AuthorTopic: Request for old unused tilesets  (Read 13875 times)

Offline wzl

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Request for old unused tilesets

on: December 04, 2012, 10:37:44 pm
Hello chaps,

I'm currently working on a tilemap editor. It is still in early development stage but it includes the basic feature set it needs to create a level. What i am lacking right now is a tileset for testing and demonstrational purposes. Either sidescrolling or top down view is fine, both would be awesome. It can be some older stuff you've just flying around and arent using, I just want to build a few sample maps with it, and possibly provide it with the tool if you're fine by that so people can start testing it immediately. However, I cannot offer much in return except for mentions of you/your twitter/portfolio or whatever else you'd prefer.

As for the editor I am still working on advancing the featureset to go beyond basic tile editing, mainly trigger zones and entity locations, and i am constantly trying to improve the usability and workflow and reworking the interface every now and then, as right now it looks rather... well, judge for yourself ;)



More details can be seen on the homepage, or if you want to try the current release you can download it.

Thanks for reading
wzl

Offline Volter9

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #1 on: December 05, 2012, 01:19:46 am
I think you should add CSV format, interface of that editor looks like Tiled's. Nice Job!

P.S.: I think Java would be a better option to write on (cross-platform), I have mac, so I can't to try your editor :(

Offline Ashbad

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #2 on: December 05, 2012, 01:32:37 am
I think you should add CSV format, interface of that editor looks like Tiled's. Nice Job!

P.S.: I think Java would be a better option to write on (cross-platform), I have mac, so I can't to try your editor :(

Written in Java != Instant portability; looking at the icon in the top left, I assume this is written in C#.  Therefore, I'd try running the editor again under Mono.

Offline wzl

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #3 on: December 05, 2012, 01:37:10 am
Yeah thanks for mentioning, i will add CSV to the list of export formats. Although i will implement the other formats only when the core features are implemented, so i don't have to fiddle with them every time i add something to it. That would be a major slowdown in development.

I'm sorry for not providing multiplatform support yet. This is written in .net and will probably run with mono when i optimize it for that. Not sure if mac has mono or an equivalent though.

Edit: Apparently it does. If so, let me know if it works.

Offline Ashbad

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #4 on: December 05, 2012, 01:44:46 am
I notice that XML is the chief export format; does the editor have a fixed XML file structure output, or can the exported XMLs have a customized format based on schemas?  In addition, an archaic but still widely used way of storing map data is to simply define a series of data arrays/buffers in a game's binary; will you eventually support exporting tile data to C/Java/etc. arrays that can be inserted into a .h file and used in place of an external resource file?  A feature like that would make such a tool much more useful for a wider developer's audience.

Offline wzl

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #5 on: December 05, 2012, 02:02:51 am
I chose xml because it is easy to work with and humanly readable. I'm not familiar with different xml schemas, i'll read into it. Same with the binary export. Thanks for mentioning.

Offline Volter9

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #6 on: December 05, 2012, 05:00:10 am
Heh, I thought that it was Object Pascal and Delphi.
Quote
Written in Java != Instant portability; looking at the icon in the top left, I assume this is written in C#.  Therefore, I'd try running the editor again under Mono.


First: Mono have troubles with keyboard events or recognizing key codes sometimes.
Second: Why not Java != Instant portability; Java designed for crossplatform stuff IMO.

I think ImageJ a good idea, but don't forget about GTK+ and Qt, they were both crossplatform too.

BTW:
Quote
In addition, an archaic but still widely used way of storing map data is to simply define a series of data arrays/buffers in a game's binary; will you eventually support exporting tile data to C/Java/etc. arrays that can be inserted into a .h file and used in place of an external resource file?  A feature like that would make such a tool much more useful for a wider developer's audience.

I think these arrays will make your code dirty or messy.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2012, 05:16:07 am by Volter9 »

Offline Redshrike

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #7 on: December 05, 2012, 06:55:40 am
I would recommend browsing around OpenGameArt.org .  There are lots of great resources there under a variety of permissive licenses.

