   Rendering 2D backgrounds and such chop the background into pieces? Basics?
  I have some experience with the Java2D and Swing API, and I'm looking into making a new game that features an underwater seabed line.  This likely a basic question, but I know that with the work I've done in a previous game I toyed with, creating images that are too large overloads the heap memory.  Naturally, the background's will be the largest (visually) images there are in the game, and I know that it won't be one gigantic image, but what am I supposed to do with it?  Frustrums?  Chop up the image?  It will be a scrolling view.[Edited by - CyJackX on May 14, 2010 11:40:23 PM]
  "Seamless tiles" or sprites might be a good search query for you. These are images that can be placed beside eachother without any visible "seam".When you have seamless tiles you can also blend them together using multitexturing and create more variation.Even more variation can be created by adding separate sprites like stones, plants, grass etc./Per   