gba-toolchain

Requirements

CMake (3.18 minimum)
Arm compiler toolchain (Arm GNU Toolchain, devkitPro)

Basic usage

gba-toolchain provides a CMake toolchain file "cmake/gba.toolchain.cmake" that sets up compilers & tools for GBA development.

For more information on CMake toolchains see: cmake-toolchains cross-compiling

Command line

CMake toolchains can be used with CMake on the command line as such:

cmake -S . -B build --toolchain=/path/to/cmake/gba.toolchain.cmake

Or for CMake versions prior to 3.21:

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=/path/to/cmake/gba.toolchain.cmake

CMake presets file

For more information on CMake presets files see: cmake-presets configure-preset

Objects of configurePresets has the member toolchainFile:

{
  "version": 3,
  "cmakeMinimumRequired": {
    "major": 3,
    "minor": 21,
    "patch": 0
  },
  "configurePresets": [
    {
      "name": "gba-toolchain",
      "generator": "Unix Makefiles",
      "toolchainFile": "/path/to/cmake/gba.toolchain.cmake"
    }
  ]
}

Example CMakeLists.txt

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.18)
project(my_project LANGUAGES C)

add_executable(my_executable main.c)

# gba-toolchain sets `CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME` to `AdvancedGameBoy`
if(CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL AdvancedGameBoy)
    find_package(librom REQUIRED) # ROM runtime
    find_package(libseven REQUIRED) # C development library
    find_package(agbabi REQUIRED) # Optimized library functions

    target_compile_options(my_executable PRIVATE -mthumb -fconserve-stack -fomit-frame-pointer)
    target_link_libraries(my_executable PRIVATE librom libseven agbabi)
    
    # ROM header info
    set_target_properties(my_executable PROPERTIES
        ROM_TITLE "My Game"
        ROM_ID AABE
        ROM_MAKER CD
        ROM_VERSION 1
    )

    # install to .gba
    install_rom(my_executable)
endif()

CMake modules

CMake modules are made available with the find_package function.

For more information on CMake find_package see: cmake-commands find_package

Package	Module	Description	Additional CMake functions
librom	Findlibrom.cmake	ROM runtime library for standard .gba ROMs
libmultiboot	Findlibmultiboot.cmake	Multiboot runtime library for executables transferred via GBA MultiBoot
gba-hpp	Findgba-hpp.cmake	C++20 GBA development library (more info)
libseven	Findlibseven.cmake	Modern C GBA development library from sdk-seven (more info)
libgba	Findlibgba.cmake	C GBA development library from devkitPro (more info)
tonclib	Findtonclib.cmake	Classic C GBA development library from Coranac (more info)
gbfs	Findgbfs.cmake	Archive format for the GBA (more info)	`add_gbfs_archive`
maxmod	Findmaxmod.cmake	GBA music and sound solution (more info)	`add_maxmod_soundbank`
superfamiconv	Findsuperfamiconv.cmake	Tile graphics converter (more info)	`add_superfamiconv_graphics`
agbabi	Findagbabi.cmake	Library functions optimized for the GBA (more info)
posprintf	Findposprintf.cmake	Partial implementation of `sprintf` optimized for the GBA (more info)
grit	Findgrit.cmake	Bitmap and Tile graphics converter (more info)	`add_grit_bitmap` `add_grit_sprite` `add_grit_tilemap`
butano	Findbutano.cmake	Butano engine (more info)	`add_butano_assets`
gbt-player	Findgbt-player.cmake	Game Boy music player library and converter kit (more info)	`add_gbt_assets` `add_gbt_maxmod_assets`

Important: Some modules may have external dependencies that may require tools to be compiled with a host compiler.