Bitsy Museum Hack

An extremely simple hack that allows you to showcase, open and play through multiple Bitsy files from a central Bitsy game.

Ideas:

  • Bitsy mix-tape
  • Bespoke Bitsy showcase of multiple creators work
  • Portfolio of Bitsy games
  • Chapter selection
  • Show off different characters perspectives

Why is it so hacky?

ahhh, I didn't have time to make a proper tool??  By only changing a couple of lines of code it is:

  • Compatible with other Bitsy hacks and extensions
  • Able to work with older (and hopefully) newer versions of Bitsy
  • Doesn't mess with the actual game data in any way

HOW TO USE:

Step 1: Gather up your games

  1. Find all the games you want to showcase
  2. Rename the files for ease of use (if needed)

Step 2: Make the Museum

  1. Make your Bitsy Museum base game (or download the demo below!)
  2. Add an ending for each game you want to showcase
  3. Make the ending text the filename you want to open (without the .html)

  • Save it out
  • Rename it as "index.html"

Step 3: Hack it!

In each of the games, locate the following in the code (search for RESTART): 

else if ( isEnding ) {
        if (input.anyKeyPressed() || input.isTapReleased()) {
            /* RESTART GAME */
            reset_cur_game();
        }
    }

Simple replace all of that with:

else if ( isEnding ) {
        /*     BITSY MUSEUM HACK:             
               instead of reseting on ending it takes player back to the museum
               also removes need to click button to reset */
        {
            window.open("index.html", "_self");
        }
    }

In the Museum, locate the following code:

if (end) {
        startNarrating( ending[end.id], true /*isEnding*/ );
    }

Simply replace it with:

if (end) {
        /*    BITSY MUSEUM HACK:
              jump to the apprioprate game! */
        window.open(ending[end.id] + ".html", "_self");
    }

Step 4: Enjoy!

Please let me know if there are any bugs or issues with it.
You can leave it here or on twitter at @erikaverkaaik.

REMOVING THE TITLE / START DIALOGUE:

You might want to remove the title or start dialogue from the Museum or from the individual games (depending on your situation). 

Locate the following code (it should be on line 11):

<script type="bitsyGameData" id="exportedGameData">

And remove the opening dialogue that is directly underneath it. Be careful not to remove anything else.


Please download the demo (below) to see how it works. Codes changes are commented with  /* BITSY MUSEUM HACK */  for easy searching.
StatusReleased
CategoryTool
PlatformsHTML5
Rating
Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars
(24 total ratings)
Authorodd-hours
Made withbitsy
TagsBitsy, bitsy-museum, hack, museum, tool

Download

Download
BitsyMuseumDemo.zip 164 kB

Comments

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(+1)

Hey y'all, if anyone is trying to get the Museum Hack to work with Bitsy v8.4, I wrote a post with updated instructions over on the Bitsy Forum: https://itch.io/t/2762533/does-the-bitsy-museum-hack-still-work

(4 edits) (+1)

I would love to use this for a project, and while the demo works in Chrome,  unfortunately in Firefox 91.0.1, returning from a sub-game causes an infinite loading loop of some sort.

EDIT: It seems likely this is the same bug described by rumpel below, whose blog post shows a fix.

(1 edit) (+1)(-1)

Does this work with bitsy HD?

(-1)

Okey!

(+1)

Hello there,

This hack currently works locally, but fails when running on a browser from a hosted server =(

I debugged it quite a bit, but I still don't know what is causing the issue.

(+3)

I finally found the issue and I wrote a blog post documenting the fix: https://rumpel.itch.io/home-is/devlog/65675/my-adventures-with-global-game-jam-2...

(+1)

Hey! So sorry for the late reply - thank you so much for working it out! I have been neglecting this one but I do plan on revisiting it and making sure it's up to date.