v0.4.0 Genesis Palette Accuracy & Tile Count

Thanks to a detailed comment from GONESBREW -[Rahzelk]-, we revisited the Genesis palette accuracy and added a requested tile counter.

What changed

• Custom per-channel quantization levels: The Genesis preset now uses measured Genesis/Megadrive brightness steps. The default preset adopts BlastEm’s values (close to measured hardware), and you can override with your own Custom Levels in the GUI.
• Tile count display: The UI reports unique tile count (with flip/transparent handling) so you can verify palette/tile budgets. It should match Aseprite’s counts.

Why the palette change

Forum discussion: SpriteMind thread.

Hardware-derived non-linear ramp (per measurements):

• Normal: 0, 52, 87, 116, 144, 172, 206, 255
• Shadow: 0, 29, 52, 70, 87, 101, 116, 130
• Highlight: 130, 144, 158, 172, 187, 206, 228, 255

BlastEm’s emulation values:

• Normal: 0, 49, 87, 119, 146, 174, 206, 255
• Shadow: 0, 27, 49, 71, 87, 103, 119, 130
• Highlight: 130, 146, 157, 174, 190, 206, 228, 255

The two sets are very close; differences are minor and likely DAC/measurement variance. I chose BlastEm’s values for the default Genesis preset (it’s the emulator I use, and modern users often see emulated output). If you prefer the measured hardware steps, switch to Custom Levels and paste them in.

Tile count

• Shows the number of unique tiles after quantization.
• Options: treat fully transparent tiles as identical; allow flip X/Y equivalence.
• Implemented to match Aseprite’s counting.

Small UX tweak

• Palette overlay now shows palette/index + #AARRGGBB + rgba(r,g,b,a) on hover; the hovered chip highlights.

Thanks for all the feedback and for using the tool!