I’ve dabbled with various programming projects over the years. Building a tool to add MP3 chapters to podcast episodes, creating a website using Python, Advent of Code, and creating video games. The list goes on. Nearly all of them were left incomplete.1I’d say the MP3 tool is the only one that could be considered complete, but even then I’m pretty unhappy with it. In no way could it be considered elegant, or even particularly usable.
So, as I toy with the idea of yet another programming project, I’m faced with the reality that it is unlikely to succeed.
Panic, a company mostly focused on creating Mac software, has released a handheld gaming device called the Playdate. It’s a fun, clever item that has a charming amount of whimsy. Small, yellow, with a crank on the side? Neat. I don’t know what it means for it to be successful, but considering they do everything through a preorder—and current preorders won’t ship until 2023—it feels like they’re on the right track.
Because Panic’s history is in making “Shockingly Good Software”, the developer tools for the Playdate are absolutely wonderful. An SDK is available on all desktop platforms that includes a Lua API; an excellent console simulator; and beautiful documentation. In addition to all this, they have a Scratch-like web tool called Pulp if you don’t want to learn a programming language.
As you may have guessed, my programming project is making a game for the Playdate.
Let’s put the details aside.2My current plan is to make a version of my text adventure that can run on the console. I don’t know if I’ll use Lua, or Pulp, but it’ll be a good way to get started. What’s most pertinent to me is how taking on a project that I feel will meet almost certain failure squares with my Year of One.
Part of the spirit behind the Year of One is taking the time to intentionally do the activities I want. If I’m going to sit here and write this blog post, I deserve a small mental slap on the wrist if I go browse reddit in the middle.3This sentence may have been written after doing so. If I’m going to read, I’d like to be better about taking out my kindle so I don’t get distracted on my phone. And, if as long as I’m honest about the goals of a project, the fact that its result could be defined as a failure is irrelevant.
When I say programming on the Playdate is doomed to fail, I mean I’d be surprised if I made a complete game that I am particularly happy with. However, I do expect to learn more about programming as a discipline, and how different technologies interact with each other. I also want to have fun.
I’m nearing the end of some crunch time with curriculum work I do on the side, so time is opening up for additional projects that require more brain cycles. Using the Playdate toolkit is a fun way to use that time.
So, I will be spending some free time over the next month working through a game. I may build it using both Lua and Pulp. I’ll try to remember to report on my progress as time goes on. And, as I often do, I will happily report if I decide to give up once the adjacent goals have been achieved.
- 1I’d say the MP3 tool is the only one that could be considered complete, but even then I’m pretty unhappy with it. In no way could it be considered elegant, or even particularly usable.
- 2My current plan is to make a version of my text adventure that can run on the console. I don’t know if I’ll use Lua, or Pulp, but it’ll be a good way to get started.
- 3This sentence may have been written after doing so.