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PQ93

a fantasy console for making small games · By transmutrix

Feature requests: Ctrl + R, editor position, boilerplate, error message

A topic by Juno Nguyen created Jun 20, 2020 Views: 148
Viewing posts 1 to 1
(+1)

Hey, I briefly went through the console, and I think it could have a few quality of life improvements:

  • I would love to have the hotkey Ctrl + R for automatic reload changes and run the game again. I'm aware that `run` is the intended way, but Ctrl + R will significantly improve workflow, especially for folks who use an external editor.
  • Regarding the editor position, I think it would make more sense that the sprite editor comes before audio editors. I might misunderstand your intention if PQ93 is meant to be an audio-focused tool, but I reckon most people would visit the sprite editor more.
  • The console now reboots to blank code. I should also think the console should start by default with some boilerplate code, that provides an overview of the API, something along the line of:
export p = {
  x: 0
  y: 0
}
export _init = ->
  p.x, p.y = 64, 64
export _update = ->
  if btn "l" then p.x -= 1
  if btn "r" then p.x += 1
  if btn "u" then p.y -= 1
  if btn "d" then p.y += 1
export _draw = ->
  cls!
  txt 32, 16, "Welcome to PQ93", 3
  circf p.x, p.y, 4, 12
  • I thought I was crazy for while and failing to get the game running and not knowing while, but it took me quite a bit to have realised that had been making syntax errors, and the console said absolutely nothing. Wouldn't have error messages been helpful, if not essential in debugging and getting something to run?

I also think the API among other details could have used improvements every now and then, but these are what I have on my mind at the moment.