# Background tilemaps

Background tilemaps of the game are stored encoded, using a custom compression format.

As the tilemaps were coded manually by the original programmers, decoding and re-encoding them results in a file that is slighly different from the original.

So the tilemaps are stored encoded. I you want to visualize or edit them, you'll need to decode them first.

## Editing the tilemaps

To make change to a tilemap:

1. Decode the tilemap:
    ```
    tools/convert_background.py decode src/data/backgrounds/marin_beach.tilemap.encoded --output src/data/backgrounds/marin_beach.tilemap
    ```
2. Edit the tilemap, using your favorite editor.
3. Re-encode the modified tilemap:
    ```
    tools/convert_background.py encode src/data/backgrounds/marin_beach.tilemap --output src/data/backgrounds/marin_beach.tilemap.encoded
    ```

## Background color

Some tilemaps take advantage of the background being pre-filled with an initial color.
For instance, the file menu tilemaps assume that the background has been filled with black tiles
(7E) beforehand.

When decoding a tilemap, this initial color can be specified using the `--filler` command line argument.

And when encoding a tilemap, if an initial color is specified, long repeated sequences of this
color will be ignored (which will reduce both the encoded tilemap size and the overdraw)

For instance:

```
# Decode a tilemap using an initial color
tools/convert_background.py decode src/data/backgrounds/menu_file_creation.tilemap.encoded --filler 0x7E --output src/data/backgrounds/menu_file_creation.tilemap
# Edit using an external tool
# …
# Re-encode the tilemap without storing the initial color
tools/convert_background.py encode src/data/backgrounds/menu_file_creation.tilemap --filler 0x7E --output src/data/backgrounds/menu_file_creation.tilemap.encoded
```

## File terminator

Although most tilemaps end with a file terminator (0x00), some of them are partial tilemaps, and omit
this terminator. At runtime, after rendering the tilemap, the game continue rendering and fallback on
the next tilemap stored in the ROM or RAM (usually a menu).

In the original game, this concerns these files:
- menu_file_selection_commands.tilemap.encoded
- menu_file_selection_commands.attrmap.encoded

To handle this case, both the decoder and encoder support a `--no-file-terminator` option.

When **decoding**, `--no-file-terminator` tells the decoder that the file is expected to end abruptely.

When **encoding**, `--no-file-terminator` tells the encoder not to append the NULL file terminator at the end of the file.

This option should be used when decoding and encoding the relevant files.
