LÖVE

The Commodore VIC-20 is a fascinating computer from the 80's! Graphically, it is extremely limited compared to what we are capable of today, or even what we come to expect of 8-bit machines and consoles from the last century.

Let me go through the basic graphical limitations that this library enforces for accuracy:

• 22 by 23 map of tiles sized 8 by 8 pixels!
• TWO colors per tile, one of which is shared by every tile! (the 'background' color)
• Only eight available colors for each whole tile; eight additional colors are usable only for the background color!

If you stick to using only the functions from this library for graphics, you should end up with graphics accurate to the VIC-20. However, this library does include a few built-in functions to make more *routine* game programming easier:

• Sprite drawing within the graphical limitations
• ASCII-to-tile conversion for easy screen text printing
• Convenient tile placement functions

You can download the library alone here:
https://github.com/pyceanx/love2d-vic20

It shouldn't be too hard to learn, since there are only a handful of functions... but to show it off, here's a demo you can download:
https://github.com/pyceanx/love2d-vic20-bunnydemo

Click this screenshot for a video of the demo!


I should clarify that this is a not as much an "emulator" for the VIC-20 as you might think. There's little if any at all "low level" operation going on; it is more of a practical recreation of the computer's aesthetic. It is missing features which a real emulator might capture, such as the VIC's "multicolor" character option, among many others... but I would like to add more at some point!

Thanks for reading! ^-^