Create Your Own Games On Switch With SmileBASIC 4, Available Next Week

Finally, I can make my program to rule the world! Muwahahaha!

Gonna use it to make a Metroidvania with procedurally generated rooms and a rogue-like vibe.

Nice, can't wait to create the same four levels from Donkey Kong so to test people's patience.

Looks interesting but also complicated at the same time. 😅
Hopefully physical release in the future.

Oh lord I hate BASIC. Give me Java or give me death!

Cool, I'm definitely going to have to check that one out.

Just curious - but if someone created something special with this, then who would own it?

Would the coding work, assets and concepts belong to the original game creator - could they take it elsewhere and sell it as an independent publishable game? I mean they are showing 3D Starfox like games can be developed with this - and the world does not have anywhere near enough of them yet.

Does anyone know?

@brunojenso I am also curious about this. I'm currently studying games development and have a few ideas for games. Last thing i would want is to make a demo in this and then no longer be the owner of that concept.

This actually seems like a pretty good piece of software the only thing that wouldn't be as flexible in it if I am reading it right is the limited audio options and no way to create your own music, maybe I have that wrong though.Having mouse and keyboard support is good too as using either a controller or touch screen will be cumbersome. Still waiting on the English version of RPG Maker that was supposed to be out last year but I have given up hope with that.

Hey, remember that Fuze review? Don't half-ass this game's review like that one was.

For the love of everything holy! Stop perpetuating that outdated "we don't have a lot of storage" so use short variable names that you have to learn before you can actually understand the code. I know LP_FLAG looks a lot cooler than LOOP_FLAG, but it saves sooo much time in debugging/updating 6+ months later when you've forgotten what it actually did. /endRantOfAModernSoftwareDeveloper

@DangerDan

public void myReplyToDangerDanThatDoesNotActuallyDoAnything() {}

Interested in this. Does anyone know how the USB controller thing would work? Can you just buy any old USB controller off the internet, plug it into the port(s) on the side of the dock and then, hey presto!... or is there a little more to it than that?

Aslong as no one makes any games with any Sony exclusive game related content 😂😂

@Lordplops I guess I would be interested if it was inspired by early Zelda games

@Lordplops it ~has~ to have twin-stick shm’up elements as well, we don’t have enough unique types of those games onnSwitch.

10 print "Hello Nintendo Switch!"
20 goto 10
run

they should’ve used something like python instead. at least that language is used in the real world and would help some develop actually marketable skillsets

@Sidon_ZoraPrince if you’re studying game development then pick up a real engine. modern engines can be used to create a demo real quick. unreal engine and lumberyard both have visual programming as well

@nessisonett i will never forget what oracle did / is still doing related to android and java. Java is dead to me.

Woohooo!!!
It's a wonderful language, capable and extremely fun to play around with. I've been making games every week since the Japanese release, and it's been a joy to make them.

The language is powerful, but also retro enough in it's methodology, so it tends to work well with my style of programming.

48 games and counting : https://agameaweek.com/?Blog=9140

I can't wait until everyone else can finally join in with the fun.

@tekknik Hahaha, I stopped using official JDKs years back for that reason. BASIC is good for what it is but it’s just not that useful for general use. Python isn’t that great for games though, it’s better for destroying my brain trying to implement neural networks!

Notes RE: "BASIC, eeeuw!"

1. If BASIC was the first language you used, be thankful that it was understandable enough that it helped you learn the wonderful skills that you've developed since.
2. If you haven't used BASIC since those days, you'll be surprised how capable it actually was. It wasn't the language that was the problem. It was that you hadn't learned all of your skills, yet. You can take your modern skills and still use BASIC.

Unlikely to allow a port of my MM2PTC project from years ago on it, considering the copyright stuff involved with sharing.

@tekknik of course, but I'm not going to have my computer everywhere i have my switch and i would like to download this to see what it is like. So if i was playing around with ideas during free time using this game I'd like to still own those ideas lol.

@Sidon_ZoraPrince sure, it’s absolutely perfect for that. i can’t answer the ownership question though, sorry. if you have an ipad/iphone there’s an app called pythonista you may wanna look at as well. you can write basic games on it in python and those you definitely own.

I may give it a download for old times sake.

