Sprites
The Spectrum Next has a hardware sprite system with the following characteristics:
- Total of 128 sprites
- Display surface is 320×256 overlapping the ULA screen by 32 pixels on each side
- Minimum of 100 sprites per scanline†
- Choice of 512 colours for each pixel
- Size of each sprite is 16×16 pixels but sprites can be magnified 2x, 4x or 8x horizontally and vertically
- Sprites can be mirrored and rotated
- Sprites can be grouped together to form larger sprites under the control of a single anchor
- A 16K pattern memory can contain 64 8-bit sprite images or 128 4-bit sprite images and combinations in-between
- A per sprite palette offset allows sprites to share images but colour them differently
- A nextreg interface allows the copper to move sprites during the video frame
† A minimum of 100 16×16 sprites is guaranteed to be displayed in any scanline. Any additional sprites will not be displayed with the hardware ensuring sprites are not partially plotted.
The actual limit is determined by how many 28MHz clock cycles there are in a scanline. The sprite hardware is able to plot one pixel cycle and uses one cycle to qualify each sprite. Since the number of cycles there are in a scanline varies with video timing (HDMI, VGA), the number of pixels that can be plotted also varies but the minimum will be 1600 pixels per line including overhead cycles needed to qualify 100 sprites. Since sprites magnified horizontally involve plotting more pixels, x2 x4 x8 sprites will take more cycles to plot and the presence of these sprites in a line will reduce the total number of sprites that can be plotted.
Contents
Sprite Patterns
Sprite patterns are the images that each sprite can take on. The images are stored in a 16K memory internal to the FPGA and are identified by pattern number. A particular sprite chooses a pattern by storing a pattern number in its attributes.
All sprites are 16×16 pixels in size but the come in two flavours: 4-bit and 8-bit. The bit width describes how many bits are used to code the colour of each pixel.
An 8-bit sprite uses a full byte to colour each of its pixels so that each pixel can be one of 256 colours. In this case, a 16×16 sprite requires 256 bytes of pattern memory to store its image.
A 4-bit sprite uses a nibble to colour each of its pixels so that each pixel can be one of 16 colours. In this case, a 16×16 sprite requires just 128 bytes of pattern memory to store its image.
The 16K pattern memory can contain any combination of these images, whether they are 128 bytes or 256 bytes and their locations in the pattern memory are described by a pattern number. This pattern number is 7 bits with bits named as follows:
Pattern Number
N5 N4 N3 N2 N1 N0 N6 N6, despite the name, is the least significant bit.
This 7-bit pattern number can identify 128 patterns in the 16k pattern memory, each of which are 128 bytes in size. The full 7-bits are therefore used for 4-bit sprites.
For 8-bit sprites, N6=0 always. The remaining 6 bits can identify 64 patterns, each of which is 256 bytes in size.
The N5:N0,N6 bits are stored in a particular sprite’s attributes to identify which image a sprite uses.
8-Bit Sprite Patterns
The 16×16 pixel image uses 8-bits for each pixel so that each pixel can be one of 256 colours. One colour indicates transparency and this is programmed into the Sprite Transparency Index register (nextreg 0x4B). By default the transparent index is 0xE3.
As an example of an 8-bit sprite, let’s have a look at the sprite below:
Using the default palette, which is initialised with RGB332 colours from 0-255, the hexadecimal values for this pattern arranged in a 16×16 array are shown below:
04040404040404E3E3E3E3E3E3E3E3E3 04FFFFFFFFFF04E3E3E3E3E3E3E3E3E3 04FFFBFBFBFF04E3E3E3E3E3E3E3E3E3 04FFFBF5F5FBFF04E3E3E3E3E3E3E3E3 04FFFBF5A8A8FBFF04E3E3E3E3E3E3E3 04FFFFFBA844A8FBFF04E3E3E3E3E3E3 040404FFFBA844A8FBFF04E3E3E3E3E3 E3E3E304FFFBA84444FBFF04E304E3E3 E3E3E3E304FFFB444444FBFF044D04E3 E3E3E3E3E304FFFB44444444FA4D04E3 E3E3E3E3E3E304FFFB44FFF54404E3E3 E3E3E3E3E3E3E304FF44F5A804E3E3E3 E3E3E3E3E3E3E3E304FA4404A804E3E3 E3E3E3E3E3E3E3044D4D04E304F504E3 E3E3E3E3E3E3E3E30404E3E3E304FA04 E3E3E3E3E3E3E3E3E3E3E3E3E3E30404
Here 0xE3 is used as the transparent index.
