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.
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.
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.
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.
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.