[REQUEST][VERA] Addition of Mode7 based Graphics

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hamtaro126
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2023 8:15 am

Question [REQUEST][VERA] Addition of Mode7 based Graphics

Post by hamtaro126 »

Since we are heading near a newer version of VERA, and we are currently at VERA 2, near a theoretical new version, I would like an additional tilemap mode,

If those are not aware, people making stuff for 16-bit games in systems such as "that super" console, and also have made homebrew/demos with Mode 7 graphics, it has been a demoscene staple forever, it is also missing in the CX16, I would please like it being implemented by using the next VERA revision, if approved.

It can use any of the tile depth (1/2/4/8-bpp colors), any tilemap size, and yes, you can add attributes.

Things like 2D Tilemap Rotation, 2D Tilemap Warping, 2D Zooming, And so forth, will be at our disposal if this gets done...

Thank you for your time, Crew!!!
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Just a common user interested in 6502 stuff, not much to see here folks!!!
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DragWx
Posts: 340
Joined: Tue Mar 07, 2023 9:07 pm

Re: [REQUEST][VERA] Addition of Mode7 based Graphics

Post by DragWx »

Good news, the FX update to the VERA contains a feature called the affine helper which indeed allows you to take a tilemap and produce a rotated/skewed/zoomed bitmap from it.

There's also a "Super Mario Kart" demo showing the affine helper being used for this, but I'm not sure if it's available on the forums.

A caveat is, it isn't a display mode; you set up the scaling/rotation/etc and then you have to read each pixel from the VERA and then write it back to VRAM to create the bitmap, but the VERA handles all of the address increments for you so it's just a loop of read/write/read/write, which ends up being pretty quick.
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