Domo 🐧 Soda-Powered Penguin
@domo-yoro.games
they/them |
indie dev, working hard on Soda-Powered Penguin!
steam: (WITH DEMO!)
http://sodapoweredpenguin.com
discord:
discord.gg/txpYqy7pyV
patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/sodapoweredpenguin
contact:
sodapoweredpenguin AT gmail.com
indie dev, working hard on Soda-Powered Penguin!
steam: (WITH DEMO!)
http://sodapoweredpenguin.com
discord:
discord.gg/txpYqy7pyV
patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/sodapoweredpenguin
contact:
sodapoweredpenguin AT gmail.com
pssst..... hey... the Soda-Powered Penguin SAGE '25 demo is out now! the entire demo has been brought to a new visual standard thanks to @magipixel.bsky.social !!
#indiedev #gamedev
#indiedev #gamedev
September 21, 2025 at 3:33 AM
pssst..... hey... the Soda-Powered Penguin SAGE '25 demo is out now! the entire demo has been brought to a new visual standard thanks to @magipixel.bsky.social !!
#indiedev #gamedev
#indiedev #gamedev
maybe i'm milking it but i do think the 2025 version of this room looks infinitely better
#pixelart #indiedev #leveldesign
#pixelart #indiedev #leveldesign
September 19, 2025 at 5:07 PM
maybe i'm milking it but i do think the 2025 version of this room looks infinitely better
#pixelart #indiedev #leveldesign
#pixelart #indiedev #leveldesign
i couldn't quite finish putting the full palette article into the new sage demo in time 😔
i need to rest but this is the first thing i'll do when i wake
i need to rest but this is the first thing i'll do when i wake
September 19, 2025 at 4:59 PM
i couldn't quite finish putting the full palette article into the new sage demo in time 😔
i need to rest but this is the first thing i'll do when i wake
i need to rest but this is the first thing i'll do when i wake
🐧 Soda-Powered Penguin will return...
September 19th for SAGE 2025!
September 19th for SAGE 2025!
September 3, 2025 at 3:52 PM
🐧 Soda-Powered Penguin will return...
September 19th for SAGE 2025!
September 19th for SAGE 2025!
Soda-Powered Penguin in the penguin colony in antarctica 🐧
I can't express how awesome it was of lenny from the discord to do this :)
#pixelart
I can't express how awesome it was of lenny from the discord to do this :)
#pixelart
August 8, 2025 at 3:57 AM
Soda-Powered Penguin in the penguin colony in antarctica 🐧
I can't express how awesome it was of lenny from the discord to do this :)
#pixelart
I can't express how awesome it was of lenny from the discord to do this :)
#pixelart
texture sizes do have limits though, whether you're using the RGBA32 color format or just the single-color channel R8 color format.
so... how about we combine multiple R8 color indexed textures into a single RGBA32 texture?
each R8 texture could occupy a different color channel after all!
so... how about we combine multiple R8 color indexed textures into a single RGBA32 texture?
each R8 texture could occupy a different color channel after all!
July 17, 2025 at 2:22 AM
texture sizes do have limits though, whether you're using the RGBA32 color format or just the single-color channel R8 color format.
so... how about we combine multiple R8 color indexed textures into a single RGBA32 texture?
each R8 texture could occupy a different color channel after all!
so... how about we combine multiple R8 color indexed textures into a single RGBA32 texture?
each R8 texture could occupy a different color channel after all!
so, after the game engine imports an image into a texture, we'll overwrite that texture data with the color indexed texture data!
and, while we're at it, we could actually use a single-color channel texture format too! this reduces the texture file size by 75%
and, while we're at it, we could actually use a single-color channel texture format too! this reduces the texture file size by 75%
July 17, 2025 at 2:19 AM
so, after the game engine imports an image into a texture, we'll overwrite that texture data with the color indexed texture data!
and, while we're at it, we could actually use a single-color channel texture format too! this reduces the texture file size by 75%
and, while we're at it, we could actually use a single-color channel texture format too! this reduces the texture file size by 75%
image file formats, like .JPG or .PNG, often use compression to shrink the image size. this compression may involve breaking up the image into multiple grids of colors!
July 17, 2025 at 2:15 AM
image file formats, like .JPG or .PNG, often use compression to shrink the image size. this compression may involve breaking up the image into multiple grids of colors!
so, technically speaking, images are not textures. shaders only accept textures, not just any image type.
a texture is a single grid of colors.
a texture is a single grid of colors.
