tilengine_libretro - The 2D retro graphics engine core for libretro

Tilengine is an open source, cross-platform 2D graphics engine for creating classic/retro games with tile maps, sprites and palettes. Its unique scanline-based rendering algorithm makes raster effects a core feature, a technique used by many games running on real 2D graphics chips. It integrates inside the RetroArch emulator (https://www.retroarch.com/) and loads games written in lua (http://www.lua.org/).

This version has the same exact functionality than standard Tilengine, but removing the built-in window support, and adding Retroarch integration

http://www.tilengine.org

Contents

• tilengine_libretro - The 2D retro graphics engine core for libretro
• Contents
• Features
• Minimal game template
  • Checking player input
  • Enabling raster effects
• Running the game (Windows)
• Documentation

Features

• Written in portable C (C99)
• MPL 2.0 license: free for any project, including commercial ones, allows console development
• Cross platform: available builds for Windows (32/64), Linux PC(32/64), Mac OS X and Raspberry Pi
• Streamlined, easy to learn API that requires very little lines of code
• Loads assets from open standard standard file formats
• Create or modify graphic assets procedurally at run time
• True raster effects: modify render parameters between scanlines
• Background layer scaling and rotation
• Sprite scaling
• Several blending modes for layers and sprites
• Pixel accurate sprite vs sprite and sprite vs layer collision detection
• Special effects: per-column offset, mosaic, per-pixel displacement, CRT emulation...
• Supports packaged assets with optional AES-128 encryption

Minimal game template

Use this lua template for your own games:

-- required dependencies
require("tilengine_libretro")
local ffi = require("ffi")
local tln = ffi.load 'tilengine_libretro'

-- tilengine sample configuration
config = {
	hres = 320,
	vres = 240,
	numlayers = 2,
	numsprites = 80,
	numanimations = 32
}

-- called once at the beginning: load game assets and init
function game_load()

end

-- called once every frame: do game logic and update visuals
function game_loop(frame)

end

-- called once at end: release resources
function game_unload()

end

Checking player input

-- check if player 1 is pressing left input
if tln.CheckRetroInput(tln.PLAYER1, tln.INPUT_LEFT) then

end

Enabling raster effects

-- your custom raster function is called every scanline
function my_rasters(line)

end

-- register your raster function
tln.SetRasterCallbackName("my_rasters")

Running the game (Windows)

To run the game, RetroArch emulator must be installed and accessible in %path%. Open a command terminal inside lua_game folder and type:

retroarch -L tilengine_libretro.dll

Documentation

For extended help and examples refer to the main Tilengine project online documentation:

http://www.tilengine.org/doc/