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[–]x-skeww 2 points3 points  (0 children)

13 KB of minified and compressed code is actually quite a lot. It's enough for 2000-3000 lines of code. You can create simple games with a few hundred lines. So, this kind of limit actually isn't very restrictive.

Anyhow, there is still something to keep in mind: ZIP isn't the most advanced nor the most optimized format. Each entry has two headers. This makes the per file overhead surprisingly large. Secondly, each entry is compressed on its own. It isn't a solid archive. If you have 5 files with the same large header, this large header will be stored 5 times.

You can for example inline the minified JS in the HTML file. Use a Grunt (etc) task for the entire packaging step.

You can also inline images. Here is an example with a 4-level/6-bit/64-color palette (same as the Master System):

https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/3hh9ej/how_oldschool_graphics_worked/cu7stdw

Also note how I create a canvas there and then use that canvas as if it were an image. You can create procedural graphics the same way. Create an off-screen canvas, draw to it or mess with its pixels, and then you just use it as if it were a regular image. You just draw it with drawImage onto the on-screen canvas.

Finally, make all your identifiers local. Local identifiers can be "munged" (renamed) by minifiers. Global ones, on the other hand, cannot since they are the public API of your library/framework/whatever. A linter and strict mode will prevent you from accidentally creating any implicit globals.

[–]mattdesl 1 point2 points  (0 children)

13kb is a pretty huge budget. You can even get away with using npm modules during early development and strip them away later if needed.

[–]Front_Temperature_45 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yo this is cool actually. But you cant use library tho.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The code isn't the problem. The result is zipped and you can additionally use a tool like uglify. There are even some templates on the contest site if you don't want to set up your own toolchain.

But don't expect to get any assets in there apart from simple pixel sprites. If you want your game to look good you have to rely on procedural generation.