Author Topic: Sprite/tileset Editor- need input  (Read 30739 times)

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Offline simplethinker

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Sprite/tileset Editor- need input
« on: October 22, 2009, 04:09:27 pm »
As proof that I haven't accomplished nothing in the long time since my last public update to Chip's Challenge, I decided to finally release the sprite and tileset editor (for computer; written in Python) that has distracted me every time I get the motivation to work on CC.

The big features are:
- Ability to save and edit tiles
- Give names and numbers to tiles (to ease integration into the Tilemap editor I'm also working on)
- See what the tile looks like and how it compares to the old one (if editing)
- Output/export the tiles in various formats (this is the thing I need input on; see below)
- All the above but with entire tilesets
- Looks cool :)
- User-friendly (which, if you know me, you realize is pretty darn amazing :o)
- Probably more things that I've just forgotten about.

Because of my short attention span and new ideas that required complete re-writes (or at least sloppily patching things together), this has remained in limbo for months with really only the final touches left to do.  One of the biggest road blocks to finishing things up has been what to do with the tiles once they've been made.  Here are the ideas I've come up with (when I say "export" I mean either writing to a text file or printing to the screen):
1) Do nothing.  I'm not dismissing this since the editor was initially created to streamline the process of making sprites, not to help with actual coding or format conversions.
2) Export as binary or hex strings (e.g. '10010110' or '95', etc...).  The hex string could be used for Celtic3's det(17 command; not sure about uses of binary
3) Export in Asm format (using the .db's and stuff).
4) Create an actual .8xs (string) with the hexadecimal format so it could be used by C3's identity(5.  I don't think this would be too useful, but I'm just throwing it out there.
5) Create a .8xi picture variable.  This could be most useful for tilesets, since you could create the tiles and then have the picture conversion automated.
6) <insert other ideas here>

I'd love everyone's opinions on this.  I could do one of those, all of those, or anything in between.  I'm also open to any other ideas.

Also, as I stated above, I'm not sure if I should write things to a file or just print them to the screen (or a mix), so input on that would be good too.
"We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true." -- Professor Robert Silensky



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Offline trevmeister66

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Re: Sprite/tileset Editor- need input
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2009, 11:16:03 pm »
I'd go with doing a combination of exporting to Bin/Hex String AND .8xi Pic Var. That way the user can choose whichever, depending on how they plan to use the data.
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Offline DJ Omnimaga

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Re: Sprite/tileset Editor- need input
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2009, 01:03:32 am »
i would say both ASM and BASIC format like Trev said, so it can be used by everyone

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Offline cooliojazz

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Re: Sprite/tileset Editor- need input
« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2009, 01:08:29 am »
thirded. also FINISH THIS. I DEMAND YOU. something like that would be awesome! =D
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Re: Sprite/tileset Editor- need input
« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2009, 01:11:12 am »
Then Cooliojazz can release an awesome xLIB RPG :D
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Re: Sprite/tileset Editor- need input
« Reply #5 on: October 23, 2009, 01:51:13 am »
Then DJ will release a secret 3D uber lif3 c0un73r 0f d00m that he has been working on for the last couple of months
:P
/e

Offline cooliojazz

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Re: Sprite/tileset Editor- need input
« Reply #6 on: October 23, 2009, 01:52:04 am »
EDIT: err, @DJ:yep! well, Paperworld isn't nesesarrily an RPG per se. Well, maybe...
10 seconds..... Rraar!
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Offline jsj795

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Re: Sprite/tileset Editor- need input
« Reply #7 on: October 23, 2009, 10:15:05 am »
I fourth it too... It'll help me make TLM Xlib version...
lol i must finish the basic version first :P


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Offline simplethinker

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Re: Sprite/tileset Editor- need input
« Reply #8 on: October 23, 2009, 05:27:50 pm »
I'd go with doing a combination of exporting to Bin/Hex String AND .8xi Pic Var. That way the user can choose whichever, depending on how they plan to use the data.
Thanks ;D  It should be easy to add in a drop-down menu to select what the user wants.
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Offline cooliojazz

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Re: Sprite/tileset Editor- need input
« Reply #9 on: October 25, 2009, 11:22:06 pm »
Could you also maybe have something where you can preview your current tile in, say, a 4x4 map of itself, just to make sure it stacks nicely and stuff?
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Trust me.
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And remember never to trust someone who says, "Trust me."

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TI Projects: Unreal Notator - -5000%
Nomcraft, a Bukkit mod
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Offline DJ Omnimaga

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Re: Sprite/tileset Editor- need input
« Reply #10 on: October 25, 2009, 11:34:05 pm »
A map editor (maybe not necessarly with the ability to save yet, but just to test the tiles) would be good
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Offline simplethinker

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Re: Sprite/tileset Editor- need input
« Reply #11 on: October 26, 2009, 05:05:06 pm »
Could you also maybe have something where you can preview your current tile in, say, a 4x4 map of itself, just to make sure it stacks nicely and stuff?
That's an excellent idea!

A map editor (maybe not necessarly with the ability to save yet, but just to test the tiles) would be good
A full map editor is the plan ;D
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Offline DJ Omnimaga

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Re: Sprite/tileset Editor- need input
« Reply #12 on: October 26, 2009, 11:16:28 pm »
cool ^^
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Offline simplethinker

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Re: Sprite/tileset Editor- need input
« Reply #13 on: October 27, 2009, 06:29:55 pm »
As for exporting, should it default to just printing to the screen but have the option for putting it in (or appending to) a file?  Also, I think I might be able to copy things to the clipboard (where data for cut/copy/paste is stored).  If I do that, should I still keep printing to screen (or file) as the default?

With regards to undo/redo, is 20 actions (defined by a full-screen change like inverting/clearing, or setting/resetting a bunch of pixels at once) enough to keep, or should I save more?
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Offline DJ Omnimaga

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Re: Sprite/tileset Editor- need input
« Reply #14 on: November 18, 2009, 12:14:25 pm »
hmm to be fair, i am unsure if Undo would be  a good idea on calc, unless you can keep the RAM/speed requirements small. If you can, then I guess 20 would be more than enough, or maybe 10
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