PixelWall

Collection of C programs that generate animations for a 16x22 pixel wall display, using Raylib for graphics rendering.

Prerequisites

Raylib must be pre-built and placed in raylib/ at the repository root:

• Linux (Raspberry Pi): raylib/raylib-5.5-raspberry
• macOS: raylib/raylib-5.5-macos
• WASM: raylib/raylib-5.5-wasm

Building

make all              # Build pixelwall + utilities
make pixelwall        # Build main application only
make others           # Build utilities (test_grid, osc)
make wasm             # Build WebAssembly version (requires emscripten)
make docker-wasm      # WASM build via Docker
make clean            # Remove build artifacts

Usage

./pixelwall [options]

Global Options

Option	Description	Default
-d <design>	Set design	snake
-B <R,G,B>	Background color	0,0,0
-O <R,G,B>	Border color	0,0,0
-r <rows>	Number of rows	16
-c <cols>	Number of columns	22
-w <width>	Window width	1276
-H <height>	Window height	928
-F	Flip horizontally	off
-f <rate>	Frame rate	10
-b <size>	Border size (0 to disable)	4
-T <seconds>	Auto-change design interval (0 to disable)	0
-h	Show help

Keyboard Controls

Key	Action
SPACE	Toggle data overlay
F	Flip horizontal
V	Toggle green tint
, / .	Previous / next design
T	Toggle timer display

Designs

snake

Snake animation that moves around the grid.

random_pixels

Random colored pixels.

text

Scrolling text display.

pong

Self-playing Pong game.

life

Conway's Game of Life.

cm5

CM5 blinking lights animation.

text_arcade

Arcade-style scrolling text.

clock

Digital clock with seconds marker.

breakout

Self-playing Breakout game. Use -C for colored mode.

tetris

Self-playing Tetris with AI placement. Use -C for colored mode with per-piece colors. Color options: -I I-piece, -Q O-piece, -K T-piece, -S S-piece, -Z Z-piece, -L L-piece, -J J-piece, -W border.

starfield

Stars fly outward from center creating a warp speed effect. Use -C for brightness gradient. Color options: -D dim color near center, -R bright color at edges.

invaders

Self-playing Space Invaders. Use -C for colored mode. Color options: -E enemies, -P player, -A player bullet, -K enemy bullet.

alien_march

Animated Space Invader aliens scrolling across the screen like a marquee. Use -C for colored mode, -R to reverse direction, -S <ticks> to control scroll speed (default: 4), -N <ticks> to control animation speed (default: 1). Color options: -A alien 1, -G alien 2, -K alien 3.

pacman_march

Classic Pac-Man intermission: ghosts chase Pac-Man off screen, then Pac-Man chases scared (blue) ghosts back. Use -C for colored mode, -S <ticks> for scroll speed (default: 4), -N <ticks> for animation speed (default: 1). Color options: -P Pac-Man, -G ghost 1, -K ghost 2, -E scared ghost.

spritesheet

Load and animate sprite sheet images with 1:1 pixel rendering. Sprites are centered on the grid.

Options: -I <path> image file (required), -G <CxR> grid layout, -W <WxH> frame size, -A <list> frame indices (default: all frames in order), -N <ticks> animation speed, -P <XxY> offset from top-left, -S <XxY> spacing between frames, -Z <factor> zoom, -K use top-left pixel as transparent key color, -E <tolerance> key color tolerance.

Examples

./pixelwall -d tetris                # Tetris in green
./pixelwall -d tetris -C             # Tetris with colored pieces
./pixelwall -d starfield -C          # Starfield with brightness gradient
./pixelwall -d invaders -C           # Space Invaders with colors
./pixelwall -d breakout -C           # Breakout with colored bricks
./pixelwall -d alien_march -C        # Animated aliens scrolling with colors
./pixelwall -d alien_march -R -S 6   # Slower scroll to the right
./pixelwall -d alien_march -S 2 -N 4 # Fast scroll, slow animation
./pixelwall -d pacman_march -C       # Pac-Man with classic colors
./pixelwall -T 30                    # Cycle through all designs every 30s

Run ./pixelwall -h to see all design-specific options.

License

WTFPL - Do What The Fuck You Want To Public License.