And so it begins.

Haven't really touched coding or video game making in any appreciable way since the 90s or so, messing around in QBASIC or GWBASIC, writing little games out of pages in a magazine (remember those?) or programming special functions to help me with my algebra class on my TI-83 or -89.

While the interest started to bubble back up I first heard of PICO and thought that it might be a more or less natural progression into programing as a bit of a personal challenge. I'd heard of game jams while watching some youtube videos on AI, pixel art, and game development and it was a perfect storm of ideas and emotions so I wanted to jump right in.

The theme of this idle jam is Mutation. I think I'm going to take that at face value across the board. Did you ever wonder what an idle clicker game would look like on an Atari 2600 or an NES? ...nope?  Me neither - but that's what we're going to do.

My plan is to keep thing simple because I am one man, and not all that well versed. Keep things on one screen. Simple cursor movement and selection with the arrow keys and Z/X/C, as well as maybe some light animation. Putting notes together right now and working on a basic DNA sprite to get started with (told you I was taking it at face value). Going to start on programming the layout tomorrow.

Looking forward to this, learning a bit, flexing my muscles, and ultimately banging my head against the wall when I can't figure stuff out. :)