EarthBound/Map Data/Compressed Tileset Character Data

This is a sub-page of EarthBound/Map Data.

Data blocks storing compressed raw graphics for map tilesets. Data for a given map tileset is found using the Tileset Pointer Table.

Blocks

Block 1

Map Data: Compressed Tileset Character Data, Block 1
Game	EarthBound
Start Address	0x19D052
End Address	0x19FE17
# of Entries	1
Entry Length	Varies
Total Length	11718 bytes (0x2dc6)
Back to the ROM map

Address	Tileset name	Tileset index	Compressed length
0x19D052	Caves 1	13	11718 bytes (0x2dc6)

Block 2

Map Data: Compressed Tileset Character Data, Block 2
Game	EarthBound
Start Address	0x1CB223
End Address	0x1CD836
# of Entries	1
Entry Length	Varies
Total Length	9748 bytes (0x2614)
Back to the ROM map

Address	Tileset name	Tileset index	Compressed length
0x1CB223	Indoors 3	14	9748 bytes (0x2614)

Block 3

Map Data: Compressed Tileset Character Data, Block 3
Game	EarthBound
Start Address	0x1D0200
End Address	0x1E00CD
# of Entries	6
Entry Length	Varies
Total Length	65230 bytes (0xFECE)
Back to the ROM map

Address	Tileset name	Tileset index	Compressed length
0x1D0200	Lost Underworld	00	12948 bytes (0x3294)
0x1d3494	Onett	01	11395 bytes (0x2C83)
0x1d6117	Dalaam	09	10891 bytes (0x2A8B)
0x1d8ba2	Threed	03	11823 bytes (0x2E2F)
0x1db9d1	Fourside	04	10090 bytes (0x276A)
0x1de13b	Magicant	05	8083 bytes (0x1F93)

Block 4

Map Data: Compressed Tileset Character Data, Block 4
Game	EarthBound
Start Address	0x1E0200
End Address	0x1EF2E6
# of Entries	6
Entry Length	Varies
Total Length	61671 bytes (0xF0E7)
Back to the ROM map

Address	Tileset name	Tileset index	Compressed length
0x1E0200	Outdoors	06	13001 bytes (0x32C9)
0x1e34c9	Summers	07	8566 bytes (0x2176)
0x1e563f	Dusty Dunes Desert	08	8255 bytes (0x203F)
0x1e767e	Twoson	02	11395 bytes (0x2C83)
0x1ea301	Indoors 1	10	11577 bytes (0x2D39)
0x1ed03a	Indoors 2	11	8877 bytes (0x22AD)

Block 5

Map Data: Compressed Tileset Character Data, Block 5
Game	EarthBound
Start Address	0x1F0200
End Address	0x1FC442
# of Entries	6
Entry Length	Varies
Total Length	49731 bytes (0xC243)
Back to the ROM map

Address	Tileset name	Tileset index	Compressed length
0x1F0200	Stores 1	12	10552 bytes (0x2938)
0x1f2b38	Indoors 4	16	10226 bytes (0x27F2)
0x1f532a	Winters	17	6846 bytes (0x1ABE)
0x1f6de8	Scaraba	18	5539 bytes (0x15A3)
0x1f838b	Caves 2	19	7628 bytes (0x1DCC)
0x1fa157	Stores 2	15	8940 bytes (0x22EC)

Format

Data for each map tileset is individually compressed. See Compression Format.

Decompressed Format

Each entry, once decompressed, consists of 896 tileset characters, each a 4-bits-per-pixel 8x8 SNES graphics tile (sometimes referred to as a "minitile" by EarthBound modders). At 32 bytes per character, each entry is a total of 28672 bytes.

The first 512 characters represent background tiles that will be loaded into SNES background layer 1 (BG1) and appear behind sprites. The remaining 384 characters represent foreground tiles that will be loaded into SNES background layer 2 (BG2) with the priority bit set and will appear in front of sprites.

EarthBound tilemap data does not specify the background vs foreground tiles separately. Instead, character indices are always between 0 and 511.

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