Dec 1, 2023

MSX: Step Debug SDCC C code with Emulicious

If you develop games for MSX you probably tried or wanted to try to debug your code at some point. If you code in assembly this has been possible with most emulators to some degree for a long time, but if you're using SDCC and want to debug at C level there are fewer options. It's here that Emulicious comes to rescue! Not only can you debug your C code it has many nice features to support your development.

What you need (everything is free):

In VS Code you need to install these extensions:

Just follow the instructions for installation for each tool and you should be good to go.

I've tried this in Ubuntu Linux but Windows and macOS is also supported. I had difficulties launching the emulator from VS Code but loading the rom file in Emulicious and attaching worked flawlessly. 

EDIT: The problem with launching Emulicious from VS Code was resolved by installing VS Code as PPA instead of Snap.

To use SDCC efficient with MSX you need a library. I've been using ubox MSX lib but I highly recommend to checkout MSXgl. Below are a few screen shots of some of the features in Emulicious.

Step debug in C

Realtime Tile information

Feature rich assembly debugger
 
 
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