Panic, the company behind the miniature Playdate handheld, has released a self-described goofy game editor that will allow you to make games for the device through your web browser.
The game editor, which is currently running as a public beta and named Pulp, is described in its developer notes as a "friendly tool for making tiny but visually and narratively rich games for Playdate".
Simple to use, Pulp comes with both an Editor, where you can create games in the browser, and a Web Player for previewing your games while you tinker with them. Once completed, players are then able to export their games from the game editor as a .pdx file, which can then be loaded onto the Playdate itself.
According to Panic, Pulp comes with two different options for creating their games. "The easiest is using the default, simple behaviors of Sprites, Items, and Exits," states the editor's developer documentation.
"For example: when a player starts your game, it will say (print onscreen) the name of the game. When the player bumps into a Sprite or walks over an Item it can say something. Exits can connect one room to another or say a parting message before ending the game."
For more adventurous and confident Playdate developers, Panic has added PulpScript, which the studio explains is a "terse but powerful scripting language that gives you more control over how the player and your game interact." According to the developer notes, PulpScript comes with a number of in-built events that players can use to flesh out their games as well as simple variables and a range of other customizable options.
When Panic initially announced the Playdate last year, the crank-handled 1-bit handheld sold out its 20,000 launch day pre-order units within 20 minutes of going on sale. Following the initial uptake, Panic later announced that the device was being delayed from late 2021 to early 2022, though no exact release date has since been confirmed.
Upon launch, the Playdate's first season will bring with it a number of games to the miniature console - two a week for 12 weeks to be exact. That being said, the early addition of the studio's Pulp game editor should mean that players will have plenty of time to make and prepare a number of further games to play upon the handheld's release.
For more from the Playdate, make sure to check out our very own hands-on preview with Panic's cute device.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
Continue reading...
The game editor, which is currently running as a public beta and named Pulp, is described in its developer notes as a "friendly tool for making tiny but visually and narratively rich games for Playdate".
Simple to use, Pulp comes with both an Editor, where you can create games in the browser, and a Web Player for previewing your games while you tinker with them. Once completed, players are then able to export their games from the game editor as a .pdx file, which can then be loaded onto the Playdate itself.
According to Panic, Pulp comes with two different options for creating their games. "The easiest is using the default, simple behaviors of Sprites, Items, and Exits," states the editor's developer documentation.
"For example: when a player starts your game, it will say (print onscreen) the name of the game. When the player bumps into a Sprite or walks over an Item it can say something. Exits can connect one room to another or say a parting message before ending the game."
For more adventurous and confident Playdate developers, Panic has added PulpScript, which the studio explains is a "terse but powerful scripting language that gives you more control over how the player and your game interact." According to the developer notes, PulpScript comes with a number of in-built events that players can use to flesh out their games as well as simple variables and a range of other customizable options.
When Panic initially announced the Playdate last year, the crank-handled 1-bit handheld sold out its 20,000 launch day pre-order units within 20 minutes of going on sale. Following the initial uptake, Panic later announced that the device was being delayed from late 2021 to early 2022, though no exact release date has since been confirmed.
Upon launch, the Playdate's first season will bring with it a number of games to the miniature console - two a week for 12 weeks to be exact. That being said, the early addition of the studio's Pulp game editor should mean that players will have plenty of time to make and prepare a number of further games to play upon the handheld's release.
For more from the Playdate, make sure to check out our very own hands-on preview with Panic's cute device.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
Continue reading...