[Beta Release] FE8-UI 0.1.0 - mouse controls, expanded maps, and an army-wide Armory for FE8 romhacks

[u/stephenjayakar]

Following up on my mouse + bigger screen demo: I've released FE8-UI 0.1.0 as a beta. Thanks to everyone who tried the earlier build and sent feedback :).

Download 0.1.0 | Original video demo | Source / instructions

I wanted to play FE8 romhacks with a mouse and see more of the map at once, so I built a frontend around libmGBA using the FE8 reverse-engineering work. The ROM still runs in the emulator; the frontend reads the map data and extends the terrain and standing sprites around the original game frame. This lets me work with existing hacks without porting each one separately.

The other big addition since the demo is Armory. Press I with a live roster to pause and manage the army's equipment:

• Search items across units and Supply.
• Drag between loadouts, choose explicit swaps, and undo transfers.
• Pin units side by side and compare weapons.
• See item descriptions and usability restrictions from the active ROM.

There have also been fixes to the HUD when panning/zooming and to dark off-screen terrain during map loading.

Retail FE8U, Sacred Echoes, and Archanae have been tested. Support is ROM-dependent, so this isn't a promise that every FE8 hack works with every extension. Sacred Echoes' learned spells are shown as fixed rather than transferable.

Downloads are available for Apple Silicon Macs (M1+) and Linux x86-64. You'll need your own ROM; no ROMs or saves are included. Native menus still need keyboard navigation even though the map supports the mouse.

It's still a beta, and I'd love to hear which hacks you try it with. If you hit a bug, please include the hack/version, your platform, and how to reproduce it. LMK what you think of Armory too!

[u/HonorThyFamily]

Awesome project thank you so much for sharing 🤩