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.