Status Line v1.2 Released


Ever closer to z4 game support

This update repairs a lot of things necessary to bring z4 game support to Status Line. For the initial versions, I cut a few corners here and there as part of my general exploration of, "Will this project even be feasible?" Now, to continue building the functionality of Status Line I had to implement a number of complex functions which were optional/unused in z3 games, but are mandatory for z4/5 games.

v1.2 Changelog

Future-proofing

  • Split-screen function implemented. This is a requirement for z4/5 games; but can be enjoyed in z3 Seastalker, shown.
  • 30% lower Pico-8 RAM usage (need to use memory efficiently with larger v4/5 games)
  • Better implementation of z-machine RAM (to handle 256K game imports)
  • Implemented low/high tone beep "sound effects"
  • (for anyone looking at the code, some v4/5 ops are implemented, waiting for their day to shine)

Bug fixes

  • A true, full screen of text (see the difference here in The Witness)
    Previously, I relied on Pico-8 default screen scrolling but always "lost" one line of output at the bottom of the screen. The new screen handling routines, needed for split-screen, regain this lost line.
       
  • Numeral-only input now works; ex. Lurking Horror "login" at start of game
  • Faster feedback to player input

Coming headaches

Adding z4 support means supporting Trinity and A Mind Forever Voyaging, both of which assume a 40-character wide screen. Some things in those games simply will not look right on a Pico-8's 32-character screen; there's no getting around that issue. However, those items tend to be interstitial quotes and other flavour text, things that are not particularly essential to the gameplay proper. In general, the Pico-8 screen size presents a challenge to delivering a quality experience for more recent games. I'll just take it one step at a time.

Quicky update

I've achieved "first text to screen" in the z4 game Nord & Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It. Feels good to see visual confirmation I'm on the right track.


Files

Status Line v1.2, for Windows 962 kB
Feb 12, 2022
Status Line v1.2, for macOS 3 MB
Feb 12, 2022
Status Line v1.2, for Linux 720 kB
Feb 12, 2022
Status Line v1.2, for Raspberry PI (untested) 2 MB
Feb 12, 2022
Status Line v1.2, for Pico-8 42 kB
Feb 12, 2022
Status Line v1.2, Pico-8 source code 24 kB
Feb 12, 2022

Get Status Line

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