These 256 bytes would be stored in pattern memory in left to right, top to bottom order.
4-Bit Sprite Patterns
The 16×16 pixel image uses 4-bits for each pixel so that each pixel can be one of 16 colours. One colour indicates transparency and this is programmed into the lower 4-bits of the Sprite Transparency Index register (nextreg 0x4B). By default the transparency value is 0x3. Note that the same register is shared with 8-bit patterns to identify the transparent index.
Since each pixel only occupies 4-bits, two pixels are stored in each byte. The leftmost pixel is stored in the upper 4-bits and the rightmost pixel is stored in the lower 4-bits.
As an example we will use the same sprite image as was given in the 8-bit pattern example. Here only the lower 4 bits of each pixel is retained to confine each pixel’s colour to 4-bits:
4444444333333333 4FFFFF4333333333 4FBBBF4333333333 4FB55BF433333333 4FB588BF43333333 4FFB848BF4333333 444FB848BF433333 3334FB844BF43433 33334FB444BF4D43 333334FB4444AD43 3333334FB4F54433 33333334F4584333 333333334A448433 33333334DD434543 33333333443334A4 3333333333333344
0x3 is used as the transparent index.
These 128 bytes would be stored in pattern memory in left to right, top to bottom order.
The actual colour that will appear on screen will depend on the palette, described below. The default palette will not likely generate suitable colours for 4-bit sprites.
Sprite Palette
Each pixel of a sprite image is 8-bit for 8-bit patterns or 4-bit for 4-bit patterns. The pixel value is known as a pixel colour index. This colour index is combined with the sprite’s palette offset. The palette offset is a 4-bit value added to the top 4-bits of the pixel colour index. The purpose of the palette offset is to allow a sprite to change the colour of an image.
The final sprite colour index generated by the sprite hardware is then the sum of the pixel index and the 4-bit palette offset. In pictures using binary math:
8-bit Sprite PPPP0000 + IIIIIIII ---------- SSSSSSSS 4-bit Sprite PPPP0000 + 0000IIII ---------- SSSSSSSS = PPPPIIII
Where “PPPP” is the 4-bit palette offset from the sprite’s attributes and the “I”s represent the pixel value from the sprite pattern. The final sprite index is represented by the 8-bit value “SSSSSSSS”.
For 4-bit sprites the palette offset can be thought of as selecting one of 16 different 16-colour palettes.
This final 8-bit sprite index is then passed through the sprite palette which acts like a lookup table that returns the 9-bit RGB333 colour associated with the sprite index.
At power up, the sprite palette is initialized such that the sprite index passes through unchanged and is therefore interpreted as an RGB332 colour. The missing third blue bit is generated as the logical OR of the two other blue bits. In short, for 8-bit sprites, the sprite index also acts like the colour when using the default palette.
Sprite Attributes
A sprite’s attributes is a list of properties that determine how and where the sprite is drawn.
Each sprite is described by either 4 or 5 attribute bytes listed below:
Sprite Attribute 0
X X X X X X X X
The least significant eight bits of the sprite’s X coordinate. The ninth bit is found in sprite attribute 2.
Sprite Attribute 1
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
The least significant eight bits of the sprite’s Y coordinate. The ninth bit is optional and is found in attribute 4.
Sprite Attribute 2
P P P P XM YM R X8/PR
P = 4-bit Palette Offset
XM = 1 to mirror the sprite image horizontally
YM = 1 to mirror the sprite image vertically
R = 1 to rotate the sprite image 90 degrees clockwise
X8 = Ninth bit of the sprite’s X coordinate
PR = 1 to indicate P is relative to the anchor’s palette offset (relative sprites only)
Rotation is applied before mirroring.
Relative sprites, described below, replace X8 with PR.
