Extract text from game cartridges (TIC)
To convert TIC cartridges to another format, you need TIC-80 or other Game software.
To convert other file formats to the "Virtual Machine ROM File" file type, you need software like TIC-80 or a similar tool.
The .tic file extension is primarily associated with the TIC-80 fantasy computer, where it functions as a virtual game cartridge. These cartridges store everything needed to run a retro-style game, including Lua or MoonScript code, pixel art sprites, map data, and synthesized audio. Alternatively, the .tic extension is heavily fragmented and used for completely unrelated purposes: hardware device manufacturers use it for binary firmware updates, the Federal Reserve uses it for Transaction Information Control data, Google Chrome uses it for authentication tickets, and Bolsas y Mercados Españoles uses it for Spanish stock market reports.
Because multiple unrelated systems claim the exact same extension, opening .tic files is notoriously frustrating. Operating systems fail to guess the correct software, leading to "Windows cannot open this file" errors. Furthermore, the formats themselves are restrictive. TIC-80 cartridges are proprietary to the emulator, making it difficult to extract raw sprites or code without launching the specific native environment. Firmware update files are strictly machine-readable and provide zero utility or readable data to average users.
When converting these files, the target format depends entirely on the file's origin. For TIC-80 cartridges, developers usually want to extract the code to LUA or game assets to PNG. For Spanish stock market reports, the underlying file is actually a compressed archive; users need to extract it into CSV or XML data.
Because a .tic file can be anything from a compiled game ROM to a disguised ZIP archive or a raw authentication ticket, generic online converters completely fail to process them. Our tool will inspect the internal hex structure and show you any readable text or embedded content. If our analysis detects a supported format - like a standard ZIP masquerading as a stock report - extraction and conversion become instantly possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your TIC file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted TIF, DOCX, SVB, EPB and ENG files.
If you want to convert TIC file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use TIC-80 or similar software from the "Fantasy Console Game Cartridge" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to TIC, try TIC-80 or another comparable tool in the "Fantasy Console Game Cartridge" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our TIC converter.