PTC 3D Wiki



Welcome to the PTC 3D Wiki
This is a wiki for PTC 3D and learning the BASIC coding language. Not only do we cover PTC 3D but also the previous title PTC for the DSi. Our staff is dedicated to our community to help users new and old learn PTC and ultimately bring a community together for free knowledge on how to program and breath life into a program. Please join us to help expand and teach PTC to users far and wide!

What is PTC?
PTC is a or Petit Computer is an app for the [|Nintendo 3DS] that brings to life the [|BASIC] language that the [|Nintendo Entertainment System] (NES) and [|Super Nintendo Entertainment System] (SNES) once used to make their games. Popular games from the 80's and early 90's such as [|Super Mario Bros. 1985] and [|Castlevania 1986] were developed by using the BASIC language. As some of you might know the BASIC lanuage had a few limitations and sometimes lagged the game when to many pojectiles were show on the screen. This is do to the BASIC's limited power which caused many glitches and even a few freezes to games do to a lot of complex coding within the BASIC's code. However do not let that deter you from using it. The main reason BASIC would glitch and cause many kids to blow into the cartridge until they got dizzy was do to the high maitenance that the BASIC language needed to perform. Today we use blue ray discs, or scratch resistant CD's that can skip over an event in the line of code and still continue. Imagine if you will two TVs, one has a VHS the other a Blueray player. After awhile the VHS tapes will get fuzzy and worn after so much use and damage at times left unplayable or causing the VHS to not work properly, where Blueray disks can skip a small scene or scenes that might be damaged but ultimately still play the video without stopping. This is the difference between today's engines and the old BASIC engine.

All that said don't let that discourage you from using it. Actually Petit Computer is more of an updated new version of BASIC that allows a bit more complex coding so that it avoids this common known crash. Not just that but the developers also added an amazing feature that allows users to scan QR codes printed from the PTC program and play games other users have created. Call it an Indie Game Bazaar where all you do is pay the fee for the app then shop until you drop!

PTC is a great way for new and old programmers to test and earn thier skills using the improved BASIC program to help create programs using your DS. Please fill free to add anything you feel needs to be edited or included to this section.

Creator of PTC
a man named Takaki Kobayashi. Born in 1967, Kobayashi joined DB Software in 1985 after graduating from high school. The company DB was stationed in Sapporo around 1985 when the 8-bit PC games were becoming popular and making companies like it a lot of money. These games were usually made on a floppy disk and most of the games they sold were educational simple games. Back in those days coding was new to them so many games made by PC game companies where made with simple, easy design to learn how to make them. Looking back now it feels like at that time it was the dawn of video games that are so far advanced now from just a mere 29 years ago.

After joining the company, Kobayashi on games called Woody Poko, Konyamo Asamade Powerful Mahjang, and Melloon. The company thrived on making development tools for DOS programs. Then in 1990 Kobayashi and another colleague from DB Software formed a company called Ajenda Co. Mr. Fumiya Matsui became the companies president while Kobayashi focused on development. Kobayshi soon took interest in games for home consoles and mobile games, one game in particular was named 'Studio P', a in-game development tool release for the Playstation. In this game players could learn how to make pots by putting the clay in a kiln or wring out a cloth. It was Kobayashi's first sandbox develop simulator. The game ran a graphic editor much like the one in today's PTC. Sony Playstation saw how inventive Kobayashi was that they worked with him on several projects including a cooking-action game called 'Ore no Ryori'. This title is on the PSN if you want to check it out. Then in 2005, he oversaw the development of 'Daredemo Asobi Taizen' for Nintendo DS. At this point, Kobayashi decided on creating a game-creation tool that anyone could use, right there on the spot.

In 2008, Kobayashi left Playstation, and became CEO of his own company, SmileBoom. While he continued developing games, he appeared as a speaker at CEDEC 2008 conference for game developers. In the speech he was asked if there was going to be a follow up on his 'TKool software. Kobayashi responded about his plans for an 'Action-Game Tkool'

The Development of PTC
For Kobayashi, the desire to create Petit Computer was born out of his own very personal vision, as opposed to the general direction of the company as a whole. A major influence on his desire to create this game was 'dB-BASIC', developed by DB Software

The planning process began with Kobayashi coming up with his own pixel images of the onscreen keyboard, taking them to Nintendo in Kyoto and asking how he should proceed. Various plans were proposed initially, such as using the Wii to program the software, and then transferring it to DSi, or using an FAT file allocation system. Over the course of numerous meetings, adjustments were made to the plans for how to proceed.

A crucial issue raised at the earliest stages of planning Petit Computer was that it shouldn't be seen as a means of analyzing or modifying other games and software. From a security point of view, SmileBoom made sure there were no PEEK or POKE commands that could be used to save or load data to the memory, and they prevented user-created programs being downloaded to PCs.

Kobayashi was asked why he wanted to design the program on the DSi, 'We wanted to make this into a title that people would pick up and try for themselves. As a small company, creating the software as DSiWare meant that we avoided large overheads, and it was really easy to bring it to the market. At the time, the DSi was the only platform that we thought would suit our needs, and in July 2010, we had finalized the design for Petit Computer. It was actually released towards the end of 2010, so it took about three month to complete it.

The development for the Petit Computer software itself was overseen by a pair of young developers from a company called 'Rocket Studio', also based in Sapporo where DB software was. Takebe, the president of Rocket Studio, regularly met with Kobayashi, and it was there that they planned on making PTC. Takabe is a well-known software developer who once worked for Hudson, and worked on the development of 'Family Basic'.

During the development process, there was a great deal of discussion amongst the team about the BASIC functions that should be included on Petit Computer. For instance, a number of functions were revised in September 2010, including the = sign used for IF commands, and the LINE ( x, y ) format. The team also agreed that IF and ELSE commands extending over multiple lines would make programs hard to read, and so this function was removed.

While it is a little unusual, the ? symbol can be used to stand in for the PRINT command. This was a feature used in the development process that the team intended to remove, but which somehow managed to make it into the final version.

During the planning stages, the intention was that the character creation tool and other functions like this would be fully integrated into the software, and selected using the buttons. Tod reduce the workload of development, they came up with the idea to implement these tools into BASIC. There were also quick commands used, including GPUTCHR which displays character data on the graphic screen, and GFILL which fills a rectangle with one color.

Release Date of PTC
Petit Computer was finally released as DSiWare in Japan in March 2011, for a price of 800 Nintendo DSi Points. According to Kobayashi, this software functions as a promotional tool, showing what the company is capable of, which explains why it is so reasonably priced. Kobayashi stated, 'With the way things are in the industry, the only way to survive is to keep coming up with good ideas. You have to do things other companies aren't doing. You know whether or not you've got a winner at the planning stage.'

The response to Petit Computer was a greater turnout than the developers had hoped for. When users were asked to contribute their own programs, people would turn up at the Smileboom office, with their DSi in hand. There were also users who sent in programs of incredible length and complexity. SmileBoom even received e-mails from people telling them that they had bought a DSi simply in order to use Petit Computer. The software was initially targeted for an much older audience, but now Kobayashi wants to give younger people a chance of programming.

At the end of an interveiw, Kobayashi stated to the users of PTC:

'If those in my generation do not live our lives to the full, how can we expect the younger generation to grow up to fulfill their dreams? This is the time when we need to give it all we've got. Let's try all sorts of things, team up with each other, and do all sorts of crazy stuff! '' -April 2011

Latest activity




Photos and videos are a great way to add visuals to your wiki. Find videos about your topic by exploring Wikia's Video Library.