Sprite Attribute 3
V E N5 N4 N3 N2 N1 N0
V = 1 to make the sprite visible
E = 1 to enable attribute byte 4
N = Sprite pattern to use 0-63
If E=0, the sprite is fully described by sprite attributes 0-3. The sprite pattern is an 8-bit one identified by pattern N=0-63. The sprite is an anchor and cannot be made relative. The sprite is displayed as if sprite attribute 4 is zero.
If E=1, the sprite is further described by sprite attribute 4.
Sprite Attribute 4
A. Extended Anchor Sprite
H N6 T X X Y Y Y8
H = 1 if the sprite pattern is 4-bit
N6 = 7th pattern bit if the sprite pattern is 4-bit
T = 0 if relative sprites are composite type else 1 for unified type
XX = Magnification in the X direction (00 = 1x, 01 = 2x, 10 = 4x, 11 = 8x)
YY = Magnification in the Y direction (00 = 1x, 01 = 2x, 10 = 4x, 11 = 8x)
Y8 = Ninth bit of the sprite’s Y coordinate
{H,N6} must not equal {0,1} as this combination is used to indicate a relative sprite.
B. Relative Sprite, Composite Type
0 1 N6 X X Y Y PO
N6 = 7th pattern bit if the sprite pattern is 4-bit
XX = Magnification in the X direction (00 = 1x, 01 = 2x, 10 = 4x, 11 = 8x)
YY = Magnification in the Y direction (00 = 1x, 01 = 2x, 10 = 4x, 11 = 8x)
PO = 1 to indicate the sprite pattern number is relative to the anchor’s
C. Relative Sprite, Unified Type
0 1 N6 0 0 0 0 PO
N6 = 7th pattern bit if the sprite pattern is 4-bit
PO = 1 to indicate the sprite pattern number is relative to the anchor’s
The display surface for sprites is 320×256. The X coordinate of the sprite is nine bits, ranging over 0-511, and the Y coordinate is optionally nine bits again ranging over 0-511 or is eight bits ranging over 0-255. The full extent 0-511 wraps on both axes, meaning a sprite 16 pixels wide plotted at X coordinate 511 would see its first pixel not displayed (coordinate 511) and the following pixels displayed in coordinates 0-14.
The full display area is visible in VGA. However, the HDMI display is vertically shorter so the top eight pixel rows (Y = 0-7) and the bottom eight pixel rows (Y = 248-255) will not be visible on an HDMI display.
Sprites can be fully described by sprite attributes 0-3 if the E bit in sprite attribute 3 is zero. These sprites are compatible with the original sprite module from core versions prior to 2.00.26.
If the E bit is set then a fifth sprite attribute, sprite attribute 4, becomes active. This attribute introduces scaling, 4-bit patterns, and relative sprites. Scaling is self-explanatory and 4-bit patterns were described in the last section. Relative sprites are described in the next section.
Relative Sprites
Normal sprites (sprites that are not relative) are known as anchor sprites. As the sprite module draws sprites in the order 0-127 (there are 128 sprites), it internally stores characteristics of the last anchor sprite seen. If following sprites are relative, they inherit some of these characteristics, which allows relative sprites to have, among other things, coordinates relative to the anchor. This means moving the anchor sprite also causes its relatives to move with it.
There are two types of relative sprites supported known as “Composite Sprites” and “Unified Sprites”. The type is determined by the anchor in the T bit of sprite attribute 4.
A. Composite Sprites
The sprite module records the following information from the anchor:
- Anchor.visible
- Anchor.X
- Anchor.Y
- Anchor.palette_offset
- Anchor.N (pattern number)
- Anchor.H (indicates if the sprite uses 4-bit patterns)
These recorded items are not used by composite sprites:
- Anchor.rotate
- Anchor.xmirror
- Anchor.ymirror
- Anchor.xscale
- Anchor.yscale
The anchor determines if all its relative sprites use 4-bit patterns or not.
The visibility of a particular relative sprite is the result of ANDing the anchor’s visibility with the relative sprite’s visibility. In other words, if the anchor is invisible then so are all its relatives.
Relative sprites only have 8-bit X and Y coordinates (the ninth bits are taken for other purposes). These are signed offsets from the anchor’s X,Y coordinate. Moving the anchor moves all its relatives along with it.
If the relative sprite has its PR bit set in sprite attribute 2, then the anchor’s palette offset is added to the relative sprite’s to determine the active palette offset for the relative sprite. Otherwise the relative sprite uses its own palette offset as usual.
