PetitCom 3 / SmileBASIC

[trap15]

SmileBoom finally released PetitCom 3 (Nintendo 3DS) in North America last week as SmileBASIC, for 10 USD. For the uninitiated, PetitCom is a series of BASIC interpreters for the DS series (PetitCom mkII was for DSi, also released in North America), with quite a nice built in function set for making games. There is a WiiU version planned for release next year.

I've got a bunch of tips and tricks up my sleeve that I'll share up on here that I think could be useful for those just starting, but I've found it pretty easy to pick up and start making something with. It comes with TONS of pre-made assets, including a bunch of stuff for shooters. Feel free to ask stuff, I think this is a very nice product for a lot of starting (and experienced!) shooter developers.

They're running a competition over the next 3 months called "SmileBASIC Ogiri" that I'd recommend joining in. I've already started working on an entry.

This also has sharing functionality, requiring you to give an 8-character code to download a program. So unfortunately nothing built-in for finding stuff, but people on Twitter share their applications a lot under the hash-tag #petitcom, and I believe there are probably sites for submitting it. Of course, you can just post your codes here. But remember that to submit to the Ogiri you can't share your game's code!

[GSK]

As with the DSiWare version, I fully expect to have to wait another year before SmileBASIC is available in my region, so I can't do much but watch and wait, but I've already seen a few neat shooting games:

Shooting Life 2014 (newest build 2015/03: QDKEXXK3 )
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm25136156

Strawberry Storm Striker (Time Pilot-style multidirectional shooter with stylus or c-stick aiming: EB2XEEKV)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=249b56SP494
bonus instruction sheet! https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CRnF88CUEAEEok-.jpg

SOLID GUNNER (no video but this was originally a commercial release by Smileboom in collaboration with doujin circle 8bits fanatics: JD2EE2QV)

[Squire Grooktook]

I was going to respond in the youtube comments where I first asked, but I forgot, so might as well do it here lol.

Sounds great. One question though: are there options for sharing the games you've created with others?

[GSK]

You can upload your games to an in-app server and let other people download them by sharing a public key (a la the alphanumeric codes in my previous post) but there's no searchable database or other easy way to find other peoples' work, so you have to keep an eye on Miiverse, fan wikis, Twitter, etc if you want a regular stream of new games/programs to try.

There's a fan-made program called PetitModem that lets you stream data from PC via the audio jack but that's limited to images and other files; the games themselves are encrypted.

[BPzeBanshee]

No sign of this in Australia yet but their twitter feed sounds promising: https://twitter.com/smilebasic_com/stat ... 9451188224

The guy behind Solid State Survivor made a few games using this IIRC - it seems really cool as a development tool and being able to make use of the 3DS for stuff like this.

[KennyMan666]

Yessss, about damn time.