hackertube.io

How "oldschool" graphics worked Part 1 - Commodore and Nintendo

The 8-Bit Guy · explainer · Watch on YouTube

Demoscene & retrocomputingGame history & retro gamingComputer architecture & CPUs

What it is

The 8-Bit Guy explains the color limitations of 1980s computers and consoles such as the NES and Commodore 64. It shows how sprites, attributes and palettes shaped the look of old games.

Why Hacker News recommends it

Recommended as a clear, approachable explanation of how retro graphics hardware actually worked.

  • 4 people recommended it
  • 3 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2015, last 2019

What HN commenters said

  1. “You would like this”

    Explains how oldschool Commodore and Nintendo graphics worked

    corysama, 2015-12 · Recommendation · in “Where do all the bytes come from?”

  2. “The 8-Bit Guy has some great videos about how graphics worked on the older systems”

    Great videos on how graphics worked on older systems

    OSButler, 2015-12 · Recommendation · in “Description of classic and modern C64 graphic modes”

  3. “the excelent series "How oldschool graphics worked”

    Series covering the same oldschool graphics techniques

    valtism, 2019-03 · Recommendation · in “Oldschool planar graphics and why they were a good idea”

  4. “This is a nice companion to which deals with more technical details of the implementation of NES and C64 graphics.”

    Technical details of NES and C64 graphics implementation

    dannypgh, 2019-09 · Recommendation · in “Tutorial series for simulating NES Graphics (2018)”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: nes, commodore 64, sprites, color limitations, 8-bit

Also recommended by the same people