TamaLib is a hardware agnostic first-gen Tamagotchi (E0C6S46/8 based) emulation library built from scratch. It is self-contained and aims at running on any platform powerful enough, from microcontrollers (MCUs) to desktop computers, thus spreading virtual life across the digital world.
So far, it has been successfully implemented on different platforms:
- Desktop computers (check out TamaTool for more information)
- STM32F072 MCU based board (check out MCUGotchi for more information).
- OpenTama which is an STM32L072 MCU based board (check out OpenTama and MCUGotchi for more information).
- Arduino UNO (check out ArduinoGotchi for more information).
- The R software environment (check out tamaR for more information).
TamaLIB cannot be used as is. In order to create life on a specific target, you need to import all TamaLIB related .c and .h files in your project (for instance in a lib subfolder), to create a hal_types.h file using the template provided and to implement the hal_t structure, that will act as an abstraction layer between TamaLIB and your OS or SDK (detailed information can be found in hal.h). This abstraction layer basically connects TamaLIB to your target's buttons, clock, audio and screen, while also defining the C types that TamaLIB should use to represent 4-bit, 5-bit, 8-bit, 12-bit, 13-bit and 32-bit variables. Once done, you will be able to call the TamaLIB API from your project.
Basically:
/* ... */
/* Register the HAL */
tamalib_register_hal(&my_hal);
/* ... */
/* Initialize TamaLIB */
tamalib_init(my_program, my_breakpoints, 1000000); // my_breakpoints can be NULL, 1000000 means that timestamps will be expressed in us
/* ... */
/* Enter TamaLIB's loop */
tamalib_mainloop();
/* ... */
/* Release TamaLIB */
tamalib_release();
/* ... */
Your main project should then forward any button input to TamaLIB using the tamalib_set_button() function.
As an alternative to tamalib_mainloop(), you can call tamalib_step() directly if your execution flow requires something more complex than a simple mainloop. In that case, TamaLIB will neither call the HAL handler() function, nor the HAL update_screen() function by itslef.
TamaLIB is distributed under the GPLv2 license. See the LICENSE file for more information.
The Tamagotchi P1 and P2 are based on an E0C6S46 Epson MCU, and runs at 32,768 kHz, while the Tamagotchi Angel, Umino (Ocean), Morino (Forest), Mothra, Tamaotch and Genjintch are based on an E0C6S48 Epson MCU running at 32,768 kHz and 1 MHz. Their LCDs are all 32x16 B/W pixels, with 8 icons.
To my knowledge, the P1 ROM available online has been extracted from a high-res picture of a die. The ROM mask was clear enough to be optically read. The pictures can be seen there (thx asterick for the link!).
I would love to see the same work done on a P2 and add support for it in TamaLIB/TamaTool! Someone did the same job for the P2 and other first-gen devices!
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Copyright (C) 2025 Jean-Christophe Rona
