chrismaltby/gb-studio
Gb Studio
GB Studio is a visual integrated development environment and game engine for creating 8-bit games for Game Boy hardware. It functions as a retro hardware ROM compiler that transpiles graphical logic into native Z80 assembly and binary images compatible with original handhelds and emulators.
The project serves as a cross-platform build tool, generating both native hardware ROMs and web-compatible builds from a single project source. It utilizes a drag-and-drop interface for game logic and scene design, allowing for the creation of game mechanics and asset placement without writing low-level machine code.
The toolset includes a pipeline for processing raw images and audio into hardware-specific tiled formats and palettes. It also provides performance profiling capabilities to analyze timing statistics and execution logs for optimizing software responsiveness on limited hardware.
Features
- Integrated Development Environments - Provides a comprehensive visual IDE for designing and compiling 8-bit games specifically for Game Boy hardware.
- Game ROM Compilers - Compiles source code into functional binary ROM images specifically for Game Boy hardware and emulators.
- Handheld Game Development Tools - Provides an integrated environment for creating 8-bit games tailored to the constraints of vintage handheld hardware.
- No-Code Game Engines - Offers a no-code visual engine with drag-and-drop interfaces for designing game mechanics and scene layouts.
- Visual Game Design Environments - Offers a graphical interface for designing game mechanics and interactive scenes without writing manual code.
- Binary Compilation - Transforms project files into standalone binary formats suitable for playback on original hardware or emulators.
- Visual-to-Assembly Transpilers - Transpiles high-level graphical script definitions into native Z80 assembly code for execution on vintage hardware.
- Asset Build Pipelines - Provides automated pipelines to transform raw image and audio assets into hardware-specific tiled formats and palettes.
- Browser-Compatible Game Builds - Transpiles project files into browser-compatible formats to enable instant playability via the web.
- Cross-Platform Build Pipelines - Orchestrates distinct compilation pipelines to generate both native hardware ROMs and web-compatible builds from shared source definitions.
- Engine Performance Profilers - Includes performance profiling tools to analyze timing statistics and execution logs for optimizing gameplay on limited hardware.
- Cross-Platform Game Compilation - Implements a build pipeline that generates both native hardware ROMs and web-compatible builds from a single source.
- Intermediate Representations - Translates project source files into a portable intermediate representation before generating final machine code for target platforms.
- Hardware Resource Profiling - Analyzes execution timing and resource consumption to optimize software responsiveness on limited 8-bit hardware.
- Game Engines - Retro-focused engine for creating Game Boy compatible adventures.
