Witchcraft Unveiled: An Introduction to the Secrets of the Craft

An initiation into witchcraft is a sacred and transformational journey that marks the beginning of one's path as a witch. It is a rite of passage that allows individuals to connect with their intuition, harness their power, and embrace their connection to the spiritual world. Witchcraft is not just a practice, but a way of life that encourages self-discovery, healing, and the pursuit of inner wisdom. During the initiation process, a novice witch will undergo various rituals that serve to cleanse and purify the mind, body, and spirit. These rituals often include meditation, energy work, and the casting of spells. The goal is to create a sacred space that is filled with positive energy and conducive to spiritual growth.

Battery save included
No passwords required! Witch n' Wiz is built with full battery save support, and has multiple save slots, so the whole family can play on one cart!

If your item is still pending shipment it is because you have another item tied to your order that is not yet complete and will be shipped out together. This was not the end of Witch n Wiz s development though, and I spent the next few months expanding the game from 32 levels to over 100, and adding brand new puzzle mechanics.

The goal is to create a sacred space that is filled with positive energy and conducive to spiritual growth. The main idea of an initiation into witchcraft is to awaken and honor the divine within oneself. This involves recognizing and celebrating the natural cycles of life, connecting with the elements, and embracing the power of the universe.

Witch n wiz

This is really amazing! Catrap is one of my favorite gameboy games, and this captures the feel perfectly, and you've really gone beyond the original. Great work! Also, I just posted something similar to what you're doing with your title screen - I thought I was being original :P

Oh my! This is wonderful! Reminds me of Solomon's Key perhaps, but I love the music/atmosphere of this.

@daann: It was my first time trying to create a game booklet like this. Glad you enjoyed it!

@01010111: Thanks! Catrap is truly one of the most underrated games I've ever played!

@gradualgames: Thanks! Music and sound was by Gruber music (https://twitter.com/gruber_music) if you want to hear more.

I was looking at the source to your game, MHughson. Your logo is taking over 6700 bytes in sourcecode string space. might save a bit of space if you used my compressor:

And yes, this is a very cute version of Cattrap. That's one of the first games I bought at Funcoland for my Gameboy at the time. The REWIND ability was the best - and you definitely included that in your game too. Nice !

He doesn't need to compress the string representation of the graphics. The text of the source code, which includes string initializers of course, is automatically compressed by PICO-8 (using a form of LZSS, as I recall) during the save to .p8.png or @clip, and then decompressed on load.

All he'd be doing is wasting tokens on the decompression code.

Edit: I checked, and the encoded string by itself compresses from 6718 to 2964 bytes. You can confirm this by deleting all but the string and entering info at the PICO-8 command line.

I'm glad you brought this up, Felice. This is something I wanted to check on.

If you click twice in the bottom-right-hand corner of the sourcecode editor (IDE) you have a value listed as "COMPRESSED SIZE."

Is this the amount of compression that PICO internally gives for all data, maps tiles, sfx, music ? Or if not, what does it represent ?

If PICO is indeed applying its own compression, then outside of sourcecode space, code that compresses such as both myself and ZEP have written are not needed in light of this latest version of PICO ?

PICO-8's been compressing the source code for years.

ROM space (0x0000-0x4300) is stored as-is in its entirety, presumably for quick reload()s, so there's no way to compress it.

You can write compressors that take advantage of foreknowledge about data formats, and those might be worth it, but for generic data compression, I'd say no, it's mostly not worth the bother or the tokens. Some people even find that compressing their data so that the string initializers are smaller causes the built-in compressor to do more poorly and produce compressed source no better or even worse than the original. Entropy is as entropy does.

Can you answer this then ?

Let's say I store an image that is 4-bits for color, so you get 2-pixels per byte, yielding 8192-bytes for the total string size.

If I were to store a logo like this using only hex notation, it would look like this: "EF8A43392615"

Now would this compression be better this way than as I am doing now with converting 8-bit to 6-bit characters, where you the average is 6000-characters in the string ?

As you mentioned, compressing data can cause the built-in compressor to do more poorly ?

You could answer the question yourself by converting your image to each representation and simply typing info on a cart with each one in turn. However, remember to include the source for the decompressor with your compressed version, since it's effectively a required part of the data.