Offline Ashbad

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #8 on: December 05, 2012, 10:49:13 am
Heh, I thought that it was Object Pascal and Delphi.
Quote
Written in Java != Instant portability; looking at the icon in the top left, I assume this is written in C#.  Therefore, I'd try running the editor again under Mono.


First: Mono have troubles with keyboard events or recognizing key codes sometimes.
Second: Why not Java != Instant portability; Java designed for crossplatform stuff IMO.

I think ImageJ a good idea, but don't forget about GTK+ and Qt, they were both crossplatform too.

While switching to Java could help the portability in this case, it would require a complete rewrite from scratch.  In addtion, Java is not as portable as one may think: only platforms that support the needed Java VM version and all the needed standard packages (and needed third-party packages) can be interchangeably ported between with Java.  Qt is definitely the best choice for a project like this, much easier to work with than GTK+.

Quote
BTW:
Quote
In addition, an archaic but still widely used way of storing map data is to simply define a series of data arrays/buffers in a game's binary; will you eventually support exporting tile data to C/Java/etc. arrays that can be inserted into a .h file and used in place of an external resource file?  A feature like that would make such a tool much more useful for a wider developer's audience.

I think these arrays will make your code dirty or messy.

Pretty much all old console games do it this way, and games that can't get access to resource files need to do it this way as well.  It's not a messy way of doing things, as long as you keep track of all of your data in clean, separate files and name the chunks well.

Offline wzl

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #9 on: December 05, 2012, 05:48:56 pm
I would recommend browsing around OpenGameArt.org .  There are lots of great resources there under a variety of permissive licenses.

Thanks, i will check it out ;)


However the case, i have no intention porting this to java. The reason i chose c# is that i'm very familiar with the language and i know how it works in many aspects, so it would be the fastest and most effective language for me to use. One of the goals was to have the core functionality done in 2-3 weeks, and by the looks of it i'm pretty good on time, not sure the same thing could be said if i'd use a language i've barely used in the past. Sorry about that, but either i can make it work through mono, or not. It's a shame if it won't work, but thats just how it is.

Funny though, like 90% of the (very little) feedback i received is about not being crossplatform. Not quite what i was looking for, but oh well, certainly enlightening.

Offline Ashbad

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #10 on: December 06, 2012, 12:03:33 pm
@OP (and your request to use old tiles), here's a tileset I made a year ago, back when I was really a beginning artist.  The tiles are *really* bad (a fun testament to my artistic improvement!), but they are also extensive -- I think there's 200 tiles that support graveyard, desert, grassed and snowy areas, and many dungeon tiles as well.  8x8 in size, scaled up 2x.  4 colors.  They were for an old game I was developing pretty singlehandedly (besides the music composition), but since these are well obsolete, use them as needed -- I certainly won't ever be touching them again.



As for some colorized versions:

Offline wzl

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #11 on: December 06, 2012, 01:09:16 pm
That is great! Thanks Ashbad! Cyangmou also provided a pack of tilesets, so i can do lots of stuff now :D

Is the zelda'ish appeal intended?

Oh btw, do you mind if i ship those with the binary? That would be rather cool.
Anywhere you'd want me to link? =]
« Last Edit: December 06, 2012, 01:10:50 pm by wzl »

Offline Ashbad

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #12 on: December 06, 2012, 01:15:47 pm
That is great! Thanks Ashbad! Cyangmou also provided a pack of tilesets, so i can do lots of stuff now :D

No problem. ;)  These old tiles were just rotting in an old folder anyways.

Quote
Is the zelda'ish appeal intended?

Indeed -- it was poorly executed (since I had no artistic background when I made these), but that was indeed the appeal.

