P8Test

P8Test is a tiny test framework for Pico-8. I almost hesitate to call it that because it seems grander than it really is. It's really just a template for how I like to write some of my pico-8 game tests.

P8Test helps you setup a small pico-8 cartridge file which will can run through some unit tests and either print the results in the pico-8 window or directly to your console

Demo

Output to pico-8 console	Output to your own console

How to

Setup P8Test

P8Test is unceremoniously simple. To setup...

1. Download the p8test folder to your pico8 game's working directory
2. Copy p8test.p8 to your pico8 game's working directory or create your own test runner cart with whatever name
3. Modify the test runner cart so it follows the structure of p8test.p8

pico-8 cartridge // http://www.pico-8.com
version 35
__lua__
-- the game code being tested goes here
#include <path to your game code here>

-- DO NOT MODIFY: include the test utilities before the user defined tests
#include p8test/testutils.lua

-- the user-provided tests go here
#include <path to your tests here>

-- DO NOT MODIFY: include the test driver last
#include p8test/testmain.lua

4. write some tests
5. run the test runner cart! Either:
   • open up the cart in pico8 and use the run command
   • run the cart in headless mode with pico8 -x your_test_cart.p8 from the command line

Write a P8Test

Writing tests is straight forward.

1. write a function which tests the behavior you want to test
   • the test should signal a failure by returning a string which describes the failure
   • the test should signal a success by returning a nil
   • check out the example tests in example_game_tests.lua
2. add it to the test list using the add_test function