nescript/examples

NEScript Examples

Quick Start

# Build the compiler
cargo build --release

# Compile all examples
for f in examples/*.ne; do cargo run -- build "$f"; done

# Or compile one
cargo run -- build examples/hello_sprite.ne

Open any .nes file in an NES emulator (Mesen, FCEUX, etc.)

Examples

File	Features	Description
hello_sprite.ne	input, draw	Move a sprite with the d-pad
bouncing_ball.ne	if/else, variables	Auto-bouncing sprite with edge detection
coin_cavern.ne	states, functions, constants	3-state game with gravity and coin collection
arrays_and_functions.ne	arrays, functions, while	Enemy array with collision detection
state_machine.ne	on enter/exit, transitions	Multi-state flow with timers
sprites_and_palettes.ne	sprites, scroll, cast	Inline CHR data, PPU scroll writes, type casting
mmc1_banked.ne	MMC1, banks, multiply	Banked mapper with software multiply
palette_and_background.ne	palette, background, set_palette, load_background	Reset-time initial load plus vblank-safe runtime swaps
friendly_assets.ne	named colours, grouped palette, pixel art, tilemap+legend, palette_map, scalar sfx pitch, note-name music	Exercises every "friendlier" asset syntax at once — the palette uses bg0..sp3 + a shared universal:, the sprite is authored as ASCII pixel art, the background uses a legend { ... } + map: tilemap with a palette_map: for attributes, the sfx uses a scalar pitch: + envelope: alias, and the music uses note names (C4, E4 40, rest 10) with a tempo: default.
platformer.ne	every subsystem	End-to-end side-scrolling demo: custom CHR tileset, full 32×30 nametable with per-region attribute palettes, 2×2 metasprite hero with gravity/jump physics, wrap-around horizontal scrolling, enemies, coin pickups, user-declared SFX + music, and a Title → Playing state machine with an autopilot so the headless harness still hits interesting gameplay at frame 180. Regenerate the tile art with cargo run --bin gen_platformer_tiles.

Emulator Controls

NES Button	Typical Key
D-pad	Arrow keys
A	Z
B	X
Start	Enter
Select	Right Shift

About Sprites

Sprite names in draw Player at: (x, y) are parsed and recorded in the AST. You can define sprites with inline CHR tile data:

sprite Player {
    chr: [0x3C, 0x42, 0x81, 0x81, 0x81, 0x81, 0x42, 0x3C,
          0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00]
}

If no matching sprite declaration exists, the draw uses the built-in default tile (a smiley face). See sprites_and_palettes.ne for a full example.

Compiler Commands

# Compile to ROM
cargo run -- build game.ne

# Custom output path
cargo run -- build game.ne --output my_game.nes

# Type-check only
cargo run -- check game.ne

# View generated 6502 assembly
cargo run -- build game.ne --asm-dump

# Debug mode
cargo run -- build game.ne --debug