Quote
Oh btw, do you mind if i ship those with the binary? That would be rather cool.
Anywhere you'd want me to link? =]

Sure, go ahead; I'd prefer a link to my PJ account, I suppose ( http://www.pixeljoint.com/p/38034.htm ).
« Last Edit: December 06, 2012, 01:17:48 pm by Ashbad »

Offline wzl

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #13 on: December 06, 2012, 01:22:18 pm
Okay, thanks again <3 :D looking forward to build something with these sets :)

Offline Volter9

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #14 on: December 07, 2012, 02:39:40 am
Quote
Pretty much all old console games do it this way, and games that can't get access to resource files need to do it this way as well.  It's not a messy way of doing things, as long as you keep track of all of your data in clean, separate files and name the chunks well.

Yes, but now is 2012 year, most people have computer with memory 64mb <, and with screen 640X480 < pixels.
May be you right, but I accustomed to use external resources.

Offline yaomon17

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #15 on: December 07, 2012, 05:16:58 am

Offline Ashbad

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #16 on: December 07, 2012, 10:44:41 am
Quote
Pretty much all old console games do it this way, and games that can't get access to resource files need to do it this way as well.  It's not a messy way of doing things, as long as you keep track of all of your data in clean, separate files and name the chunks well.

Yes, but now is 2012 year, most people have computer with memory 64mb <, and with screen 640X480 < pixels.
May be you right, but I accustomed to use external resources.

I know I personally develop games for devices well under that standard (one of them 16KB RAM and 96*64 PX; other one has 2MB RAM and 216*384 PX) -- neither one has a truly good functioning filesystem, and neither one even supports fopen/fread fully, making binary embedding very helpful.

Offline Volter9

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #17 on: December 08, 2012, 12:55:46 am
In this case Ashbad I'm agree, so... Which programming language are you using?  ::)

Offline Ashbad

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #18 on: December 08, 2012, 02:17:30 am
In this case Ashbad I'm agree, so... Which programming language are you using?  ::)

Depends on which of the two platforms; for the former, z80 assembly, and for the latter, mostly C, with a dabble of SH4a assembly :)

(I apologize @OP for being offtopic :()

Offline wzl

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #19 on: December 08, 2012, 03:02:25 am
no problem, i'm curious though, which platforms are you developing for? sounds pretty specific.

Offline Ashbad

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #20 on: December 08, 2012, 03:57:31 pm
no problem, i'm curious though, which platforms are you developing for? sounds pretty specific.

Old, household devices I've bastardized for fun's sake, notably two different graphing calculators of different brands/models.

Offline Volter9

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #21 on: December 09, 2012, 12:16:39 am
no problem, i'm curious though, which platforms are you developing for? sounds pretty specific.

Mobile platforms such as iOS. I'm also using Cocos2d-iPhone with TMX maps.

Offline wzl

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #22 on: April 26, 2013, 01:23:48 pm
Hellouuuuuu

i'm working on a new release and i realized i haven't really updated this post for any of the latest versions, so here's whats new since then:

I did several overhauls on the UI-part
Projects now can handle more than one map, changeable via a dropdown list
A startup dialog that handles saving/loading
Creating custom entities and triggers with arbitrary attributes, and renders them onto the map
Theme-able interface (two color themes!  :P)
Pressing and holding space invokes the tileset selector even when the side-panels are closed
Help/Hints
Photoshop-like key setup
!UNDO!
Performance optimizations
Experimental minimap





Here's a preview of the autotiler:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtauTcalDUo

The Website is in the making and will be up later today (hopefully) but for now links to the wiki entry
http://lup.wzl.vg
It still shows v0.8, but 0.9 will be released today, so it is ready for ludumdare, if anyone dares using it.

Here's the 0.9 preview if you're curious:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12237727/Software/LevelUpv0.9pre3.zip

Offline wzl

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #23 on: April 26, 2013, 04:10:25 pm
I just upped the makeshift site:

http://lup.wzl.vg

Offline yrizoud

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #24 on: April 26, 2013, 06:42:58 pm
A sample file would help. I created a bogus "tiles" bitmap and thus I could start the program, but there are many empty choices, it's not clear what I should do with them.
From the video, the autotiler looks great. I imagine that it takes a bit of time to set up, but when there are many maps to draw, it's a real lifesaver.

