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So You've Just Received Your 32Blit
Hello there. It's been a journey. Thank you for sticking with us.
If you're a Kickstarter backer and have just received your unit, it will probably have firmware v0.1.2 Beta and be pre-loaded with a collection of games and examples from both us and beta backers who were quick on the draw.
If you're a beta backer who's been on the sidelines... you're going to want to update your firmware to the latest release - v0.1.13 RC4 - read on to find out how.
While your 32blit is preloaded with some examples, not all of them made the cut. There are a couple more- somewhat rough around the edges- examples you might want to try. You can grab the latest examples release compatible with your firmware from here: 32blit-beta-v0.1.2-STM32.zip.
You can either use an SD card by formatting it to FAT32 and copying the .bin files over, or you can use the 32blit tool to flash a single .bin file to external flash using 32blit flash flash --file filename.bin.
You can also grab Daft-Freak-contrib-v0.1.2.zip, which contains a DOOM port, Gameboy emulator, MJPEG player, Music Player and Babble game, all created by beta power-user Daft-Freak.
And rocks-and-diamonds-v0.0.1a-STM32.zip, which contains an unfinished version of my Rocks And Diamonds remake (which should already be installed, but y'never know).
The pace of development is moving quickly, and you might want to update your firmware once in a while to keep up. You should find a firmware.bin and a firmware.dfu file in each release. For example 32blit-sdk-v0.1.13-STM32.zip.
We've prepared a guide to flashing the firmware on your 32blit that should help you get this installed on your unit.
If you're already on v0.1.2 or greater, you can use the 32blit tool to flash firmware-update.blit and launcher.blit. You'll need both of these files to update your 32blit, since the "launcher" is now a separate application. You can also place these files on an SD card and launch them to upgrade:
32blit install firmware-update.blit
32blit install launcher.blit
The brilliant 32Blit community have stepped up the sharing game with blithub.co.uk. Keep your firmware up-to-date and you can grab .blit files from the blits page.
To develop games for your firmware you'll want to start by grabbing the 32blit-beta repository at v0.1.13, which you can do with:
git clone https://github.com/pimoroni/32blit-beta -b v0.1.13
Then, head over to Building & Running on 32blit and follow the guide for your respective operating system.
You should consider the 32blit boilerplate as a starting point for your game. It will set up GitHub Actions to continually test your code, and will even release binaries for Windows, macOS, Linux and - of course - 32blit when you tag a release.
Games are usually - though not always - compatible between different versions of the 32blit firmware. Consult the release notes of each release for details of any breaking changes.
If you want to experience the cutting edge of 32blit, you should join us on Discord. Here the firmware is forged and ideas bounced back and forth.
I hear you. You're not a beta backer, but you're getting a 32blit with firmware still in flux.
Most of the real pain points have been ironed out, and the firmware has come leaps and bounds in the intervening months. The ever-talented Beta Backers have pushed 32blit further than we ever expected, and thus our ambitions and desires have grown in line with what the 32blit hardware has proven itself capable of.
We're now at the stage of focusing on fixes rather than new features where we can and aiming to release soon. However I we hope the 32blit software will remain in a constant cycle of improvement. Keep an eye on 32blit issues and pull requests, read our release notes and join the fray in Discord to keep up to date.
Nothing should change that will dramatically affect your game code so you can, and should 😉, start writing games right away.