Hello World

Let's build the simplest possible PIGO8 game: a screen that displays "Hello, World!"

The Complete Game

Create main.go:

package main

import p8 "github.com/drpaneas/pigo8"

type game struct{}

func (g *game) Init()   {}
func (g *game) Update() {}

func (g *game) Draw() {
    p8.Cls(1)                          // Clear screen with dark blue
    p8.Print("hello, world!", 40, 60)  // Draw text at (40, 60)
}

func main() {
    p8.InsertGame(&game{})
    p8.Play()
}

Run it:

go run .

What's Happening?

The Game Struct

type game struct{}

Your game state lives in a struct. For now it's empty, but you'll add player position, score, and other state here.

The Cartridge Interface

PIGO8 expects your game to implement three methods:

func (g *game) Init()   {}  // Called once at startup
func (g *game) Update() {}  // Called every frame for logic
func (g *game) Draw()   {}  // Called every frame for rendering

This is the game loop—the heartbeat of every game.

Inserting and Playing

p8.InsertGame(&game{})  // Register your game
p8.Play()               // Start the engine

Think of it like inserting a cartridge into a console.

Understanding the Draw Function

func (g *game) Draw() {
    p8.Cls(1)                          // Clear to color 1 (dark blue)
    p8.Print("hello, world!", 40, 60)  // White text by default
}

Cls(colorIndex) clears the screen. Color 1 is dark blue in the default palette.
Print(text, x, y) draws text. Coordinates start at (0, 0) in the top-left corner.

Next Steps

You now have a working PIGO8 game. In the next chapter, we'll explore the game loop in detail and add interactivity.

PIGO8 Documentation