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Sprite (computer graphics)








Sprite (computer graphics)


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Sprite is a computer graphics term for a two-dimensional bitmap that is integrated into a larger scene.


Originally sprites referred to independent objects that are composited together, by hardware, with other elements such as a background.[1] The composition occurs as each scan line is prepared for the video output device, such as a CRT, without involvement of the main CPU and without the need for a full-screen frame buffer.[1] Sprites can be positioned or altered by setting attributes used during the hardware composition process. Examples of systems with hardware sprites include the Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, Amiga, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, and many coin-operated arcade machines of the 1980s. Sprite hardware varies in how many sprites are supported, how many can be displayed on a single scan line (which is often a lower number), the dimensions and colors of each sprite, and special effects such as scaling or reporting pixel-precise overlap.


Use of the term sprite has expanded to refer to any two-dimensional bitmap used as part of a graphics display, even if drawn into a frame buffer (by either software or a GPU) instead of being composited on-the-fly at display time.


The act of manually creating sprites, as opposed to pre-rendering them or using digitized images, is a form of pixel art. It is sometimes referred to as spriting, especially in the hobbyist community.




Contents





  • 1 History


  • 2 Systems with hardware sprites


  • 3 Use in 3D rendering


  • 4 Synonyms


  • 5 See also


  • 6 References




History[edit]


The use of sprites originated with arcade games. The first video game to represent player characters as human player images was Taito's Basketball, which was licensed in February 1974 to Midway, releasing it as TV Basketball in North America.[2][3]


Signetics devised the first chips capable of generating sprite graphics (referred to as objects by Signetics) for home systems. The Signetics 2636 video processors were first used in the 1978 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System and later in the 1979 Elektor TV Games Computer.


The Atari VCS, released in 1977, features a hardware sprite implementation where five graphical objects can be moved independently of the game playfield. The term sprite was not in use at the time. The VCS's sprites are called movable objects in the programming manual, further identified as two players, two missiles, and one ball.[4] These each consist of a single row of pixels that are displayed on a scan line. To produce a two-dimensional shape, the sprite's single-row bitmap is altered by software from one scan line to the next.


The 1979 Atari 400 and 800 home computers feature similar, but more elaborate, circuitry capable of moving eight single-color objects per scan line: four 8-bit wide players and four 2-bit wide missiles. Each is the full height of the display—a long, thin strip. DMA from a table in memory automatically sets the graphics pattern registers for each scan line. Hardware registers control the horizontal position of each player and missile. Vertical motion is achieved by moving the bitmap data within a player or missile's strip. The feature was called player/missile graphics by Atari.


The Namco Galaxian arcade system board, for the 1979 arcade game Galaxian, featured animated, multi-colored sprites.[5] It pioneered a sprite system that animated pre-loaded sprites over a scrolling background, which became the basis for Nintendo's Radar Scope and Donkey Kong arcade hardware and home consoles such as the Nintendo Entertainment System.[6] According to Steve Golson from General Computer Corporation, the term "stamp" was used instead of "sprite" at the time.[7]


The term sprite was first used in the graphic sense by one of the definers of the Texas Instruments 9918(A) video display processor (VDP).[8] The term was derived from the fact that sprites, rather than being part of the bitmap data in the framebuffer, instead "floated" around on top without affecting the data in the framebuffer below, much like a ghost or "sprite". By this time, sprites had advanced to the point where complete two-dimensional shapes could be moved around the screen horizontally and vertically with minimal software overhead.



Systems with hardware sprites[edit]


These are base hardware specs and don't include additional programming techniques, such as using raster interrupts to repurpose sprites mid-frame.


























































































































































































































































































































































































































Computer systemSprite hardwareYearSprites on screenSprites on lineMax. texels on line
Texture width
Texture heightColorsHardware zoomRotationBackgroundCollision detectionTransparencySource
Amstrad Plus19901616?1616151, 2, 4× vertical, 1, 2, 4× horizontalNo1 bitmap layerNoColor key[9]
Atari 2600TIA197753171, 826211, 2, 4, 8× horizontalHorizontal mirroring1 bitmap layerYesColor key[10]
Atari 8-bit family
GTIA/ANTIC
197988402, 8128, 2561,31, 2× vertical, 1, 2, 4× horizontalNo1 tile or bitmap layerYesColor key[11]
Commodore 64VIC-II19828896, 19212, 24211, 31, 2× integerNo1 tile or bitmap layerYesColor key[12]
Amiga (OCS)Denise1985Arbitrary812816Arbitrary3, 15Vertical by display listNo2 bitmap layersYesColor key[13]
Amiga (AGA)Lisa1992Arbitrary851216, 32, 64Arbitrary3, 15Vertical by display listNo2 bitmap layersYesColor key
Gameduino2011256961,5361616255NoYes1 tile layerYesColor key[14]
IntellivisionSTIC AY-3-89001979886488,1611, 2, 4, 8× vertical, 1, 2× horizontalHorizontal and vertical mirroring1 tile layerYesColor key[15]
MSXTexas Instruments TMS99181983324648, 168, 1611, 2× integerNo1 tile layerPartialColor key[16]
MSX2Yamaha V993819863281288, 168,161, 3, 7, 15 per line1, 2× integerNo1 tile or bitmap layerPartialColor key

