2D Games: Tiled Graphics and Why They Are Still Used (Topic)

With the proliferation of games on smartphones, the popularity of 2D graphics has increased again. This is understandable: 2D games are easier to draw than 3D objects.

Remember games for Dandy: Mario, tanks, contra? These games and many others were created using tiles. Tiles are small fragments of pictures, usually square in shape. Having a map of several fragments available, you can build entire game levels. This is how 2D games used to be built.

There was very little space on the cartridge (then the storage medium) - 100-200 kilobytes for the Dandy prefix, and therefore the developers used the tile method to save space on the media.

Why draw tile graphics now?

After all, modern media are able to accommodate much more information than in the 90s. It turns out that there are two reasons for using tile graphics these days.

First, it's simplicity. You don't need to draw gigabytes of textures when you can just use a small map with sliced tiles and scatter these pieces across the playing field. There is, of course, a problem with the monotony of graphics, but it is quite simple to solve it. The more fragments of the same decoration are created with minor differences, the more varied the level becomes.

A game with tile graphics can be done by one person using a ready-made set of tiles. But if you paint all the decorations by hand and alone, it will take months. Tiles also need to be able to draw: an important condition is that the parts of the fragments must fit together.

The second reason for the popularity of tile games is their special style. There are still fans of such graphics. Outwardly, a tile-based game may look simple and primitive, but it focuses on the plot. Recently, one by one, games have been released with stunning graphics and a rather mediocre storyline. In contrast, the developers of tile games focus on interesting gameplay and plot.

To build such games, tile editors are used, which make it very easy to build levels on a special grid, use copy and paste commands, special brushes and create presets for elements. All this makes it much easier to construct level design.

It's easiest for beginners to start mastering the gaming industry with this graphics.

The Topic of Article: 2D Games: Tiled Graphics and Why They Are Still Used.
Author: Jake Pinkman