PTM - Programmable Tile Machine

About

PTM (Programmable Tile Machine) is a "pseudo-8-bit fantasy computer" that you can program using a built-in programming language called PTML. The system aims to be similar in look-and-feel to some early 8-bit computer systems such as the MSX, ZX Spectrum and Atari 800. Also inspired by the modern game engines Bitsy and PICO-8.

PTML is an interpreted, imperative, semi-structured, loosely typed, low-level programming language, with only two data types: strings and integers (with support for dynamic arrays of those types). All you need for programming in it is a plain-text editor like Notepad. The syntax looks like some early dialects of BASIC and some common Assembly languages for 8-bit computers. Familiarity with any of those will probably make it easier to work with PTML, but the language itself is fairly straightforward (see examples).

Downloads

The latest released version is v0.2b.
You can download pre-built PTM releases on Itch.io, on this page: https://fernandoairescastello.itch.io/ptm

The latest development build for version v0.3b is available here.
You'll want to download the "PTM_v0.3b.zip" file which bundles everything.

Note: development builds can be very unstable since they are being actively worked on and change frequently, so use at your own risk!

Documentation

• PTML Command Reference v0.2b

Examples

The following are some examples of PTML programs. These examples target the lastest version of the machine:

Hello World!

PRINT "Hello World!"

Personalized Hello

LOCATE 1, 1
PRINT "Please, type your name:\n"
INPUT name, 20
LOCATE 1, 4
PRINTF "Hello, {%name}!"

Blinking Smiley

# Setup tileset
CHR 1, "0011110001111110110110111111111111011011111001110111111000111100"
CHR 2, "0011110001111110111111111111111111111111110110110110011000111100"

# Setup color palette
PAL 0, &h000080
PAL 1, &hffff00

# Calculate center position of default tilebuffer
BUF.COLS default, cols
BUF.ROWS default, rows
DIV center_x, cols, 2
DIV center_y, rows, 2

# Setup tile for smiley
TILE.NEW 1, 1
TILE.ADD 2, 1

# Put smiley at center of default tilebuffer
LOCATE center_x, center_y
PUT

Moving Sprites

# Setup tileset
CHR 1, "0011110001111110110110111111111111011011111001110111111000111100"
CHR 2, "0011110001111110111111111111111111111111110110110110011000111100"

# Setup color palette
PAL 0, &h000080
PAL 1, &hffff00
PAL 2, &hf0f0f0

# Create sprites
TILE.NEW 1, 1
TILE.ADD 2, 1
SPR.NEW "smiley"
SPR.POS "smiley", 170, 100
SPR.SHOW "smiley"

# Print instructions
COLOR 2
LOCATE 6, 1
PRINT "Press arrow keys to move sprite"

# Await input and move sprite
loop:
	IF.KEY "RIGHT"
		SPR.MOVE "smiley", 1, 0
	ENDIF
	IF.KEY "LEFT"
		SPR.MOVE "smiley", -1, 0
	ENDIF
	IF.KEY "DOWN"
		SPR.MOVE "smiley", 0, 1
	ENDIF
	IF.KEY "UP"
		SPR.MOVE "smiley", 0, -1
	ENDIF
	IF.KEY "ESC"
		EXIT
	ENDIF
	UPDATE
	GOTO loop

You can also check out a few example games in PTML: Invaders, Advanced Lawnmower Simulator and Pong.