The quadplay✜ fantasy console by CasualEffects is now in public beta.
Create and play games on any laptop, desktop, tablet, or phone. Or, build your own programmable arcade machine from a Raspberry Pi, Tegra, or old computer. Here are some of the many supported quadplay platforms:
- Create games on Windows, macOS, Linux
- Play your games in any modern web browser on a laptop, desktop, tablet, phone, Raspberry Pi 4, or Jetson Nano
- 60 fps @ 384 x 224 pixels = 12:7 aspect ≈ 16:9.3
- 4096 sRGB (4:4:4) colors
- Four players with virtual controls for D-pad and eight buttons
- Supports Xbox, Playstation, SNES, Stadia, Switch, 8bitdo, touch screen, and other controllers
- Hundreds of built-in sprites, sounds, and fonts
- Program in PyxlScript, a friendly Python-like language
- Order-independent, 4-bit alpha transparency
- Native 2.5D graphics with z-order
- 9.4 MB of total sprite memory
- Up to 64 sprite and font sheets of up to 1024x1024
- Optional 384 x 224, 320 x 180, 192 x 112, 128 x 128, and 64 x 64 screen modes
- Free and open source
This beta version is fully functional and has already been used to ship jam games. You can use an external editor (like VSCode) or the browser-based development environment. To enable some features, you may have to edit a line of a text file in a separate editor (even Notepad) right now. Soon, all core features will be supported directly in the browser.
To get started, you'll need Windows, macOS, or Linux and the following freely-available software.
Required:
- This SDK, which includes the IDE and assets
- Python 3.8
- A modern web browser such as Chrome, Edge, Safari, or Firefox
- The manual
Optional:
- A code editor such as VS Code, Emacs, or VIM. Use Python mode or install our provided PyxlScript editor extensions
- A TMX map editor such as Tiled or TileKit
- A sprite and font pixel editor such as Piskel or GrafX2
- A SFX generator and audio editor such as Audacity
- An account on the forums
- Follow development online at @CasualEffects
See the manual for a getting started guide, the change log, road map, and beta notes.
The quadplay✜ runtime, compiler, and emulator are licensed as LGPL3.
You can create closed-source games with it and distribute your games however you want, including commercially.
If you modify the runtime library, compiler, or emulator, then you must redistribute those changes to those under the LGPL3.
Portions of the IDE are under different, less-restrictive open source licenses (BSD, MIT, and public domain).
Quadplay automatically adds assets and library licenses to your game's credits screen. You don't have to do any work to satisfy attribution clauses from open source liceses.
All sounds, sprites, and games distributed with quadplay✜ are Creative Commons licensed. The copyright and license on each of those is in a JSON file next to the asset.
© 2020 Morgan McGuire