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Beginners > Bitmap main menu - tiled game screen

#18182 - jonnyknowsbest - Mon Mar 22, 2004 1:47 pm

Is it realistic to have my games splash screen and main menu displayed in bitmap mode, then change to tile mode for the main game play screen??

How efficient / effective is changing the mode during "runtime"

#18185 - poslundc - Mon Mar 22, 2004 2:49 pm

jonnyknowsbest wrote:
Is it realistic to have my games splash screen and main menu displayed in bitmap mode, then change to tile mode for the main game play screen??


Yes. It's generally a good idea to fade one screen down to black (or some other colour), make any necessary changes you have to make to VRAM, then fade back up. That way the user won't see any graphical artifacts caused by the changes you are making if it takes longer than a single VBlank period; plus it looks smoother than suddenly "cutting" to a different screen.

Quote:
How efficient / effective is changing the mode during "runtime"


Apparently you can even switch modes in the brief HBlank period before a scanline is drawn, if you so choose. Some aspects of REG_DISPCNT (eg. turning a background on) will cause a few scanlines of garbage if changed.

Dan.