preferred tool to creating a level map in games

[Yaron Nir]

Hi All,

 

what is your preferred tool to create a map for your games? and how do you use that tool?

 

mine is charpad. a c64 tool. i normally pick a 2x1 resolution and define a map which is 127 by 12 (in memory it will be 256*24 to fit ANTIC mode 4 char mode)

the export to asm gives bit pairs (nybbles) that C64 understands, so i use a tool to convert the bit pair to A8.

i have 3 arrays after the import:

1. charset - which contains the custom character set data

2. tiles - which contains the tiles that are combined from chars from the charset

3. map - which contains the tiles that combines the map

 

what i do normally is draw the map onto the screen memory and scroll the screen when my main sprite goes to mid of screen

 

would like to hear about your experience

 

Cheers

Yaron

[R0ger]

I write all tools for every project in VB6. I wouldn't use existing level editor, I'm sure it would miss features I need.

Like map editor for my Sails of Doom. It uses 4x4 tiles, and complicated limitations to tile placement. Sure it doesn't have any fancy features, and it's controlled by key shortcuts only I know. But it does the job.

 

[Yaron Nir]

So this map tool you wrote in VB? Nice

 

What is the export of this map looks like?

Are you using it in antic mode 4? Other antic mode?

[R0ger]

It's not even related to any Antic mode. The format is the same I need for the game. It's 1 byte per tile, there are 16 basic tiles, where individual bits define what corner of the tile is occupied, and tiles above that are 'cosmetic' and can only appear in the middle of the island, the contain the houses and other details. The game itself uses Antic mode E (ie. non-character). The fact I use 4x4 pixel tiles and the logical limitations prevent me from using any other tile map software. Also I would most likely need to convert the data anyway. My map editor also uses RLE compression when saving. By creating the whole editor from scratch, I don't have to do the conversion, I can adapt it to anything I need.

And editor like this is basically the 'Paint' procedure, which can display the data structure on screen. Then you add some mouse handling, and that's it. There's nothing special about it.

It is interesting topic though. Every project needs tools like this. Even graphics conversion. In every project I make, there is something special, I didn't use before. I reuse the old tools, but I modify them substantially for the new project. I know many people use existing software for this, I don't understand how they do it.

I also use VB6 for prototyping .. like testing if some math will work, and how to convert it to integer arithmetic, or if the graphics would look good while moving, or how the controls feel. All much easier on modern computer. So these tools are often just extension of the prototype, it was the case with Sails of doom map editor.

Edited May 1, 2019 by R0ger

[Yaron Nir]

thanks Roger. it is indeed an interesting topic, that is why i've started it.

i truely want to learn a good way to create level maps for games and want to know how other A8 devs are using it.

 

any other thoughts guys?

[baktra]

I typically put together something in Java. if I need GUI, I use the Swing library to create it.

[Yaron Nir]

I typically put together something in Java. if I need GUI, I use the Swing library to create it.

care to share more? what exactly are you writing in Java? is the map combined from tiles? chars? other?

Edited May 1, 2019 by Yaron Nir

[+Gemintronic]

For 2600 and Genesis I use Tiled. I just export the map I designed to .csv and (if using BASIC) add the line: " DATA " to the start of every line. Copy and paste the results into my source.

 

https://www.mapeditor.org/

[baktra]

care to share more? what exactly are you writing in Java? is the map combined from tiles? chars? other?

 

For example for the Train game, it was a level editor with GUI. Levels (20×10) tiles were made from 2x2 character tiles. So it was a combo of a primitive character editor and tile painter.

[Yaron Nir]

For 2600 and Genesis I use Tiled. I just export the map I designed to .csv and (if using BASIC) add the line: " DATA " to the start of every line. Copy and paste the results into my source.

 

https://www.mapeditor.org/

so i once tried to use the "TILED" tool. i kinda got stuck progressing with it, then i discovered charpad which was much more intuitive for me....

thanks Gem!

[Yaron Nir]

For example for the Train game, it was a level editor with GUI. Levels (20×10) tiles were made from 2x2 character tiles. So it was a combo of a primitive character editor and tile painter.

cool. got it. tnx baktra

[Yaron Nir]

i am starting to sense there is no speicifc recommended tool here. some of us just use your own code and your own tool.

[Irgendwer]

any other thoughts guys?

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/275944-atari-font-maker-by-matosimi-short-question/

[+Gemintronic]

i am starting to sense there is no speicifc recommended tool here. some of us just use your own code and your own tool.

 

A very old middle ground I used to use was Mappy. I liked it as you could create your own extensions in lua.

 

https://tilemap.co.uk/mappy.php

[baktra]

Just to see how a custom tool can look like. It always was something I quickly put together out of necessity. Java is RAD friendly, but so are VB, C#, or Delphi.

Edited May 2, 2019 by baktra

[Yaron Nir]

Just to see how a custom tool can look like. It always was something I quickly put together out of necessity. Java is RAD friendly, but so are VB, C#, or Delphi.

te.png cue.png

Baktra, tool looks awsome.

 

Does your tool eventually port to Antic mode 4 (char mode) ? or Antic mode E (bitmap mode)?

also, does your tool allows you to create scrolled maps?

[Yaron Nir]

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/275944-atari-font-maker-by-matosimi-short-question/

thanks irgendwer!

[baktra]

Baktra, tool looks awsome.

 

Does your tool eventually port to Antic mode 4 (char mode) ? or Antic mode E (bitmap mode)?

also, does your tool allows you to create scrolled maps?

 

The result is meant to be in char mode (ANTIC 4) and nothing else. No support for scrolled maps. It is by no means a universal tool.