Loading...
2,516
3 years ago

Ever wondered how devs measure performance on real a NES, which has no dev kit? A common way is the change the "color emphasis" while an operation is executing, during rendering. This effectively draws colored bars representing how long something takes.


Here, Green represents the player update. At the start of the "player_update" function, which is running while the TV is drawing the previous frame from top to bottom & left to right, I tell the NES to tint everything Green. At the end of the function I stop tinting Green.

image.png

This tells me that to update the player, it takes *roughly* 15 scanlines of the video frame. I have about 260 scanlines to finish all the work for the next frame to maintain 60 frames per second, so this one function takes about 6% of my CPU budget for the frame.

image.png

The game in the video is a new, untitled, NES homebrew I am working on.

Follow for more updates on that game, and retro console development in general!

2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Game Dev
Game Dev Show & Tell
Nintendo ClipsNScreenshots
Pixel Art general
Retro & Homebrew Games Home Brew Devs
173


9 comments

Loading...

Next up

It's the FINAL push for From Below!

shop.matthughson.com

Sale ends 11:59PM PT!

If you know folks who love Game Boy, Tetris, NES, or Homebrew... LET THEM KNOW!

If you're on Reddit, Discord, social media... anything: Every share makes a HUGE difference!

Only 48hrs left to pick up my new game for your Nintendo Game Boy & NES!🦑

https://shop.matthughson.com

Preorder ends Oct 16th, 11:59PM PT! Do not miss it!🗓

$60USD w/FREE SHIPPING!💌

Compatible with EVERY model of Game Boy, including Super Game Boy!

When making games on the NES, nothing is easy!

With a LOT of help from the #nesdev Discord, I was able to clean up the seam above the status bar.

Also there's some new (temp) art, and I even perform the forbidden mid-frame palette update for extra colors!

This week's Fan Art Friday celebrates Yooka-Replaylee! Accept the quest in your quest log to get started.

🚨1 WEEK LEFT!🚨 🚨GAMEBOY PREORDER!🚨 Last chance to get a copy of this brand new Game Boy game, From Below Pocket, as well as the NES version!🦑 After this week, the game will be out of print, likely for YEARS. 📆 https://frombelowgame.com #gbdev #nesdev

Happy #WIPWednesday! Are you working on a game? Making some art? Practicing a song? Something else? Tell us in the comments!

MASSIVE Game Boy Homebrew GIVEAWAY! We're giving away physical copies of 4 new Gameboy games to 1 winner! From Below is on sale NOW: http://shop.matthughson.com 🚨 ENTER HERE: https://twitter.com/matthughson/status/1710641131590221843 🏁Giveaway ends Oct 11th 11:59PM PT

Time is almost up on a new GAME BOY and NES title!⏲️

Only 2 week left to pick up a physical copy of "From Below Pocket" for the Game Boy, and "From Below" for the NES! 🦑

Both come complete in box with free global shipping! 📨

shop.matthughson.com

Happy #WIPWednesday! Are you working on a game? Making some art? Practicing a song? Something else? Tell us in the comments!

Here's something you don't see in every NES game:

A platformer with ZAPPER support! Super Sunny World allows a 2nd player to kill enemies with the Zapper Gun.

#nesdev