Create my first program

Test template program

First try to compile and run the template program:

• Go to projects/template (or template_msx2 if you target MSX2 computer)
• Execute build.bat (Windows) or ./build.sh (Linux & macOS)
• Go to projects/template/emul/rom, check if template.rom exists and try it on your MSX machine or emulator.

Note: If you have configured an emulator path in projects/default_config.js, you can edit project_config.js and change "DoRun = false;" to "DoRun = true;" to allow auto-launch of the built program.

Create your project directory

Now that everything work well, let's create your own program.

You can sure start a new project from scratch, but for this example lets duplicate template (or template_msx2) directory, and rename it mygame.

Rename template.c to mygame.c.

Your project directory should look like:

📁 projects
└─📁 mygame	Your project directory
├─ build.bat	Launch Build tool (Windows)
├─ build.sh	Launch Build tool (Linux)
├─ msxgl_config.h	Library configuration
├─ mygame.c	Your program source code
└─ project_config.js	Build tool configuration

Setup Build Tool

Edit project_config.js:

• Change ProjName to "mygame".
• Set Machine to the minimal version of MSX hardware you want to support for your program. Let's say "1" for .
• Set Target to your target format. Let's say ROM_48K (ROM on page 0, 1 and 2 with page 1 & 2 selected at startup).
• If you have configured an emulator path in projects/default_config.js, set DoRun to true to allow auto-launch (easier to test your program).

• Execute build.bat, check the emul/rom directory for mygame.rom and test it.

Many other build options can be defined in project_config.js. See the options list.

This is where you will be able to choose which MSX version your program is intended for (MSX 1, 2, 2+ or turbo R) and the type of program you want to create (MSX-DOS, BASIC binary, plain or mapped ROM).

Setup program

• msxgl_config.h file contains many options to configure the library to better suit your needs.

Change program content

Here it all depends on the type of game you want to play.

TBC...