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https://github.com/gbdev/rgbds

Rednex Game Boy Development System - An assembly toolchain for the Nintendo Game Boy and Game Boy Color
https://github.com/gbdev/rgbds

asm assembly assembly-language assembly-sm83 cplusplus game-boy game-development gameboy gamedev gbdev gbz80 sm83

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Rednex Game Boy Development System - An assembly toolchain for the Nintendo Game Boy and Game Boy Color

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README 

        
# RGBDS



RGBDS (Rednex Game Boy Development System) is a free assembler/linker package

for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color. It consists of:



- RGBASM (assembler)

- RGBLINK (linker)

- RGBFIX (checksum/header fixer)

- RGBGFX (PNG‐to‐Game Boy graphics converter)



This is a fork of the original RGBDS which aims to make the programs more like

other UNIX tools.



This toolchain is maintained [on GitHub](https://github.com/gbdev/rgbds).



The documentation of this toolchain can be [viewed online](https://rgbds.gbdev.io/docs/).

It is generated from the man pages found in this repository.

The source code of the website itself is on GitHub as well under the repository

[rgbds-www](https://github.com/gbdev/rgbds-www).



If you want to contribute or maintain RGBDS, or you have questions regarding the code, its

organization, etc. you can find the maintainers [on the gbdev community channels](https://gbdev.io/chat)

or via mail at `rgbds at gbdev dot io`.



## 1. Installing RGBDS



The [installation procedure](https://rgbds.gbdev.io/install) is available

online for various platforms. [Building from source](https://rgbds.gbdev.io/install/source)

is possible using `make` or `cmake`; follow the link for more detailed instructions.



```sh

make

sudo make install

```



```sh

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

cmake --build build

cmake --install build

```



Two parameters available when building are a prefix (e.g. to put the executables in a directory)

and a suffix (e.g. to append the version number or commit ID).



```sh

make

sudo make install PREFIX=install_dir/ SUFFIX=-$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)

```



```sh

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DSUFFIX=-$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)

cmake --build build

cmake --install build --prefix install_dir

```



(If you set a `SUFFIX`, it should include the `.exe` extension on Windows.)



## 2. RGBDS Folder Organization



The RGBDS source code file structure is as follows:



```

.

├── .github/

│   ├── scripts/

│   │   └── ...

│   └── workflows/

│       └── ...

├── contrib/

│   ├── zsh_compl/

│   │   └── ...

│   └── ...

├── include/

│   └── ...

├── man/

│   └── ...

├── src/

│   ├── asm/

│   │   └── ...

│   ├── extern/

│   │   └── ...

│   ├── fix/

│   │   └── ...

│   ├── gfx/

│   │   └── ...

│   ├── link/

│   │   └── ...

│   ├── CMakeLists.txt

│   └── ...

├── test/

│   ├── ...

│   └── run-tests.sh

├── .clang-format

├── CMakeLists.txt

├── Dockerfile

├── Makefile

└── README.md

```



- `.github/` - files and scripts related to the integration of the RGBDS codebase with

  GitHub.

  * `scripts/` - scripts used by workflow files.

  * `workflows/` - CI workflow description files.

- `contrib/` - scripts and other resources which may be useful to users and developers of

  RGBDS.

  * `zsh_compl` contains tab completion scripts for use with zsh. Put them somewhere in

    your `fpath`, and they should auto-load.

  * `bash_compl` contains tab completion scripts for use with bash. Run them with `source`

    somewhere in your `.bashrc`, and they should load every time you open a shell.

- `include/` - header files for the respective source files in `src`.

- `man/` - manual pages.

- `src/` - source code of RGBDS.

  * Note that the code unique to each RGBDS tool is stored in its respective subdirectory

    (RGBASM's code is in `src/asm/`, for example). `src/extern/` contains code imported from

    external sources.

- `test/` - testing framework used to verify that changes to the code don't break or

  modify the behavior of RGBDS.

- `.clang-format` - code style for automated C++ formatting with

  [`clang-format`](https://clang.llvm.org/docs/ClangFormat.html).

- `Dockerfile` - defines how to build RGBDS with Docker.



## 3. History



- 1996-10-01: Carsten Sørensen (a.k.a. SurfSmurf) releases

  [xAsm](http://otakunozoku.com/RGBDSdocs/asm.htm),

  [xLink](http://otakunozoku.com/RGBDSdocs/link.htm), and

  [RGBFix](http://otakunozoku.com/RGBDSdocs/fix.htm),

  a Game Boy SM83 (GBZ80) assembler/linker system for DOS/Win32.

- 1997-07-03: Sørensen releases [ASMotor](http://otakunozoku.com/RGBDSdocs/geninfo.htm),

  packaging the three programs together and moving towards making them a

  general-purpose target-independent system.

- 1999-08-01: Justin Lloyd (a.k.a. Otaku no Zoku) adapts ASMotor to re-focus

  on SM83 assembly/machine code, and releases this version as

  [RGBDS](http://otakunozoku.com/rednex-gameboy-development-system/).

- 2009-06-11: Vegard Nossum adapts the code to be more UNIX-like and releases

  this version as [rgbds-linux](https://github.com/vegard/rgbds-linux).

- 2010-01-12: Anthony J. Bentley [forks](https://github.com/bentley) Nossum's

  repository. The fork becomes the reference implementation of RGBDS.

- 2015-01-18: stag019 begins implementing [RGBGFX](https://github.com/stag019/rgbgfx),

  a PNG‐to‐Game Boy graphics converter, for eventual integration into RGBDS.

- 2016-09-05: RGBGFX is [integrated](https://github.com/gbdev/rgbds/commit/c3c31138ddbd8680d4e67957e387f2816798a71b)

  into Bentley's repository.

- 2017-02-23: Bentley's repository is moved to the [rednex](https://github.com/rednex)

  organization.

- 2018-01-26: The codebase is [relicensed](https://github.com/gbdev/rgbds/issues/128)

  under the MIT license.

- 2020-09-15: The repository is [moved](https://github.com/gbdev/rgbds/issues/567)

  to the [gbdev](https://github.com/gbdev) organization.

- 2022-05-17: The [rgbds.gbdev.io](https://rgbds.gbdev.io) website for RGBDS

  documentation and downloads is published.



## 4. Acknowledgements



RGBGFX generates palettes using algorithms found in the paper

["Algorithms for the Pagination Problem, a Bin Packing with Overlapping Items"](https://arxiv.org/abs/1605.00558)

([GitHub](https://github.com/pagination-problem/pagination), MIT license),

by Aristide Grange, Imed Kacem, and Sébastien Martin.



RGBGFX's color palette was taken from [SameBoy](https://sameboy.github.io), with permission and help

by [LIJI](https://github.com/LIJI32).