RetroArch retro-8 (alpha) Core: PICO-8 Documentation Guide

Retro8 is an open-source reimplementation of the PICO-8 fantasy console that has been ported to libretro under the core name retro-8 (alpha). The official core documentation describes what it can load, what parts of the PICO-8 API are reported as working, and which features are not available. This guide summarizes those documented facts; it is not based on hands-on testing.

What retro-8 (alpha) Is

Retro8 is a port of the Retro8 open-source reimplementation of the PICO-8 fantasy console to libretro. According to the documentation, the core can load both p8 'cart' files and embedded PNG images. Much of the PICO-8 API is described as working with good performance, including basic sound and music. The documentation also notes that some obscure Lua extension quirks and fixed arithmetic support are still missing.

Authorship and License

• The retro-8 (alpha) core has been authored by jakz.
• The core is licensed under GPLv3.

Content the Core Loads

• Supported file extensions: .p8 and .png. The .p8 extension covers PICO-8 cart files; the .png extension covers embedded PNG images that carry cart data.

Documented Feature Gaps

The documentation's feature table marks the following as not supported. If your workflow depends on them, this core is not a match based on the official table.

• States — not supported.
• Rewind — not supported.

In addition, the documentation states that the core is missing some obscure Lua extension quirks and fixed arithmetic support, even though much of the PICO-8 API works with good performance, including basic sound and music.

Where to Find More

• PICO-8 database entry in the libretro-database repository: https://github.com/libretro/libretro-database/blob/master/rdb/PICO-8.rdb
• retro-8 (alpha) source repository: https://github.com/libretro/retro8
• Issue tracker for the core: https://github.com/libretro/retro8/issues