New 2D Tools

#1 Hey thanks, this looks really cool. I can use something like this. However, I have a question about the cutter. My tileset class reads bitmap tilesets that have control colors for the frame extents and anchors. It's modeled after Ernest Pazera's DX7 tileset class in "Isometric Game Programming With DX7", using windows graphics functions. No DX7 or anything. I know that's a little slow but it was easier for me to implement. Anyway, what type of image information is on the final bitmage image which allows me to use it in animations. i.e. control colors, anchor points, frame extents? I'm new to alot of this stuff so bare with me please.

#2 Great work Patrice, exactly what I needed for my mobile JAVA development :-) I'm due to start full-time work on it in the next couple of weeks, and rest assured I'll be buying a copy of each tool :-)

Thanks,

Darren.

#3 Cutter:
Right now it only creates a tile set, there's no anchor or stuff like that, it's mostly a tool for 3D modelers to create sprites without the antialiasing outside, but with the antialiasing inside.
I haven't work on a sequencer for animations yet ( it's planned though )

Mapeditor:
It has improved a lot lately, i'll try to post the new version asap ( there's still a few glitches that i need to fix ), map editing has never been that goooood :) ( well for me! )

#4 Does it [map editor] support map editing for isomtetric tiles?

Also, you show the frame numbers and frames in the examples. Is the white frame included in the tileset final image, or is that just shown in the application program?
I guess what I want to know is are each of the tiles separated by one pixel. The reason I ask this is because if they are then I can (later) come up with a routine that will generate the frame extents and anchor points--instead of having to draw them all in myself--without having to copy them to yet another bitmap one image at a time separated by one pixel. I tried that once with a character animation I downloaded and it was a pain. AND each frame was in a separate file, so your program would have been nice at the time.

#5 Yes i think that should work with isometric tiles, ( i haven't tried, but that's something i'd been keen on implementing, just email me if you need specific stuff we'll see how we can work on that, i don't know much about the priority of tiles in isometric lands... )

No the tiles are not separated by 1 pixel , the grid is placed over the graphics. ( you can deactivate it )

If you would like a 1 pixel border function i could implement it quickly i think.

pat.

#6 It could be useful for those who use control colors I think.
I personaly like using control colors over coding a bunch of rectangles and anchor points for each tileset. With control colors, all I have to do is read the tileset cell frames, and of course the control color key which is set in the upper right corner of the tileset. It's a pretty cool technique, and it's how I learned how to make tile sets from the book I mentioned above. So I figure I'll stick with it until I discover a better way, (one I can understand). So, yes, a one pixel wide border where each cell is seperated by only one pixel would be nice.

#7 Could be neat , maybe i could add a HotSpot editor built in ?
Like you would just point an click to place the hotspot, or also adjust with the arrows ?

pat.

#8 Hey, that would be awesome. If your considering adding a one pixel frame to the tileset, then implementing a control color function shouldn't be to difficult either. All your doing is painting over the white frame the upper and left frames with an arbitrary color(consistent throughout, of course) from the left to right and top to bottom of the cell containing the image, and then the parts of the cell in the white frame areas is chopped off even more than what you program already did by the tileset loader in the game for faster blits. The inside and outside anchors must be different from each other and the frame extent. If you want more information on this I can send you an example of how I set up my control colors or you can pick up a copy of Ernest Pazera's book I mentioned. I think it's the only one out there too about ISO in depth.
I have to cut it short, I have class in an hour and I have to leave work...

#9 I implemented the color border, i need to implement the little pixels around now.

pat.

#10 Sounds great. I downloaded the demo, looks good, I can deffinitely use this. Keep us posted on this.

#11 I was wondering if you need a one pixel border or actually 1 on top and left only ?

( the junction of frame 1 and 2 will have a line of 2 pixels thick since the border of frame 1 will touch the border of frame 2 )

What i was thinking is to add another hotpoint
: one top-left and one right-bottom ) so you can use one for position hotpoint and the other one for something else ( like where the missiles or your ship starts )

What do you think ?

pat

#12 The frame should be one pixel all the way around. This makes reading the dimensions of each cell and their anchor points easier. If you want I can send you an image of one of my tilesets that uses this color control system. It's the same technique used in "Isometric Game Programming with DirectX 7.0".

#13 Yes send me a picture please : contact@phelios.com


thank you
pat

#14 Soon to come is a .mov exporter ( it already works, i need to do the nice gui around that... )

http://www.phelios.com/dev/

patrice.