Palettes

Color is machine-specific: SC8 carts pick one of three 16-color built-in palettes; GameTank carts render through a single fixed 256-color lookup table with no per-cart choice.

SC8 — 16-color palettes

Every SC8 cart picks one of three 16-color built-in palettes via its palette_id header byte. Tile data stores palette indices (0–15), not RGB triples — switching palettes keeps the indices and just remaps how they render.

PICO-8 (id 0, default)

Index	Hex	Swatch
`0`	`#000000`
`1`	`#1D2B53`
`2`	`#7E2553`
`3`	`#008751`
`4`	`#AB5236`
`5`	`#5F574F`
`6`	`#C2C3C7`
`7`	`#FFF1E8`
`8`	`#FF004D`
`9`	`#FFA300`
`10`	`#FFEC27`
`11`	`#00E436`
`12`	`#29ADFF`
`13`	`#83769C`
`14`	`#FF77A8`
`15`	`#FFCCAA`

DawnBringer 16 (id 1)

Richard Fhager's DB16 (2012). Cooler tones, broader chroma range.

Index	Hex	Swatch
`0`	`#140C1C`
`1`	`#442434`
`2`	`#30346D`
`3`	`#4E4A4E`
`4`	`#854C30`
`5`	`#346524`
`6`	`#D04648`
`7`	`#757161`
`8`	`#597DCE`
`9`	`#D27D2C`
`10`	`#8595A1`
`11`	`#6DAA2C`
`12`	`#D2AA99`
`13`	`#6DC2CA`
`14`	`#DAD45E`
`15`	`#DEEED6`

Sweetie 16 (id 2)

GrafxKid's Sweetie 16 (2017). Vivid teals and pinks; high readability.

Index	Hex	Swatch
`0`	`#1A1C2C`
`1`	`#5D275D`
`2`	`#B13E53`
`3`	`#EF7D57`
`4`	`#FFCD75`
`5`	`#A7F070`
`6`	`#38B764`
`7`	`#257179`
`8`	`#29366F`
`9`	`#3B5DC9`
`10`	`#41A6F6`
`11`	`#73EFF7`
`12`	`#F4F4F4`
`13`	`#94B0C2`
`14`	`#566C86`
`15`	`#333C57`

GameTank — 256-color LUT

GameTank carts don't pick a palette at all — every pixel index (0–255) resolves through one fixed, cart-independent, HSL-derived RGB lookup table. There's no palette_id selection step: color is chosen per-pixel in the studio's sprite sheet editor's 256-color picker while painting a sheet, not configured once per cart.

The table is HSL-derived, and saturation-0 rows collapse hue — so the 256 index slots resolve to roughly 200 unique colors, not 256.

