Sprites Reference

The media types, the hardware platforms, the JavaScript library and the stored formats.

Media

Each media type across the machines, with a table per type linking to each machine's page for it.

Sprite

Movable images the hardware draws over the screen, with the sizes and colours each machine allows.

Image

Full-screen bitmaps, with the resolution and colour each machine allows.

Font

Character sets: the cell size and redefinable glyphs across the machines.

Text

Text screens: screen size, colours and the attribute model, across the machines.

Map

Tile maps: the tile size and colours across the machines that support them.

Audio

Sound hardware: the channels, chips and synthesis across the machines.

Platforms

The hardware platforms behind every editor.

Spectrum

The ZX Spectrum, with attribute colour cells over a high resolution grid.

C64

The Commodore 64, with hardware sprites and a fixed colour palette.

NES

The Nintendo Entertainment System, built from background tiles and sprites.

SNES

The Super Nintendo, with layered tiles and larger colour palettes.

Game Boy

The Game Boy, with four shade tiles and sprites on a small screen.

Amiga

The Commodore Amiga, with bitplane graphics and a broad colour range.

BBC

The BBC Micro, with a range of display modes and palettes.

Oric

The Oric, with attribute based colour across the screen.

PC

The PC, with its classic text and graphics display modes.

VGA

VGA, with 256 colours drawn from a wide palette.

Library

Documentation for the Sprites JavaScript library. This provides all the functionality for creating the interactive tools on this site.

Prerequisites

What to know before you read the modules: the coding standards, how the reactive framework works, and how the editors are built.

Reactive Framework

The reactive core: values, calculations, two-way fields, reactive structure, and named context. With the logic, data, optional, maths and text helpers built on it.

User Interface

The user interface framework on top of Sprites.Reactive: the core, plus content, layout, button, input, window, overlay, DOM, image and touch parts.

Storage

The resource format, the stored library, and the ways out: browse, export and zip.

Graphics

The shared drawing primitives: colour, shapes on an image surface, and a scene projected from three dimensions.

Media

The editable resource types, one kind of art per category, each with its own editor and tools.

Platforms

The platform packs, one for each machine, holding its colours, sizes and sprite modes.

Storage

How your work is saved in the browser: the shared metadata record and the data format for each media type.

Database

An IndexedDB database named sprites, split into two object stores keyed by id, with a cross-tab change counter.

Metadata

The record every item shares: id, name, media, platform, times, thumbnail and an info summary.

Sprite

A pixel grid of width, height and a flat cell array of packed colours or slot indexes.

Image

Not saved yet. The format lands with the image editor.

Font

Not saved yet. The format lands with the font editor.

Map

Not saved yet. The format lands with the map editor.

3D

Not saved yet. The format lands with the 3D editor.

Audio

Not saved yet. The format lands with the audio editor.

UI

Not saved yet. The format lands with the UI editor.

Source

Read the library itself. Every JavaScript file in the src directory, each opening on its own page with the full source in a code block.