now.

[@jimweil8879]

I want this as my desktopOS instead of MacOS!!!

[@rebow2568]

Two Years of Picotron??? 😮

[@Pockeywn]

i JUST started learning pico8😰😰!! its literally open on my computer for like the second time ever, when this video got recommended

[@LazyDevs]

Don't worry. Picotron needs some time in the oven anyway. Stick to Pico-8 for now and by the time you have a game or two under your belt you can "graduate" to Picotron

[@Pockeywn]

this is funny to read after messing around in pico8 like nonstop the past two weeks and now that picotron has basically become my main os lmao

[@Unorig]

Thanks for confirming you cant change the sprite file. I couldnt figure it out.

[@edtuckerartist]

Can one drag and drop images into the sprite editor from Windows?

[@LazyDevs]

Not yet, but Sprimp supports copy & paste from Aesprite. You can also just copy & paste sprites from Pico-8 directly into the sprite editor

[@edtuckerartist]

Desktop icon is literally a desk shown from two views - side on and top down. Right?

[@LazyDevs]

I think you might be right

[@awyeagames]

Battery saver reduces the FPS to 30fps it seems.

[@LazyDevs]

OH!

[@CYON4D]

Great stuff.

[@enriquegarciacota3914]

Thanks for this. Yes some of those can only be characterized as UI crimes 😂

[@LupinosLionheart]

Thank you, Kristian, for this overview. Of course I had to get my own copy of Picotron right now. XD Cheers!

[@thingsofinternet]

17:18 LOL!!! maaan you made my day 😂😂😂😂

[@androth1502]

so is this like pico8 but without artificial "hardware" limits?

[@LazyDevs]

There are limits but they are way higher

[@cvabds]

This POD scripting really looks like a TempleOS index type thing

[@xTHETRINCHOx]

Terry Davis style!

[@brentknight9318]

Facts are hard. ❤

[@edtuckerartist]

Wonder if some clever dev will make a visual programming editor for this?

[@alfiegordon9013]

Awesome, reminds me of uxn

[@drioko]

someone pls tell me how to increase size of screen while keeping pixel perfect

[@zackbuildit88]

...I don't think it has that????? It's fixed pixel display tmk

[@TurtleKwitty]

Can't wait for someone to make vim to replace the default editor that'll be kinda funny but very awesome haha

[@LazyDevs]

LOL man that would be funny!

[@TurtleKwitty]

@@LazyDevs Just got the part that you show off the wiki... there's gonna be a web browser for this thing at some point for sure just like we did in the good old computercraft days god this is gonna be an interesting time. Can't wait for an MMO as well that'll be *chefs kiss* You had mentioned network in the early parts but hadn't though it was arbitrary network just siloed to zep stuff or something but damnnnnnn

[@SteveRHanson]

Hopefully this will work with the raspberry pi.

[@huhneat1076]

That hamburger is so secret that plankton is already en route

[@Nbrother1607]

Imagine spending almost $32 for three imaginary hardware platforms??? (Turns out I already have Pico-8 and Voxatron)

[@UltimatePerfection]

Do video on TIC-80.

[@EidoEndy]

Pico8 basically remade Pixel Vision. Interesting.

[@LazyDevs]

Eeeh, not really. I feel like Pixel Vision was going for something else

[@OptimusNiaa]

The combination of the user-editable nature of Picotron and people's excitement about the possibilities, I think might be leading to some hastiness on the part of some. So, like, MSET and MGET weren't in the initial version or the second version, so rather than wait and see if Zep would include it in the next release (which is indeed what happened), people just scrambled to make their own. Good for them and all, but now it's outdated, and you have these parallel worlds of official Picotron releases on the one hand and user-extended varieties (extending to add what will be included in base official versions) that may not play nicely with each other or future official base versions. So like, I'm glad people are excited. I am myself. But I don't think it hurts for people to slow down a little, let Zep develop. Not to say "don't make functionality for it." But just, pace yourselves. Balancing eagerness with not wanting to splinter the dev environment.

[@capitanclassic8624]

Pico-8 is to NES as Picotron is to Windows 3.1

[@cartoonhead9222]

Oh thank heavens. I was getting really annoyed with PICO-8 because the IDE just has a few annoyances.

[@LazyDevs]

Oh man, I'm not sure if Picotron is the place to go right now if you don't want annoyances :)

[@cartoonhead9222]

​@@LazyDevs The main annoyance being the screen space for programming, it's worse than programming on a Spectrum ZX80 lol

[@oxfordyazuka3739]

transition at 31:31 😅

[@Nyamistaya]

I need this stuff

[@cvabds]

The only thing I don't like pico-8 is that it can't run on real hardware, only a emulated fantasy console

[@EdensukoV]

It can in some emulation handhelds. Powkiddy rgb30 is probably the best one right now.

[@donoteatmikezila]

It's time, friends.

