Map Editor for Edreoll

ID:112162
 
Apr 17 2011, 11:42 pm
Since maps in Edreoll will not be saved as a .dmm file, another editor is needed to write to the syntax I have designed.

The editor will also have several features that will help create maps better in Edreoll, with object placement such as:

* Terrain objects
* NPCs (Preloaded)
* Enemies
* Rooms
* Map Objects (Doors, warptiles, effects, etc)
* Map Background (320x240 background or effect BG)
* Player Points
* Map Types (Town / Mission / Area Stage)


Other editors that will be made are:
* NPC Editor
* Enemy Editor
* Terrain Editor
* ESF Editor (Edreoll Save Format)

I plan not to use specific object paths, but rather global arrays. Objects would then be cloned from those instances.



This is a shoddy screenshot of what I did in five minutes : P :


Apr 18 2011, 5:03 am
It doesn't sound like your maps contain a lot of things that DM's map editor can't handle. Is it really necessary? It sounds like you're just making more work for yourself.
Apr 18 2011, 6:34 am
Forum_account wrote:
It doesn't sound like your maps contain a lot of things that DM's map editor can't handle. Is it really necessary? It sounds like you're just making more work for yourself.

Sometimes I want to see what everything will look like in game. For instance how the water will flow and such. And maybe he might include autotiles so he wants people to be able to see that or something.

Apr 18 2011, 9:40 am
Auto-joining, rotating tile blocks, atom view filters, flood fill, tile brush, there are many features BYOND's map editor lacks.
Apr 18 2011, 11:01 am
There are clearly more features that DM's map editor lacks than it contains, but many of those features are rarely essential and even less frequently are they worth the time to create yourself. Making a map format and editor is the kind of thing people will throw away a month or two on then wonder where their motivation went.
Apr 18 2011, 11:24 am
Essential? No
Helpful? Yes

Right now with Decadence the biggest pain in the butt (aside from simply not having control over the netcode) is working on maps. BYOND's map editor is very rigid and featureless in comparison to the one in, say, RPG Maker.

Pretty much every Blizzard game which has had a map editor is packed with more features that BYOND's map editor.
Apr 18 2011, 12:03 pm
Depends on how one goes about using the editor, and how objects are instanced when their New() proc is called when the map is initialized.

Forum_account does bring up the point that in many cases, DM's map editor will get the job done. And if you use your datums correctly, initializing the map can handle the auto-joining for you.

Really it's about ones' tastes. I personally prefer to use tools that I design, and a map editor isn't just what I had in mind.

Since I stray away from /savefile objects, I will need to make another application that handles ESF saves.