Hi,

I don't know about retail game, but my answer has two parts:

1) yes, you can do in 256x256 exactly the same thing, as with 512x512
(except it will cost you more CPU power per frame in some cases, thus
technically you can do a special case program, which will be possible only
in 512x512 ... but in real life you will unlikely hit that case)

2) still using 512x512 may be reasonable, imagine you are doing another
Street Fighter clone and your "arena" can be scrolled slightly, but still
it does fit within 512x512 map.
So why bother programming "load few columns/rows", if you can simply put
the whole arena up before battle and save some CPU cycles for special
effects calculated per frame.
Of course you will use 4 times more of VRAM, which may be for "SF" clone
essential for sprites/effects, but sometimes you may have that spare VRAM
and the simple code is always a good thing.

PED - Peter Helcmanovsky - wishing to have 48h days
Braniskova 7 Kosice 04001 Slovakia / phone +420 721308701
(_ -- actually in Brno, so don't look after me --
"~/\~" -=- deRATized RAT -=- Being beyond Yer imagination -=-
,_oo_, 7 GODS demo group WWW pages: http://7gods.sk
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