Index	Hex	Swatch
`0`	`#000000`
`1`	`#313131`
`2`	`#474747`
`3`	`#5D5D5D`
`4`	`#747474`
`5`	`#8B8B8A`
`6`	`#A1A1A1`
`7`	`#B9B9B9`
`8`	`#1A1E00`
`9`	`#31350A`
`10`	`#474B21`
`11`	`#5E6135`
`12`	`#75784D`
`13`	`#8C8F65`
`14`	`#A2A57C`
`15`	`#B9BD93`
`16`	`#1A2200`
`17`	`#313900`
`18`	`#474F00`
`19`	`#5D650E`
`20`	`#727B24`
`21`	`#8B933D`
`22`	`#A2AA52`
`23`	`#B9C269`
`24`	`#1A2600`
`25`	`#313D00`
`26`	`#485400`
`27`	`#5D6A00`
`28`	`#748000`
`29`	`#8C9814`
`30`	`#A2AE29`
`31`	`#B9C541`
`32`	`#1B1B1B`
`33`	`#313131`
`34`	`#484848`
`35`	`#5E5E5E`
`36`	`#757575`
`37`	`#8C8C8C`
`38`	`#A2A2A2`
`39`	`#B9B9B9`
`40`	`#2C1900`
`41`	`#422F15`
`42`	`#58462D`
`43`	`#705C41`
`44`	`#867259`
`45`	`#9E896F`
`46`	`#B49F86`
`47`	`#CBB79F`
`48`	`#3C1600`
`49`	`#532D00`
`50`	`#69430F`
`51`	`#805924`
`52`	`#96703B`
`53`	`#AE8752`
`54`	`#C49E68`
`55`	`#DCB57F`
`56`	`#4C1500`
`57`	`#632A00`
`58`	`#7B4100`
`59`	`#925909`
`60`	`#A76E1E`
`61`	`#BF8635`
`62`	`#D69B4B`
`63`	`#EDB262`
`64`	`#1A1A1A`
`65`	`#323232`
`66`	`#484848`
`67`	`#5E5E5E`
`68`	`#747473`
`69`	`#8B8B8B`
`70`	`#A2A2A2`
`71`	`#B9B9B9`
`72`	`#32141B`
`73`	`#482A31`
`74`	`#5E4047`
`75`	`#76575E`
`76`	`#8C6E74`
`77`	`#A3858C`
`78`	`#B99BA2`
`79`	`#D1B3BA`
`80`	`#480C19`
`81`	`#602330`
`82`	`#773A47`
`83`	`#8F505E`
`84`	`#A36674`
`85`	`#BB7D8B`
`86`	`#D294A2`
`87`	`#EAACB9`
`88`	`#61061B`
`89`	`#781D31`
`90`	`#8E3348`
`91`	`#A64A5E`
`92`	`#BC5F74`
`93`	`#D3778C`
`94`	`#EA8CA2`
`95`	`#FFA5BA`
`96`	`#1A1A1A`
`97`	`#313131`
`98`	`#474747`
`99`	`#5D5D5D`
`100`	`#747473`
`101`	`#8B8B8B`
`102`	`#A2A2A2`
`103`	`#B9B9B9`
`104`	`#2B1235`
`105`	`#41294D`
`106`	`#574060`
`107`	`#6E557C`
`108`	`#846C91`
`109`	`#9B83A8`
`110`	`#B299BE`
`111`	`#C8B0D6`
`112`	`#3D0B51`
`113`	`#552169`
`114`	`#6A387F`
`115`	`#824E96`
`116`	`#9965AC`
`117`	`#B07CC3`
`118`	`#C792DB`
`119`	`#DDA9F1`
`120`	`#4E046D`
`121`	`#651A83`
`122`	`#7C309A`
`123`	`#9348B2`
`124`	`#A95EC8`
`125`	`#C074DE`
`126`	`#D68AF5`
`127`	`#EDA2FF`
`128`	`#1A1A1A`
`129`	`#313131`
`130`	`#474747`
`131`	`#5D5D5D`
`132`	`#747474`
`133`	`#8C8C8C`
`134`	`#A2A2A2`
`135`	`#B9B9B9`
`136`	`#1A1640`
`137`	`#312D57`
`138`	`#48446E`
`139`	`#5E5A84`
`140`	`#75719B`
`141`	`#8C88B2`
`142`	`#A29EC8`
`143`	`#B9B5DF`
`144`	`#1A1266`
`145`	`#31297D`
`146`	`#483F93`
`147`	`#5E56AC`
`148`	`#746CC1`
`149`	`#8C84DA`
`150`	`#A29AF0`
`151`	`#B9B1FF`
`152`	`#1B0F8F`
`153`	`#3225A6`
`154`	`#483CBE`
`155`	`#5F52D4`
`156`	`#7468EB`
`157`	`#8C80FF`
`158`	`#A296FF`
`159`	`#B9ADFF`
`160`	`#1A1A1A`
`161`	`#313131`
`162`	`#474747`
`163`	`#5D5D5D`
`164`	`#747474`
`165`	`#8B8B8B`
`166`	`#A2A2A2`
`167`	`#B8B8B8`
`168`	`#081C33`
`169`	`#1F334A`
`170`	`#364A60`
`171`	`#4C6078`
`172`	`#62778E`
`173`	`#7A8DA5`
`174`	`#90A4BB`
`175`	`#A7BCD2`
`176`	`#001D50`
`177`	`#103467`
`178`	`#274B7E`
`179`	`#3B6294`
`180`	`#5278AA`
`181`	`#6A90C2`
`182`	`#80A6D9`
`183`	`#96BDF0`
`184`	`#00216D`
`185`	`#003782`
`186`	`#154E9A`
`187`	`#2C64B0`
`188`	`#417AC6`
`189`	`#5A92DE`
`190`	`#70A8F4`
`191`	`#87C0FF`
`192`	`#1A1A1A`
`193`	`#313131`
`194`	`#474747`
`195`	`#5D5D5D`
`196`	`#737373`
`197`	`#8B8B8B`
`198`	`#A2A2A2`
`199`	`#B8B9B9`
`200`	`#042017`
`201`	`#1A362F`
`202`	`#314D47`
`203`	`#46645D`
`204`	`#5E7A74`
`205`	`#75928C`
`206`	`#8AA89F`
`207`	`#A1BFB6`
`208`	`#002719`
`209`	`#033D31`
`210`	`#1A5447`
`211`	`#2F6B5D`
`212`	`#468173`
`213`	`#5D998B`
`214`	`#73AFA2`
`215`	`#89C6B8`
`216`	`#002F1A`
`217`	`#004531`
`218`	`#015C47`
`219`	`#17725D`
`220`	`#2D8873`
`221`	`#45A08B`
`222`	`#5CB6A2`
`223`	`#72CDB8`
`224`	`#1A1A19`
`225`	`#303030`
`226`	`#474747`
`227`	`#5D5D5E`
`228`	`#747474`
`229`	`#8B8B8B`
`230`	`#A2A2A2`
`231`	`#B9B9B9`
`232`	`#0A2200`
`233`	`#213813`
`234`	`#374F2B`
`235`	`#4C6540`
`236`	`#637B57`
`237`	`#7A936D`
`238`	`#91A982`
`239`	`#A8C099`
`240`	`#002800`
`241`	`#0F3E00`
`242`	`#275612`
`243`	`#3B6D26`
`244`	`#53833D`
`245`	`#6A9A56`
`246`	`#80B16B`
`247`	`#97C782`
`248`	`#003000`
`249`	`#004700`
`250`	`#155E00`
`251`	`#2C750B`
`252`	`#418A21`
`253`	`#58A239`
`254`	`#70B94F`
`255`	`#85D066`