| Picotron | |
| Logo Alt: | Pixel art: icon and the text "Picotron" in white on black. |
| Screenshot Alt: | Picotron desktop |
| Collapsible: | true |
| Developer: | Lexaloffle Games |
| Released: | (WIP) (Alpha) |
| Ver Layout: | simple |
| Latest Release Version: | 0.1 |
| Operating System: | Web, Windows, Mac OS, Linux |
| Platform: | PC, Raspberry Pi, HTML5 |
| Language: | English, Japanese |
| Genre: | Virtual machine, game engine |
| License: | Proprietary |
Picotron is a virtual machine and desktop environment created by Lexaloffle Games. Its a fantasy workstation that is aimed at making retro games and mimics the specifications of 16-bit computers of late 1980s.[1] Its said to be a successor to PICO-8 and Voxatron.[2] [3] [4] Alpha release of Picotron became available on March 14 (Pi Day), 2024.[5]
It has a virtual toy operating system and built in tools that allow software development, game development and customization of the system itself. It runs on top of Windows, Mac OS, and Linux, with support for Raspberry Pi and export to stand-alone binaries or Web apps planned. Similarly to PICO-8, programs made with Picotron can be shared directly with other Picotron users in a special 256k png cartridge format.[6]
Picotron has an embedded Lua editor compatible with both PICO-8 and Lua 5.4 syntax. It supports 480x270 or 240x135 screen modes with default 32 system colors and 64 definable colors in total. For audio, it has 64-node synth and a 8-channel tracker.[7]
All of the software consisting Picotron are written in Lua and are editable from inside the machine itself. System tools including the file browser, code editor and the terminal are implemented in userland, compiled just-in-time therefore changes in source code get into effect immediately. Custom tools can be created from scratch that run in fullscreen workspaces alongside the bundled editors. These additions and the subsequent shift in focus of the machine give Picotron the title of 'Workstation' rather than 'Console'.[8] [9]
Development of Picotron started as early as 2017 with Lexaloffle working on an sfx editor reportedly for Voxatron.[10]