LibHEBitmap

This is just a slight modification of the original HEBitmap build process that will produce static library (libhebitmap.a) files instead of a full game. If you are programming in C, you might also just include the original C files in your project. If you are programming in another language such as Nim (see below), this lib might help.

Building libhebitmap.a

For device (make sure you have the arm toolchain installed)

mkdir build
cd build
cmake -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=$PLAYDATE_SDK_PATH/C_API/buildsupport/arm.cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
make

For simulator

mkdir build
cd build
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug ..
make

Usage in Nim

When using Nim, you can use the bindings in the nim folder to use the lib from your project

Note that this is in the Proof of Concept stage. It is usable, but I haven't tested it for memory leaks. Pull requests are welcome.

Make sure to call the initializer once at the start of your program

import playdate/api
import hebitmap

proc handler(event: PDSystemEvent, keycode: uint) {.raises: [].} =
  if event == kEventInit:
    heBitmapSetPlaydateAPI(playdate)
    # ... other setup code

Then

import playdate/api
import hebitmap

# from file
let heCoinImage = gfx.newHeBitmap("images/coin")
heCoinImage.draw(100, 100)

# custom image
let customImage = gfx.newBitmap(20, 20, kColorBlack)

## manipulate customImage however you want
gfx.pushContext(customImage)
# gfx.fillRectangle etc
gfx.popContext()

# this copies the image data, further changes to customImage won't be reflected
let heCustomImage = newHeBitmap(customImage) 
heCustomImage.draw(50,50)
    

HEBitmap (Playdate)

HEBitmap (High Efficiency Bitmap) is a custom implementation of the drawBitmap function (Playdate SDK).

This implementation is up to 4x faster than the SDK drawBitmap function, but native features (clipRect, flip, stencil) are not supported.

Benchmark

Bitmap info: 48x22 (masked)

N Bitmaps	HEBitmap	drawBitmap	Faster
2000	30 ms	120 ms	4x
1000	20 ms	63 ms	3x
500	19 ms	33 ms	1.7x

Example

#include "hebitmap.h"

// Set Playdate API pointer
HEBitmapSetPlaydateAPI(pd);

// Load a LCDBitmap
LCDBitmap *lcd_bitmap = playdate->graphics->loadBitmap("test", NULL);

// New HEBitmap from LCDBitmap
HEBitmap *he_bitmap = HEBitmapNew(lcd_bitmap);

// Draw
HEBitmapDraw(he_bitmap, 0, 0);

// Free
HEBitmapFree(he_bitmap);

// Free original LCDBitmap
playdate->graphics->freeBitmap(lcd_bitmap);

Demo

You can get the compiled PDX demo here. Press A to switch between custom / SDK implementation.