MSX2+ / MSX turbo R
Yamaha V995819883281288,168,161, 3, 7, 15 per line1, 2× integerNo1 tile or bitmap layerPartialColor key

Namco Pac-Man
(arcade)
TTL1980669616163NoHorizontal and vertical mirroring1 tile layerNoColor key[17]
TurboGrafx-16HuC6270A1987641625616, 3216, 32, 6415NoNo1 tile layerYesColor key

Namco Galaxian
(arcade)
1979Arbitrary152408, 168, 1631, 2, 3× vertical, 1, 2, 3× horizontalHorizontal and vertical mirroring1 tile layer and 1 bitmap layerYesColor key
[18][19][20]

Nintendo Donkey Kong, Radar Scope
(arcade)
19791281625616163IntegerHorizontal and vertical mirroring1 tile layerYesColor key[21]
Nintendo DSIntegrated PPU20041281281,2108, 16, 32, 648, 16, 32, 6465,536Yes, affine
Yes, affine
4 layers per screen; each layer is independentNoColor key, blending[22]
NES/Famicom
Ricoh RP2C0x PPU
19836486488, 163NoHorizontal and vertical mirroring1 tile layerPartialColor key[23]
Game BoyIntegrated PPU198940108088, 163NoHorizontal and vertical mirroring1 tile layerNoColor key[24]
Game Boy AdvanceIntegrated PPU200112812812108, 16, 32, 648, 16, 32, 6415, 255Yes, affine
Yes, affine
4 layers, 2 layers, and 1 affine layer, 2 affine layersNoColor key, blending[25]

Master System,
Game Gear
VDP
(TMS9918-derived)
19856481288, 168, 16151, 2× integer, 1, 2× verticalBackground tile mirroring1 tile layerYesColor key
[26][27]
Sega GenesisYM7101 VDP
(SMS VDP-derived)
198880203208, 16, 24, 328, 16, 24, 3215NoHorizontal and vertical mirroring2 tile layersYesColor key
[28][29]

Sega OutRun (arcade)
198612812816008 to 5128 to 25615Yes, anisotropic
Horizontal and vertical mirroring2 tile layers and 1 bitmap layerYesAlpha
[30][31][32][33][34][35][36]
Sharp X68000Cynthia jr. (original), Cynthia (later models)1987128325121616151, 2× integerHorizontal and vertical mirroring1-2 tile layers and 1-4 bitmap layersPartialColor key
[37][38][39]
Neo GeoLSPC2-A219903849615361616 to 51215Sprite shrinkingHorizontal and vertical mirroring1 tile layerPartialColor key
[40][41][42]
Super NES/
Super Famicom
S-PPU1, S-PPU21990128342728, 16, 32, 648, 16, 32, 6415Background onlyHorizontal and vertical mirroring3 tile layers or 1 affine mapped tile layerYesColor key, averaging
Computer systemSprite hardwareYearSprites on screenSprites on lineMax. texels on line
Texture width
Texture heightColorsHardware zoomRotationBackgroundCollision detectionTransparencySource


Use in 3D rendering[edit]




2D images with alpha channels constrained to face the camera may be used in 3D graphics. They are common for rendering vegetation, to approximate distant objects, or for particle effects. These are sometimes called "billboards" or "Z-sprites". If rendered on the fly to cache an approximate view of an underlying 3D model, such sprites are called impostors.[43] Modern GPU hardware can mimic sprites with two texture-mapped triangles or specific primitives such as point sprites.



Synonyms[edit]




Some hardware makers used terms other than sprite.


Player/Missile Graphics was a term used by Atari, Inc. for hardware-generated sprites in the company's early coin-op games, the Atari 2600 and 5200 consoles, and the Atari 8-bit computers.[44] The term reflected the usage for both characters ("players") and smaller associated objects ("missiles") that share the same color.


Movable Object Block, or MOB, was used in MOS Technology's graphics chip literature (data sheets, etc.) However, Commodore, the main user of MOS chips and the owner of MOS for most of the chip maker's lifetime, used the term sprite for the Commodore 64.


