NightFox’s Lib

NFlib
General
Author	KnightFox (NightFox)
Type	Development Libraries
Version	1.1
License	Mixed
Last Updated	2023/11/16
Links
Download
Website
Source
Support Author

NightFox’s Lib (NFlib) is a library written in C that is developed to facilitate programming for the DS. Based on Libnds of devkitArm, our library contains functions witch make the use of backgrounds, sprites, collision maps, etc much easier.

Features

• 256 color tilemaps:
  • You can load them from FAT or NitroFS, and you may load up to 32 in RAM.
  • The size must be a multiple of 256 pixels.
  • Extended palettes are supported (up to 16 palettes of 256 colors per bg).
  • VRAM is setup so that you can use 96 KB for tiles and 32 KB for maps per screen.
  • "Infinite maps" are supported, using the technique "bank swap", which keeps the map in RAM all the time and copies to VRAM only the part that is being shown. The only limitation is the tileset size, which must not be over 96 KB for all 4 layers.
  • Scroll is supported, and parts of the map are loaded to VRAM as they are needed.
  • It is possible to show or hide backgrounds, unload them from RAM, modify tiles in the map at runtime, change the palette, etc.
• 256 color sprites:
  • You may load up to 256 objects (128 per screen) and 64 palettes.
  • You can hide sprites, rotate them, change their size, flip them, etc.
  • Animated sprites are supported, with no frame limit. You can choose if the frames are stored in VRAM or only the image being shown in that moment.
  • It is possible to modify the palettes at runtime to create visual effects.
• Text engine:
  • Based on tiled backgrounds.
  • It supports 8x8 and 8x16 pixel fonts.
  • 256 color font are supported.
  • You can use fonts already colored or you can define their colors at runtime.
  • You can rotate them by 90 degrees and scroll them.
  • You need to load a font per background layer that will use it.
• Sound:
  • Basic support to load RAW audio files from FAT or NitroFS.
  • It uses libnds to play them.
  • You can load up to 32 sounds to RAM.
• Collision maps:
  • The library supports collision maps that can be edited at runtime.
  • Up to 32 mapx can be loaded at the same time in RAM.
• 8 and 16 bit backgrounds:
  • Useful to display images with a higher detail that tiled maps.
  • There are functions to load them and edit them.
  • You may load up to 16 images in total.
  • There is backbuffer support.
• Media:
  • The library supports loading 8, 16, and 24 bit BMP files.
• 3D sprites:
  • They use the 3D engine of the console to display up to 256 sprites.
  • The maximum size is 1024x1024.
  • You may rotate them, scale them, and define up to 62 transparency configurations.
• WiFi:
  • Basic WiFi support.
  • Functions for basic UDP communications.
• Examples:
  • Lots of examples are available to see how to use the library.
• Documentation:
  • Available in PDF format in English and Spanish.
• License:
  • The library is licensed under the MIT license.
  • The assets in this repository are licensed under the CC-BY-4.0 license.
  • The examples are licensed under the CC0 license.

User guide

Setup instructions for devkitPro

Clone this repository. Create a symbolic link to it inside the devkitPro folder in your system. For example, in Linux, create a symlink so that /opt/devkitpro/nflib points to the folder with NFlib:

ln -sT /path/to/nds_nflib /opt/devkitpro/nflib

If this doesn't work, copy the folder of NFlib to the devkitPro folder and rename it to nflib. Go to the nflib folder and type this on the terminal:

make

That's it! Go to the folder of any of the examples and try to build it with:

make

Setup instructions for BlocksDS

Clone this repository. If you have followed the tutorial of BlocksDS, you should have the compiler in your PATH. All you have to do is go to the folder of the repository and run:

make -f Makefile.blocksds install

That's it! Go to the folder of any of the examples and try to build it with:

make -f Makefile.blocksds

Changelog

1.1

• Translate examples comments in library to English.
• Cleanup examples and library files.
• Improve deletion code of 3D sprites
• Update BlocksDS makefiles.
• A few minor fixes.

1.00

• Add original assets and conversion scripts to all examples.
• Start using semver for the version number of the library.
• Big cleanup of the library headers.
• Switch documentation to Doxygen.
• Move WiFi functions to the main library.
• Added support for BlocksDS.

External links

• Official website - https://nightfoxandco.com
• GitHub - https://github.com/knightfox75/nds_nflib