INTRODUCTION
This is the editor used for Solid Gold.
map8edit is an editor for 8-way scrolling background- and foreground tile
maps, which consist of 16x16 pixel tiles in 32 colors.
There may be up to 127 monster positions defined, out of 9 different monster
types and an initial orientation (left/right).
Of course, the foreground map and the monsters can be ignored, when the
game doesn't need them.
The program is called map8edit, because each tile in the map is represented
by a byte, which allows a maximum of 256 different background- and 256
different foreground tiles.
The first tile should be empty. Foreground tiles with code 0 are never
drawn.
Keep in mind that foreground tiles are expensive to display. Keep them
to a minimum! On the other hand, their animation comes for free.
The maximum map dimensions are 256 rows by 256 columns, which means the
resulting playfield would be 4096x4096 pixels large. These dimensions can
easily be increased by recompiling the source.
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
The editor should work on any Amiga with at least 1 MB RAM.
A joystick in the secondary port is used as an input device.
SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
Works on all AmigaOS versions since Kickstart 1.2.
Has to be started from the shell.
USAGE
You need a background- and a foreground graphics file, in a format
suitable for map8edit (see below).
You can work on an existing map file or create a new one, when the name
doesn't exist yet, by typing in the shell:
map8edit <mapfile> <backgroundgfx-file> <foregroundgfx-file>
EDITOR DISPLAY
The editor is split into two regions. The main region of 320x240 pixels
shows the currently visible part of the map. Foreground tile animations
are displayed in realtime and monster locations appear as digits from '1'
to '9' with an arrow below them indicating their orientation.
Below is a status bar showing the following information from left to right:
- Code of the currently selected tile (0-255).
- 9 tile images, where the middle tile is the currently selected one.
- Current map column.
- Current map row.
- Number of monsters placed into the map.
EDITOR CONTROL
The cursor can be moved by the joystick in the secondary port. Pressing the
button will draw the currently selected tile into the map.
ESC: Quit the editor without saving the map.
F1: Select background tiles. The status display shows a sequence of background
tiles. Pressing the button will set a background tile.
F2: Select foreground tiles. The status display shows a sequence of foreground
tiles. Pressing the button will set a foreground tile. Typing F2 again
will flash all foreground tiles and monsters to make it easier to find them.
F5: Define the upper-left corner of an area to select.
F6: Define the lower-right corner of an area to select.
F7: Copy the selected area to the cursor position. Background and foreground
tiles are both copied.
F8: Fill the selected area with the current background tile.
F10: Quit the editor and save the map under the initially given name.
Cursor-Left: Select previous tile.
Cursor-Right: Select next tile.
Cursor-Up: Select 20 tiles before (one row in a 320 pixel wide picture).
Cursor-Down: Select 20 tiles later.
Space: Select tile 0.
1 - 9: Set a left-oriented monster of this type.
Shift1 - Shift9: Set a right-oriented monster of this type.
0: Delete monster.
MAP FILE FORMAT
$0000: "MAP8"
$0004: MapWidth.w
$0006: MapHeight.w
$0008: background map (MapWidth * MapHeight bytes)
foreground map (MapWidth * MapHeight bytes)
Up to 127 monster records. Until end of file.
A Monster Record has 8 bytes. Mcol/Mrow refer to tile coordinates, not pixel:
$0000: monster type (1-9)
$0002: monster orientation (-1 for left, 1 for right)
$0004: initial monster map column
$0006: initial monster map row
BACKGROUND GFX FILE FORMAT
$0000: color table with 32 RGB4 colors
$0040: block types (0=empty, 1=unmasked, 2=masked)
$0140: raw 5-planes interleaved 16x16 block images, empty blocks missing
Type 0 images are omitted and replaced automatically be the image of the
first tile.
Type 2 images do not occur in the background.
FOREGROUND GFX FILE FORMAT
$0000: number of animation phases
$0100: animation speed in frames
$0200: block types (0=empty, 1=unmasked, 2=masked)
$0300: 5-planes interlv. 16x16 block images with mask, empty blocks missing
Type 0 images are omitted and replaced automatically be the image of the
first tile.
Type 1 images do not occur in the foreground. All images are masked, which
means their size is doubled (each plane is masked in interleaved mode).
BUGS
The result of the copy- and fill functions cannot be seen immediately on the
screen. You have to "refresh" this area manually, by scrolling away and then
back into it.
Some graphics corruptions in the display, especially when scrolling
diagonally.
AUTHOR
Frank Wille <frank phoenix.owl.de>
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