Adaptive tile refresh
Encyclopedia
Adaptive tile refresh is a computer graphics
technique developed by id Software
's John Carmack wherein only the graphical elements that have moved are rendered anew, thereby saving the computing power required to redraw the entire screen. He invented it to compensate for poor graphical capabilities of PCs in the early 1990s. To make sidescrolling games possible, adaptive tile refresh was the only technique available. This technique was eventually used to create the PC's first sidescroller, Commander Keen
.
Adaptive tile refresh made its first appearance in an unreleased test-version of "Dangerous Dave
in Copyright Infringement". Dangerous Dave was a title previously used by John Carmack while programming games for Softdisk
. The sole purpose of this game was to test adaptive tile refresh in a realistic environment, and the game was created within a very short time frame. Adaptive tile refresh had never before been used in a game, and when Dangerous Dave in Copyright Infringement was complete, it stretched the boundaries of what was thought possible on a PC at the time. The game was a port of Nintendo
's Super Mario Bros. 3
, but Nintendo declined the offer to release the game after id Software finished it. It was kept mostly secret, and it was never released to anyone other than the pre-founders of id Software.
Adaptive tile refresh made its first market appearance in id Software's first installment of the Commander Keen game series, Marooned on Mars. Commander Keen was an immediate shareware success, due to its groundbreaking features and gameplay. Never before had a sidescrolling PC game been able to even run, let alone render as smoothly as Commander Keen.
Computer graphics
Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....
technique developed by id Software
Id Software
Id Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
's John Carmack wherein only the graphical elements that have moved are rendered anew, thereby saving the computing power required to redraw the entire screen. He invented it to compensate for poor graphical capabilities of PCs in the early 1990s. To make sidescrolling games possible, adaptive tile refresh was the only technique available. This technique was eventually used to create the PC's first sidescroller, Commander Keen
Commander Keen
Commander Keen is a series of video games developed by id Software in the early 1990s. The series focuses on the adventures of Billy Blaze, an 8-year old boy who travels through space and assumes the identity "Commander Keen". The series was successful at replicating the side-scrolling action of...
.
Adaptive tile refresh made its first appearance in an unreleased test-version of "Dangerous Dave
Dangerous Dave
Dangerous Dave is a 1988 computer game by John Romero. It was developed for the Apple II and DOS as an example game to accompany his article about his GraBASIC, an Applesoft BASIC add-on, for the UpTime disk magazine.-Summary:...
in Copyright Infringement". Dangerous Dave was a title previously used by John Carmack while programming games for Softdisk
Softdisk
Softdisk is a software and Internet company based in Shreveport, Louisiana. Founded in 1981, its original products were disk magazines...
. The sole purpose of this game was to test adaptive tile refresh in a realistic environment, and the game was created within a very short time frame. Adaptive tile refresh had never before been used in a game, and when Dangerous Dave in Copyright Infringement was complete, it stretched the boundaries of what was thought possible on a PC at the time. The game was a port of Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
's Super Mario Bros. 3
Super Mario Bros. 3
, also referred to as Super Mario 3 and SMB3, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System , and is the third game in the Super Mario series. The game was released in Japan in 1988, in the United States in 1990, and in Europe in 1991...
, but Nintendo declined the offer to release the game after id Software finished it. It was kept mostly secret, and it was never released to anyone other than the pre-founders of id Software.
Adaptive tile refresh made its first market appearance in id Software's first installment of the Commander Keen game series, Marooned on Mars. Commander Keen was an immediate shareware success, due to its groundbreaking features and gameplay. Never before had a sidescrolling PC game been able to even run, let alone render as smoothly as Commander Keen.