Post #1766687
2026-03-18 01:24 UTC
The GBA has fixed sprite sizes, essentially combinations of 8, 16, 32, and 64 for width and height. In order to have sprites free of these constraints, you can make "meta sprites" out of multiple sprites. This brings other challenges, like proper horizontal flipping 😅
#gamedev #retrodev #pixelart
Replies (2)
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@mtthgn@mastodon.social 2026-03-18 01:29
Players can sense the common sizes that appear on the screen, so meta sprites can make things feel a lot more natural + less boxy. They can also lead to more efficient OBJ VRAM usage. This sprite could technically be a 64x64 sprite, but it'd take over 2x the VRAM! #gamedev #retrogaming #pixelart
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@slembcke@mastodon.gamedev.place 2026-03-18 06:22
@mtthgn@mastodon.social Do you bother dynamically flipping them on GBA? In NES land we usually just make tables of metasprites and eat the ROM size instead of using precious cycles.