CROSS LIB

Cross-Lib and games built with it (e.g., Chase, Shoot, Bomber, Snake, Horde, Verbix, Shuriken, Stinger, Trex)

by Fabrizio Caruso ([email protected])

Cross-Lib is a WORA (Write Once Run Anywhere) framework for vintage systems, i.e., you code your game in C once and Cross-Lib builds the very same game for about 200 vintage systems (console, computers, etc.) with the very same code.

Read the Disclaimer.

---

ARTICLES ABOUT CROSS-LIB

Article [in English], first published in C.A.L.L. Apple Volume 3 Number 1 (January 2023): C.A.L.L.-Apple

Article [in French], first published in the French magazine "Programmez! Hors série #6": Programmez!

---

THE GAMES

Click on the links below to play the games on your browser.

1. Trex is a mini-game and an obvious clone of off-line Chrome T-Rex game.
2. Stinger is a tank-shooter with several enemies, levels, power-ups and items to pick.
3. Shuriken is somehow inspired by Pac-man and Pengo.
4. Verbix is a Scrabble-like game that looks like Tetrix with letters.
5. Horde is a zombie shooter with several different enemies, levels, power-ups and special items to pick.
6. Snake is my personal re-interpretation of Nibbler (arcade game) to which I have added more game elements.
7. Bomber is a mini-game and clone of Air Attack (aka Blitz).
8. Shoot is a shooter somehow similar to Robotron. It has many items and secrets to discover.
9. Chase is somehow similar to Gnome Robots but in real-time game and with several items and power-ups.

---

MORE THAN 200 SUPPORTED TARGETS

Cross-Lib can be used to build games for more than 200 different vintage systems (computers, consoles, arcade boards, pocket calculators, etc.). An almost complete list of the supported systems with their status is in: Supported Systems

Some supported vintage CPU architectures are:

• GBZ80
• Intel 8080/85
• Intel 8086
• MOS 6502
• Motorola 6803
• Motorola 6809
• RCA 1802
• TMS 9900
• Zilog 80

Cross-Lib has also some support for vintage 16-bit and 32-bit systems and the native host PC.

For a more complete list of architectures you can look at: Architectures

---

SUPPORTED HOSTS

Cross-Lib runs under any POSIX-like environment such as

• Linux
• Windows/Cygwin
• Windows Subsystem for Linux
• Windows/MSYS2
• MacOS
• FreeBSD

---

REQUIREMEMTS

Cross-Lib requires a POSIX environment with at least

• Python (2.7 is the bare minimum but 3.x provides more features)
• make (GNU make)
• one or more ANSI C compiler(s)

If you want to produce interactive binaries for the native terminal you need a native compiler (gcc or any other compiler such as clang) with ncurses or ncursesw.

In order to build binaries for a supported vintage system, the corresponding cross-compiler has to be installed (see the list of supported targets to see which compiler is required).

Currently supported cross-compilers

The current set of supported cross-compilers is:

• CC65,
• Z88DK (SCCZ80 and ZSDCC),
• CMOC,
• LCC1802,
• TMS9900-GCC
• ACK,
• VBCC,
• CC6303

Partially supported cross-compilers:

• GCC-Z8K,
• XTC68
• GCC-ATARI-ST,
• GCC-AMIGA,

For more details click on Compilers

Tools to generate disk/tape/cartridge images

Very few targets use special tools to generate tape/disk/cartridge images. Some of these tools are built from source on the fly the first time they are required. Most require gcc or g++.

In order to generate disk images for the Apple][ and derivative targets Cross-Lib uses ac.jar for which java is necessary.

To generate tape images for the CoCo 1/2 and Dragon 32/64 targets Cross-Lib uses bin2cas.pl for which perl is required.

---

NO ACTUAL INSTALLATION NECESSARY

An actual installation is not necessary because Cross-Lib is made of scripts and a C source library, which is compiled on the fly when building binaries for target systems.

Moreover even installing the required compilers may not be necessary because Cross-Lib can be used through GitHub Codespaces (with preinstalled compilers) on any browser.

Additionally ou can also use it with

• the pre-built docker image (compilers are preinstalled),
• the dockerfile to build an image or (compilers are preinstalled),
• a clone of this repository (which requires the installation of the compilers).

For the details click on Installation

---

THE xl SCRIPT

Inside the project main directory, you find the src and the build directories:

• src contains the source code and all other files that are necessary to build the games and the examples;
• build is supposed to be empty at first and it is the target directory for the build process.

First of all you need to be in the src directory. From src you can use the xl script to do different operations on projects.

xl is used as follows:

xl <command> <[optional] parameters>

You can get help with:

xl help <[optional] command>

You can build games and examples with :

xl <game_or_example_name> <[optional] system_name>

For example xl snake vic20 builds the snake for the Commodore Vic 20 +16K and xl stinger builds stinger for the native terminal.

For more details click on XL script

---

THE TOOL-CHAIN

Cross-Lib provides a full tool-chain to build universal vintage 8-bit games.

Cross-Lib components

Cross-Lib provides:

• a C library with hardware-agnostic APIs for game development;
• the "user-friendly" script xl.

The build process

When a game is built for a specific target, the Cross-Lib tool-chain will automatically:

1. if needed, convert abstract graphics assets into target specific assets on the fly;
2. compile and link the game code (and the target-specific game assets) by using the appropriate compiler;
3. if needed, whenever possible, create disk/cassette/cartridge images.

The Workflow

The user has to:

• code the game in C with Cross-Lib APIs in a hardware-agnostic way;
• draw the abstract graphics assets and store them in the tiles or shapes directory;
• run the xl script (see below).

For more details click on Build

---

HOW TO CODE WITH CROSS-LIB

https://github.com/Fabrizio-Caruso/CROSS-LIB/blob/master/docs/HARDWARE_AGNOSTIC_CODE.md

https://github.com/Fabrizio-Caruso/CROSS-LIB/blob/master/docs/CROSS_LIB_APIS.md

---

LOADING THE GAMES

https://github.com/Fabrizio-Caruso/CROSS-LIB/blob/master/docs/HOW_TO_LOAD.md

---

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Cross-Lib would not exist without the cross-compilers and the support of their developers and the support of some people who have helped me handle the input/output of some targets.

A partial list of the people who have helped in found in Credits

---

LICENCE

This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied warranty. In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages arising from the use of this software.

Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for non-commercial applications, subject to the following restrictions:

1. The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this software in a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation would be appreciated but is not required.

2. Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not be misrepresented as being the original software.

3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.

For example I do not authorize selling hardware, software, firmware or any other product that contains any part of Cross-Lib and/or its games (e.g., pre-loaded disks, tapes, cartridges, etc.). On the other hand I authorize people to load the games in the most convenient way for their personal use.