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g0730n
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Joined: 14/05/2025
Location: United States
Posts: 14

Posted: 06:51am 19 May 2025

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Can someone give me a barebones explanation of creating a simple 8x8 sprite and displaying it on screen?

I have been looking at some of the games made in MMBasic as well as studying a manual but I am still confused. I feel like there is something that I am not understanding lol.

If there is already a guide to doing this any links would be appreciated, thanks!

Volhout
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Joined: 05/03/2018
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 4904

Posted: 07:11am 19 May 2025

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Hi g0730n,

You can create a sprite (up to 32x32) with the sprite editor:

Sprite Editor

You store this file to A:/ or B:/. I always add the suffix ".SPR" to distinguish it from other graphics files.

In your program you load the sprite into RAM with:

SPRITE LOAD "name_of_the_sprite.SPR",1

Now this is sprite number 1

You show sprite 1 on screen with:

SPRITE WRITE 1,x,y,0

That is it.

From here you can move the sprite, hide the sprite, etc... But alsways refer to the sprite number (1 in this case).
You can make things much more complex by using framebuffers, checking collisions, etc. But this is the essence.

Volhout

P.S. This version of flappy bird for VGA use sprites.
flappyVGA.zip
.
Edited 2025-05-19 17:17 by Volhout

PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS

g0730n
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Joined: 14/05/2025
Location: United States
Posts: 14

Posted: 07:59am 19 May 2025

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Volhout said Hi g0730n,

You can create a sprite (up to 32x32) with the sprite editor:

Sprite Editor

You store this file to A:/ or B:/. I always add the suffix ".SPR" to distinguish it from other graphics files.

In your program you load the sprite into RAM with:

SPRITE LOAD "name_of_the_sprite.SPR",1

Now this is sprite number 1

You show sprite 1 on screen with:

SPRITE WRITE 1,x,y,0

Thanks Volhout, that was straight to the point, EXACTLY what I was looking for! Going to load that sprite editor up and get started experimenting.

g0730n
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Joined: 14/05/2025
Location: United States
Posts: 14

Posted: 02:05pm 19 May 2025

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It's all working great!

I decided to make a roguelike/rpg style game, which is actually a remake of a text based game I made on the Smart Response XE running Arduino Basic, but was limited to 4k program size and wasn't able to fit the last bit in there so shelved it then lost the code.

Volhout
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Joined: 05/03/2018
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 4904

Posted: 04:23pm 19 May 2025

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You are fast....amazing.

I look forward to the game play.

Volhout
.

PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS

Martin H.

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Joined: 04/06/2022
Location: Germany
Posts: 1196

Posted: 04:41pm 19 May 2025

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Hi g0730n,
I've mad a Step-by-Step Guide some Times ago.
I think this will help you with the first steps. Instead of my SpriteEditor I now mainly use “Paint.net” to create the sprites and then convert them with the small Basic programs under MMBasic for Windows.
Example:

Cheers
Martin
Edited 2025-05-20 02:51 by Martin H.

'no comment

stanleyella

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Joined: 25/06/2022
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 2409

Posted: 05:17pm 19 May 2025

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I had a go at sprites and abreviated the colours and used data with graph paper

option DEFAULT INTEGER
'OPTION EXPLICIT

dim dx(15),dy(15),spx(15),spy(15),sht,swid
dim ptr,hiscore,spw,spht,temp,frame,frame_count,spdata,sp1
hiscore=0

'colour shortcuts
const WH =RGB(255, 255, 255) 'WHITE
const YE =RGB(255, 255, 0) 'YELLOW
const LI =RGB(255, 128, 255) 'LILAC
const BR =RGB(255, 128, 0) 'BROWN
const FU =RGB(255, 64, 255) 'FUCHSIA
const RU =RGB(255, 64, 0) 'RUST
const MA =RGB(255, 0, 255) 'MAGENTA
const RE =RGB(255, 0, 0) 'RED
const CY =RGB(0, 255, 255) 'CYAN
const GR =RGB(0, 255, 0) 'GREEN
const CE =RGB(0, 128, 255) 'CERULEAN
const MI =RGB(0, 128, 0) 'MIDGREEN
const CO =RGB(0, 64, 255) 'COBALT
const MY =RGB(0, 64, 0) 'MYRTLE
const BL =RGB(0, 0, 255) 'BLUE
const Bk =RGB(0, 0, 0) 'BLACK
const Gy =RGB(128, 128, 128) 'GREY
const Lg =RGB(210, 210, 210) 'LITEGREY
const Og =RGB(255, 165, 0) 'ORANGE
const PK =RGB(255, 160, 171) 'PINK
const Gd =RGB(255, 215, 0) 'GOLD
const SA =RGB(250, 128, 114) 'SALMON
const BE =RGB(245, 245, 220) 'BEIGE

Dim array%(16*16+16*16+12*10+1*16) '16x16 sprite
restore sprite1
For temp=0 To 255:Read array%(temp):Next temp
Sprite LOADARRAY 1, 16,16, array%()
'
restore sprite2
For temp=0 To 255:Read array%(temp):Next temp
Sprite LOADARRAY 2, 16,16, array%()
'erase array%()
'
'Dim array%(119) '12x10 sprite
restore cannon
For temp=0 To 119:Read array%(temp):Next temp
Sprite LOADARRAY #3, 12,10, array%()
'erase array%()
'
'Dim array%(15) '1x16 sprite
restore missile
For temp=0 To 15:Read array%(temp):Next temp
Sprite LOADARRAY #4, 1,16, array%()
erase array%()
'

