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Beginners > tiles and map tools

#10621 - apacke09 - Wed Sep 10, 2003 8:43 pm

I'm just getting into this and I'm having trouble finding a set of tools that work together that I can use. I want to stick with C files (no pal, raw, or asm files). I'm looking for a tool that will convert a bitmap into tile and palette data that can handle 16-bit color. And it would be nice if it would convert it in a way so that it's compatible with the C files that come out of Mapedit, but Mapedit assumes you use Stripestripper then Hackit, which doesn't suit my needs.

So basically, I want 16-bit color (256 color just ain't cutting it) and I want C files instead of raw and pal files, but after trying out countless tools, I can't seem to find what I'm looking for.

Any suggestions? I would greatly appreciate it.

#10626 - yaustar - Thu Sep 11, 2003 1:33 am

Thew one I use is called GBA Map Editor Beta 4 from Warder1 which I find is the best for what I want it to do.

http://www.nolag.com/code/gbdev

One question, is it possible to have 16 bit colour backgrounds? I thought the max was 256.
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#10627 - apacke09 - Thu Sep 11, 2003 4:32 am

The way I understand it, the background palette can have up to 256 colors, but those 256 colors can come from any valid 16-bit color, which there are some 32,000 colors to choose from, I think. (That's why it takes 16 bits to specify a color in the palette.) If all the graphics were restricted to the 256-color scheme (instead of 16-bit), then there would be no need to create palettes at all, since it would always consist of the same 256 colors.

#10629 - tepples - Thu Sep 11, 2003 5:44 am

It's possible to have a mode 0 or mode 2 background in glorious 14-bit color by blending two 128-color backgrounds. Unlike mode 3, this allows for smooth scrolling on large maps, but you'll probably only be able to use one such layer pair because of VRAM issues.
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