[@PotatoImaginator]

Is it good ?

[@LazyDevs]

Very much so

[@ethanbuttazzi2602]

so heres is one thing that you got it wrong pretty much all the video, the things do LOAD into memory, but they arent running.

[@LazyDevs]

Wat?

[@ethanbuttazzi2602]

@@LazyDevs in simple terms, you have it engaged you just didnt use the executable, it reading into memory, sorta like a pen drive.

[@LazyDevs]

@@ethanbuttazzi2602I do not understand what you are saying. What is 'it'? This is a 1 hour video. I do a lot of things during this time

[@ethanbuttazzi2602]

@@LazyDevs you kept saying throught the entire video, that picotron "cards" could be there but not into memory, im just saying you got things switched. here is the first mention 2:54

[@LazyDevs]

@@ethanbuttazzi2602Yes, this is correct. Picotron can load carts into RAM which is how you edit them. But Picotron can also execute carts without loading them into that RAM. I suspect what you want to say is that carts that are executed are technically also loaded into the computer's memory. However, this is a Fanasy Console and there is a difference between the real computer memory and the pretend-Memory of the Fantasy Console

[@makiskapa8291]

So you can't define your own custom resolution, for example, 320 X 200. Pity!

[@the-guy-beyond-the-socket]

YAPIEE KIA YAY!

[@Zekium]

Too bad there's no 128x128 res there.

[@Davi_Dash]

43:29 YOU CAN CALL A FUNCTION USING A TABLE?!?!!??!??!

[@LazyDevs]

It looks funky but it's nothing special. It's just calling the function and providing an object as the only parameter. In these cases you can leave out the parenthesis. Pretty sure you can do that in Pico-8 too

[@SurfinRaz]

PLSSS make a new video

[@deedd4401]

No android version .. no h o ney

[@Y1001]

Bought 👍

[@nil0bject]

i like the idea, but the cart concept is a bit unfamiliar

[@LazyDevs]

How do you mean?

[@molochz]

Are you familiar with PICO-8?

[@nil0bject]

@@LazyDevs correct me when i'm wrong, from what i could tell you load one cart into a "RAM disk", modify the contents of the "disk" and then save to a flat file. is the "RAM disk" metaphor necessary? couldn't the p64 file just open like a folder? like how macos does packages/bundles

[@nil0bject]

@@molochz i've heard of it. never used.

[@molochz]

@@nil0bject Ah ok. One way to share games on PICO-8 was in the form of a PNG image. You could export your game as a PNG file and all the game data was contained in the image. Then you could load the image into PICO-8 and play the game. The image itself looked like a cartridge for an old console. Kinda looked like a NES cart. Hence the term "cart". You can do the same thing with Picotron.

[@tinblue]

fix your website. If you want me to buy this at least make your activation emails arrive

[@LazyDevs]

I am not the developer of Picotron

[@tinblue]

@@LazyDevs apologies

[@gdplayer1035]

still keeping tic-80

[@valentine_puppy]

I am not into Nintendo. Never will be. I am a SEGA guy. Completely different world. So, To use this software to make games in their Style. That would be not for me. Is there something else that I can use that is closer to SEGA than this? Perhaps Pixel Vision 8? It's clearly outdated by now. I am sorry, I am just not going to use anything connected with Nintendo's style or themes.

[@m4t7eo]

Maybe it's because I'm not very familiar with Sega, but how is Pico8 and picotron similar to Nintendo? What screams Nintendo to you?

[@valentine_puppy]

@@m4t7eo Hello. To me it’s the interface of pico8 and the vast majority of games made for it. With picotron it looks like a Nintendo DS OS style and just some of the hints to its style. Also, video host here even said as much in the video up there. I think I’ll use Pixel Vision 8 but it is outdated.

[@LazyDevs]

What do you mean? What kind of SEGA game do you want to do that isn't possible with this?

[@m4t7eo]

⁠​⁠@@valentine_puppyKrystian compared them to Nintendo consoles to highlight what the difference between pico8 and picotron is, in terms most people would understand. If he said it was like going from a Megadrive to a Saturn it would’ve been the same conceptually, but less clear due to them being less popular console. In terms of design and UI, they look much more retro computing inspired (amiga, commodore, classic Mac OS, windows 3.1). I don’t really see the Nintendo ds UI resemblance, beside the rounded corner on tabs. But that was popular way before the ds.

[@valentine_puppy]

@@m4t7eo To me it’s just the colors, icons and style that remind me of the DS lower screen. Still, if there was a way to change it I’d do it. Custom themes etc. Just doesn’t hit it for me as is. If you like it, awesome. It’s not for me as is. Though I will say, I absolutely love Amiga. Very Sega style Amiga. Same CPU as well in the 500.

[@DcTurner]

Did you discover the dancing skeleton wallpaper? (mouse over the skellies 🦴)