I would assume your version would do less well, since the built-in compression is (to the best of my knowledge) byte-based. Repeating patterns in the image will align with compression boundaries, whereas your base64 representation basically has a granularity of 3 bytes, or 6 bytes if the image pattern is, say, 2x2 dithering rather than solid colors.

No, my compressor looks for patterns too, and compresses based on that. Currently the compressor is set to level 2, that is, to find up to 2-character patterns in any data.

It can go all the way up to 255 if you like, but it's quite slow then. :)

It has shown good compression at a level of 8 with varying data, including the screen, sprites, and mapper data.

But yes, I can check to see with info(). The results will likely be of interest to others besides ourselves - to answer the question, "Is writing a compressor for image data or otherwise even useful in current version of Pico-8 ?"

Alright, a little research done. Yes, my compressor with one single compressed picture is indeed larger than a single program with one logo stored as 2-character hex. That's a very good observation you made, Felice.

But for more than one logo in the same code, my compressor yields a far smaller footprint.

In fact, in my compression demo, you will see that I have 6 full screens showing their compression size. I doubt you could put that many decompressed strings as straight out 16384-bytes per hex code per picture in one program of PICO. You would run out of coding space long before then.

Even the most robust logo uses 4,000 - 7,000 6-bit text characters by itself in using the compressor.

So . results ? If you just want =one= 128x128 picture in your game, let's say the logo, you would do better to not use my compressor.

But if you want more than one, that includes elements such as a logo, introduction/instructions page, author page, win game screen, and lose game screen, you'd do better to use my compressor.

And it stands to reason, I could optimize my compressor. Rewriting software is always better the next time around .

So saying here, one picture is enough for this good puzzle game. :) And this game certainly does deserve a star. ⭐

I would assume your version would do less well, since the built-in compression is (to the best of my knowledge) byte-based. Repeating patterns in the image will align with compression boundaries, whereas your base64 representation basically has a granularity of 3 bytes, or 6 bytes if the image pattern is, say, 2x2 dithering rather than solid colors.

It is a journey of self-empowerment, as witches learn to trust their instincts and tap into their own personal power. The initiation process is often guided by an experienced witch or coven, who acts as a mentor and teacher. They provide guidance, support, and knowledge to those embarking on their witchcraft journey. This mentorship allows the initiate to learn about the different aspects of witchcraft, including spellcasting, divination, and herbalism. One of the key elements of an initiation into witchcraft is the commitment to personal growth and ethical practice. Witches are bound by a code of ethics and are encouraged to use their powers responsibly and for the greater good. This includes principles such as not causing harm to others, respecting free will, and practicing gratitude and mindfulness. In conclusion, an initiation into witchcraft is a transformative and empowering experience that allows individuals to embrace their inner witch. It is a journey of self-discovery, connection to the divine, and personal growth. Through rituals, mentorship, and ethical practice, witches learn to harness their power, connect with the spiritual world, and live a life of purpose and intention..

Reviews for "The Witch's Initiation: Embracing the Path of the Wise"

- Sarah - ★

I found "An initiation into witchcraft" to be quite disappointing. The book lacked depth and substance, and it felt like a mere collection of clichés and overused tropes. The characters were flat and one-dimensional, making it difficult for me to connect with them or invest in their stories. The plot was predictable and lacked any real surprises or twists. Overall, I was left feeling underwhelmed and unimpressed with this novel.

- John - ★★

I had high expectations for "An initiation into witchcraft," but unfortunately, it fell short for me. The writing style was awkward and clunky, which made it difficult to immerse myself in the story. Additionally, the pacing was off, with certain parts dragging on and others feeling rushed and underdeveloped. The world-building was also lacking, leaving me with unanswered questions and a lack of understanding of the magical elements in the book. While the concept had potential, the execution didn't quite live up to it, leaving me feeling unsatisfied.

- Emily - ★★

I struggled to get through "An initiation into witchcraft." The writing was dry and lacked any sort of excitement or emotion. The characters were forgettable and lacked depth, making it difficult to care about their fates. The plot was slow-moving and lacked any real tension or suspense. I found myself constantly checking how many pages were left, hoping it would soon be over. Overall, this book simply didn't captivate me or hold my interest, and I wouldn't recommend it to others.

Becoming a Witch: An Initiation Guide for the Modern Seeker