If I use 16 bit color in my game to I have to worry about loading palettes?

No.

In 16, 24, and 32 bit color modes you would use an RGB calculator. For ex. (in directX) after you lock the surface you would write to it like this:

#define RGB16(r,g,b)((b%32) + ((g%64) << 5) + ((r%32) << 11))

((unsigned short *)vide_mem)[position_in_mem] =
RGB16(red,green,blue);

And you''d get a 16bit color, but you need a differant calculator for 32 and 24 bit modes

Remember that some cards use 565 mode and some use 555 modes for 16 bit, you''ve got to take that into consideration when using RGB macros.