tilebased

Tilebased (tile-based) refers to a design approach in 2D computer graphics and game development where environments are built from a grid of tiles—small, reusable images drawn from a tileset. Each tile represents a fixed graphic and is referenced by a numeric ID in a map data structure. The tilemap stores one ID per cell in a grid, and the rendering system draws tiles at their corresponding grid coordinates, often with multiple layers for background, ground, vegetation, and objects. Tilesets are typically arranged in a single image or atlas to improve cache locality and reduce draw calls.

Tile-based layouts support various tile arrangements, including square, isometric, and hexagonal grids. Square tiles are the most common in classic 2D games; isometric tiles give a pseudo-3D appearance; hex tiles are used in some strategy titles.

Tile-based systems are popular for RPGs, strategy games, platformers, and puzzle games because they simplify collision detection, pathfinding, and level editing. Data-oriented approaches allow efficient storage: a 2D array or sparse map of tile IDs, plus optional metadata for collision or interactive properties.

Common features include layers, collision and walkable flags, and animation managed per tile. Pathfinding typically operates on the grid with algorithms such as A*. Editors such as Tiled, Ogmo Editor, or Mappy are commonly used to create and export tile maps for engines like Unity, Godot, or custom frameworks.

Advantages include memory efficiency and editing ease; limitations include visible seams at certain resolutions and constraints on visual variety.