Switch P8

Switch P8
General
Author	voliva
Type	Computer
Version	0.5.0
License	MIT License
Last Updated	2025/10/25
Links
Download
Website
Source

An emulator to run pico-8 cartridges on a Switch built on devkitPro.

Pico-8 is a Fantasy Programmable Console made by Lexaloffle Games. This emulator is compatible with built pico-8 cartridges in PNG format, to build your own games you will need the original Pico-8 console

Project status:

• This is a work-in-progress. Compatibility is still limited, but there are many cartridges it can run already.
• print: It prints text on the screen, but it's missing some P8SCII control codes, non-ascii characters.
• Sprites: Done
• Sfx: Playable. Room of improvement for sound quality, and sound filters are missing (damp, buzz, reverb, etc.)
• Music: Playable.
• Menu: WIP.
• Memory manipulation: Almost complete.
• Maps: Done.
• Custom P8-Lua: Some edge cases missing.

Features

• Modified lua interpreter compatible with pico8's lua.
• 16-bit fixed point decimal arithemtic just like pico8.
• Save states (at the moment simplistic, one save state per cartridge).
• The most used predefined pico8 functions are implemented: 90 functions implemented out of 105.
• Console options:
  • CRT/DOT matrix filters.
  • Volume control.
  • Invert controls.

Installation

Copy the .nro to sdmc:/switch/SwitchP8/.

Release comes with a set of bundled games which have been used to improve the compatibility.

More .p8.png cartridges can be bundled with the .pkg file by adding them into /assets/misc folder, or they will be loaded in runtime from console's /data/p8-cartridges folder.

A list of some playable cartridges can be found here

Changelog

v0.5.0

• Features
  • New options menu
  • CRT/DOT matrix filters
  • Volume control
  • Invert O/X button controls
• Compatibility fixes
  • math functions (ceil, sqrt, sin, cos) can take optional parameters

v0.4.1

• Features
  • Custom font compatibility
  • Support games with their own rendering loop through "flip". Save states for these games will not work yet.
• Compatibility fixes
  • stat(table) should behave like stat(0)
  • printing backspaces
  • stop looping SFX after length mark
  • tonum("") should return empty instead of 0
  • time() should go in exact intervals based on frame rate instead of the actual time.

v0.4.0

• • switch: Move all application data (cartridges, savestates, etc.) to /switch/switch-p8 to reduce clutter.
  • enable pico-8 saves without needing a specific folder setup.
  • splore: add a context menu accessible with "pause" (button +) to save a BBS cartridge to the local SD.
  • local cartridges: add a context menu to delete cartridges from the local SD.
  • add animation to splore cartridges
• Fixes
  • implement pico-8 load() function, a function that loads external cartridges.
  • avoid skipping too many frames

v0.3.2

• Fixes
  • fget(_, nil)
  • tostring(float) was not showing the correct number
  • tonum(nil) crash,
  • str[number] indexing was returning null.
  • split() would convert "-" to "0"
  • min() and max() with nil values
  • pairs(nil) should return an empty iterator
• p8scii
  • inline binary characters (\^.)
  • inline hex characters (\^:)
• Cartridges used to try these
  • https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=160117#p
  • https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=133840#p
  • https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=162293#p
  • https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=109965#p
  • https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=118024#p
  • https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=115916#p

v0.3.1

• Switch version.
• Fix crash on exit, set metadata, update readme, adjust resolution.

External links

• GitHub - https://github.com/voliva/ps4-p8/
• Homebrew App Store - https://hb-app.store/switch/SwitchP8