CHIPCODE image loader

This tool can be used on the command line or as a plugin to Octopus. It allows you to convert image files into sprite data with labels and bytes, in a format that is compatible with the Octo assembler.

Installing and running

Install as an NPM package, either for a project or globally:

npm install --save-dev @chipcode/image-loader

You can then convert images on the command line:

npx image-loader path/to/some-file.png <optional modifiers>

Which will output the assembly code to stdout.

Or you can use it through Octopus like so:

:include "path/to/some-file.png" <optional modifiers>

Supported file types

This image loader supports all file types that are supported by JIMP, which is used for the file loading under the hood. Currently those file types are:

• JPEG
• PNG
• BMP
• TIFF
• GIF

Labels and sprites

Let's say you convert or include, for example, a file called clock.png that is 24 pixels wide and 16 pixels high. Given the dimensions, the image loader will guess that you want to have six 8x8 sprites. So the following labels will be generated, which relate to the X and Y position of the sprite within the image:

• clock-0-0
• clock-1-0
• clock-2-0
• clock-0-1
• clock-1-1
• clock-2-1

So in this example, clock-2-0 is the top-rightmost 8x8 sprite.

If you don't want the image loader to generate these labels, provide the no-labels modifier.

Modifiers

Modifiers are keywords that you provide to the image loader in any order, that influence how it converts your image.

Sprite resolution

The image loader tries to make an educated guess as to what resolution sprites you are trying to get out of the input image. It may not always guess correctly. Provide one of the following strings as a modifier, and the image loader will cut the image into sprites of the requested dimensions:

• 8x1
• 8x2
• 8x3
• 8x4
• 8x5
• 8x6
• 8x7
• 8x8
• 8x9
• 8x10
• 8x11
• 8x12
• 8x13
• 8x14
• 8x15
• 16x16

No labels

Provide the modifier no-labels to suppress the sprite labels in the output. For example if you don't need the labels because you are dynamically calculating the offsets into the image, they just clutter up your code. And while they don't do any harm, they do unnecessarily make your source files longer.

Debug

Provide the word debug as a modifier to let the image loader output the image to the console, as well as the selected sprite resolution and all the sprites that it has cut from the image. This quickly and easily lets you inspect if the conversion was a success, and everything went as you expected.