'
'cls
'restore sprite1:sht=15:swid=15
'udg1 'draws sprite1 on screen at 10,10
'sprite READ 1,10,10,16,16 'reads sprite1 from screen to blit buffer1
'
'restore sprite2
'udg1 'draws sprite2 on screen at 10,10
'sprite read 2,10,10,16,16 'reads sprite2 from screen to blit buffer2
'
'restore cannon:sht=9:swid=11
'udg1 'draws sprite1 on screen at 10,10
'sprite READ 3,10,10,12,10 'reads sprite1 from screen to blit buffer1
'
'restore missile:sht=15:swid=0
'udg1 'draws sprite1 on screen at 10,10
'sprite READ 4,10,10,1,16 'reads sprite1 from screen to blit buffer1
'
'

'
for temp=0 to 15 'set up start sprite positions and directions

spx(temp)=(mm.hres /2)-32+int(rnd*64)
spy(temp)=(mm.vres /2)-20+int(rnd*40)
do :dx(temp)=int(rnd*5)-int(rnd*9):loop until dx(temp)<>0
do :dy(temp)=int(rnd*5)-int(rnd*9):loop until dy(temp)<>0

next temp
'
FRAMEBUFFER CREATE F

FRAMEBUFFER WRITE f

do 'demo moving sprite

cls RGB(black)
for temp=0 to 15
' if sprite_status(temp)=1 then 'is sprite active
if spx(temp)> mm.hres-32 then 'check right edge
dx(temp)= 0-dx(temp)
elseif spx(temp)<16 then 'check left edge
dx(temp)= 0-dx(temp)
end if
if spy(temp)>mm.vres-32 then 'check bottom edge
dy(temp)= 0-dy(temp)
elseif spy(temp)<16 then 'check top edge
dy(temp)= 0-dy(temp)
end if
'
spx(temp)=spx(temp)+dx(temp):spy(temp)=spy(temp)+dy(temp) 'get new position for draw
'
if frame=0 then'which sprite to draw
sprite WRITE 1,spx(temp),spy(temp) 'draw sprite1 at new position
else
sprite WRITE 2,spx(temp),spy(temp) 'draw sprite2 at new position
end if
next temp

FRAMEBUFFER COPY f,N
'
frame_count=frame_count+1 'when to change sprite
if frame_count=10 then
frame=not frame
frame_count=0
end if
pause 50
loop
'
sub udg1 'draws data for blit to copy
for spht=0 to sht
for spw=0 to swid
read sp1
pixel spw+10,spht+10,sp1
next spw
next spht
end sub
'
sprite1:
data wh,bl,bl,bl,bl,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bl,bl,bl,bl,wh
data bk,bl,re,re,re,bl,bl,bk,bk,bl,bl,re,re,re,bl,bk
data bk,bk,bk,bl,re,wh,bl,bk,bk,bl,wh,re,bl,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,bl,re,wh,bl,bk,bk,bl,wh,re,bl,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,bk,bl,wh,bl,bk,bk,bl,wh,bl,bk,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bl,bl,bk,bk,bl,bl,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,ye,ye,bk,bk,ye,ye,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,bk,bk,bk
data bk,ye,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,ye,bk
data bk,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,bk
data ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bl,ye
data ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,ye
data ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,ye
data bk,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,bk
data bk,bk,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,bk,bk
sprite2:
data bl,bl,bl,bl,bl,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bl,bl,bl,bl,bl
data bk,bl,re,re,re,bl,bl,bk,bk,bl,bl,re,re,re,bl,bk
data bk,bk,bl,wh,wh,re,bl,bk,bk,bl,re,wh,wh,bl,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,bl,re,wh,bl,bk,bk,bl,wh,re,bl,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,bk,bl,wh,bl,bk,bk,bl,wh,bl,bk,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bl,bl,bk,bk,bl,bl,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,ye,bk,bk,ye,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,ye,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,ye,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,bk,bk,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk
cannon:
data bk,bk,bk,bk,bk,wh,wh,bk,bk,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,bk,ye,cy,cy,ye,bk,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,ye,cy,wh,wh,cy,ye,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,ye,cy,cy,cy,cy,ye,bk,bk,bk
data bk,bk,ye,ye,cy,wh,wh,cy,ye,ye,bk,bk
data bk,bk,ye,cy,cy,cy,cy,cy,cy,ye,bk,bk
data bk,ye,bl,bl,bl,re,re,bl,bl,bl,ye,bk
data ye,ye,bl,bl,bl,re,re,bl,bl,bl,ye,ye
data bk,bk,ye,re,re,re,re,re,re,ye,bk,bk
data bk,bk,bk,ye,fu,fu,fu,fu,ye,bk,bk,bk
missile:
data wh,wh,re,re,ye,ye,wh,wh,wh,wh,ye,ye,re,re,wh,wh

g0730n
Newbie

Joined: 14/05/2025
Location: United States
Posts: 14

Posted: 12:52am 20 May 2025

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Awesome thanks guys lots of great info!

i usually use paint.net while on windows, martin the link you provided is very helpful for going that route.

so far I have created 36 16x16 sprites in this game I am making, using your mmbasic sprite editor. I may make a few more but i have pretty much done all tiles, enemies, npc's and items that will be used in game. i dont plan on animating anything at this point.

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