GBCbag 2 | Distribute your Gameboy (Color) game as standalone application (even on Steam)

WHAT IS GBCbag?

First to know: GBCbag supports both GameBoy and GameBoy Color games!

GBCbag 2 is a play on the words Gameboy (yep, that old 1980s gaming console by Nintendo) and backpack. It's like a backpack (in the form of a standalone Windows, Linux or macOS program) in which you pack your self-developed Gameboy or Gameboy Color game and then distribute this complete package as a standalone application.

The player only has to double-click on a single file to use it, just as they are used to.

GBCbag 2 supports custom input configurations and game controllers. GBCbag 2 includes various display shaders, for pixel-perfect or typical retro-looking image output. GBCbag 2 is open-source.

See also: https://www.eastpixel.de/gbcbag

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DOWNLOAD

Scroll down to download. :-)

Requirements:
The offered Windows version requires Windows 10/11.

Compiling: The macOS version requires Apple Silicon (M1 and later).
For compiling on Linux and macOS, .NET 8 Framework and SDL2 must be installed.

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PRE-DEFINED KEYBOARD LAYOUT

If you start GBCbag 2 out of the box, you'll find a pre-defined button layout:

You can configure your keyboard or gamepad directly via Settings > Controls and Video menu.

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CONTROLLER AND KEYBOARD SUPPORT

You can configure your keyboard or gamepad directly via the Settings > Controls and Video menu.

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WHAT YOU GET

You will receive a .zip file containing all the necessary GBCbag 2 files.

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CONFIGURATION PARAMETER

There are some configuration parameters in the "settings.json" file you can change.

Parameter	Content
GameTitle	You can write your game title here, it will displayed on top of the GBCbag 2 window and inside the Help > About window
AutoFullscreen	to start GBCbag 2 in fullscreen set  the parameter "true" otherwise set it "false"
Version	enter the version number of your game, it will displayed inside the Help > About window

Please do not change any of the other parameters by hand.

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CONFIGURATION: DEFINE THE GAMEBOY MODEL

If you wish, you can specify the GameBoy model (Classic, GameBoy Color, Super Game Boy) that GBCbag 2 should emulate when your game starts.

To do this, go to the Settings > Controls and Video > General menu and specify the device. The setting is automatically saved in the "settings.json" file.

Please note: If you set the model to "Game Boy" but your game is a GameBoy Color game, it won't run until you change the correct model.

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FAQ

1. How to use GBCbag 2?
a) Download the release version of GBCbag 2 and unzip.
b) Copy your Gameboy (Color) game as a ROM file with the name “game.gb” into the “game” directory.
c) Play your game or share the complete files and folders as you like.

2. Are there any technical dependencies in order to use GBCbag 2?
The Windows version requires Windows 10/11.
For compiling on Linux and macOS, .NET 8 SDK and SDL2 must be installed.

3. Is the source-code available?
Yes. Please visit this link: https://github.com/faktor73/gbcbag2
You can use, modify and distribute the source code and compile your own program versions. Please always respect the GPL V3 license.

4. Can I publish my game on Steam with GBCbag 2?
Yes, of course. Out of the box , there are no restrictions.

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QUESTIONS?

If there are any questions or issues surrounding this tool, please get in touch with Christian @ EASTPIXEL via Discord.

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HOW TO USE - INSTRUCTIONS

General

Check the table with configuration parameters on this page, to find out what you are able to configure.

Windows version

1. The Windows version requires at least Windows 10/11 64bit.
2. Download the .zip file, unpack it.
3. To change the game: Put your game (named "game.gb") into the "Game" folder.

Linux version

Due to the large number of Linux distributions, I do not provide a pre-compiled Linux binary file at the moment. Of course, a Makefile is included in the source code.

Steamdeck

Thanks to LowtekGames for try out GBCbag 2 on Steamdeck and confirmed it's working. If you have any questions, come over to our Discord.

Mac version

You can compile the tool directly from source by using the free version of JetBrains Rider. The process is identical to compiling with Visual Studio on Windows.

Ready-to-use macOS version: I can also provide a finished macOS version, but you will have to sign it with an Apple developer account before you can pass it on. As I don't have the resources for an Apple developer account, I can't sign the macOS versions myself.

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CHANGELOG

Version 2.2.1

• inital release

The function and feature set corresponds to the tool NESbag 2, if you are interested in previous changelogs, just have a look at this (changelog of NESbag 2) page.

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LICENSE

GBCbag 2 is available under the GPL V3 license. Full text here: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html

GBCbag 2 is based on the awesome gamesystem emulator system Mesen. Copyright (C) Mesen 2014-2024 Sour

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

STEAMWORKS INTEGRATION

Integrating GBCbag with the Steamworks SDK (Online save games, other Steam based online features) is not possible due to licensing restrictions outlined here: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/sdk/uploading/distributing_opensource