A downloadable tool for Windows

VectorBoy - a minimalist vectorial fantasy console

PROJECT CANCELED - PAGE FOR ARCHIVING PURPOSE ONLY

About

VectorBoy is a fantasy console that can be used to play your own games written in the LUA scripting language. Unlike other systems of its kind, it doesn't use pixels to display graphics. Instead, the screen displays straight lines to form graphics of all kinds.

All you need to start making games for VectorBoy is a text editor. You just write a compatible script in your favorite ascii text editor, feed it to VectorBoy, and it will launch automatically.

If you prefer to stick to playing, you can find the Asteroids clone vectoroids.lua in the games folder. Just open it in VectorBoy and the game will start automatically. You can also open the file in a text editor and tinker with it if you wish!

It's free!

This project was made mostly for fun, after having been introduced to Pico 8. The idea of a "fake" video game console you could program and share games for seemed so fun to me, I had to see if I could make one myself. I wanted it to stand out from the crowd, so instead of doing it the "classic" way with pixels, I made it vectorial. And knowing it's a very niche product, I decided to make it free so anyone could enjoy it without having to spend a single cent.

Please note that the project is currently on hold. I don't know when and if I'll come back to it. Consider this as nothing more than a novelty.

Layout of the interface

Layout of the interface

How to make a game for VectorBoy

VectorBoy is essentially a LUA interpreter with its own set of helper functions. If you're not familiar with the LUA language, I suggest you check out the LUA official website at https://www.lua.org/ first.

If you already know your way around LUA, you can check out the included help files to get you familiarized with the VectorBoy API.

Versions Log

version 1.0.1 - 2017/01/24

  • Fixed a bug that made the lua scripts crash when FPS dropped below 60.

version 1.0.0 - 2017/01/23

  • Initial build.

Download

Download
VectorBoy 1.0.1 for Windows 11 MB
Download
VectorBoy 1.0.1 Source (Unity 5.6 project files) 13 MB

Install instructions

Unzip the file and run vectorboy.exe. You can configure the resolution and controls in the window that will pop up. The default keys are Z, X and C for buttons 1, 2 and 3, and the arrow keys for the joystick.

Development log