[dba-VB] I found this fascinating

jwcolby jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Sun Oct 2 21:16:40 CDT 2011


Talk about efficient programming...

http://www.xnaresources.com/default.asp?page=Tutorial:TileEngineSeries:1

What is a Tile Engine
Early computer and video game systems had very, very (VERY) little memory - the original Nintendo 
Entertainment System had 2kb of RAM, and 2kb of video RAM, plus 284 bytes of memory for objects and 
color palettes. If we call this roughly 4.5kb of memory, my 4GB desktop PC has almost 1 million 
times the amount of memory the NES had to work with.

The full display resolution on the NES was 256x240 pixels, and while our current bits-per-pixel 
standards don't apply to the NES, even at one bit per pixel (which isn't a good representation 
anyway) you have 7.5 kb of information just to fill up a single screen. So how do you build large 
game worlds when you don't have enough memory to hold a single screen? Lets look at another classic 
NES game:

-- 
John W. Colby
Colby Consulting



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