Tools - nesbox/TIC-80 GitHub Wiki

The following is a list of tools that can be used outside of TIC-80 to assist with the creation of carts.

The PRO version allows to use an external editor to write your code, if that is your preference.

Converters

These can be very handy if you're migrating to TIC-80 from other virtual fantasy consoles and you already have some cartridges.

  • Tic80tracker - This little tool helps to convert the Amiga Protracker classic module to TIC-80 format.
  • p8totic - an all-in-one, web based PICO-8 to TIC-80 cartridge converter. Supports .p8 and .p8.png formats and saves in .tic format. This tries to convert everything properly, so not just the assets, but the Lua code (syntax and API calls) too.
  • TicMcTile Convert images to tiles/sprites or charsets in 2, 4 or 16 colors, incl. ready-to-run code for TIC-80
  • Pic-2-Tic A GUI web app, used to convert images to TIC-80 format, with optional dithering, and over 100+ color palettes from lospec.
  • Pixel It To pixelize an image to any size and palette.
  • TIC-MIDI A CLI tool to convert MIDI files to TIC-80 music tracks.
  • Image Converter for TIC-80 An image converter that can convert images with 16 or more colors.
  • mulTIColor Convert images to multicolor-modes (16 colors per line or 31 colors per line), incl. ready-to-run code for TIC-80
  • mpt-to-tic Convert Open-MPT tracker copy format into TIC-80 copy format so it allows for primitive MIDI/IT/MOD etc. to TIC-80.

Bundling

TIC-80 does not support loading external code files, so having multiple files and bundling them together into the cart can ease code writing.

  • ScriptPacker: Package multiple Lua, Wren, Squirrel, or Javascript scripts together, keeping the dependency chain intact.
  • tic-bundle: Simple CLI tool for bundling TIC-80 cartridge code. Supports any language.
  • TQ-Bundler: A zero-config single-file executable bundler/watcher/launcher. Supports any language.
  • Amalg: A tool that can package a Lua script and its modules into a single file.
  • tic80-stitcher: A tool for building the cartridge from multiple files. Useful when you generate part of the cartridge during the build.
  • tic80-typescript: write your games in TypeScript. Handles transpilation, bundling, and minification.
  • tic80cc: Simple bundler/preprocessor for Lua projects.
  • SyllogisTIC: A CLI build system for packaging files into a cart; currently only supports Lua.

Maps

While the TIC-80 map editor is very functional, it can be nice to use external tools to enhance the map creation experience.

  • TiledMapEditor-TIC-80: Converts between .tmx files to TIC-80 .map files
  • Tic-Tiled Map Converter: A python script for converting maps between Tiled and TIC-80.
  • tic2tiled: An extension for Tiled to export .ticmap files, and a(nother) Python script for converting from TIC-80 to Tiled.