July 17, 2025 at 2:14 AM
so, technically speaking, images are not textures. shaders only accept textures, not just any image type.
a texture is a single grid of colors.
a texture is a single grid of colors.
once again, we'll turn to shaders to automate this process!
this is actually just the first part of the "Find and Replace All" shader- but instead of outputting a swapped color, we just output index "i" converted to a color!
this is actually just the first part of the "Find and Replace All" shader- but instead of outputting a swapped color, we just output index "i" converted to a color!
July 17, 2025 at 2:07 AM
once again, we'll turn to shaders to automate this process!
this is actually just the first part of the "Find and Replace All" shader- but instead of outputting a swapped color, we just output index "i" converted to a color!
this is actually just the first part of the "Find and Replace All" shader- but instead of outputting a swapped color, we just output index "i" converted to a color!
this raises a new question: how do we create these color-indexed textures?
doing it by hand is certainly not an option. like the original recolor-by-hand approach, you'd need to throw out your work and start again every time you make a change to the original image.
doing it by hand is certainly not an option. like the original recolor-by-hand approach, you'd need to throw out your work and start again every time you make a change to the original image.
July 17, 2025 at 2:06 AM
this raises a new question: how do we create these color-indexed textures?
doing it by hand is certainly not an option. like the original recolor-by-hand approach, you'd need to throw out your work and start again every time you make a change to the original image.
doing it by hand is certainly not an option. like the original recolor-by-hand approach, you'd need to throw out your work and start again every time you make a change to the original image.
since we only need one color index per pixel, we actually only need to use just one color channel- red- to store the color indices!
so, the shader to convert color indices back to RGBA colors should look something like this:
so, the shader to convert color indices back to RGBA colors should look something like this:
July 17, 2025 at 2:04 AM
since we only need one color index per pixel, we actually only need to use just one color channel- red- to store the color indices!
so, the shader to convert color indices back to RGBA colors should look something like this:
so, the shader to convert color indices back to RGBA colors should look something like this:
so, instead of using an image to represent color data, we should instead use images to represent color index (position) data.
textures use a different RGBA format than shaders, where each color channel value can be 0-255. this is automatically converted to 0.0-1.0 in the shader.
textures use a different RGBA format than shaders, where each color channel value can be 0-255. this is automatically converted to 0.0-1.0 in the shader.
July 17, 2025 at 2:01 AM
so, instead of using an image to represent color data, we should instead use images to represent color index (position) data.
textures use a different RGBA format than shaders, where each color channel value can be 0-255. this is automatically converted to 0.0-1.0 in the shader.
textures use a different RGBA format than shaders, where each color channel value can be 0-255. this is automatically converted to 0.0-1.0 in the shader.
the answer, as it turns out, is that the NES stores RGBA values externally! the 2-bit value is used as a position on the palette, allowing colors to be represented with less data!
July 17, 2025 at 1:58 AM
the answer, as it turns out, is that the NES stores RGBA values externally! the 2-bit value is used as a position on the palette, allowing colors to be represented with less data!
old game systems didn't have this performance caveat, so they're doing something different to achieve the palette swap effect.
especially since the NES only defined colors with 2 bits- so that sprites could only have 4 colors total!
especially since the NES only defined colors with 2 bits- so that sprites could only have 4 colors total!
July 17, 2025 at 1:56 AM
old game systems didn't have this performance caveat, so they're doing something different to achieve the palette swap effect.
especially since the NES only defined colors with 2 bits- so that sprites could only have 4 colors total!
especially since the NES only defined colors with 2 bits- so that sprites could only have 4 colors total!
this shader is good for sprites with a handful of colors! unfortunately, this shader is too limited for swapping a whole level's visuals.
the penguin's palette consists of 6 colors, but the level palette will have at least 36.
shaders run for every pixel on every frame, so performance matters!
the penguin's palette consists of 6 colors, but the level palette will have at least 36.
shaders run for every pixel on every frame, so performance matters!
July 17, 2025 at 1:53 AM
this shader is good for sprites with a handful of colors! unfortunately, this shader is too limited for swapping a whole level's visuals.
the penguin's palette consists of 6 colors, but the level palette will have at least 36.
shaders run for every pixel on every frame, so performance matters!
the penguin's palette consists of 6 colors, but the level palette will have at least 36.
shaders run for every pixel on every frame, so performance matters!
we'll iterate through this set of colors with index position "i".