If the relative sprite has its PO bit set in sprite attribute 4, then the anchor’s pattern number is added to the relative sprite’s to determine the pattern used for display. Otherwise the relative sprite uses its own pattern number as usual. The intention is to supply a method to easily animate a large sprite by manipulating the pattern number in the anchor.
A composite sprite is like a collection of independent sprites tied to an anchor.
B. Unified Sprites
Unified sprites are a further extension of the composite type. The same information is recorded from the anchor and the same behaviour as described under composite sprites applies.
The difference is the collection of anchor and relatives is treated as if it were a single 16×16 sprite. The anchor’s rotation, mirror, and scaling bits apply to all its relatives. Rotating the anchor causes all the relatives to rotate around the anchor. Mirroring the anchor causes the relatives to mirror around the anchor. The sprite hardware will automatically adjust X,Y coords and rotation, scaling and mirror bits of all relatives according to settings in the anchor.
Unified sprites should be defined as if all its parts are 16×16 in size with the anchor controlling the look of the whole.
A unified sprite is like a big version of an individual 16×16 sprite controlled by the anchor.
Programming Sprites
Sprites are created via three I/O ports and a nextreg interface.
Sprite Status/Slot Select ($303B / 12347) (W)
X S S S S S S S N6 X N N N N N N
A write to this port has two effects.
One is it selects one of 128 sprites for writing sprite attributes via port 0x57.
The other is it selects one of 128 4-bit patterns in pattern memory for writing sprite patterns via port 0x5B. The N6 bit shown is the least significant in the 7-bit pattern number and should always be zero when selecting one of 64 8-bit patterns indicated by N.
Sprite Attribute Upload ($xx57 / 87) (W)
Once a sprite is selected via port 0x303B, its attributes can be written to this port one byte after another. Sprites can have either four or five attribute bytes and the internal attribute pointer will move onto the next sprite after those four or five attribute bytes are written. This means you can select a sprite via port 0x303B and write attributes for as many sequential sprites as desired. The attribute pointer will roll over from sprite 127 to sprite 0.
Sprite Pattern Upload ($xx5B / 91) (W)
Once a pattern number is selected via port 0x303B, the 256-byte or 128-byte pattern can be written to this port. The internal pattern pointer auto-increments after each write so as many sequential patterns as desired can be written. The internal pattern pointer will roll over from pattern 127 to pattern 0 (4-bit patterns) or from pattern 63 to pattern 0 (8-bit patterns) automatically.
Sprite Status/Slot Select ($303B / 12347) (R)
0 0 0 0 0 0 M C
M = 1 if the maximum number of sprites per line was exceeded
C = 1 if any two displayed sprites collide on screen
Reading this port automatically resets the M and C bits.
Besides the i/o interface, there is a nextreg interface to sprite attributes. The nextreg interface allows the copper to manipulate sprites and grants the program random access to a sprite’s individual attribute bytes.
(R/W) 0x34 (52) => Sprite Number
If the sprite number is in lockstep with io port 0x303B (nextreg 0x09 bit 4 is set)
bits 7 = Pattern address offset (Add 128 to pattern address)
bits 6-0 = Sprite number 0-127, Pattern number 0-63
Selects which sprite has its attributes connected to the following registers.
Effectively performs an out to port 0x303B with the same value
Otherwise
bit 7 = Ignored
bits 6-0 = Sprite number 0-127
Selects which sprite has its attributes connected to the following registers.
Bit 7 always reads back as zero.
This nextreg can operate in two modes.
If nextreg 0x09 bit 4 is set, then this register is kept in lockstep with i/o port 0x303B. A write to this nextreg is equivalent to a write to port 0x303B and vice versa. In this mode, the i/o interface and nextreg interface are exactly equivalent.
If nextreg 0x09 bit 4 is reset, then the nextreg interface is decoupled from i/o port 0x303B. This nextreg is used to select a particular sprite 0-127 and this is completely independent from the sprite selected for the i/o interface. This independence allows the copper, for example, to manipulate different sprites than the cpu using the i/o interface.
