TIC-80 Manual & Cheat Sheet

TIC()
TIC is the ‘main’ function and must be present in every program.
It takes no parameters and is called sixty times per second (60fps).
Syntax:
– script: lua function TIC() – Put your stuff here end

SCN()
SCN allows you to execute code between the drawing of each scan line, for example, to manipulate the palette.
Syntax:
function SCN(line) – your code here end

OVR()
OVR is called on every frame.
It draws on a separate layer and can be used together with SCN() to create separate background or foreground layers and other visual effects.
Syntax:
function OVR() –Draw foreground end

BDR(row)
Allows you to execute code between the drawing of each fullscreen scanline, for example, to manipulate the palette.

MENU(index)
Game Menu handler.

BOOT
Startup Function.

Button Key Codes
btn(id: 0..31) -> pressed
Parameters:
id : the id of the key we want to interrogate, see the key map for reference

Description: This function allows you to read the status of one of the buttons attached to TIC. The function returns true if the key with the supplied id is currently in the pressed state.
It remains true for as long as the key is held down.
If you want to test if a key was just pressed, use btnp instead.

Button Key Codes
btnp([id: 0..31], [hold], [period]) -> pressed
(but wasn’t pressed in previous frame)
This function allows you to read the status of one of TIC’s buttons. It returns true only if the key has been pressed since the last frame.

You can also use the optional hold and period parameters which allow you to check if a button is being held down. After the time specified by hold has elapsed, btnp will return true each time period is passed if the key is still down. For example, to re-examine the state of button ‘0’ after 2 seconds and continue to check its state every 1/10th of a second, you would use btnp(0, 120, 6). Since time is expressed in ticks and TIC runs at 60 frames per second, we use the value of 120 to wait 2 seconds and 6 ticks (ie 60/10) as the interval for re-checking.

Parameters:
- id : The id of the key we wish to interrogate - see the key map for reference
- hold : The time (in ticks) the key must be pressed before re-checking
- period : The the amount of time (in ticks) after hold before this function will return true again.

Key Codes
key(code: 1 - 65) -> pressed

Key Codes
keyp(code=-1 hold=-1 period=-1) -> pressed
Parameters
code : the key code we want to check (see codes here)
hold : time in ticks before autorepeat
period : time in ticks for autorepeat interval
This function returns true if the given key is pressed but wasn’t pressed in the previous frame. Refer to btnp for an explanation of the optional hold and period parameters

mouse() -> x y left middle right scrollx scrolly
This function returns the mouse coordinates and a boolean value for the state of each mouse button, with true indicating that a button is pressed.

clip(x y width height)
clip()
This function limits drawing to a clipping region or `viewport` defined by x,y,w,h.
Things drawn outside of this area will not be visible.
Calling clip() with no parameters will reset the drawing area to the entire screen.

cls(color=0)
Clear the screen.
When called this function clear all the screen using the color passed as argument.
If no parameter is passed first color (0) is used.

circ(x y radius color)
This function draws a filled circle of the desired radius and color with its center at x, y.
It uses the Bresenham algorithm.

circb(x y radius color)
Draws the circumference of a circle with its center at x, y using the radius and color requested.
It uses the Bresenham algorithm

line(x0 y0 x1 y1 color)
Draws a straight line from point (x0,y0) to point (x1,y1) in the specified color.

pix(x y color)
pix(x y) -> color
This function can read or write pixel color values.
When called with a color parameter, the pixel at the specified coordinates is set to that color.
Calling the function without a color parameter returns the color of the pixel at the specified position.

rect(x y w h color)
This function draws a filled rectangle of the desired size and color at the specified position.
If you only need to draw the the border or outline of a rectangle (ie not filled) see `rectb()`.

rectb(x y w h color)
This function draws a one pixel thick rectangle border at the position requested.
If you need to fill the rectangle with a color, see `rect()` instead.

tri(x1 y1 x2 y2 x3 y3 color)
This function draws a triangle filled with color, using the supplied vertices.

ttri(x1 y1 x2 y2 x3 y3 u1 v1 u2 v2 u3 v3 texsrc=0 chromakey=-1 z1=0 z2=0 z3=0)
It renders a triangle filled with texture from image ram, map ram or vbank.
Use in 3D graphics.
In particular, if the vertices in the triangle have different 3D depth, you may see some distortion.
These can be thought of as the window inside image ram (sprite sheet), map ram or another vbank.
Note that the sprite sheet or map in this case is treated as a single large image, with U and V addressing its pixels directly, rather than by sprite ID.
So for example the top left corner of sprite #2 would be located at u=16, v=0.

