Techniques & Technology

Tile-Based Graphics

Building worlds from small pieces

Tile-based graphics build screens from small reusable images, enabling memory-efficient game worlds on limited hardware.

NESmega-drivecommodore-64 graphicsoptimisationretro

Overview

Tile-based graphics compose screens from small, reusable graphic elements (typically 8x8 or 16x16 pixels). Instead of storing unique pixels for every screen location, games store a tile set and a map of which tile appears where, dramatically reducing memory requirements.

Memory Efficiency

Consider a 256x192 pixel screen:

  • Raw bitmap: 24,576 bytes (at 1 byte per pixel)
  • Tile-based: ~4 KB tiles + ~768 bytes map = ~5 KB total

Hardware Support

Many systems included dedicated tile hardware:

  • NES: 256 background tiles, 256 sprite tiles
  • Mega Drive: 2048 tiles, hardware scrolling
  • Game Boy: 384 shared tiles

Design Implications

Tile constraints influenced game design:

  • Modular level construction
  • Pattern-based world building
  • Efficient map editors
  • Reusable environment pieces

Modern Relevance

Tile-based approaches persist in:

  • 2D indie games
  • Mobile game development
  • Level editors
  • Procedural generation

See Also