The developer manuals for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES, and Game Boy refer to sprites as OBJs (short for "objects"), and the region of RAM used to store sprite attributes and coordinates was known as OAM (Object Attribute Memory). This also applies on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS handheld systems.



See also[edit]


  • 2.5D

  • Layers (digital image editing)


References[edit]




  1. ^ ab Hague, James. "Why Do Dedicated Game Consoles Exist?". dadgum.com..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em


  2. ^ Video Game Firsts, The Golden Age Arcade Historian (November 22, 2013)


  3. ^ Basketball Flyer (1974), Arcade Flyer Museum


  4. ^ Wright, Steve (December 3, 1979). "Stella Programmer's Guide" (PDF).


  5. ^ Dillon, Roberto (19 April 2016). "The Golden Age of Video Games: The Birth of a Multibillion Dollar Industry". CRC Press – via Google Books.


  6. ^ Making the Famicom a Reality, Nikkei Electronics (September 12, 1994)


  7. ^ Steve Golson (2016). Classic Game Postmortem: 'Ms. Pac-Man' (Conference). Game Developers Conference. Event occurs at 20:30. Retrieved 2017-01-26. […] 6 moving characters, what you would call today "sprites" we called them "stamps" back then, […].


  8. ^ "Karl Guttag Conference on Delphi TI Net - comp.sys.ti | Google Groups". Groups.google.com. Retrieved 2009-11-29.


  9. ^ "Plus - CPCWiki". Cpcwiki.eu. Retrieved 2009-11-29.


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  11. ^ "Atari 5200 FAQ - Hardware Overview". AtariHQ.com. Retrieved 2011-02-06.


  12. ^ "The MOS 6567/6569 video controller (VIC-II) and its application in the Commodore 64". Archived from the original on August 30, 2006. Retrieved 2006-01-08.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)


  13. ^ "Amiga Hardware Reference Manual 4: sprite hardware". 1989.


  14. ^ "Gameduino Specifications". excamera.com.


  15. ^ "STIC - Intellivision Wiki". wiki.intellivision.us. Retrieved 15 March 2018.


  16. ^ TEXAS INSTRUMENTS 9900: TMS9918A/TMS9928AITMS9929A Video Display Processors (PDF). Retrieved 2011-07-05.


  17. ^ Montfort, Nick; Bogost, Ian (9 January 2009). "Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System". MIT Press – via Google Books.


  18. ^ "Galaxian-derived video hardware". GitHub. MAME. Retrieved October 23, 2018.


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  20. ^ "Galaxian hardware family". GitHub. MAME. Retrieved October 23, 2018.


  21. ^ Nathan Altice (2015), I Am Error: The Nintendo Family Computer / Entertainment System Platform, pages 53 & 69, MIT Press


  22. ^ "Specifications". Nocash.emubase.de. Archived from the original on 2009-06-21. Retrieved 2009-11-29.


  23. ^ "Microsoft Word - NESDoc.doc" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-11-29.


  24. ^ "GameBoy - Spielkonsolen Online Lexikon". At-mix.de. 2004-06-22. Retrieved 2009-11-29.


  25. ^ "Specifications". Nocash.emubase.de. Archived from the original on 2009-06-21. Retrieved 2009-11-29.


  26. ^ Charles MacDonald. "Sega Master System VDP documentation". Archived from the original on 2014-03-18. Retrieved 2011-07-05.


  27. ^ "Sega Master System Technical Information" (TXT). Smspower.org. Retrieved 2016-11-28.


  28. ^ "Sega Programming FAQ October 18, 1995, Sixth Edition - Final". Archived from the original on January 22, 2005. Retrieved 2015-12-10.


  29. ^ Staff, Polygon (2015-02-03). "How Sega built the Genesis". Polygon. Retrieved 2016-11-28.


  30. ^ "Sega Out Run Hardware (Sega)". System 16. 2016-03-31. Retrieved 2016-11-28.


  31. ^ "mame/segaorun.c at master · mamedev/mame · GitHub". github.com. 21 November 2014. Archived from the original on 21 November 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2018.


  32. ^ "Out Run". 2001-02-27. Archived from the original on 2001-02-27. Retrieved 2016-11-28.


  33. ^ "Out Run Hardware (Sega)". System 16. Retrieved 2009-11-29.


  34. ^ "Version 0.3 - 7th February 1998". Coinop.org. Retrieved 2016-11-28.


  35. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-01-25. Retrieved 2016-02-09.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)


  36. ^ "Sega "X-Board" hardware notes". Archived from the original (TXT) on 2014-03-18. Retrieved 2016-11-28.


  37. ^ "X68000-Computer Museum". Museum.ipsj.or.jp. Retrieved 2016-11-28.


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