(W) 0x35 (53) => Sprite Attribute 0
(W) 0x75 (117) => Sprite Attribute 0 with automatic post increment of Sprite Number
bits 7-0 = LSB of X coordinate
A write to nextreg 0x75 also increases the selected sprite in nextreg 0x34.
(W) 0x36 (54) => Sprite Attribute 1
(W) 0x76 (118) => Sprite Attribute 1 with automatic post increment of Sprite Number
bits 7-0 = LSB of Y coordinate
A write to nextreg 0x76 also increases the selected sprite in nextreg 0x34.
(W) 0x37 (55) => Sprite Attribute 2
(W) 0x77 (119) => Sprite Attribute 2 with automatic post increment of Sprite Number
bits 7-4 = Palette offset added to top 4 bits of sprite colour index
bit 3 = X mirror
bit 2 = Y mirror
bit 1 = Rotate
bit 0 = MSB of X coordinate
A write to nextreg 0x77 also increases the selected sprite in nextreg 0x34.
(W) 0x38 (56) => Sprite Attribute 3
(W) 0x78 (120) => Sprite Attribute 3 with automatic post increment of Sprite Number
bit 7 = Visible flag (1 = displayed)
bit 6 = Extended attribute (1 = Sprite Attribute 4 is active)
bits 5-0 = Pattern used by sprite (0-63)
A write to nextreg 0x78 also increases the selected sprite in nextreg 0x34.
(W) 0x39 (57) => Sprite Attribute 4
(W) 0x79 (121) => Sprite Attribute 4 with automatic post increment of Sprite Number
4-bit Sprites
bit 7 = H (1 = sprite uses 4-bit patterns)
bit 6 = N6 (0 = use the first 128 bytes of the pattern else use the last 128 bytes)
bit 5 = 1 if relative sprites are composite, 0 if relative sprites are unified
Scaling
bits 4-3 = X scaling (00 = 1x, 01 = 2x, 10 = 4x, 11 = 8x)
bits 2-1 = Y scaling (00 = 1x, 01 = 2x, 10 = 4x, 11 = 8x)
bit 0 = MSB of Y coordinate
A relative mode is enabled if H,N6 = 01. The byte format for relative sprites is described above.
A write to nextreg 0x79 also increases the selected sprite in nextreg 0x34.
Global Control of Sprites
The following nextreg are also of interest for sprites.
Peripheral 4 Register ($09) (09)
bit 7 = Mono setting for AY 2 (1 = mono, 0 default)
bit 6 = Mono setting for AY 1 (1 = mono, 0 default)
bit 5 = Mono setting for AY 0 (1 = mono, 0 default)
bit 4 = Sprite id lockstep (1 = Nextreg 0x34 and IO Port 0x303B are in lockstep, 0 default)
bit 3 = Disables Kempston port ($DF) if set
bit 2 = Disables divMMC ports ($E3, $E7, $EB) if set
bits 1-0 = scanlines (0 after a PoR or Hard-reset)
00 = scanlines off
01 = scanlines 75%
10 = scanlines 50%
11 = scanlines 25%
Bit 4 determines if the i/o interface and nextreg interface operate in lockstep.
Sprite and Layers System Register ($15) (21)
bit 7 = LoRes mode, 128 x 96 x 256 colours (1 = enabled)
bit 6 = Sprite priority (1 = sprite 0 on top, 0 = sprite 127 on top)
bit 5 = Enable sprite clipping in over border mode (1 = enabled)
bits 4-2 = set layers priorities:
Reset default is 000, sprites over the Layer 2, over the ULA graphics
000 – S L U
001 – L S U
010 – S U L
011 – L U S
100 – U S L
101 – U L S
110 – S(U+L) ULA and Layer 2 combined, colours clamped to 7
111 – S(U+L-5) ULA and Layer 2 combined, colours clamped to [0,7]
bit 1 = Over border (1 = yes) (Back to 0 after a reset)
bit 0 = Sprites visible (1 = visible) (Back to 0 after a reset)
Bit 0 must be set for sprites to be visible.
Bit 1 set allows sprites to be visible in the border area. When this bit is reset, sprites will not display outside the 256×192 area of the ULA display.
Bit 5 set enables clipping when sprites are visible in the border area. If reset, no clipping is applied and sprites will be visible in the full 320×256 space.