1. if the color matches source color at position "i", then output the corresponding swap color at position "i".
2. if the color doesn't match, then add 1 to "i" and go back to step 1
1. if the color matches source color at position "i", then output the corresponding swap color at position "i".
2. if the color doesn't match, then add 1 to "i" and go back to step 1
July 17, 2025 at 1:46 AM
we'll iterate through this set of colors with index position "i".
1. if the color matches source color at position "i", then output the corresponding swap color at position "i".
2. if the color doesn't match, then add 1 to "i" and go back to step 1
1. if the color matches source color at position "i", then output the corresponding swap color at position "i".
2. if the color doesn't match, then add 1 to "i" and go back to step 1
so, instead, it'd make more sense to define a set of "source" colors and a set of "swap" colors- that way we can change as many colors as we want!
July 17, 2025 at 1:43 AM
so, instead, it'd make more sense to define a set of "source" colors and a set of "swap" colors- that way we can change as many colors as we want!
devs will often call the palette swap feature finished here, as this is about as good as visual scripting tools can do.
this is fine for games with limited palette swaps! but remember, i want to swap the palette of a whole level, so i need to build a more robust system.
this is fine for games with limited palette swaps! but remember, i want to swap the palette of a whole level, so i need to build a more robust system.
July 17, 2025 at 1:42 AM
devs will often call the palette swap feature finished here, as this is about as good as visual scripting tools can do.
this is fine for games with limited palette swaps! but remember, i want to swap the palette of a whole level, so i need to build a more robust system.
this is fine for games with limited palette swaps! but remember, i want to swap the palette of a whole level, so i need to build a more robust system.
this enables changing any singular color on the sprite.
if we wanted to change more colors, we could chain the logic of this shader:
if we wanted to change more colors, we could chain the logic of this shader:
July 17, 2025 at 1:39 AM
this enables changing any singular color on the sprite.
if we wanted to change more colors, we could chain the logic of this shader:
if we wanted to change more colors, we could chain the logic of this shader:
so: shaders are the best tool to accomplish palette swapping! we'll start with a basic "Find and Replace" shader.
If the pixel's color matches the "source" color, then the shader will render the "swap" color instead of the original color.
If the pixel's color matches the "source" color, then the shader will render the "swap" color instead of the original color.
July 17, 2025 at 1:38 AM
so: shaders are the best tool to accomplish palette swapping! we'll start with a basic "Find and Replace" shader.
If the pixel's color matches the "source" color, then the shader will render the "swap" color instead of the original color.
If the pixel's color matches the "source" color, then the shader will render the "swap" color instead of the original color.
in short: shaders are GPU programs that use data from "materials" in order to render (draw) images!
here's the default shader most game engines have- and here's exactly where you see the "tint" color multiplication!
here's the default shader most game engines have- and here's exactly where you see the "tint" color multiplication!
July 17, 2025 at 1:32 AM
in short: shaders are GPU programs that use data from "materials" in order to render (draw) images!
here's the default shader most game engines have- and here's exactly where you see the "tint" color multiplication!
here's the default shader most game engines have- and here's exactly where you see the "tint" color multiplication!
in order to get a properly palette-swapped sprite, we'll need to look into how sprites are drawn on the screen.
the important part of this process is the shader, which i promise to break down in an easy-to-understand way!
the important part of this process is the shader, which i promise to break down in an easy-to-understand way!
July 17, 2025 at 1:30 AM
in order to get a properly palette-swapped sprite, we'll need to look into how sprites are drawn on the screen.
the important part of this process is the shader, which i promise to break down in an easy-to-understand way!
the important part of this process is the shader, which i promise to break down in an easy-to-understand way!
since color component values can only be between 0.0 and 1.0, this means that the product of color multiplication will always result in something that's darker than either starting color.
this explains why "tint" never provides a satisfactory result!
(it is useful for transparency at least!)
this explains why "tint" never provides a satisfactory result!
(it is useful for transparency at least!)
July 17, 2025 at 1:26 AM
since color component values can only be between 0.0 and 1.0, this means that the product of color multiplication will always result in something that's darker than either starting color.
this explains why "tint" never provides a satisfactory result!
(it is useful for transparency at least!)
this explains why "tint" never provides a satisfactory result!
(it is useful for transparency at least!)