Difference between revisions of "Sega Mega Drive/Sprites"

From Sega Retro

(Created page with "On the Sega Mega Drive, '''sprites''' occupy a layer on top of the background and foreground planes. Each sprite consists of between 1 and 16...")
 
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===Position===
 
===Position===
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Sprites can be placed in a 512x512 area, with the visible screen starting at the 128,128 position. This diagram shows the NTSC screen in 256 or 320 pixel wide modes in green, with additional PAL resolution in yellow. Sprites in the red area may be partially visible if they are near the edge of the screen.
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{| style="width:auto; background:none"
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| [[File:Spritepos MD.svg]]
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|style="vertical-align:top"| <div style="position:relative">
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<div style="border-top:solid 1px red; padding-left:10px; position:absolute; top:0px">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;0</div>
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<div style="border-top:solid 1px green; padding-left:10px; position:absolute; top:128px">128</div>
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<div style="border-top:solid 1px green; padding-left:10px; position:absolute; top:351px">351</div>
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<div style="border-top:solid 1px gold; padding-left:10px; position:absolute; top:367px">367</div>
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<div style="border-top:solid 1px red; padding-left:10px; position:absolute; top:511px">511</div>
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</div>
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|-
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| <div style="position:relative">
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<div style="border-left:solid 1px red; padding-top:10px; position:absolute; left:0px">0</div>
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<div style="border-left:solid 1px green; padding-top:10px; position:absolute; left:128px">128</div>
 +
<div style="border-left:solid 1px green; padding-top:10px; position:absolute; left:383px">383</div>
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<div style="border-left:solid 1px green; padding-top:10px; position:absolute; left:447px">447</div>
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<div style="border-left:solid 1px red; padding-top:10px; position:absolute; left:511px">511</div>
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</div>
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|
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|}
  
 
===Size===
 
===Size===

Revision as of 16:47, 15 June 2018

On the Sega Mega Drive, sprites occupy a layer on top of the background and foreground planes. Each sprite consists of between 1 and 16 tiles arranged in a grid up to 4x4. Tiles are read from the VRAM sequentially, and arranged in the sprite top-to-bottom then left-to-right. They can use a single palette line each, limiting them to 15 colours (plus 1 transparent), though layering sprites can circumvent this limit.

The VDP can display a maximum of:

  • in 256 pixel (32 cell) wide mode, 64 ($40) sprites per frame, 16 ($10) sprites per scanline.
  • in 320 pixel (40 cell) wide mode, 80 ($50) sprites per frame, 20 ($14) sprites per scanline.

Sprite table

The sprite table is stored in VRAM. It contains a list of all currently displayed sprites, with 8 bytes per sprite in the following format:

7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
VP
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

VP


7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

0
0
0
0
HS
VS
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

0
NEXT


7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

PR
PL
VF
HF
GFX
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

GFX


7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
HP
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

HP
  • VP: Vertical position.
  • HP: Horizontal position.
  • HS/VS: Size.
  • PR: Priority. 1 = high; 0 = low.
  • PL: Palette line.
  • VF/HF: Vertical & horizontal flipping. 1 = flipped; 0 = normal.
  • GFX: Tile number from VRAM. i.e. VRAM address to read graphics data, divided by $20.
  • NEXT: Next sprite number to jump to. Later sprites go on top of earlier ones. The final sprite must jump to 0.

Position

Sprites can be placed in a 512x512 area, with the visible screen starting at the 128,128 position. This diagram shows the NTSC screen in 256 or 320 pixel wide modes in green, with additional PAL resolution in yellow. Sprites in the red area may be partially visible if they are near the edge of the screen.

Spritepos MD.svg
   0
128
351
367
511
0
128
383
447
511

Size