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The palette swap is a practice often used in video games, whereby a graphic that is already used for one element is given a different palette so that it can be reused for other elements. The different palette gives the new graphic a unique set of colors, which make it recognizably distinct from the original. It is commonly used to distinguish between first and second players, for creating visual hierarchies, and for making visually distinct areas for the levels in the game.
One reason for palette swaps is to save memory. In earlier computer gaming, when cartridges were the main storage medium and memory capacity was both scarce and expensive, the same sprites could be used over again by only changing their palette. Because of palette swaps, an object needs not to be redesigned from scratch but rather can be implemented by using an old object. This saves both production costs and development time.
In certain cases, such as console role-playing games, palette swaps are used to signify a character's status. Prominent examples include Final Fantasy, in which a player character afflicted with the "Poison" status effect will appear purple. By contrast, the main characters of Breath of Fire II (1996) occasionally swap their palette colors to indicate an increase in their respective statistics. In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, the colors of entire areas of the map are traded in for more monochromatic ones, with tinges of yellow and purple thrown in. This is called "Twilight" in the game, and once the player collects certain objects, the natural color is returned to the area. More generally, palette swaps are common in early sports games where the color scheme of opposing players is used to differentiate between teams.
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