@nessisonett there’s a few production games using python. i know eve online is/was using stackless python at one point. don’t use it for gfx code but there’s nothing wrong with scripting game logic in it. BASIC is cool but you’ll never see it in the real world these days unless you happen to be the unlucky soul porting a VB app. my point was more around industry adoption, of which BASIC has none. A kid writing toy games in python can directly translate those skills into a job both in and out of the gaming industry. BASIC not so much.

@Jayenkai They need to sell a Smile Basic player separate from the full programming tools. Then casual people could play the games others create for $5-$10. Not everyone will be wanting to program games.

@tekknik Let’s be honest, EVE Online’s basically an extremely complicated spreadsheet so Python makes sense!

@Jayenkai I played the DS one and wrote a basic Simon game. I found the English instructions to be limited. I hope the instructions are better with more programming examples. The USB keyboard will help a lot!

The idea is awesome. You get programming hooks to all of the Switches buttons and controllers. A lot cheaper than a dev kit, which are not easily purchased.

I tried to learn SmileBasic when Petit Computer was released on the 3DS* back in the day; I made some progress (I was able to get a sprite to walk in a field, and make a very basic top-down racer with tons of glitches and one track with no hit detection), but I eventually stopped. If you're interested in it but afraid you'll fail, I suggest you go for it. If you keep at it, there's no telling what you can do

*It was a DSiWare title, not a 3DS one

@Discostew Your Mega Man petite computer project was outstanding work! When I saw that smile basic was coming to the switch, I instantly thought of you and what you could come up with in this program. It's a shame that petite computer stuff likely wont transfer to this as you said

Wait, this one gets mouse support but strategy games don't? If it's possible then why does no one uses it?

This right here:
“USB keyboard and mouse can be used”

One of the reasons I used the 3DS version so much was because of the touch screen keyboard, etc. This is GREAT that they are enabling the keyboard and mouse. Won’t help me on the go but at home I’m golden!

Looks nice, but I do think Fuze is a better choice.
It's a western-developed program with the developers being active with rather good video tutorials and other stuff.

"Mom, can I have DREAMS on Nintendo Switch"
"No, we already have DREAMS at home"

DREAMS at home :

Never understood why you would want to do this on a handheld over a laptop but there is probably a market for it.

I had the 3ds version a few years back, it was great! The NL community was helpful, and created some incredible games (someone ported Megaman to the system). Can't wait to see what comes on the switch

I bought the Japanese version when that launched almost a year ago and got started on a small project. I'm a bit too busy with my current job at the moment but I'm hoping I'll be able to get back to SmileBASIC soon!

@Zenszulu You can create your own music with this! It uses MML but I also wouldn't be surprised if someone's already created a tool for easier music creation.

@tekknik Well to be fair, Petit Computer (The first version of this software) was my first foray into programming and now I'm developing a game in Unity for a living. While the language is somewhat outdated, you're still learning how to program and how to think like a programmer. Admittedly, I needed to "unlearn" a few things when I picked up C#, but I still think SmileBASIC is a very good language for people to begin learning how to program.

@JayJ For me programming on a handheld is a lot more relaxing than on my PC, mainly since my PC is where I work. I can just sit on the couch and chip away at a silly little program with the touch-screen keyboard (Which I'll add is probably the best on the Switch. Nintendo's default Switch keyboard is awful).

@RasandeRose I think the problem with FUZE is the lack of tools for creating your own graphics/sound. Not to mention, I'd rather use my time to learn a more general-use programming language like BASIC than a language specific to FUZE.

Super excited about this! I love programming with PICO-8 and this thing seems to be the next best thing after potential PICO-8 port to Switch. Should be cool to have access to Switch-specific features like touch screen, IR camera and (hopefully) HD Rumble.

If anything this is a great product for trying out other people’s games.

The last time I played a game written in BASIC it was the original Football Manager on Spectrum 48k. I remember if you pressed the BREAK key then you could view the program code. That was so long ago that the programmer Kevin Toms' beard now looks trendy again.

Weird. I thought this game came out a while ago.

Looking forward to finally giving this a go!

This looks neat but I feel like it's a bit over-reliant on having a large userbase to actually be worth getting. If nobody else is playing it than there will be no shared games to play and nobody to share your games with. Will definitely keep my eye on this one and see if it gains any traction.

