2.5D Rendering on PlayDate

a year ago

Castle Kellmore uses a raycasting rendering system similar to Wolfenstein 3D, optimized for the Playdate's hardware.
The game is programmed in C++ with a fully integer-based rendering system using 16.16 fixed-point math for performance.
Raycasting involves casting rays from the player's location to determine wall distances and render vertical spans for walls.
The game includes floor and ceiling rendering for immersion, drawn with horizontal strips for efficiency.
Sprites are rendered in vertical spans with constraints to maintain performance, leading to a specific aesthetic.
Key optimizations include reducing updatable screen area, rendering fractions of the screen per frame, and minimizing pixel overdraw.
A depth buffer per pixel column is used to manage draw order and occlusion without a full depth buffer.
Amortized rendering is employed, updating parts of the screen over multiple frames to maintain performance, with different methods for fast and slow motion.

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