Map generator program

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DRW
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Map generator program

Post by DRW »

Do you know of any program that you can use to visually design video game maps?

I'm imagining the following:

In one section of the screen, you have the tile graphics.
In the other section, you have a grid where you can place the tiles.

If you change the tile graphics, the map screen is updated.

I know that Game Maker and RPG Maker can do these things. But is there maybe a small, lightweight program (maybe one that doesn't require an installation) to do such things?
My game "City Trouble":
Gameplay video: https://youtu.be/Eee0yurkIW4
Download (ROM, manual, artworks): http://www.denny-r-walter.de/city.html
calima
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Re: Map generator program

Post by calima »

Tiled, with an output plugin or converter to write your format.
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FrankenGraphics
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Re: Map generator program

Post by FrankenGraphics »

I use NESST precisely for this (at least for prototyping). The only drawback is that you're locked to a gobal palette setting and can't place sprite items on the map itself. Also, there's an upper limit, so you may need to piece together a string of "rooms" (gamemaker terminology) externally.

For our our zeldaesque gothic action-adventure game, we (at least that's the plan) place components in photoshop made in NESST using layers, layer folders and the grid tool for alignment, then exporting the total map as an indexed bitmap for a separate tool to parse.
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DRW
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Re: Map generator program

Post by DRW »

calima wrote:Tiled, with an output plugin or converter to write your format.
I don't really need anything to write my format. The program is purely for display issues. I'll do the code myself, step by step.

Can Tiles be used as a standalone application? The website only offers an installer link.
FrankenGraphics wrote:I use NESST precisely for this (at least for prototyping).
Is this usable in a confortable way, with putting 16 x 16 tiles on the map via drag & drop etc.?
FrankenGraphics wrote:For our our zeldaesque gothic action-adventure game, we (at least that's the plan) place components in photoshop made in NESST using layers, layer folders and the grid tool for alignment, then exporting the total map as an indexed bitmap for a separate tool to parse.
I don't think using Photoshop really fits the idea of a small, portable lightweight program. :mrgreen:
My game "City Trouble":
Gameplay video: https://youtu.be/Eee0yurkIW4
Download (ROM, manual, artworks): http://www.denny-r-walter.de/city.html
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FrankenGraphics
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Re: Map generator program

Post by FrankenGraphics »

Is this usable in a confortable way, with putting 16 x 16 tiles on the map via drag & drop etc.?
Yes, or kind of: As long as your chr file is organized in 2x2 patterns, you can drag-mark 4 tiles and click anywhere on the map to stamp-clone them. It gets less comfortable once you begin reusing tiles in different metatiles though: then you have to resort to copy-paste them from one position on the map to the other using the same mark tool.

edit: this only works in recent versions, so it may not be widely known? Another "hidden" feature that was introduced is that you can scroll-wrap/align pixel contents in a character using the arrows while the chr editor window is active. Really handy!

edit2: oh, and you can drag and drop tiles within the chr space; swapping them. This helps organizing tiles a lot.
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never-obsolete
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Re: Map generator program

Post by never-obsolete »

Here is my custom tool, MapEd Pro and a screenshot of nesrocks using it to hack Super Pitfall.
. That's just like, your opinion, man .
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gauauu
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Re: Map generator program

Post by gauauu »

DRW wrote:
calima wrote:Tiled, with an output plugin or converter to write your format.
Can Tiles be used as a standalone application? The website only offers an installer link.
I'm pretty sure it can. (I'm using linux and I use it standalone there) Although for windows you might have to "install" it once to extract everything. Then I think you can copy it anywhere and just run it.
DRW wrote: I don't really need anything to write my format. The program is purely for display issues. I'll do the code myself, step by step.
Huh. Sounds like a lot of extra work to me. Writing a python script to convert from tiled format to code is pretty simple. But hey, whatever floats your boat.
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gauauu
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Re: Map generator program

Post by gauauu »

The other option is the Mappy Tile Map Editor, which I know from experience CAN be run portably. I like Tiled a bit better now, but I used Mappy for a large adventure game (Anguna for GBA and DS) and it worked well.
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Jedi QuestMaster
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Re: Map generator program

Post by Jedi QuestMaster »

Ooh! :o Mappy even has an isometric mode.
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Re: Map generator program

Post by M_Tee »

never-obsolete wrote:Here is my custom tool, MapEd Pro and a screenshot of nesrocks using it to hack Super Pitfall.
This is what I use as well. It has been a godsend.
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DRW
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Re: Map generator program

Post by DRW »

gauauu wrote:The other option is the Mappy Tile Map Editor, which I know from experience CAN be run portably.
Thanks. It looks like this is exactly what I need.
M_Tee wrote:
never-obsolete wrote:Here is my custom tool, MapEd Pro and a screenshot of nesrocks using it to hack Super Pitfall.
This is what I use as well. It has been a godsend.
I downloaded and extracted it. The icon of the exe files shows me that it was written in Visual Basic 6.

I opened it, opened a dialog box inside the progtram where I have to enter a height value. I clicked OK without entering the value. The program crashes with an index out of range error.
My game "City Trouble":
Gameplay video: https://youtu.be/Eee0yurkIW4
Download (ROM, manual, artworks): http://www.denny-r-walter.de/city.html
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Diskover
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Re: Map generator program

Post by Diskover »

Tu solución se llama TileMap
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