LogInPanic's SDK is now available for free for Mac, Windows, and Linux.
Developer Panic announced that its Playdate Software Development Kit (SDK) has been made public. The SDK is now available for free for Mac, Windows, and Linux and provides two languages: Lua, for a higher-level scripting language experience, and C, for better performance.
The full Playdate SDK includes:
- font handling;
- drawing;
- animation;
- sprites;
- tilemaps;
- collision detection;
- A* pathfinding;
- audio synthesis;
- crank handling.
The developer points out that the key feature of the kit is its Playdate Simulator which allows developers to preview their projects without needing Playdate hardware. The simulator includes the crank mechanics along with offering the developers the possibility to log errors and check memory usage.
Panic has also published the new Playdate Design Guidelines, providing the developers with information based on the experience that the team has amassed over the years. You can find the document here. The developers also noted that the guidelines will be replenished over the years.
The SDK has been made public shortly after the beta release of Pulp, a free-of-charge game-making tool intended to facilitate creating Playdate projects "with a few clicks".
As for Playdate handheld, the company should start shipping the first units later this year. All the customers will get the first season's games for free getting two games every week for 12 weeks in a row.
You can download the SDK here. Also, don't forget to join our new Reddit page, our new Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we are sharing breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.