Trick is a library for GBA image conversion and more.

import trick                       # import everything
import trick/[common, gfxconvert]  # import individual modules

See below for an API overview of each module.

common

This module contains some general utilitites for working with data.

Go to full docs ⇒

Types

Name	Type	Summary
View[T]	object	Allows you to treat arbitrary memory like an array of some type, without copying.

Procedures

Name	Parameters	Returns	Summary
viewSeq	seq[T]	View[T]	Interpret a sequence as a view
viewSeqAs	seq[A]	View[B]	Interpret a sequence as a view of a different type
viewBytesAs	string	View[T]	Interpret a string of binary data as a view of some type
toSeq	View[T]	seq[T]	Convert a view to a sequence
toBytes	View[T]	string	Convert a view to binary data
toBytes	seq[T]	string	Convert a sequence to binary data
makeCString	string	string	Convert a string of binary data to an escaped C string literal
toCamelCase	name, firstUpper=false	string	Convert a string from snake_case to camelCase
fileToVarName	name, firstUpper=false	string	Convert a filename to a variable name

gfxconvert

Types and procedures to convert between PNG and raw binary image/palette data.

For reading and writing PNGs, Trick uses the nimPNG library by jangko.

Go to full docs ⇒

Types

Name	Type	Summary
GfxInfo	object	Configuration object to encode/decode an image
GfxColor	uint16	15-bit BGR color
GfxPalette	seq[GfxColor]	List of colors
GfxBpp	enum	Bits per pixel specifier
GfxLayout	enum	Whether the image is arranged into 8x8 tiles

Constants

Name	Type	Summary
clrEmpty	GfxColor	Special 'transparent' color

Procedures

Name	Parameters	Returns	Summary
binToPng	data, conf	PNG	Convert raw GBA/NDS image data to a PNG object
writeFile	filename, png		Write a PNG object to a file
pngToBin	filename, conf, buildPal	string	Load a PNG and convert to GBA/NDS image data
readPal	filename	GfxPalette	Read a palette from a binary file
writePal	filename, pal		Write a palette to a binary file
rgb5	r, g, b	GfxColor	Create a color using 5-bit components
rgb8	r, g, b	GfxColor	Create a color using 8-bit components
rgb8	hex	GfxColor	Create a color using an 0xRRGGBB value
swap4bpp	ab	ba	Swap the low and high nybbles within a byte
swap2bpp	abcd	dcba	Swap the four pairs of bits within a byte

Iterators

Name	Parameters	Returns	Summary
tileEncode	width, height, bpp=8	(srcIndex, destIndex)	Unravel a tiled space into a bitmap space or vice versa

bgconvert

Procedures for working with tiled backgrounds.

Go to full docs ⇒

Types

Name	Type	Summary
Tile4	array[32, uint8]	8x8 pixels at 4bpp (paletted)
Tile8	array[64, uint8]	8x8 pixels at 8bpp (paletted)
Tile16	array[32, GfxColor]	8x8 pixels at 15bpp
SomeTile	Tile4 | Tile8 | Tile16	Typeclass for any kind of tile
ScrEntry	distinct uint16	Tile index with palette and flipping flags (via getters/setters)
Screenblock	array[1024, ScrEntry]	A block of 32x32 screen entries
Bg4	object	4bpp tiled background with a list of palettes
Bg16	object	16bpp high-color tiled background (used for processing/conversion)

Procedures

Name	Parameters	Returns	Summary
loadBg4	filename	Bg4	Load a PNG as a 4bpp tiled background
loadBg8	filename	Bg8	Load a PNG as a 8bpp tiled background
loadBg16	filename	Bg16	Load a PNG as a 15bpp (direct color) tiled background
toBg4	Bg8	Bg4	Convert a 8bpp background to 4bpp with strict rules
toBg4	Bg16	Bg4	Convert a 15bpp (direct color) background to 4bpp (paletted)
reduce	tiles	(tiles, map)	Remove duplicates from a list of tiles, and build a tile map
getPalettesFromTiles	tiles16	seq[IntSet]	Get a list of palettes from a list of 15bpp tiles
toScreenBlocks	map, w	seq[Screenblock]	Arrange a map into screenblocks (chunks of 32x32 tiles)
flipX	tile	tile	Flip a tile horizontally
flipY	tile	tile	Flip a tile vertically
clear	tile		Erase all pixels in a tile

palbuilder

This module implements a palette reduction algorithm: Given a list of palettes (of which many are duplicates or at least have colors in common), it attempts to merge them down into a reduced list of palettes.

This also produces a list of indexes, mapping palettes from the old list to the new list.

Note: Throughout this module, IntSet is used in place of GfxPalette, for performance reasons.

Go to full docs ⇒

Procedures

Name	Parameters	Returns	Summary
reducePalettes	seq[IntSet]	(seq[GfxPalette], seq[int])	Try to produce a minimal list of 16-color palettes
toPalette	IntSet	GfxPalette	Convert an IntSet to a list of colors
toIntSet	GfxPalette	IntSet	Convert a list of colors to an IntSet
joinPalettes	seq[GfxPalette]	GfxPalette	Concatenate several palettes into one (with padding)

mmutil

Note: This module is on the chopping block, best not to use.

Uses the Maxmod utility program (mmutil) to produce a soundbank, which is then converted to C. The soundbank header is converted to Nim, for use in your game.

Go to full docs ⇒

Procedures

Name	Parameters	Returns	Summary
makeSoundbank	nimOutputPath, cOutputPath, inputFiles, nds=false		Create a soundbank from a list of audio files

Variables

Name	Type	Summary
mmutilPath	string	Location of the mmutil executable. You shouldn't need to change this.