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TIC-80 Fantasy Console Documentation

repository·main·Indexed 24 days ago

https://github.com/nesbox/tic-80

TIC-80 is an open-source fantasy computer and constrained environment for creating and playing retro-style games. It features built-in editors for code, graphics, and sound, supporting multiple languages including Lua, Javascript, Python, and Ruby. The system is defined by technical constraints: a 240x136 display, 16-color palette, 256 8x8 sprites, and 4-channel audio. Documentation covers building from source across Windows, macOS, Linux (Ubuntu, Arch, Fedora, openSUSE), FreeBSD, and Raspberry Pi, as well as PRO version features.

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What's inside TIC-80

  1. Overview of TIC-80 Fantasy Computer

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    TIC-80 is an open-source fantasy computer designed for creating, playing, and sharing small retro-style games. It provides a complete development environment with built-in editors for code, sprites, maps, sound effects, and music.

    Technical Constraints:

    • Display: 240x136 pixels
    • Palette: 16 colors
    • Sprites: 256 8x8 color sprites
    • Audio: 4-channel sound

    Supported Programming Languages:

    • Lua, Moonscript, Javascript, Ruby, Wren, Fennel, Squirrel, Janet, and Python.

  2. Build the TIC-80 libretro core

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    To build the TIC-80 libretro core independently from the main TIC-80 application, you must clone the repository, initialize submodules, and use cmake with specific flags to enable the libretro build while disabling the player, SDL, and tools components.

    git clone https://github.com/nesbox/TIC-80.git
cd TIC-80
git submodule update --init --recursive
cd build
cmake .. -DBUILD_PLAYER=OFF -DBUILD_SDL=OFF -DBUILD_TOOLS=OFF -DBUILD_LIBRETRO=ON
make

  3. Build the TIC-80 PRO Version from source

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    The PRO version includes features like saving/loading cartridges in text format, 8 memory banks (instead of 1), and game exporting for app stores. You can build the PRO version from the source code using the -DBUILD_PRO=On CMake flag.

    cmake .. -DBUILD_PRO=On

  5. Build TIC-80 on Arch Linux

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    Install the required dependencies using pacman, clone the repository recursively, and build using cmake with BUILD_WITH_ALL=On.

    sudo pacman -S cmake ruby mesa libglvnd glu
git clone --recursive https://github.com/nesbox/TIC-80 && cd TIC-80/build
cmake -DBUILD_WITH_ALL=On .. && cmake --build . --parallel

  6. Build TIC-80 for Windows XP / Windows 7 (x86) using MSVC

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    To build for 32-bit legacy Windows systems, use an elevated Command Prompt:

    1. Install Git, CMake, Visual Studio 2019 Build Tools, and Ruby+Devkit 2.7.8 x86.
    2. In Visual Studio Installer, install "Desktop Development with C++" and specifically include "C++ Windows XP Support for VS 2017 (v141) tools" and "MSVC v141 - VS 2017 C++ x64/x86 build tools (v14.16)".
    3. Run ridk install with options 1,3.
    4. Add MSYS2's gcc at C:\Ruby27\msys32\mingw32\bin to your $PATH.
    5. Run the build commands.
    git clone --recursive https://github.com/nesbox/TIC-80 && cd .\TIC-80\build
copy /y .\build\janet\janetconf.h .\vendor\janet\src\conf\janetconf.h
cmake -G "Visual Studio 16 2019" -A Win32 -T v141_xp -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=MinSizeRel -DBUILD_WITH_ALL=On ..
cmake --build . --parallel

  7. Build TIC-80 on openSUSE

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    Refresh repositories, install the devel_basis pattern and required libraries (cmake, glu-devel, libXext-devel, pipewire-devel, libcurl-devel), then build with BUILD_SDLGPU=On and BUILD_WITH_ALL=On.

    sudo zypper refresh
sudo zypper install --no-confirm --type pattern devel_basis
sudo zypper install --no-confirm cmake glu-devel libXext-devel pipewire-devel libcurl-devel
git clone --recursive https://github.com/nesbox/TIC-80 && cd TIC-80/build
cmake -DBUILD_SDLGPU=On -DBUILD_WITH_ALL=On .. && cmake --build . --parallel

  8. Build TIC-80 on FreeBSD

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    Install dependencies via pkg, clone the repository, and build. Note that you may need to symlink swrast_dri.so if Mesa cannot find it in the expected path.

    sudo pkg install gcc git cmake ruby libglvnd libglu freeglut mesa-devel mesa-dri alsa-lib
git clone --recursive https://github.com/nesbox/TIC-80 && cd TIC-80/build
cmake -DBUILD_WITH_ALL=On ..
make -j4

# Fix Mesa path if necessary
sudo ln -s /usr/local/lib/dri/swrast_dri.so /usr/local/lib/dri-devel/

  9. Build TIC-80 on macOS

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    Ensure Command Line Tools for Xcode and brew are installed. Install git and cmake via Homebrew, clone the repository, and build using cmake with BUILD_WITH_ALL=On and a minimum CMAKE_POLICY_VERSION_MINIMUM=3.5.

    You can also create a development application icon by manually creating a .app bundle structure and a shell script wrapper pointing to the tic80 binary.

    brew install git cmake
git clone --recursive https://github.com/nesbox/TIC-80 && cd TIC-80/build
cmake -DBUILD_WITH_ALL=On -DCMAKE_POLICY_VERSION_MINIMUM=3.5 ..
make -j4

  10. Build TIC-80 for Windows 10/11 (x64) using MSYS2/MinGW

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    To build for 64-bit Windows using the MinGW toolchain, follow these steps in an elevated PowerShell prompt:

    1. Install dependencies using WinGet:
    winget install Git.Git Kitware.CMake RubyInstallerTeam.RubyWithDevKit.2.7
    1. Run ridk install with options 1,3 to set up MSYS2.
    2. Add MSYS2's gcc to your $PATH using the provided PowerShell command.
    3. Clone the repository and run the build commands.
    # Add MSYS2 gcc to PATH
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('Path', $env:Path + ';C:\Ruby27-x64\msys64\mingw64\bin', [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::Machine)

# Build commands
git clone --recursive https://github.com/nesbox/TIC-80 && cd .\TIC-80\build
cmake -G "MinGW Makefiles" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=MinSizeRel -DBUILD_SDLGPU=On -DBUILD_WITH_ALL=On ..
$numCPUs = [Environment]::ProcessorCount
mingw32-make "-j$numCPUs"

  11. Build TIC-80 for Windows 10/11 (x64) using MSVC

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    To build for 64-bit Windows using Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC), follow these steps in an elevated PowerShell prompt:

    1. Install dependencies using WinGet:
    winget install Git.Git Kitware.CMake Microsoft.VisualStudio.2019.BuildTools RubyInstallerTeam.RubyWithDevKit.2.7
    1. In the Visual Studio Installer, ensure "Desktop Development with C++" is selected, along with the Windows 10 SDK (10.0.19041.0) and MSVC v142 build tools.
    2. Run ridk install with options 1,3 to set up MSYS2.
    3. Add MSYS2's gcc to your $PATH using the provided PowerShell command.
    4. Clone the repository and run the build commands.
    # Add MSYS2 gcc to PATH
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('Path', $env:Path + ';C:\Ruby27-x64\msys64\mingw64\bin', [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::Machine)

# Build commands
git clone --recursive https://github.com/nesbox/TIC-80 && cd .\TIC-80\build
cmake -G "Visual Studio 16 2019" -A x64 -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=MinSizeRel -DBUILD_SDLGPU=On -DBUILD_WITH_ALL=On ..
cmake --build . --parallel