elli(x y a b color)
This function draws a filled ellipse of the desired a, b radiuses and color with its center at x, y.
It uses the Bresenham algorithm.

ellib(x y a b color)
This function draws an ellipse border with the desired radiuses a b and color with its center at x, y.
It uses the Bresenham algorithm.

exit()
exit the application.

reset()
Resets the cartridge. To return to the console, see the `exit()`.

time() -> ticks
This function returns the number of milliseconds elapsed since the cartridge began execution.
Useful for keeping track of time, animating items and triggering events.

tstamp() -> timestamp
This function returns the number of seconds elapsed since January 1st, 1970.
Useful for creating persistent games which evolve over time between plays.

trace(message color=15)
This is a service function, useful for debugging your code.
It prints the message parameter to the console in the (optional) color specified.
Tips:
- The Lua concatenator for strings is .. (two points).
- Use console cls command to clear the output from trace.

fget(sprite_id flag) -> bool
Returns true if the specified flag of the sprite is set.
See also fset()

fset(sprite_id flag bool)
Each sprite has eight flags which can be used to store information or signal different conditions.
For example, flag 0 might be used to indicate that the sprite is invisible, flag 6 might indicate that the flag should be draw scaled etc.
See also fget()

map(x=0 y=0 w=30 h=17 sx=0 sy=0 colorkey=-1 scale=1 remap=nil)
The map consists of cells of 8x8 pixels, each of which can be filled with a sprite using the map editor.
The map can be up to 240 cells wide by 136 deep.
This function will draw the desired area of the map to a specified screen position.
For example, map(5,5,12,10,0,0) will draw a 12x10 section of the map, starting from map co-ordinates (5,5) to screen position (0,0).
The map function's last parameter is a powerful callback function for changing how map cells (sprites) are drawn when map is called.
It can be used to rotate, flip and replace sprites while the game is running.
Unlike mset, which saves changes to the map, this special function can be used to create animated tiles or replace them completely.
Some examples include changing sprites to open doorways, hiding sprites used to spawn objects in your game and even to emit the objects themselves.
The tilemap is laid out sequentially in RAM - writing 1 to 0x08000 will cause tile(sprite) #1 to appear at top left when map() is called.
To set the tile immediately below this we need to write to 0x08000 + 240, ie 0x080F0.

mget(x y) -> tile_id
Gets the sprite id at the given x and y map coordinate.

memset(dest value size)
This function allows you to set a continuous block of any part of TIC's RAM to the same value.
The address is specified in hexadecimal format, the value in decimal.

spr(id x y colorkey=-1 scale=1 flip=0 rotate=0 w=1 h=1)
Draws the sprite number index at the x and y coordinate.
You can specify a colorkey in the palette which will be used as the transparent color or use a value of -1 for an opaque sprite.
The sprite can be scaled up by a desired factor. For example, a scale factor of 2 means an 8x8 pixel sprite is drawn to a 16x16 area of the screen.
You can flip the sprite where:
- 0 = No Flip
- 1 = Flip horizontally
- 2 = Flip vertically
- 3 = Flip both vertically and horizontally
When you rotate the sprite, it's rotated clockwise in 90 steps:
- 0 = No rotation
- 1 = 90 rotation
- 2 = 180 rotation
- 3 = 270 rotation
You can draw a composite sprite (consisting of a rectangular region of sprites from the sprite sheet) by specifying the `w` and `h` parameters (which default to 1).

font(text x y chromakey char_width char_height fixed=false scale=1) -> width
Print string with font defined in foreground sprites.
To simply print to the screen, check out print()
To print to the console, check out trace()

print(text x=0 y=0 color=15 fixed=false scale=1 smallfont=false) -> width
This will simply print text to the screen using the font defined in config.
When set to true, the fixed width option ensures that each character will be printed in a `box` of the same size, so the character `i` will occupy the same width as the character `w` for example.
When fixed width is false, there will be a single space between each character.
Tips:
- To use a custom rastered font, check out font()
- To print to the console, check out trace()

memcpy(dest source size)
This function allows you to copy a continuous block of TIC's 96K RAM from one address to another.
Addresses are specified are in hexadecimal format, values are decimal.

