I like 8bit color all of a sudden
I just ported my 16-bit worms-type game to 8 bit. I also got rid of all GDI calls. It reduced the file size to 1/3, and almost doubled the speed. And I executed a pre-calculated translucency routine that works really fast and looks pretty darn good.
All I''m trying to say is that, if you''re doing a little project you want to work on just about any machine, use 256 colors. It can look REALLY good!
Any comments?
~BenDilts( void );
Bean Dog
When I make a small sprite bitmap, I give it around 16 colors, and then game combines these palettes at run time for use. The file sizes are even SMALLER then, and you don''t have to worry about changing palettes between files.
lntakitopi@aol.com | http://geocities.com/guanajam/
lntakitopi@aol.com | http://geocities.com/guanajam/
I have a couple of comments:
It is always good to squeeze more performance out of the game and especially when image quality is reduced but I think these points are generally accepted:
File size is negligible.(Quake II levels are multi megabyte)
Everyone has more than an 8 bpp video card since 1993.
Nobody uses GDI anyway when DirectX is easier/faster.
800x600x16bpp is the defacto standard for most 2d and 3d games.
Even the most basic machine has 32 megs, 200 mhz, 2 meg DDraw compatible video card capable of maintaining a front and back buffer at 800x600x16bpp.
In this land of 18 gig hard drives for less than 300 bucks concentrate on more important things like cool level design, interesting graphics(particle systems, fades, isometric engines or even 3d engines) instead of file size.
MCSE, MCSD, Sun Certified Java Programmer
Pimp Daddy ;)
It is always good to squeeze more performance out of the game and especially when image quality is reduced but I think these points are generally accepted:
File size is negligible.(Quake II levels are multi megabyte)
Everyone has more than an 8 bpp video card since 1993.
Nobody uses GDI anyway when DirectX is easier/faster.
800x600x16bpp is the defacto standard for most 2d and 3d games.
Even the most basic machine has 32 megs, 200 mhz, 2 meg DDraw compatible video card capable of maintaining a front and back buffer at 800x600x16bpp.
In this land of 18 gig hard drives for less than 300 bucks concentrate on more important things like cool level design, interesting graphics(particle systems, fades, isometric engines or even 3d engines) instead of file size.
MCSE, MCSD, Sun Certified Java Programmer
Pimp Daddy ;)
Yes, but what about when it comes to downloading demos?
lntakitopi@aol.com | http://geocities.com/guanajam/
lntakitopi@aol.com | http://geocities.com/guanajam/
if you can make 8 bit look good, why use 16 bit?
if you have a small program that runs on slower computers, you''ll get another target audience, cause I don''t think your game''s grapics could compete with quake 3 anyway.
and monkey island 3 showed what you can make of 8 bits
if you have a small program that runs on slower computers, you''ll get another target audience, cause I don''t think your game''s grapics could compete with quake 3 anyway.
and monkey island 3 showed what you can make of 8 bits
Hmmm - 8bit certainly has merit! Especially since the range of colours you can get is larger than that of 16 bit colour (6bits per pixel instead of 5).
In my games I have my own special palletised surfaces (inside 16bit) so I can have effects like fire done easily in 16bit. Also is great for particles and smoke and water etc... the best of both worlds!
But yes, 8bit colour certainly is still useful on its own (especially when you take into account the SLOW speed of the internet)! If you use 16bit colour then you really need to write your own file format cos you can''t save a bitmap at 16 bit only 24bit and so you are wasting A LOT OF SPACE!!!
*mental note to self: write own graphics file format*
wise_guy
In my games I have my own special palletised surfaces (inside 16bit) so I can have effects like fire done easily in 16bit. Also is great for particles and smoke and water etc... the best of both worlds!
But yes, 8bit colour certainly is still useful on its own (especially when you take into account the SLOW speed of the internet)! If you use 16bit colour then you really need to write your own file format cos you can''t save a bitmap at 16 bit only 24bit and so you are wasting A LOT OF SPACE!!!
*mental note to self: write own graphics file format*
wise_guy
If you really want to see the power of 8bit color, go and play Age of Empires 2 (AOK). The game is one of the most beautiful games, and its graphics and color look better then many 16bit and 32bit games I have played.
But AOK also doesnt have any particle or alpha blending affects or anything like that, so if your game has anything of that sort then you defeanately need to go 16bit, and ryoder is exactly correct. Even my old 486 computer could do 800x600x16bit.
Possibility
But AOK also doesnt have any particle or alpha blending affects or anything like that, so if your game has anything of that sort then you defeanately need to go 16bit, and ryoder is exactly correct. Even my old 486 computer could do 800x600x16bit.
Possibility
I agree! I think 8-bit color is fine. If you have a well-designed palette then no one can really notice whether it is 8 or 16 bit (unless you want to do things like alpha blending).
- Daniel
my homepage
- Daniel
my homepage
I leave my video mode in 16bit, but I reduce all my bitmaps to 8-bit and then just load them onto surfaces at 16-bit. I do this because I get to have small file sizes, but virtually unlimited palettes, since most of the graphics that I reduce to an ''optimized'' 256 color palette look as good as their 16-bit counterparts.
When I have a very small-color object, I even reduce it to 16 colors, sometimes. As long as its optimized (I used Paint-Shop Pro to do this) it still usually looks good.
-- Goodlife
-----------------------------
Think of your mind as a door on a house. Leave the door always closed, and it's not a house, it's a prison. Leave the door always open, and it's not a house, it's a wilderness-- all the vermin creep in.
When I have a very small-color object, I even reduce it to 16 colors, sometimes. As long as its optimized (I used Paint-Shop Pro to do this) it still usually looks good.
-- Goodlife
-----------------------------
Think of your mind as a door on a house. Leave the door always closed, and it's not a house, it's a prison. Leave the door always open, and it's not a house, it's a wilderness-- all the vermin creep in.
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