README.md

pi

The retro game development engine for Go, inspired by Pico-8 and powered by Ebitengine.

FAQ

Is this a new fantasy console?

No, it's not. It's rather a game development library with dev-tools which make it simple (and fun!) to write retro games in Go.

What is a retro game?

It's a game that resembles old 8-bit/16-bit games. This usually means:

• (extremely) Low resolution (like 128x128 pixels)
• Limited number of colors (like 16)
• Very small number of assets (like 256 sprites, map having up to 8K tiles)
• Small number lines of code (thousands rather than millions)
• Sound effects and music made using predefined synth instruments and effects

What similarities does Pi have with Pico-8?

• Most concepts are similar: game loop, drawing sprites and shapes, printing text, clipping, camera, palette swapping, handling user input. Some functions have even same names.
• Screen resolution is small, and the number of colors is limited. Although in Pi you can change the resolution and palette.
• You have one small sprite sheet.

Why would I use it?

Because it's the easiest way to write a game in Go. IMHO ;)

Is Pi ready to use?

Pi is under development. Only limited functionality is provided. API is not stable. See ROADMAP for details.

How to get started?

1. Install dependencies
   • Go 1.20+
   • If not on Windows, please install additional dependencies for Linux or macOS.
2. Try examples from examples directory.
3. Create a new game using provided Github template.
4. Read the documentation.

How to edit PNG files like sprite-sheet.png and custom-font.png?

• Use a pixel-art editor which supports indexed color mode, such as Aseprite or LibreSprite.
• Palette for the game is stored inside sprite-sheet.png.

Attributions

• system font used by Pi is the original Pico-8 font created by Zep - CC-0 license
• default palette is the original Pico-8 palette created by Zep - CC-0 license