memset(dest value size)
This function allows you to set a continuous block of any part of TIC's RAM to the same value.
The address is specified in hexadecimal format, the value in decimal.

peek(addr bits=8) -> value
This function allows to read the memory from TIC.
It's useful to access resources created with the integrated tools like sprite, maps, sounds, cartridges data?
Never dream to sound a sprite?
Address are in hexadecimal format but values are decimal.
To write to a memory address, use poke()
`bits` allowed to be 1,2,4,8.

peek1(addr) -> value
This function enables you to read single bit values from TIC's RAM.
The address is often specified in hexadecimal format.

peek2(addr) -> value
This function enables you to read two bits values from TIC's RAM.
The address is often specified in hexadecimal format.

peek4(addr) -> value
This function enables you to read values from TIC's RAM.
The address is often specified in hexadecimal format.
See poke4() for detailed information on how nibble addressing compares with byte addressing.

pmem(index value)
pmem(index) -> value
This function allows you to save and retrieve data in one of the 256 individual 32-bit slots available in the cartridge's persistent memory.
This is useful for saving high-scores, level advancement or achievements.
The data is stored as unsigned 32-bit integers (from 0 to 4294967295).
Tips:
- pmem depends on the cartridge hash (md5), so don't change your lua script if you want to keep the data.
- Use `saveid:` with a personalized string in the header metadata to override the default MD5 calculation.
This allows the user to update a cart without losing their saved data.

poke(addr value bits=8)
This function allows you to write a single byte to any address in TIC's RAM.
The address should be specified in hexadecimal format, the value in decimal.
`bits` allowed to be 1,2,4,8.

poke1(addr value)
This function allows you to write single bit values directly to RAM.
The address is often specified in hexadecimal format.

poke2(addr value)
This function allows you to write two bits values directly to RAM.
The address is often specified in hexadecimal format.

poke4(addr value)
This function allows you to write directly to RAM.
The address is often specified in hexadecimal format.
For both peek4 and poke4 RAM is addressed in 4 bit segments (nibbles).
Therefore, to access the the RAM at byte address 0x4000 you would need to access both the 0x8000 and 0x8001 nibble addresses.

sync(mask=0 bank=0 tocart=false)
The pro version of TIC-80 contains 8 memory banks.
To switch between these banks, sync can be used to either load contents from a memory bank to runtime, or save contents from the active runtime to a bank.
The function can only be called once per frame.
If you have manipulated the runtime memory
(e.g. by using mset), you can reset the active state by calling sync(0,0,false).
This resets the whole runtime memory to the contents of bank 0.
Note that sync is not used to load code from banks; this is done automatically.

vbank(bank) -> prev
vbank() -> prev
VRAM contains 2x16K memory chips, use vbank(0) or vbank(1) to switch between them.

music(track=-1 frame=-1 row=-1 loop=true sustain=false tempo=-1 speed=-1)
This function starts playing a track created in the Music Editor.
Call without arguments to stop the music.

sfx(id note=-1 duration=-1 channel=0 volume=15 speed=0)
This function will play the sound with `id` created in the sfx editor.
Calling the function with id set to -1 will stop playing the channel.
The note can be supplied as an integer between 0 and 95 (representing 8 octaves of 12 notes each) or as a string giving the note name and octave.
For example, a note value of `14` will play the note `D` in the second octave.
The same note could be specified by the string `D-2`.
Note names consist of two characters, the note itself (in upper case) followed by `-` to represent the natural note or `#` to represent a sharp.
There is no option to indicate flat values.
The available note names are therefore: C-, C#, D-, D#, E-, F-, F#, G-, G#, A-, A#, B-.
The `octave` is specified using a single digit in the range 0 to 8.
The `duration` specifies how many ticks to play the sound for since TIC-80 runs at 60 frames per second, a value of 30 represents half a second.
A value of -1 will play the sound continuously.
The `channel` parameter indicates which of the four channels to use.
Allowed values are 0 to 3.
The `volume` can be between 0 and 15.
The `speed` in the range -4 to 3 can be specified and means how many `ticks+1` to play each step, so speed==0 means 1 tick per step.