I will need to try it out! I was also wondering if it was possible to toggle a setting to output tilemap data by columns or by rows. I ask this because it seems like most tilemap routines that I have seen use data stored by rows (so in a 13x13 tilemap, the first thirteen bytes make the top row of tiles). This is probably because it makes more sense to us visually when looking at tilemap data since we write from left to right, top to bottom. However, I find that a decent speed gain can be had (thousands or even tens of thousands of cycles) if the data is stored so that the first 13 bytes corresponds to the leftmost column. The reason is that when we draw a sprite, we draw from the top to the bottom, so by the end of the sprite drawing routine, we already have a pointer to where the next sprite gets drawn-- there is no need to compute the next position cutting out potentially a hundred or more cycles for every tile drawn (though if done properly, it only saves 21 to 42 clock cycles per tile, but that adds up to 2000 to 4000 t-states).

Anyways, I use this to get better speed out of my tilemap routines and so it is the method used in BatLib, Grammer, and Pokémon Amber and I might release a tilemap engine based on that once I get the tilemap code as optimised as possible (I will need help for that). If this could be done, that would be great, but it is still doable with some mental warping. Thanks Deep Thought!

I agree with AssemblyBandit, but I still cleaned up my signature some.

I definitely think spoilers are beneficial for keeping signatures compact, too. For example, if I decided to link to the other 100+ projects I have worked on and completed, I would want them in a spoiler I don't think they would all fit, though, since the size limitation was set to 3000 characters instead of 10000 >.>

I also want to say in response to a previous post that my 1.6GHz computer that is three or four years old has never had trouble with heat issues loading pages. The only time my fan comes on is when Windows Update decides to update the .NET framework, when I run a virus scan, when I press F1, or when I am doing something else that eats my CPU. Maybe your ventilation is being blocked? Speaking of which, I haven't cleaned my fan in the past year >.>

I have noticed that for such areas of the site as the Tutorials section, when making a new tutorial, there isn't a way (that I can see) to preview it for formatting and whatnot. In the past, I have just opened another topic and hit the reply button so that I could preview what it looks like, but then I have to worry about accidentally posting it. With this in mind, here are my ideas:

-Adding a post preview button when writing a new tutorial.
-If this is not possible, maybe a place on the site that we can use for scratch work while designing a post that doesn't have a 'post' button (just a preview button).

Oh, I meant that if you wanted to display a string like "HELLO" it would be displayed as
H
E
L
L
O

Then with for treating the string as a 2D array, a string like "012345678" with width 3, reading the first 'column' would give you "036". For a text-based tilemap, this means you could shift the screen right and only have to draw a single column of text instead of redrawing all of the text on the screen. I think this is more practical for the non-color calcs, but I don't know how much faster it is to shift the screen left/right versus just redrawing the text.

Yes, as was said before, Repeat works like this:
Lbl 1
<code code code>
If K≠45
Goto 1
While works like this:
Lbl 1
If K=45
Then
<code code code>
Goto 1
End
I hope that helps a little. I personally prefer Repeat loops over While loops in most cases.

Wow, those polygons look great!

Yeah, I was using the technique of the original gameboy games for keeping the sprite close to the center of the screen (that is why I had to add tilemap clipping ).

As for Team Rocket... Yes Bill made a time travel device in the second generation for trading with the first. I want to play off of that idea to make a nice plot. I have a bunch of surprises lined up that I do not want to give away until it has been released, but I don't mind releasing some details There is one character that has been in several of the games and a bunch of the shows that will play an important roll early on (for the first time).

One part about the plot that I am really worried about is explaining the extinction of so many Pokémon. I mean, it does take place around when the fossil pokémon went extinct, so I think I need to make an explanation. I was thinking of making the plot as one of Team Rocket's plans goes horribly wrong and you try to save the Pokémon world from extinction... but then what? We know that they went extinct, so does that mean the main player is doomed to fail, or is time altered? Or do we try to save most of the Pokémon and move them out to space (Deoxys stuff involved here).

I do have a plot and storyline, that I think will work, and I hope it turns out excellently ^^ Soon, the only screenshots that I will be able to post will be ones that don't reveal major twists or major parts of the plot!

@Deep Thought: That is partially the reason. Originally, I was making a reference to Old Amber (the stuff that Aerodactyl was resurrected from). Then I started thinking about it and thought it was a great idea because it was a color/stone. As well, when I was trying to think of a name for Jade, I thought of Amber and decide to keep with that idea.

@deeph: I have an events handler that holds all of the event tile data (trees that can be cut, boulders that can be moved, warp tiles, items, NPCs). Essentially, I just loop through the events and draw any necessary sprites and execute any events. There are no events in the current map, but once I add them, it will start to slow things down. (60 events could take over 100 000 t-states to handle)

Also, each event will have some flags associated with it (in the save file). The reason for why I am doing it this way is so that maps don't have to be edited as the player plays the game. If an item is picked up, a flag is set and the event is removed. When the map is drawn, first the tiles are drawn, then the events are placed on top. If the item flag is reset, it won't get drawn, and the tile works normally again. If the player goes back to the map, the item is no longer added to the events list when the map is loaded.

Trees, boulders, and warp tiles don't have any flags associated with them (so trees reappear every time you re-enter a map). I think there will only ever be 20 to 30 events max per map. and the only ones that will be drawn are items, NPCs, trees, and boulders.