So, I'm making a HTML5 RPG just for fun. The map is a <canvas> (512px width, 352px height | 16 tiles across, 11 tiles top to bottom). I want to know if there's a more efficient way to paint the <canvas>.

Here's how I have it right now.

How tiles are loaded and painted on map

The map is being painted by tiles (32x32) using the Image() piece. The image files are loaded through a simple for loop and put into an array called tiles[] to be PAINTED on using drawImage().

First, we load the tiles...

and here's how it's being done:

// SET UP THE & DRAW THE MAP TILES
tiles = [];
var loadedImagesCount = 0;
for (x = 0; x <= NUM_OF_TILES; x++) {
  var imageObj = new Image(); // new instance for each image
  imageObj.src = "js/tiles/t" + x + ".png";
  imageObj.onload = function () {
    console.log("Added tile ... " + loadedImagesCount);
    loadedImagesCount++;
    if (loadedImagesCount == NUM_OF_TILES) {
      // Onces all tiles are loaded ...
      // We paint the map
      for (y = 0; y <= 15; y++) {
        for (x = 0; x <= 10; x++) {
          theX = x * 32;
          theY = y * 32;
          context.drawImage(tiles[5], theY, theX, 32, 32);
        }
      }
    }
  };
  tiles.push(imageObj);
}

Naturally, when a player starts a game it loads the map they last left off. But for here, it an all-grass map.

Right now, the maps use 2D arrays. Here's an example map.

[[4, 1, 4, 1, 4, 1, 4, 1, 4, 1, 4, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1], 
[1, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 1], 
[13, 13, 13, 13, 1, 1, 1, 1, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 1], 
[13, 13, 13, 13, 1, 13, 13, 1, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 1], 
[13, 13, 13, 13, 1, 13, 13, 1, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 1], 
[13, 13, 13, 13, 1, 13, 13, 1, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 1], 
[13, 13, 13, 13, 1, 1, 1, 1, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 1], 
[13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 1, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 1], 
[13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 11, 11, 11, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 1], 
[13, 13, 13, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 1], 
[1, 1, 1, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 1, 1, 1]];

I get different maps using a simple if structure. Once the 2d array above is return, the corresponding number in each array will be painted according to Image() stored inside tile[]. Then drawImage() will occur and paint according to the x and y and times it by 32 to paint on the correct x-y coordinate.

How multiple map switching occurs

With my game, maps have five things to keep track of: currentID, leftID, rightID, upID, and bottomID.

• currentID: The current ID of the map you are on.
• leftID: What ID of currentID to load when you exit on the left of current map.
• rightID: What ID of currentID to load when you exit on the right of current map.
• downID: What ID of currentID to load when you exit on the bottom of current map.
• upID: What ID of currentID to load when you exit on the top of current map.

Something to note: If either leftID, rightID, upID, or bottomID are NOT specific, that means they are a 0. That means they cannot leave that side of the map. It is merely an invisible blockade.

So, once a person exits a side of the map, depending on where they exited... for example if they exited on the bottom, bottomID will the number of the map to load and thus be painted on the map.

Here's a representational .GIF to help you better visualize:

As you can see, sooner or later, with many maps I will be dealing with many IDs. And that can possibly get a little confusing and hectic.

The obvious pros is that it load 176 tiles at a time, refresh a small 512x352 canvas, and handles one map at time. The con is that the MAP ids, when dealing with many maps, may get confusing at times.

My question

• Is this an efficient way to store maps (given the usage of tiles), or is there a better way to handle maps?

I was thinking along the lines of a giant map. The map-size is big and it's all one 2D array. The viewport, however, is still 512x352 pixels.

Here's another .gif I made (for this question) to help visualize:

Sorry if you cannot understand my English. Please ask anything you have trouble understanding. Hopefully, I made it clear. Thanks.