8-bitBot

I started writing a small coding game for the boys and girls day at my workplace, but then I thought I could extend it so it becomes a full game...

Work history:

• 2025-07-15: Started development
• 2025-07-22: First online version
• 2025-07-24: Version deployed for students to play (deadline)
• 2025-07-25: Updated UI graphics with animations and 2x improved texture resolution (from 128x128 to 256x256!). Also adding font (Blue Highway, from Typodermic)
• 2025-07-27: Program lanes now vertical and showing multiple programs at once on the left side. Only instruction slots are locked that have been already played back.
• 2025-07-28: Adding a fewsounds
• 2025-07-30: Adding music, a credits screen and a logo. Atlas texture is now 512x512. HUGE!
• 2025-07-31: Fixing a few bugs I introduced yesterday. Working on intro screen.
• 2025-08-04: Much rework behind the scenes:
  • Game is now running on desktop too (for development)
  • Reworked all instructions - the old saves are not compatible anymore; SORRY!
  • Register: certain operations can now utilize a single register value...
  • Conditional goto: if the register is not 0, jump to the instruction
  • Increment register: increases the value of the register by 1
  • Decrement register: decreases the value of the register by 1
  • Read sensor: Detect if forward path is blocked and write 1 to the register if it is
  • Load register: write a value into the register
  • New levels: 12 and 13 to test the new instructions
  • Plain goto instruction as well
• 2025-08-07: Adding a sandbox level. Not very functional, but already a bit useful. Up to 3 bots can be spawned in sandbox mode.
• 2025-08-09:
  • Adding boxes and making conveyors work. Also placeable in sandbox mode
• 2025-08-30:
  • Adding box consumers and producers. Also placeable and configurable in sandbox mode
• 2025-09-17:
  • Sandbox editor is quite feature complete
  • Improved shading; using now a simple SSAO and outline shading system
  • Sharing sandbox levels via URLs
  • Production and consuming bugfixes
  • Registered a Steam page; need to set it up