Learn to Code in Lua for Playdate Game Dev! Part 1 

When the thumbnail said this was for "Complete" Beginners you weren't kidding. For which I'm very thankful! You explained a bunch of things that I was worried and/or confused about and even helped me get more confidence in trying to code again! Your explanations and accompanying visuals were simple enough to help me grasp things I never understood that a lot of other tutorials targeted towards beginners completely overlook. For example, when you were talking about reassigning the values for variables, you explained why 20 would show up instead of 1 and why. Whenever I tried to code, I would always get confused as to where and why I should place certain variables in the code (For example: when, where, and why I should place code for controls or to show a sprite/animation.) You explaining that the code is run line-by-line (helpful arrow included!) was just what I needed to really Get It. As someone who's watched what feels like hundred of videos (or at least hundreds of HOURS) in a bunch of different coding languages marked as "For Complete Beginners", it's this one that's really helped me the most. Being told TO do something isn't as effective when you aren't told WHY to do it. Especially with something as seemingly finicky as coding at all, let alone a video game.

Dude I watch all of your videos! I'm currently studying Computer Engineering in Spain and I think I will do a playdate game as my Final Degree Project because of you! Keep going man! Your minecraft game was FIRE!!!

i'm a 39 year old guy who never programmed a damn thing in his life, but i've always been an avid gamer. the playdate first piqued my interest just as another way to game, but videos like this make me seriously consider trying to make a game. good stuff!

Your videos are so wonderful for aspiring programmers like me who went to school for something non-computer related but still want to experience the joy of making simple and fun games! Thank you so much for your hard work.

I haven't written lua in a decade and your videos have been a great help diving into the playdate SDK, which is incredibly easy to use! I honestly recommend this tool kit for entry level programmers.

Thank you @SquidGodDev for catering to all skill levels. This video is FIRE and your time you put into this is really appreciated.

Hey. I just made my first playdate game over the weekend, and I just want to thank you for these tutorials and everything. I have quite a bit of experience programming, and even a little bit of experience with game programming, but nonetheless your videos have helped me figure out some of the bits that I had missing. Thanks for making these.

i was just looking into learning Lua yesterday, so this is great timing! was hoping you'd make a video like this.

I've been a developer for almost 15 years (Python and C++ mainly) and I have to say I learned new things today! I love your videos!

Great Video! I'm really excited to get a hold of the play date. I'm a Python guy and this was a great intro to Lua for me. Thanks.

Great intro video to the language. And it was awesome that you show how to try the language within the Playdate SDK. Keep going. I'll be following your new stuff in Discord and here.

I agree with the comments. Your videos are amazing and very helpful! Hope you continue the Playdate series!

Yes!!! I have been waiting for this! Thank you so much for the information you gave me. I started learning python and bought a book about Lua.

I just ordered my playdate today - so excited to try making some basic game experiences. I think this feels far less scary than other game development

I have never programmed before and this is a huge help on programming

My Sister's Boyfriend made Omaze which is a award winning game for the Playdate. He also used Lua. I'm planning to learn LUA. Thank you for this Tutorial

just got my playdate, and i'm excited to try to learn coding for the tenth time. i have a good feeling this time around

man, I am so ready to learn this.

OMG ! Excellent Idea, this will allow the undecided to buy the playdate if they want to develop on it, don't give up this idea, you hold a good thread. Sorry for my poor English ;)

Thank you for the simple guide! I followed your previous setup guide (2023 updated) too, and things are mostly working.. however "Run Build Task" will compile the game, bring up the Playdate Simulator, but not load the game. Every time I need to then manually choose File -> Open, navigate to my game's folder (the template project from github), and then run it. Would you please have a minute to comment on a possible solution? Thank you for all the great videos! EDIT: searching a bit more I found the solution, maybe useful for someone in the future (thanks to willco moderator, from the Playdate dev forums): "To work-around the issue until the fix is out, you can create this folder if it doesn't exist: On Windows: \Users\\AppData\Local\Playdate Simulator On Linux: /.Playdate Simulator"

Even more channel growth

good vid!

❤❤❤

Thanks

Is it possible to see a playdate setup for mac? Tutorial on how to install vscode, platedate sdk and run&build on simulator in vscode?

Hi, i try to setup playdate dev in Windows following the Dev manual, but i cant. can u make a tutorial to setup it? Thanks.

Do you prefer Lua over Pulpscript? Are there any differences between either one besides performance? Are there some types/genres of games you can make with either languages? Can you program entirely in C? How would visuals and graphics work in that case?

Normal people write "hello world" Chads type "Hi Mom"

Disappointed that Playdate uses Lua and not something like Rust, Javascript or Python but I will learn it anyway. I would love to see advanced courses soon.

your the Brackeys of the Playdate

Wait, why the hell does Lua use `~=` for not equal??? Most programming languages use `!=` for that. To me, `~=` says “approximately equal to”, like that squiggly equal sign you’d see in math class sometimes.

And whaddaya know, you've got videos for that. lol

Kind of got lost on the functions bit, def would need you to go a little more in depth on that one with a real example of something working in game.

nice introduction :) , one minor correction, the symbol you refer to as a pound '#' is actuall called hash, the pound sysmbol is £ .

i code in roblox lua, so this should be something unique

This reminds me a lot of Ren'Py.

wtf is thiiiiissss

This goes way too fast!