Tilema mapmaking for n00bs, manually?
BlitzMax Forums/BlitzMax Beginners Area/Tilema mapmaking for n00bs, manually?
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I've noticed that there are a bunch of tilemap map making utils available such as mappy, FishEd (to name just 2) for use with BM. Most of these tileditors have a nice quantity of pre-created maps. My question is..must i place each tile individually on the tilemap? Example: Tiles across = 22 Tiles top to bottom = 200 Total tiles = 22 * 200 = 4000 tiles! Some questions: 1. Must i place 4000 tiles individually by hand?!? Thats one heck of a manual labor job! 2. Which tileengine will allow me to transform a JPG/GIF image to a (single) layer of a tilemap? Make tiles of the imported JPG/GIF? 3. How do you guys typically do collision detection in tilemaps, for example that a player cant walk through walls? 4. How to place animated enemys on a tilemap which can shoot at your player? Something of a list of known x,y position of a enemy at which tile X/Y it is at? 5. Handle, or allow me to create animations? 6. Out of research purposes, are there anywhere any examples of collision detection with the http://mapeditor.de.vu proggy? (i use mappy). Which tilemap editor is best for a n00b who wanna learn the idea of tilemaps? ATM i am experimenting with Mappy http://mappy.co.uk, though it seems for a big map mappy will cause huge manual labor. TIA for the advice. |
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On a good tilemap, I would expect to spend upwards of 3hrs, which makes the 4000 tiles not seem that much. (Its like 20 a minute) I suppose it is a lot just for a knock about level tho. |
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You need a Map Editor which allows brushes/masks/multiple selection or maps created via script. The first simply allow you to select a number of tiles in a pattern (e.g. the 6-7 tiles which make up a bridge), store them and paste them as one. In addition, other than the base layer, you will not have objects on every tile. Map Editor tools come with a floodfill. Some Map Editors have collision data saved for each tile otherwise you need a walkability grid. This does not have to be the same size as the tilegrid or simply YES/NO but rather a value to cross the tile. Most Map Editors will not use enemy placement (unless it's a fix emplacement). Personally, I would position and animate these seperately. Many Map Editors allow you to define a list of tiles which make up and animation along with framerate. I couldn't get the hang of UME. I am looking at World Artist which seems simple to use, powerful and has Bmax code. |
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@H&K: Thanx for the tip, though a editor such as tonyg suggest with brushes and collision detection look more what i want to have. |