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Pico-8

Overview

Game Path Supported Extensions
roms/pico8 .png .p8

Instructions

KNULLI supports two different engines for running Pico-8 games: The libretro-integrated Fake08 and the official standalone Pico-8 by Lexaloffle.

Running Pico-8 through RetroArch Fake-08

By default, KNULLI comes with Fake08, a free, Pico-8-compatible engine provided by RetroArch. Many Pico-8 games run perfectly fine with Fake08. Since Pico-8 games are usually free, you can download the png game files (or "carts") from the Pico-8 website and drop them in your roms/pico8 folder. However, since Fake08 does not cover all the features of the native Pico-8 engine, some games might not run properly with Fake08.

Splore is not available in Fake08

Please be aware that Splore, the official Pico-8 browser, which lets you navigate the online library of Pico-8 games, is only available through the native engine. When playing with Fake-08, you need to add your games manually.

Running Pico-8 through the native engine

Pico-8 games are best played with the native engine as it supports all Pico-8 features without any limitations. You need to purchase it from Lexaloffle and we do recommend that you buy a copy if you can. It's an awesome piece of software and it also comes with the tools to make your own games.

Different save path

While Fake08 stores its saves in the expected folder for savegames (/userdata/saves/pico8/cdata), official Pico-8 stores it saves somewhere in the system folder (/userdata/system/.lexaloffle/pico-8/cdata). Please be aware of this when backing up or migrating your saves.

Installing native Pico-8

Installing Pico-8 with the built-in KNULLI installer

The easiest way to set up standalone Pico-8 on your KNULLI device is via the Pico-8 installer which already comes with KNULLI:

  • Go to Lexaloffle's download page
  • From that page download the Raspberry Pi zip file
  • Simply copy the zip file into your roms/pico8 folder
  • establish a (SSH connection to your device
  • type the command install-pico8.sh and press Enter

The installer should take care of everything and install Pico8 for you. It will also install Splore, the official browser for Pico-8 games.

Installing Pico-8 manually

If the built-in installer fails you, it is entirely possible to install Pico-8 manually. Basically, all you have to do is take all the steps the installer would've taken for you automatically.

1) Pico-8 Files

  • Go to Lexaloffle's download page
  • From that page download the Raspberry Pi zip file
  • Unzip the Raspberry Pi zip file and...
    • Delete the pico8 file
    • Rename the pico8_64 file to pico8
  • Create a directory in userdata/bios/ called pico-8
  • Upload the pico8, pico8_dyn, pico8_gpio and pico8.dat to this directory (you do not need any of the other files)
    Final Folder Structure
    /userdata/bios/pico-8/
    ├─ pico8
    ├─ pico8_dyn
    ├─ pico8_gpio
    └─ pico8.dat

2) Make sure that Pico8 is executable

By default, the pico8 and pico8_64 files from the Raspberry Pi zip file are already marked as executable (-rwxr-xr-x). However, if you unzip the file on a Windows machine, Linux permissions are lost in the process. Therefore, the file you copied to your BIOS folder might no longer be executable.

To make sure that the file is executable again, you may establish an SSH connection (see SSH section for details) and enter the following command on the shell of your KNULLI device to add the executable permission (x) for all three user types:

chmod +x /userdata/bios/pico-8/pico8

The file should now be executable. You may verify by typing the following command and making sure, that the permission list in the result contains all three xes:

ls -l /userdata/bios/pico-8/pico8

3) EmulationStation

  • copy the following text into a file called es_systems_pico8.cfg
    es_systems_pico8.cfg
    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<systemList>
  <system>
        <name>pico8</name>
        <emulators>
            <emulator name="lexaloffle">
                <cores>
                    <core>pico8_official</core>
                </cores>
            </emulator>
            <emulator name="libretro">
                <cores>
                    <core default="true">fake08</core>
                </cores>
            </emulator>
        </emulators>
  </system>
</systemList>
  • upload the es_systems_pico8.cfg you created to /userdata/system/configs/emulationstation/
  • restart EmulationStation
  • to make the original Pico-8 your new default Pico-8 engine, open the Pico-8 gamelist, press SELECT, open ADVANCED SYSTEM OPTIONS → EMULATOR and then select LEXALOFFLE: PICO8 OFFICIAL as your Emulator

Playing Pico-8 with the native engine

Once the above is set up is you have 2 options for playing games through Pico-8's native engine:

  1. Using Splore
    • Splore is awesome as it allows you to browse and play the entire library of user created games with an internet connection.
    • To use this method simply create a file named Splore.png in roms/pico8.
    • Note that you will need an internet connection to browse the pico-8 BBS (If you don't have an internet connection you can still use it to launch games you have downloaded previously)
    • To exit and return to EmulationStation you can press the START button while highlighting a game in Splore then selecting Options > Shutdown
  2. Through .png or .p8 files added directly roms/pico8
    • Browse the list of games (aka. "Carts") on Lexaloffle's website
    • Download the .png or .p8 file for any game you are interested in playing and upload it to either roms/pico8
    • Refresh EmulationStation by pressing START to open the Main Menu then select Game Settings > Update Gamelists.
    • You should now be able to launch the game by selecting it from the gamelist.
    • To exit a game and return to EmulationStation you can press the START button then selecting Options > Shutdown