Pico-8¶
Overview¶
Game Path | Supported Extensions |
---|---|
roms/pico8 |
.png .p8 |
Instructions¶
Option 1: 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 nor run properly with Fake08.
Option 2: 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. Its an awesome piece of software and it also comes with the tools to make your own games.
Setup¶
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 topico8
- Delete the
- Create a directory in
userdata/bios/
calledpico-8
- Upload the
pico8
,pico8_dyn
,pico8_gpio
andpico8.dat
to this directory (you do not need any of the other files)
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:
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 x
es:
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 default="true">pico8_official</core> </cores> </emulator> <emulator name="libretro"> <cores> <core>fake08</core> </cores> </emulator> </emulators> </system> </systemList>
- upload the
es_systems_pico8.cfg
you created to/userdata/system/configs/emulationstation/
- restart EmulationStation
- open the Pico-8 gamelist, press SELECT, open
ADVANCED SYSTEM OPTIONS → EMULATOR
and then selectLEXALOFFLE: PICO8 OFFICIAL
as your Emulator
Playing a game¶
Once the above is set up is you have 2 options for playing games through Pico-8's native engine:
- 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
inroms/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
- 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