FAKE-08 3DS

fake-08
General
Author	jtothebell
Type	Computer
Version	0.0.2.13
License	MIT License
Last Updated	2021/09/06
Links
Download
Website
Source

fake-08 is a homebrew PICO-8 emulator, the latest release is available for Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, Sony PS Vita, and Nintendo Wii U.

Originally created by Lexaloffle Software, PICO-8 is a virtual machine and game engine. It is a fantasy video game console that mimics the limited graphical and sound capabilities of 8-bit systems of the 1980s. The goal of this is to spur one's creativity and ingenuity in producing games, and avoid being overwhelmed with the many possibilities of modern tools and machines. Such a design also allows PICO-8 games to have a familiar look and feel.

Installation

Available in 3DSX and CIA formats.

• CIA - Install the .cia with the CIA manager of your choice.
• 3DSX - Use the .3dsx provided with the Homebrew Launcher.

Pico 8 cart files go in the p8carts directory of your SD card. Fake-08 supports .p8 text file carts and .p8.png image file carts.

User guide

You browse and download carts by using the SPLORE() function in Pico 8 (again, if you have $15 to spend, and you are interested in game dev, it is well worth your money). Once you have loaded a cart that you want to try on FAKE-08, type save {{cartname}}.p8 to save the cart as a text file, then copy that file to your device's SD card.

You can also browse carts on the Pico-8 BBS website, but can only download complete carts in png format. As of pre release v0.0.1.1 Fake-08 should load and play png carts provided they don't use any other unsupported features. You can download p8.png carts from the Cart link in the lower left of the game view, and save it into your p8carts directory.

If you are trying to play a multi cart game, it should be noted that you must provide all the carts required by the game as FAKE-08 currently does not have cart downloading capabilities. All carts should be placed in the same directory.

See also Fake-08 cart compatibility list.

Controls

Left/Right - Nagigate carts 1 by 1

Up/Down - Navigate carts 10 by 10

A - Load selected cart

Start - Close selected cart

Select - Cycle screen sizes

L+R - Exit

Screenshots

Media

FAKE-08 (PICO-8) | 3DS, Vita, Switch & Wii U | Games Showcase (Stranno)

Compatibility

Performance is not great on Old 3DS systems. Some games may experience slowdowns on the faster consoles as well.

More optimizations are probably possible, but keep in mind that Pico 8 lists a raspberry pi 1 with a 700 MHz ARM11 professor as minimum spec, and the old 3DS's CPU is 268 MHz ARM11.

Many games should be playable regardless, and hopefully more optimizations can be made.

Known issues

Latest Pico 8 version v0.2.2 features (sprite fill patterns, text control codes, custom fonts, etc) not implemented yet

Games using flip() (like tweetcarts) have intermittent problems exiting back to the menu, and may crash the console. Use with caution.

Sound emulation is not perfect, and the noise implementation is noticably inaccurrate. Most of my sound implementation was ported over from Zepto 8. with the exception of the Noise instrument which was ported from PicoLove. It is not 100% accurate, and some games have noticable clipping/popping.

See issues page for more specifics.

Credits

• Zep/Lexaloffle software for making pico 8. Buy a copy if you can. You won't regret it.
• Nintendo Homebrew Community.
• Vita Homebrew Community.
• zepto8 - Probably the best Pico 8 emulator. FAKE-08's audio, tline, and newer png decompression implementations were ported from zepto8, and other parts were heavily influenced. Alsod use a slightly modified z8lua for pico 8 specific features.
• PicoLove - Basis for a previous project - PicoLovePotion - and first learned the basics of Pico 8's API.
• tac08 - A Pico 8 emulator. FAKE-08's sprite rendering and cart parsing is heavily based on tac08, and it uses 0xcafed00d's utf8-util to handle special characters in pico 8 carts.
• LovePotion - An implementation of Love2d for 3DS and switch that served as the runtime for PicoLovePotion, and a great way to make homebrew games for the 3DS and switch. Also use a modified version of their static Logger implementation.

Postcard image from Vita Sprite credits:

• Rabu Rabu Monster by pedroavelar (No License).
• Rainy Day Friends by electricgryphon (CC4-BY-NC-SA License).
• chrysopoeia by benjamin_soule (No License).
• warehouse panic by benjamin_soule (No License).
• Barp the Balldragon by Saffith (CC4-BY-NC-SA).
• Celeste Classic 2 by noel (CC4-BY-NC-SA).
• Solais by DragonXVI (CC4-BY-NC-SA).
• Demon Castle by Mush (CC4-BY-NC-SA).
• Fuz by Jusiv (No License).
• Islander by CarsonK (No License).
• Little Necromancer by Fred_Osterero (CC4-BY-NC-SA).
• Villager by partnano (CC4-BY-NC-SA).
• Pico Driller by johanp (No License).
• pigments by benjamin_soule (CC4-BY-NC-SA).
• Polar Panic by johanp (No License).
• Little Architect by benjamin_soule (No License).
• Scrap Boy by BoneVole (CC4-BY-NC-SA).
• Shelled Shinobi by noppa (No License).
• UFO Swamp Odyssey by paranoidcactus (CC4-BY-NC-SA).

Changelog

v0.0.2.13

• Add breadcrumb menu items for multi cart games. Games like Pico Arcade and the Christmas carts should work now as long as you provide all the sub carts as well (still no auto downloading).
• Optimize shape drawing (rectfill, circfill, are much faster if there is no fill pattern).
• Small optimization to sprite blitting (hopefully more to come here).

Release notes.

External links

• GitHub - https://github.com/jtothebell/fake-08
• Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/vitahacks/comments/m3um3j/release_fake08_a_homebrew_pico_8_emulator