@status-204 I got taught how to code using BASIC. It’s the sorta language you grow out of, and then immediately never want to go back to.

@BillyB god I remember that “trick” not with f.m another game, adventure, forget the title but you could “hack” it and mess around. Fun.

YES!!!! I can FINALLY retire my 3DS now!! ❤

But can you create your own music?

Give me C# or close, and I'll seriously consider doing something professional. Still is great for those learning and messing around.

Love to make a LOZ-LTTP style game...

@JayJ You can write programs for a PC, but this gives you access to use the Switch controls and screen in your code without buying a dev kit from Nintendo.

@status-204 That’s what they’re teaching in the universities these days! So loads of little coders who think they know everything will go out into the world with their supreme knowledge of Java and... probably end up working for a bank or something else extremely boring.

@mystman12 one of my first languages was QuickBASIC. it was definitely a good language to learn for someone who had no clue about computers but I had the same experience and had to unlearn quite a few things. I’m not saying BASIC dialects are bad first languages, I just feel that there are better. Python being a great candidate. After BASIC is from a time when there was no Python and it was the best solution for a simple programming language.

@nessisonett i don't follow. eve uses python for scripting all game elements. the base engine is written in a compiled language and that engine is scripted in python. Just like unity is written in C++ and the interface is (primarily C#). Another famous python game is Mount and Blade.

@ryancraddock, $25 is too high just to play the games that others make. To reach a wider audience, they should sell a SmileBasic Player for $5-$10 without the programming tools included.

@Jayenkai I did wonder if you'd seen this - will you be getting the pal version as well or is that not actually necessary?

@xanderten50 I think it's literally the same thing/download/gam-code/something. Or at the very least, the pal eShop knows I've already purchased it, and won't let me do anything more.

@KoopaTheGamer I hate to talk poorly about FUZE, but it's a real mess. For instance, I have to program my own MML player in it to provide my own custom music (which then eats into precious CPU cycles on an interpreter), but it can't even run for a minute without literally crashing the app. Their method for handling data juggling when assigning new data into existing variables doesn't seem to clear old data, and garbage collection doesn't seem to do its job. Like a memory leak with the app itself that I have no control over. And this was to make a feature in FUZE that is not only in SmileBasic by default, but has some major restrictions associated with it, like MML processing being restricted to the frame rate. Never had this problem with PTC way back in the day, and I doubt SmileBasic is any different.

@Tandy255
Considering that you can download literally hundreds of free, amazing games from the server, I'd say that this is a steal! Also, the free demo of SB4 lets you download server games every 8 hours.

@Andy_Witmyer
Yes. SmileBASIC uses Music Macro Language or MML. If it's too hard to understand in code, a number of applications are available on the server that generate the code to play a custom tune.

@Scrubz The demo will help. However, for people that are used to playing free games on their phones, many won’t pay full price for SB4 just for casual gaming.

@KoopaTheGamer

Fuze got built-in tools both for graphics and sound effects, and the language is basically simplified Python, which is a very common general-purpose language. Id say its more used today than basic

@RasandeRose I see, thanks for the clarification!

I actually got SmileBasic 4 when it released, and have been enjoying it quite a bit. Sure, it could use better tutorials and there's some translation issues, but overall very capable and flexible programming environment.

@mystman12

Hi! Do you think smilebasic 3ds still worth picking up? Or should I go ahead with the Switch version?

If you have a Switch I'd definitely recommend that version, as most of the community has moved on to it. However, the 3DS version still has plenty of programs you can find that are available for it. You can't really go wrong with either, but the Switch version is technically the best unless you'd like access to 3DS exclusive features like stereoscopic 3D or dual screens.

@Sidon_ZoraPrince Wow, this is old, but in case it is any use to you, SmileBASIC has rights to anything you upload on the server. If you don’t upload it, it’s none of their business, but if you do upload it, it can’t infringe on copyright, probably even if it’s your own copyright.

@tekknik I honestly prefer languages like Love2D (variation on Lua) and SmileBASIC to game engines, because they make a lot more sense to me. It’s much easier to know how a game works when you’re the one who sets up the main systems for it. Check out Love2D, it’s super flexible and not hard to pick up at all.