Spawn layer questions

[Tomcat]

I've been poking around in the TMX files the last couple of days, starting to learn the system - the classes and resources. I see that the ordering of layers isn't necessarily always the same. The spawn layer is mostly second, after keys, but sometimes this varies, and in some maps there are multiple spawn layers for different groups of monsters and/or NPCs.

Does the order matter, since those layers are not visible?? What is the purpose of splitting the spawns? Performance enhancement?

Planning to dig into the TMX parsing class next...

[Samuel]

Don't look at the raw files. Use the editor tiled.

[sdevaney]

Don't look at the raw files. Use the editor tiled.

Indeed, you can get the editor here.

And for more info read this tutorial.

sdevaney

[Tomcat]

Don't look at the raw files. Use the editor tiled.

Indeed, you can get the editor here.

And for more info read this tutorial.

sdevaney

I'm using Tiled already. I've also installed the Java JDK and the Android SDK, but haven't tried to do any compiling . In fact I'm not sure if there's another tool that I need to build a running app.

[nyktos]

i thought all you needed was notepad++ to unpack the source...
whats the other stuff for?
i guess i could google it...

[Tomcat]

i thought all you needed was notepad++ to unpack the source...
whats the other stuff for?
i guess i could google it...

Notepad is all you need just to read and modify the source code, both Java and xml, but the other tools are to build with.

[nyktos]

do they work in conjunction with Tiled?
im assuming they do or you wouldnt bother...

and using these tools...
can oskar / scott use whats produced with them without changing what u submit?

just curious, experimenting over here...

[Tomcat]

do they work in conjunction with Tiled?
im assuming they do or you wouldnt bother...

and using these tools...
can oskar / scott use whats produced with them without changing what u submit?

just curious, experimenting over here...

Tiled reads and writes TMX files, which the AT app then reads directly, with no other modification necessary. The other data, for monsters, quests, items, etc are stored in XML files, which I believe are also read directly by the app, though I haven't yet identified the code that does that. I haven't tried the editors for those either.

[sdevaney]

do they work in conjunction with Tiled?
im assuming they do or you wouldnt bother...

and using these tools...
can oskar / scott use whats produced with them without changing what u submit?

just curious, experimenting over here...

Tiled reads and writes TMX files, which the AT app then reads directly, with no other modification necessary. The other data, for monsters, quests, items, etc are stored in XML files, which I believe are also read directly by the app, though I haven't yet identified the code that does that. I haven't tried the editors for those either.

That is pretty much how it works. The only part left out is that the online content editor is used to create all the non-map content. It basically takes your input from the web page and turns it into an XML syntaxed file. Which as Tomcat so excellently pointed out the app gets the bulk of its information.

Although we are currently looking at options to standardize our resource files so that it is easier to both add and extract data.
We are looking to simplify the maintenance and upgrades of the files. As well as hopefully cutting down the time it takes to create the content.

sdevaney

[Tomcat]

That is pretty much how it works. The only part left out is that the online content editor is used to create all the non-map content. It basically takes your input from the web page and turns it into an XML syntaxed file. Which as Tomcat so excellently pointed out the app gets the bulk of its information.

Although we are currently looking at options to standardize our resource files so that it is easier to both add and extract data.
We are looking to simplify the maintenance and upgrades of the files. As well as hopefully cutting down the time it takes to create the content.

sdevaney

Is there documentation on the content editor? I've seen a couple of development tutorials that seem out of date. Even just a list of definitions of the field would help ... Many are self explanatory to the average player, but others are harder.

For instance on the Monster tab, what are Size (dimension of icon in tiles?) and Faction? Looking through the monster type xml, I don't see Faction anywhere, and Size is always either blank or rarely 1x1. Also, I figured out what "spawn group" is, but only because I've been poking around in the map file spawn layer. The average player us likely at a loss what to put here.

Anything I can do to help?