Two Stop Bits

Multicolor ghostbyte shine-through is a technique for creating unexpanded-looking graphics in Commodore 64 borders by combining expanded multicolor sprites with per-line ghostbyte patterns. Unlike traditional ghostbyte masking where black pixels mask sprite data, this method creates transparent holes in sprite pixels that allow carefully crafted ghostbyte patterns and background colors to shine through. The technique uses multicolor mode with specific color assignments: one multicolor (00) for transparency, another matching the background, and black to blend with ghostbyte pixels. By changing ghostbyte values every raster line and moving sprites horizontally, developers can create border scrollers that appear unexpanded despite using 4-pixel-wide multicolor graphics. First used in Crest Avantgarde (1992), the technique remains relatively obscure due to its complexity.

Multicolor Ghostbyte Shine-through: How to Make an Unexpanded C64 Border Scroll