Map editor

Paladin (958)

22-11-2020, 13:36

Hi all !

I am seeking a map editor which has (more or less) following features:

- Load a picture file in a standard format (BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG ...)
- Extraction of used patterns.
- Count and statistic of used patterns and build up of pattern map.
- Calculate transitions between patterns, depending on the scroll direction
- Definition of pixel x step.
- Simulation of scroll movement and statistic of transitions and physical patterns used in every step.
- "Macropatterns" / objects editor that make groups of patterns.
- Map edit an ability to put single patterns or objects.
- Definition of "minimal unit" in pixels (4x4, 8x8, 16x16, 24x24, 8x16, etc).
- Option to save tokens from the "minimal unit".
- Ability to save map in several formats: Assembler data, BASIC, RAW, etc.
- Export patterns to several formats (MSX BASIC VRAM block, BASIC DATA, DB ASM, RAW, etc).

I guess there is no single application with all these features. Maybe I should use several applications instead.
I read about several applications, but none of them is doing the work. Not even a bounch of them.

The point is I am doing a quite complex scroll routine for MSX1 and I need to know the status of the scroll all the time and how it will behave to not do any job in vain.

Por Grauw

Ascended (10565)

22-11-2020, 19:30

I use the Tiled editor in combination with a custom build & conversion script written in Node.js.

Por ARTRAG

Enlighted (6829)

22-11-2020, 16:38

On MSX1 try also Magellan (from atariage)

Por Bengalack

Hero (572)

22-11-2020, 16:53

Agree with Grauw here.

I think Tiled is great! Check it out. I use it on PC in the noname-project which is a 2d-scroller. It has a bunch of nice editing-features ready, and is made in a generic way. You just have to adapt it to your project. As for those statistics, I'm not sure though.

I save the files as .json, and parse them in python afterwards. Just import a json-parser in your python-code and handle the objects from there. Sample setup below:

Por Metalion

Paragon (1488)

22-11-2020, 18:25

The only drawback of Tiled is that 8x8 tiles are very, very small on screen.

Por Bengalack

Hero (572)

22-11-2020, 18:38

Metalion wrote:

The only drawback of Tiled is that 8x8 tiles are very, very small on screen.

What do you mean? Not the zoom? In the image above, I have a 150% zoom. zoom or ctrl-mousewheel up to 25600% Both the tilemap on the side and the map have zooms.

Por santiontanon

Paragon (1633)

22-11-2020, 18:45

Tiled is also my standard map editor. All the other features you want, it's better to just write scripts in you favorite programming language

Por Metalion

Paragon (1488)

22-11-2020, 18:52

My mistake, I am confusing Tiled and Tile Studio.

Por mohai

Paladin (958)

25-11-2020, 17:24

Thanks.

I've been trying both Magellan and Tiled.
Both programs has interesting features, such as multi-tile objects and tile use statistics.
They fit some of my needs but not all.
Seems I will need to develop a custom application anyway. This happens sooner or later when you plan to develop something serious.

Por Manuel

Ascended (18729)

25-11-2020, 19:14

My advice, fwiw: don't. I have seen several projects die because the developers got sidetracked by making custom tools. People are developing serious stuff with the mentioned existing tools. Save time and make use of them, I'd say.

Por Grauw

Ascended (10565)

25-11-2020, 19:48

For me, using a general purpose editor and focusing the effort on conversion tools strikes the right balance between effort and gain. No editor will be able to cover all cases so some kind of tooling to output to some format specific for your project is usually needed, but you can save a lot of time by not having to deal with things like user interface, undo functionality, etc. on top of that.

Similarly in a different context, say I want to play some samples in a product, I would also use a sample editor like Audacity in combination with a conversion script rather than creating a complete sample editor.