Offline wzl

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #25 on: April 26, 2013, 07:25:29 pm
yeah i'll provide a sample project with the release later on, thanks for mentioning ;)
The autotiler is pretty quickly setup. i wanted to show it in the video, but it didn't capture the dialog window.

The initial project creation is a bit wonky still, and i'm looking for a way to make it more accessible.
What empty choices are you referring to?

Thanks for testing :)

Offline yrizoud

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #26 on: April 26, 2013, 09:55:38 pm
By "empty choices", I mean all those dropdown lists when you start a new project : Tilematrix, Tileset (Just 1 entry, didn't find if it was possible or meaningful to have several), Textures, etc.
Some remarks, in random order :
A new map has zero layer by default, seemed odd.
Adding layer by clicking under the layer list seems good idea at first, but easy to click by mistake.
Zooming by mouse wheel works, but The 'clicked place' is then wrongly detected.
I didn't find how to pan (scroll) the map.
I didn't find how/if map dimensions can be set; I know some people love infinite canvas but game programmers/designers will probably want to see sizes and coordinates. 
Kudos on implementing multiple maps that rely on the same tileset, it's something that I'll never be able to do in Grafx2, and it's enough to justify a standalone editor (and a specific 'project' file format that holds the entire colection of maps)
When autotiler is empty, exceptions happen.
I didn't find the Undo
On buttons, tooltips would be more helpful than the 'Info' lines.

Offline wzl

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #27 on: April 26, 2013, 10:49:06 pm
I just upped v0.9 on the site. Here's a quick changelog:

Quote
-Ui overhaul, got rid of most of the clutter
-Added the AutoTiler tool
-Added the minimap (experimental)
-Added a photoshop-like action history (in the Overseer tab)
-Added a bunch of Tip-of-the-Day messages so you don't get lost (in the Project tab)

Home
Download


Thanks yrizoud for mentioning the broken zoom. It never was meant to be in the release. It requires some work, as you figured, and is currently just broken. So I had to fix the release just minutes after it went up  :crazy:

Quote
A new map has zero layer by default, seemed odd.
I usually use the same project again and again when testing something so i never created any new maps, so thanks for realizing, i'll see to fix it.

Quote
Adding layer by clicking under the layer list seems good idea at first, but easy to click by mistake.
True. I'll need to figure out how to add/remove/modify a given object. This is true for the layers, aswell as triggers, maps, entities, textures etc. I need a unified solution for it.

Quote
I didn't find how to pan (scroll) the map.
Holding the middle mousebutton/wheel. It always worked well enough for me, but i can see how it is not necessarily intuitive towards new users. I probably should add the arrowkeys to have a panning behavior.

Quote
I didn't find how/if map dimensions can be set; I know some people love infinite canvas but game programmers/designers will probably want to see sizes and coordinates.
Map dimensions are infinite. I didn't see a reason to arbitrarily restrict it, but if you'd reckon that it should be an option i'll add it. Although the exported format is all quantitized to sane coordinates (starting 0|0 topleft, no matter where you start on the canvas)

Quote
When autotiler is empty, exceptions happen.
This is fixed in 0.9. If the AutoTiler is incomplete you'll be thrown a warning (in the info location on top), but it will still function (even if not coherently).

Quote
I didn't find the Undo
It is either CTRL+Z or you can go to the Overseer tab (since 0.9) for the undo-history.

Quote
On buttons, tooltips would be more helpful than the 'Info' lines.
Yeah i suppose you have a point there.

Also, don't be shy and use the Tips-of-the-Day button in the Project Tab, there's a good couple hints in there.

Thanks for the elaboration. I'll try to fix what i can in the next release :)

Offline wzl

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Re: Request for old unused tilesets

Reply #28 on: April 27, 2013, 11:48:19 am
Just uploaded a hotfix to annihilate some crashes and added a few tiny features:

Quote from: Changes in 0.9.1
-Creating a new map also creates a new Layer
-Fixed an error with the minimap that results in a crash
-Fixed crashing when removing the only layer
-Added arrow-key controls to maneuver the map

http://lup.wzl.vg