Sharing

Sharing Cartridges

There are three ways to share carts made in PICO-8:

• Share the .p8 or .p8.png file directly with other PICO-8 users

Type FOLDER to open the current folder in your host operating system.

• Post the cart on the Lexaloffe BBS to get a web-playable version

http://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php?page=submit

• Export the cartridge to a stand-alone html/js or native binary player (see the exporters section for details)

Exporters / Importers

The EXPORT command can be used to generate png, wav files and stand-alone html and native binary cartridge players. The output format is inferred from the filename extention (e.g. .png).

You are free to distribute and use exported cartridges and data as you please, provided that you have permission from the author and contributors.

Sprite Sheet (.png)

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IMPORT BLAH.PNG     --  expects 128x128 png and colour-fits to the pico-8 palette
EXPORT BLAH.PNG     --  use folder() to locate the exported png

SFX and Music (.wav)

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EXPORT BLAH.WAV     --  export music from the current pattern (when editor mode is MUSIC)
EXPORT BLAH.WAV     --  export the current SFX (when editor mode is SFX)
EXPORT BLAH%D.WAV   --  exports all of the SFXs as blah0.wav, blah1.wav .. blah63.wav

HTML Player (.html)

To generate a stand-alone html player (foo.html, foo.js): EXPORT FOO.HTML

Or just the .js file: EXPORT FOO.JS

• Use -f to write the files to a folder called foo_html, using index.html instead of foo.html EXPORT -F FOO.HTML
• Optionally provide a custom html template with the -p switch: EXPORT FOO.HTML -P ONE_BUTTON

This will use the file {application data}/pico-8/plates/one_button.html as the html shell, replacing a special string ##js_file##, with the .js filename, and optionally replacing the string ##label_file## with the cart's label image as a data url.

• Use -w to export as .wasm + .js: // still experimental! EXPORT -W FOO.HTML

Binary Player (.bin)

To generate stand-alone executables for Windows, Linux (64-bit), Mac and Raspberry Pi:

EXPORT FOO.BIN

By default, the cartridge label is used as an icon with no transparency. To specificy an icon from the sprite sheet, use -i and optionally -s and/or -c to control the size and transparency.

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-I N  Icon index N with a default transparent colour of 0 (black).
-S N  Size NxN sprites. Size 3 would be produce a 24x24 icon.
-C N  Treat colour N as transparent. Use 16 for no transparency.

For example, to use a 2x2 sprite starting at index 32 in the spritesheet, using colour 12 as transparent:

EXPORT -I 32 -S 2 -C 12 FOO.BIN

To include an extra file in the output folders and archives, use the -E switch:

EXPORT -E README.TXT FOO.BIN

Technical note: Windows file systems do not support the file metadata needed to create a Linux or Mac executable. PICO-8 works around this by exporting zip files in a way that preserves the file attributes. It is therefore recommended that you distribute the outputted zip files as-is to ensure users on other operating systems can run them.

Otherwise, a Linux user who then downloads the binaries may need to chmod +x foo the file to run it, and Mac user would need to chmod +x foo.app/Contents/MacOS/foo

Binaries will still export from PICO-8 running under Windows, but a Linux user would then need to manually chmod +x foo the file to run it, or a Mac user would need to open Terminal and: chmod +x foo.app/Contents/MacOS/foo

For now, the only work-around is simply to export from a Mac or Linux machine, but a better solution is in development.

Uploading to itch.io

If you would like to upload your exported cartridge to itch.io as playable html:

1. From inside PICO-8: EXPORT -F FOO.HTML
2. Create a new project from your itch dashboard.
3. Zip up the folder and upload it (set "This file will be played in the browser")
4. Embed in page, with a size of 750px x 680px.
5. Set "Mobile Friendly" on (default orientation) and "Automatically start on page load" on. // no need for the fullscreen button as the default PICO-8 template has its own.
6. Set the background (BG2) to something dark (e.g. #232323) and the text to something light

Exporting Multiple Cartridges

Up to 16 cartridges can be bundled together by passing them to EXPORT, when generating stand-alone html or native binary players.

EXPORT FOO.HTML DAT1.P8 DAT2.P8 GAME2.P8

During runtime, the extra carts can be accessed as if they were local files:

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RELOAD(0,0,0x2000, "DAT1.P8") -- load spritesheet from DAT1.P8
LOAD("GAME2.P8") -- load and run another cart