Post by xXCJBearXx Gaming2 in LowRes NX comments

Viewing post in LowRes NX comments

I love LowRes NX so much, I have some suggestions/feedback about LowRes NX, and to make it available to other platforms:

1.) LowRes NX should be available for Android and Linux. Users who own a Linux PC and/or an Android phone/tablet should be able to create a game or animation on LowRes NX, considering the fact that I have never seen this app on the Google Play Store or Linux Marketplace, if you're a Linux user. (NOTE: I'm a Windows user, but I want Linux users to know that I support users of ANY Operating System for any computer, whether it's a Desktop or a laptop.)

2.) LowRes NX should have a built-in programming environment for macOS, Windows, Linux, and Android. Users, like myself, always use external programs to make games and animations for LowRes NX (i.e. Notepad/Text Editor (Windows/macOS), Notepad++, VS Code, Sublime Text, etc.) but unlike people who use external programs, I want to program games and animations in the app, instead of using a text editor to make a program.

3.) LowRes NX has a programming environment that is similar to BASIC (Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code). I programming with BASIC, but LowRes NX needs an additional programming language: Assembly (8088, 6502, x86, etc.), for three reasons:

Assembly code runs faster than any BASIC programming language, and comparing Assembly with BASIC, it runs two or three times faster.
Retro computer enthusiasts would want to make programs in assembly, considering that some game devs know or don't know how to program in Assembly, and
LowRes NX users, who use BASIC to make programs, can learn assembly code through various types of media, including, but not limited to:
1. Books
2. Apps
3. Online tutorials, and
4. Digital archival sites (i.e. Internet Archive)

These are my suggestions for LowRes NX. I hope you can put it to good use, Inutilis Software.

One last thing: I like how well built LowRes NX is. The programs are good, games are amazing, and I love how I can make things in BASIC. Keep it up!

Inutilis Software1 year ago

I'm happy that you like it :)

1.) I wrote about Android here: https://lowresnx.inutilis.com/topic.php?id=476. For Linux you can compile it from the source code.

2.) To fit a nice source code editor in 160x128 pixels is not easy. Also the default font is for technical reasons 8x8, so there is not much space on screen for text (if I use the standard gfx system). To create a good editor is also quite a lot of work.

3.) I thought about it! Especially because you can do almost everything using PEEK and POKE, it would be a good fit for Assembly. But here are my reasons against it:

- It would NOT be faster than BASIC, because LowRes NX has a virtual limit of CPU cycles and the BASIC commands are already counted without any interpretation overhead. So BASIC in LowRes NX is as fast as Assembly would be.

- It would require a lot of new documentation. I would probably create a custom, simplified Assembly, to be consistent with the rest of the system. But then I would need to write documentation.

- I don't think we would get new users because of Assembly. Maybe a few, but it's probably not worth the effort.

And finally: I stopped developing new features for LowRes NX, I will just maintain it. Here are some more details about it: https://lowresnx.inutilis.com/topic.php?id=1782

Anyway, I'm always happy to hear that people still enjoy it :)

itch.io

Viewing post in LowRes NX comments