I have been trying to learn coding of this day on pico8. I thought it would help as I was used to coding back as a kid on systems like c64, amiga500, atari, zk. I have got to a point where I have a jumping character and every time I try and code in my enemies and getting my character to shoot I get errors. I have asked for help on many forums but no luck as it seems like it is people who know more of what they are doing but can't teach telling me what to do.

I am wondering if this is the right choice for me or is there more better ones with tutorials etc. I have started a text adventure tutorial engine called adventuron and the person that made it is a lot of help over on Twitter. I understand more of the coding that is the IF BUTTON ( X) PRESSED type coding which pico8 seemed to have but then surely there is either people that can help more or a better programme to use. Please help. Thank you

cola1984 said:
I have got to a point where I have a jumping character and every time I try and code in my enemies and getting my character to shoot I get errors.

Post your code in question and the error message. Describe your goal and problem. Maybe people can help.

In your post title make clear the language is lua or add a tag. Many people use this, but only few are aware what pico is and that it uses lua for programming. Maybe using a lua specific forum makes also sense (or pico, if that exists).

I assume you can see the code from other pico games that you download? Try to learn from this as well.

@undefined thank you Joe. I have copied some code from other games that have similar to what I'm trying to achieve but on another forum I was told that this was some one else's hard work and shouldn't be doing it. So although I have it I felt like I was doing something wrong.

Yes there are pico8 forums and they are helpful but they are all very advanced and I get a little confused on terminology they use

cola1984 said:
So although I have it I felt like I was doing something wrong.

Ahm… no. If i create a Pico game, i am aware the code is included. Pico is also too small to contain rocket science or secrets that require protection. It is also for hobby and fun not for money at all AFAIK.
You can also check for license or copyright remarks in the code. I guess mostly there are none at all.

And secondly it is common practice to learn from others code. This is not stealing. It's perfectly fine to look how others solved a similar problem, and it's also fine to copy some sections of code from somebody else. Just make sure you understand how it works, and after that the other developer is more likely glad to have helped than angry.

But that's just my thoughts, ignoring legal issues (which i do not expect to exist for most). But i don't know for sure, and i don't know pico community either.

Yes there are pico8 forums and they are helpful but they are all very advanced and I get a little confused on terminology they use

Probably you would have the same issue with alternatives as well, just much worse. There are many free game engines out, but nothing will be as simple as Pico. I think it's a good start, and you can focus on the important things.

Using code from others is all about being polite. Don't publish code from others without saying you didn't write it. Code written by others is not yours. Instead, point to the original source. In a few months, when you wrote that awesome nice coding trick, and you post about it in a forum, what do you prefer? An other person posts your code and claims he wrote it, or he writes “I got this trick from cola1984, you can find it <there>.”

That said, copying code may seem a fast way to get somewhere, but for learning purposes it's useless unless you learn how copy/paste works. So instead of copying, read the code, and understand how it works. Then write your own code!

It's going to be much less fast, but you get a much much very much deeper understanding of coding and solving problems. If you closely follow ideas from someone else, state that you use the same approach, with a reference where you found it. (If you invented some code it's yours. If you borrow or (mostly) copy code, give credit to the original author, be polite.)

Do note that legally, if someone publishes anything on the Internet, it does not mean you can copy and use it. It is still property of the original owner. There should be a license along with it that says you have the right to make a copy and use it. Without license, you either have to ask the original owner for permission, or it's hands off, you cannot use it.

@undefined pico8 what I have seen is a sharing one so if someone makes a code for it you can share to as its supposed to be a community support one. As stated I just don't get some of the terminology but I'm getting there. Alot of it is shared coding on the main pico8 forum it's just not many games are made same as what I'm trying to do