Developing a level gui for the first time
Author
I'm programming using the windows api and up till now have only ever built single screen games (i.e. breakout, tetris, bomberman...), I know how to put together a scrolling background using viewports and bitmaps, but I have no idea how to go about setting up something to efficiently place objects into my game. All i can find is stuff that tells me how to make a gui with directx, i'm not ready for 3d and would just like to stick with the windows api for now, so does anyone know where i can find something going through the steps on how to put levels together using mfc (not sure if that's right), or maybe know of a prexisting one out there that free and easy to use (will take free over easy... ;) ).
For GUI purposes, I've found wxWidgets to be both free and easy.
It also has the benefit of being cross-platform capable, simplifying the process of porting your program to say, Linux. If you have an interest in such things.
It also has the benefit of being cross-platform capable, simplifying the process of porting your program to say, Linux. If you have an interest in such things.
Author
while wxWidgets sounds very useful (will be dowloading it soon), it's not exactly what I'm talking about. I must not be clear, b/c after over 35 views, only one person has so far responded :) Where is there information on HOW to build a top-down scroller? I don't know how to develop a level editor so i can easily place different objects (scenery, items, NPCs) on a map. Something akin to Soldiers of Fortune for Genesis. I'm interested in how to do this using #include <windos.h>, and any other simple tools... but I need info on where to learn HOW to do it in addition to the tools out there.
Well Zappernapper, what exactly are you looking for? I've found (through a lot of trial and error) that you'll never find any tool that fits perfectly into your needs unless you write it yourself.
It's pretty much a toss-up between writing auxiallary programs and modifying existing ones. I've never looked at it, but I've heard good things about mappy.
There's just a few basic algorithms you need to know for tilegames. Have a look through the articles section here on gdnet, and if you get stuck, we'll be glad to help you. :)
Until then, happy codin'
--scgrn
It's pretty much a toss-up between writing auxiallary programs and modifying existing ones. I've never looked at it, but I've heard good things about mappy.
There's just a few basic algorithms you need to know for tilegames. Have a look through the articles section here on gdnet, and if you get stuck, we'll be glad to help you. :)
Until then, happy codin'
--scgrn
Author
developing the tools myself was my orginal plan, and I've been looking through the articles on tile and isometric maps, but haven't found anything low-level enough for me yet... I think i'll try this mappy, it looks useful and doesn't seem to require lots of reworking of code around it. Thanks!
I think you should post into the isometricland forum on gamedev to get an alternate view on scrolling
I think it will be a help, it was to me
I think it will be a help, it was to me
Well if you want to go really simple you could always just make a text based level editor console app. You could input the x,y location in a matrix and a tile ID number to build the map, and have it output a map file. Then your game reads in the map file and draws the tiles stored in it.
I've always developed my own custom tilemap editors in a RAD suite like Visual Basic. This is the editor I use for my current project and took all of about 15 minutes to write. [smile] They're called Rapid Application Development suites for a reason... GDI+ is incredibly simple to use.
Author
ok... I think I've figured out how to put together the map itself, but what about placing objects (items, NPCs, trees, rocks), it doesn't seem efficient to have each tile be checked to see if there is an object sitting on it. so i don't think i would want to include that in the map itself, plus if it's an NPC they'll be moving around, it seems to me that they should be independent of the map object.
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