Micro Machines Meta-tile Format
| Format type | Tileset |
|---|---|
| Hardware | VGA |
| Max tile count | 64 |
| Palette | External |
| Tile names? | Unknown |
| Minimum tile size (pixels) | 96×96 |
| Maximum tile size (pixels) | 96×96 |
| Plane count | 1 |
| Plane arrangement | Unknown |
| Transparent pixels? | No |
| Hitmap pixels? | No |
| Metadata? | None |
| Supports sub-tilesets? | No |
| Compressed tiles? | No |
| Hidden data? | No |
| Games |
The meta-tiles for Micro Machines are stored in GAME1\ROUNDnBR.CT files, one per round. A meta-tile is a 96×96 pixel block made out of 6×6 tiles of 16×16 pixels from the round's tileset. Every cell of a .MAP file refers to one meta-tile.
The file does not hold any pixel data, only tile numbers.
File format
The file is a list of 72-byte records, one per meta-tile, with no header. The number of meta-tiles is the file size divided by 72 (54 to 64 per round).
Each record is 6 rows of 6 tile numbers:
| Data type | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| UINT16LE[6][6] | tile | Tile numbers, row by row. Bits 0-14 index the round's tileset (tile i starts at byte i × 256). Bit 15 is not used in the files. |
Building the world map
Before a race the game expands the whole track into a 192×192 word map (3072×3072 pixels): for each of the 32×32 map cells, the record of the cell's meta-tile is copied in place.
In round 2 (tile numbers 0x40-0x13C) and round 3 (tile numbers 0x01-0x51) the game then sets bit 15 in the world map. These are the overlay tiles: after the cars are drawn, the game draws tile number + 12 again on top of them, with colour 0 transparent. This makes the cars pass under the bathtub soap rack and the pool table rails. The ranges are fixed in the game code; all other rounds have no overlay tiles.
Credits
This file format was reverse engineered by VorticonCmdr. If you find this information helpful in a project you're working on, please give credit where credit is due. (A link back to this wiki would be nice too!)