Playscl is a platform for creating and playing simple, editable games. Users can modify existing games or build their own from scratch using a visual, block-based scripting language. The focus is on accessibility and ease of use, encouraging experimentation and sharing within the community. The platform aims to empower users to not just play games, but to understand and modify the mechanics behind them, fostering creativity and learning through playful exploration.
The Hacker News post titled "Show HN: Editable Games" introduces Playscii, a platform offering a novel approach to game creation and modification. Playscii allows users to directly manipulate and alter the underlying code and assets of games within a browser-based environment, essentially turning gameplay into a live editing experience. This innovative system utilizes a simplified, text-based representation of game elements, reminiscent of ASCII art, where characters and symbols correspond to different in-game objects, tiles, and entities. By modifying these characters directly, players can instantly see the changes reflected in the game world, enabling real-time experimentation and customization. The platform promotes a highly accessible and iterative design process, empowering users to learn game development principles by actively tweaking existing games or building their own from the ground up. Playscii provides a library of pre-made games that serve as both playable experiences and modifiable templates. Users can explore these examples, dissect their mechanics, and then adapt or expand upon them to create their own unique variations. The integrated code editor facilitates further customization, allowing for manipulation of game logic and behavior beyond the visual representation. This dynamic interaction with the game's code and assets blurs the line between player and developer, fostering a deeper understanding of how games are constructed and encouraging creative expression through direct manipulation of the game world. Playscii presents itself as a powerful tool for both learning and creating, offering a user-friendly entry point into the world of game development while simultaneously providing a platform for experienced users to experiment with new ideas and rapidly prototype game concepts.
Summary of Comments ( 0 )
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43321688
HN commenters were generally positive about the "editable games" concept presented. Several praised the simplicity and educational potential, suggesting it could be a great tool for teaching programming concepts or creating quick prototypes. Some expressed interest in seeing more complex examples and features like multiplayer functionality. A few commenters drew parallels to existing platforms like Bitsy and Pico-8, highlighting the niche this project fills for accessible game creation. Some questioned the long-term viability and whether the "edit while playing" aspect was truly novel, but the overall reception leaned towards appreciation for its ease of use and potential as a learning tool or creative outlet. A couple of users pointed out missing features such as undo/redo and improved UI elements.
The Hacker News post "Show HN: Editable Games" with the URL https://playscl.com/make sparked a modest discussion with several insightful comments.
One commenter expressed excitement about the potential for educational games and the possibility of building a "programmable space" within the game, allowing players to create and share their own game logic. They were particularly interested in the idea of combining this with a visual scripting language.
Another commenter pointed out the similarity to the game "Kodu," developed by Microsoft Research, which offered a visual programming environment for creating games on the Xbox 360. They praised Kodu's intuitive interface and suggested that the project highlighted in the HN post could benefit from a similar approach.
Further discussion revolved around the challenges of discoverability for user-created content. One commenter emphasized the importance of making it easy for players to find and play games created by others. They suggested implementing a system for sharing and browsing user-generated content, perhaps incorporating features like tagging, searching, and curated lists.
A later comment questioned the closed-source nature of the platform and proposed that open-sourcing the project could foster a larger community and accelerate development. This sparked a brief discussion about the trade-offs between open and closed-source models.
Other comments touched on technical aspects, including the choice of JavaScript for the game engine and the potential for performance issues. One user inquired about the specific JavaScript libraries used and expressed concern about the scalability of the approach.
Overall, the comments expressed a mixture of enthusiasm for the project's potential and pragmatic concerns about its implementation and long-term viability. The discussion highlighted the importance of user-generated content discoverability, the potential benefits of open-sourcing, and the technical challenges of building a robust and scalable game creation platform.