The PICO-8 is much more of a game than an actual development platform. Asking if Unity could learn anything from it is a bit like asking if Unity could learn anything from Computer Craft (adds scriptable blocks to Minecraft).
It isn’t like limitations are absent from Unity. You’re constantly having to work within and around the limitations of the hardware and software to achieve your vision. Getting more resources to work with is great but the audience likewise expects more with each passing hardware generation.
It looks like a ZX Spectrum but with a mouse control. Things were simpler in those days. But the game industry was not a multibillion dollar industry then because no-one would pay $50 for Manic Miner.
You can make money from games because its hard not because its easy!
ZX-spectrum was much more limited. 256x192 pixels, with 16 hardcoded predefined colors (basically, 8 colors (black, red, green, blue, yellow, cyan,magenta, white) in normal and “bright” version, which could also “flash”) BUT you could only use two different colors per 8x8 pixel screen square and there were no sound channels. If you wanted to beep, you had to beep using cpu busy-waiting.
Could it be more “fun” to use than Unity? Yes, it probably could be. In many cases, it very well may be. But it will always be inherently more limited than Unity, for better and worse.
Tight limitations can lead to some really creative solutions from developers. Working with a system like PICO-8, and it’s very limited scope, could be a valuable exercise for earlier developers. As a learning tool and a fun tool for cooking up quick games, I think PICO-8 is great.
For larger projects and more long-term development, I would stick with Unity. Unity might not be quite as much fun as PICO-8 to tool around with, but it is also quite robust. And a capable developer can find plenty of satisfaction with Unity.
I’ve contemplated developing on PICO-8 for a quick minute, to be a less serious hobby from my more serious hobby (Unity), but the more I looked into it, the more I was saying to myself, “Why?” The breaker for me was the PocketCHIP* hardware that’s supposed to make the entire dev/play experience full circle, but the more I read into the PocketCHIP, the more I found out that the hardware isn’t as up to quality as you would expect for a handheld. Basically, the whole experience for me personally would be 70+ dollars out of my pocket, plus whatever time I’d throw into it, wasted. I’d much rather continue making Unity projects, since it covers a lot of my needs and wants nicely; professionally, personally, and potentially monetarily.
I know the PocketCHIP isn’t required to dev for PICO-8, but it’s one my own requirements. If a new higher quality handheld supported PICO-8, say with a sort of Blackberry interface, then I could reconsider.
But Unity is relatively simple to use if you don’t get into complex stuff. I don’t think Unity needs a framework to simplify it, not if you already know how to do the things you want to do at least.
Maybe a Voxel engine would be cool.
Though I find the idea of a simple standalone retro game maker appealing. Reminds me of the time I didn’t know how to code, The Games Factory demo had expired, and I was crazy for finding another game engine somewhere.
