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Show HN: Robot Unlock – an open-ended programming game/zachlike
by adrianton3
Hello,
In 2010 I made an open-ended programming game based on Befunge and Brainf*k. I was young and didn't know what I was doing - coding it in AutoIT of all things and using borderless windows for sprites. Nevertheless, it was a full game and some people actually played it, sharing solutions with each other. I took it as a sign that the game had some potential - I appreciated this very much at the time.
It was zachlike at its core, except that it came out earlier than SpaceChem and the term hadn't been coined yet.
Years passed, I worked in the game industry, had some fun, learned a few things and eventually burned out. Meanwhile, Zachtronics kept making games and managed to define a genre, proving that there indeed was a market for such games. I'm very happy about that.
Now I want to have a shot at going indie and almost 15 years later I'm launching the sequel to my 2010 game. One of my playtesters has been at it for 26 hours so I know it can be a real nerd sniper. It's a game for the type of person who loves quirky languages and optimizing their programs under extreme constraints.
I have been hanging out on HN for a long time and thought some in this community might like the game. I want to keep doing this and I will as long as I can afford it.
Looking forward to your questions and feedback.
Looks fun. For OS, it just says "11" — does it run ok on Mac OS?
I clarified it on the steam page - thanks for bringing it up!
I tested it on Windows 11 and Linux (via proton). I'm afraid I can't say anything about Mac OS until I get my hands on apple hardware and I'm not familiar enough with their emulation layers to take a guess.
If it’s just electron, any reason it can’t be “native” Linux/macOS?
I picked electron with portability in mind; I anticipate some unknown unknowns (since I've never owned a mac for ex) but they should be solvable.
I have support for linux, controllers, steam deck, mac on my to-do list in that order - it's simply a matter of time (up-front, maintenance, testing) and money since macs do tend to cost quite a bit. I'm a linux user myself and I hope I'll port it properly sooner rather than later but meanwhile I also know it seems to just work with proton.
Might be useful to explain “zachlike” for those unfamiliar with the genre
As a fellow zachtronics fan I will check this out when I get off work.
What language and or engine did you end up using for this?
The game itself is written in JS and packaged up with electron. I used PIXI.js for all the rendering - it's great for 2D-anything really. On the server side, the evaluator is written in node and a bit of php.
I'm aware this tech stack is a bit divisive :) but I made sure it runs just fine at 120 fps on my non-gaming laptop.
Good for you for plowing ahead and “just getting it done” and launching!
This is the hacker spirit that hacker news was originally built on, and it’s joyous to see it still alive
p.s. the game looks great I have purchased a copy!
Thanks for the kind words. People's passion projects are the main reason I keep coming to HN - the spirit is alive and very healthy!
Hope you have fun!
haha I love the term zachlike
Looks cool. I would possibly play it if there were some way to kind of add your programming language of choice instead of generic symbols. While more universal its less educational. Sort of like Scratch programming language.
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Crafted by Rajat
Source Code