The sprite module draws sprites in the order 0-127 in each scanline. Bit 6 determines whether sprite 0 is topmost or sprite 127 is topmost.
Bits 4:2 determine layer priority and how sprites overlay or are obscured by other layers.
Clip Window Sprites Register ($19) (25)
bits 7-0 = Coord. of the clip window
1st write – X1 position
2nd write – X2 position
3rd write – Y1 position
4rd write – Y2 position
The values are 0,255,0,191 after a Reset
Reads do not advance the clip position
When the clip window is enabled for sprites in “over border” mode, the X coords are internally doubled and the clip window origin is moved to the sprite origin inside the border.
Sprites will only be visible inside the clipping window. When not in over-border mode (bit 1 of nextreg 0x15) the clipping window is given in ULA screen coordinates with 0,0 corresponding to the top left corner of the ULA screen. In over-border mode, the clipping window’s origin is moved to the sprite coordinate origin 32 pixels to the left and 32 pixels above the ULA screen origin.
Regardless, sprite position is always in sprite coordinates with 32,32 corresponding to the top left corner of the ULA screen.
Clip Window Control Register ($1C) (28) (W)
bits 7-4 = Reserved, must be 0
bit 3 – reset the tilemap clip index
bit 2 – reset the ULA/LoRes clip index.
bit 1 – reset the sprite clip index.
bit 0 – reset the Layer 2 clip index.
Can be used to reset nextreg 0x19.
Enhanced ULA Control Register ($43) (67)
bit 7 = ‘1’ to disable palette write auto-increment.
bits 6-4 = Select palette for reading or writing:
000 = ULA first palette
100 = ULA second palette
001 = Layer 2 first palette
101 = Layer 2 second palette
010 = Sprites first palette
110 = Sprites second palette
011 = Tilemap first palette
111 = Tilemap second palette
bit 3 = Select Sprites palette (0 = first palette, 1 = second palette)
bit 2 = Select Layer 2 palette (0 = first palette, 1 = second palette)
bit 1 = Select ULA palette (0 = first palette, 1 = second palette)
bit 0 = Enable ULANext mode if 1. (0 after a reset)
Sprites have two associated palettes which can be selected in this nextreg.
Palette Index Register ($40) (64)
bits 7-0 = Select the palette index to change the associated colour.
For the ULA only, INKs are mapped to indices 0-7, Bright INKS to indices 8-15, PAPERs to indices 16-23 and Bright PAPERs to indices 24-31.
In ULANext mode, INKs come from a subset of indices 0-127 and PAPERs come from
a subset of indices 128-255. The number of active indices depends on the number
of attribute bits assigned to INK and PAPER out of the attribute byte.
The ULA always takes border colour from paper.
Select the starting palette index if writing the sprite palette.
Palette values can be written in either 8-bit or 9-bit form:
Palette Value Register ($41) (65)
bits 7-0 = Colour for the palette index selected by the register 0x40.
(Format is RRRGGGBB – the lower blue bit of the 9-bit colour will be a logical OR of blue bits 1 and 0 of this 8-bit value.)
After the write, the palette index is auto-incremented to the next index if the auto-increment is enabled at reg 0x43. Reads do not auto-increment.
Enhanced ULA Palette Extension ($44) (68)
Two consecutive writes are needed to write the 9 bit colour
1st write:
bits 7-0 = RRRGGGBB
2nd write.
If writing a L2 palette
———————————————————————–
bit 7 = 1 for L2 priority colour, 0 for normal
Priority colour will always be on top even on an SLU priority arrangement. If you need the exact same colour on priority and non priority locations you will need to program the same colour twice changing bit 7 to 0 for the second colour
bits 6-1 = Reserved, must be 0
bit 0 = lsb B
If writing another palette
———————————————————————–
bits 7-1 = Reserved, must be 0
bit 0 = lsb B
After the two consecutive writes the palette index is auto-incremented if the auto-increment is enabled by reg 0x43.
Reads only return the 2nd byte and do not auto-increment.
Sprites Transparency Index Register ($4B) (75)
bits 7-0 = Set the index value (0xE3 after reset)
For 4-bit sprites only the bottom 4-bits are relevant.
Determines the transparent colour index used for sprites.