Design Process

tornotlukin

Member
I wanted to assist SeaFoodAndButter with his title screen. While I have designed for many different applications, I haven't done so for NES. I will post my progress, if as a community, please let me know if I am missing something in regards to res, color, or anything similar.
 

tornotlukin

Member
nametablePharmakos.gif
This is just a very prelim font draw and layout sketch from SeaFoodAndButter. Based on the sketch I want to create an ancient Greek building motif with columns and vase figures.
 

tornotlukin

Member
nametablePharmakos2.gif
Making some progress. Trying to keep shapes in 8x8 squares. Will repeating shapes make it take up less memory? Does that matter for a title screen?
 

CutterCross

Active member
tornotlukin said:
nametablePharmakos2.gif
Making some progress. Trying to keep shapes in 8x8 squares. Will repeating shapes make it take up less memory? Does that matter for a title screen?
Reminds me a lot of games on the ZX Spectrum!

And yes, it's good to repeat a lot of 8x8 tiles as it will take up FAR less graphic space!
 

Kasumi

New member
Repeating 8x8 shapes will make it take up less tile memory on NES as long as the repeated shapes are aligned to an 8x8 grid. On NES Maker specifically, this applies to title screens (which this is), but not necessarily gameplay scenes.
Here's a GIF I made on NES restrictions.
xZeDpmK.gif


I recommend my program I-CHR for quickly checking if an image is NES background compatible. (It only takes PNG, though. Not GIF.) I've attached a ROM of your WIP made with it. You're using 213 of the 256 tiles currently.

It's very good work! I really like teal statues you have directly above the text. One note: You don't benefit from flipping (even for 8x8 tiles) for the background. So the figure on the right and left can be asymmetrical and it won't make the tile count higher.

Edit: One more note. Repeating only helps if the tiles are exactly aligned on an 8x8 grid. For instance, the 'S' in "CURSE" and the 'S' in "PHARMAKOS" are using unique tiles because they aren't aligned to the grid in the same way. It doesn't matter now, but if you happen to run out of tiles it can be a way to save space.

Here's the a portion of the logo with the grid:
MYN7LE9.png
 

Attachments

  • nametablePharmakos2.zip
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Kasumi

New member
Thanks, dale_coop! Actually one more tiny note. You may want to move everything up 16 pixels, tornotlukin. TVs are likely to crop some of the edges, so it's best to have text closer to the center of the screen.
 

tornotlukin

Member
I use your instruction gif as reference, truly useful. The colors of the title will change, I am just using these as I work. (As of now it does look like spectrum graphics!)

I am doing the best I can on tile reuse, but I wanted the title to have nice kerning and that means shapes intrude in each other's spaces. I am starting to understand why many NES game logos were designed the way they were.

Kasumi said:
Repeating 8x8 shapes will make it take up less tile memory on NES as long as the repeated shapes are aligned to an 8x8 grid.
[...]
Edit: One more note. Repeating only helps if the tiles are exactly aligned on an 8x8 grid. For instance, the 'S' in "CURSE" and the 'S' in "PHARMAKOS" are using unique tiles because they aren't aligned to the grid in the same way. It doesn't matter now, but if you happen to run out of tiles it can be a way to save space.
[...]
Here's the a portion of the logo with the grid:
 

tornotlukin

Member
Makes sense, I will keep it in mind. This should look drastically different when I get closer to finishing.
Kasumi said:
Thanks, dale_coop! Actually one more tiny note. You may want to move everything up 16 pixels, tornotlukin. TVs are likely to crop some of the edges, so it's best to have text closer to the center of the screen.
 

tornotlukin

Member
This is what I have so far. In terms of layout, it's where I want everything with some minor movement. This will be made to look like a relief or similar artistic sculpture. Lets see how It fits in the Screen Tool.

nametablePharmakos3.gif
 

tornotlukin

Member
Thank you, unfortunately its like 18 tiles too complicated. I will have to make some changes. I will knock off 42 to give me room to work in additional elements.
 

tornotlukin

Member
nametablePharmakos4.gif

This gives me about 18 tiles to play with, layout pretty finished, just need to recolor and add some details to give a relief effect.
 
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