C64 C128 X16 M65

The SPRITE command sets various properties of a single sprite, including visibility, shape, color, etc.

SPRITE <spr_no> <subcommand> <subcommand> ...

Where <spr_no> is an expression that evaluates to a number between 0 and 7 and <subcommand> is one of:

• ON or OFF C64 C128 X16 M65
• AT <x>, <y> C64 C128 X16 M65
• SHAPE <n> C64 C128 X16 M65
• COLOR <c> C64 C128 X16 M65
• HIRES or MULTI C64 C128 M65
• LOWCOL or HICOL X16
• XYSIZE <x>, <y> C64 C128 X16 M65
• ON BACKGROUND or UNDER BACKGROUND C64 C128 M65
• ZDEPTH <n> X16
• XYFLIP <xf>, <yf> X16

SPRITE 0 SHAPE 4 ON AT 160, 100 COLOR 1
SPRITE 1 OFF
' Notice: the _ character splits long lines
SPRITE 2 _
  SHAPE 3 _
  ON _
  AT 50, 50 _
  MULTI _
  UNDER BACKGROUND

Enables or disables sprite visibility, for example:

SPRITE 0 OFF
SPRITE 1 ON

On the X16, ON is equivalent to ZDEPTH 3, while OFF is equivalent to ZDEPTH 0.

Locates sprite at the given co-ordinates on screen. For example:

SPRITE 5 AT 100, 140

will position sprite 5 at location (100,140).

Sets the address where the bitmap data of a sprite is stored in memory.

On the C64 and C128 this memory address is relative to the currently selected VIC bank and is calculated with the following formula:

address = VIC bank start + 64 * sprite shape

For example:

SPRITE 0 SHAPE 128

will set the address 0 + 128 * 64 = 8192 ($2000) for sprite 0, the default VIC bank address being 0.

On the X16 this memory address is a VRAM address, calculated with the following formula:

address = sprite shape * 32

For example:

SPRITE 0 SHAPE 2048

will set the address 2048 * 32 = 65536 ($10000) for sprite 0, that is, the first byte of the second VRAM bank.

C64 C128 Sets the individual sprite color to the desired value.

CONST RED = 2
SPRITE 1 COLOR RED

Note: global colors of multicolor sprites can be set using the SPRITE MULTICOLOR command.

X16 Sets the palette offset for the sprite.

C64 C128 Switches between high-resolution mode and multicolor modes for a single sprite.

SPRITE 7 MULTI
SPRITE 5 HIRES

X16 Switches between 4 bpp (low color) and 8 bpp (high color) modes for a single sprite.

SPRITE 7 LOWCOL
SPRITE 5 HICOL

Sets horizontal and vertical size of a sprite. Possible values differ by platform, see the following code snipplets for example:

' Commodore 64 and 128
SPRITE 0 XYSIZE 0, 0 ' Normal size
SPRITE 1 XYSIZE 1, 0 ' Horizontally stretched
SPRITE 2 XYSIZE 0, 1 ' Vertically stretched
SPRITE 3 XYSIZE 1, 1 ' Stretched in  both directions
' Commander X16
SPRITE 0 XYSIZE 0, 0 ' 8x8 pixels
SPRITE 1 XYSIZE 1, 0 ' 16x8 pixels
SPRITE 2 XYSIZE 0, 1 ' 8x16 pixels
SPRITE 3 XYSIZE 1, 1 ' 16x16 pixels
' ...
SPRITE 16 XYSIZE 3, 3 ' 64x64 pixels

C64 C128 Sets whether the sprite is displayed before or behind background graphics.

SPRITE 0 ON BACKGROUND
SPRITE 1 UNDER BACKGROUND

X16 Sets where the sprite appears among layers.

SPRITE 0 ZDEPTH 0 ' Sprite disabled (equivalent to SPRITE 0 OFF)
SPRITE 0 ZDEPTH 1 ' Sprite between background and layer 0
SPRITE 0 ZDEPTH 2 ' Sprite between layer 0 and layer 1
SPRITE 0 ZDEPTH 3 ' Sprite in front of layer 1 (equivalent to SPRITE 0 ON)

X16 Flips (mirrors) the sprite horizontally and/or vertically.

SPRITE 0 XYFLIP 0, 0 ' Not flipped
SPRITE 0 XYFLIP 1, 0 ' Flipped horizontally
SPRITE 0 XYFLIP 0, 1 ' Flipped vertically
SPRITE 0 XYFLIP 1, 1 ' Flipped horizontally and vertically