Map Editor

[Vidiot_X]

Map Editor:

Map Editor - Parts Editor

 

I have been working on the map editor and hopefully today will have the part editing section in place. Part editing allows you to add/change collision and other aspects of map parts like z-order, alpha, blend and more. The basic premise is you load an image (wall, floor, etc) and add collision bounding lines to it as well as z-order, alpha, blend and what-not. It should be a very easy process. Once you have the part setup you save and add to the current parts catalog.

 

IMHO the map editor is the key to success (aside form networking) for Phoenix SS (project name), so I am trying to make it is easy to use as possible. Although I will include scripting at some point I feel that the average user should be able to build a map with little effort. The same could be said for running a server, but that's another story.

 

I've included some pic's of the editor and the new map which is setup to play on most systems. It looks as if I will add some way to limit detail, viewing only certain parts of a map for better performance; for example an option to 'not' display the floor if your graphic card can't handle it.

 

Off to code,

- Rich -

 

 

- EDIT -

You might notice the grid lines on the image above. The grid system is fully adjustable to any size grid a user would need. In this case the grid was set to 128 x 128 and the parts are mostly 64 x 64 tiles. In addition the system will snap the part to the grid pattern and can be set to snap to 'x' or 'x and y'. When laying out this map I needed to place tiles at different grid patterns, mostly 32 x 32, but sometimes that needed to be changed to accommodate an accurate placement of a part. For example placing the flooring which are 128 x 128. Adjusting the grid pattern to 8x8 made for easy, accurate placement. The upshot is that the grid system is flexible enough to handle non-uniformed part sizes.

 

Also, a user can zoom the view in and out and still be able place parts accurately via the grid system. Additionally the user can also have multiple sub-views of a map with independent scaled views , making it easy to jump to different areas of a map.

 

- Rich -

[Resol]

ROCK ON!!

 

Looking good bud.

[Corey]

As someone who uses DCME a lot, I like the looks of this very much. One thing is suggest is the K.I.S.S method. (Keep It Simple Supid)

You want to be able to have people just right in and be able to start mapping just like that.

[Resol]

I saw you're going in the right direction. People will be able to make simple maps with little effort, but adding a lot of features it what makes it fun and interesting.v

[Vidiot_X]

Hi,

 

@Corey - Yes I do plan to keep it simple making a fair amount of map making simple point and click. I hope you will find it's design easy to use. In a few weeks I hope to have it available so you can let me know what you think. It will still be alpha but you will be able to layout and save a map.

 

@Resol - I do indeed plan to have lots of features, most will be simple to use in the map editor. For example my next addition is a ship editor and then an FX editor. But I also plan to add an additional layer of features in the use of LUA scripting which should allow access to make some modifications of the game. This is something I will look into and add toward the end of alpha development.

 

- Rich -

[Corey]

@Richard Sounds good, maybe message me on the forums when it's done so I can give it a try.