Tidepod Development Suite
A state-of-the-art, unified developer environment orchestrating the TMS9900 C99/GCC compiler, automated ROM bank allocation, source-level DWARF debugging, cycle-accurate emulation, and real-time performance profiling in a single polished application.
Making C on the TI-99/4A Approachable
Everything required to write, compile, debug, profile, and package complex games and tools without leaving the application.
The Engineering Behind Tidepod
How Tidepod overcomes vintage 1980s constraints with modern algorithmic toolchain intelligence.
Intelligent Auto-Bank Allocation
Stock TI-99/4A cartridge space is limited to a single 8KB bank. Tidepod automatically analyzes compiled object files, allocates persistent code and data in free RAM (low 0x2000 or high 0xA000), and packs up to 64 banks (2MB, paged378) while minimizing cross-bank trampoline stubs.
Extended .rpk with Debug Sidecars
Standard emulator cartridge archives only hold ROM dumps. Tidepod defines an enhanced .rpk specification that packages the DWARF symbol sidecar (.debug) directly inside the ZIP container, enabling instant source-level stepping in any compatible emulator.
GCC Extended BASIC Compiler
Tidepod pioneers a direct GCC front-end (-x xb) translating TI Extended BASIC into optimized TMS9900 machine code. It supports both classic line numbers and modern structured syntax (WHILE, structured IF/ELSE, subroutines) alongside a work-in-progress libxb runtime library.
Modular CLI & Standalone Emulator
Not tied to a heavyweight GUI: manage your workspace via tidepod new, tidepod add, and tidepod sync. Run headless regression suites or connect remote GDB sessions (port 3333) via the standalone ti994a-emu binary.
Integrated UNIX Man Page System
Offline retro-computing documentation at your fingertips. Tidepod embeds over 140 UNIX-style man pages covering TMS9900 assembly, VDP graphics functions, libc routines, and hardware registers directly in the IDE dock.
Bundled AI Pair-Programming Skill
Ships with an official portable AI agent skill (ti99-tidepod-gamedev) encoding retro memory constraints, banking trampolines, resource generation, and emulator CLI recipes for modern agentic workflows.
Explore the Tidepod Documentation Portal
Dive into progressive C tutorials, system architecture deep-dives, full C/Extended BASIC standard library API references synced with man pages, and stand-alone emulator debugging workflows.
Get Tidepod for Your Operating System
Available as standalone installers for macOS, Windows, and Linux. No external dependencies required.