Maps

Overview

Maps are areas where you can place Tile-Sets, Actors, Timers, Doors, Items, Lights and Speakers for the player to explore and sometimes interact with.

General

Pointer – moves Actors, Timers, Doors, Items, Lights, Speakers and Zones around Maps easily. The pointer tool can also be used to resize Light/Speaker radius’s as well as Zones/Blocking.

• Select – select objects without changing their position, rotation or size.
• Move on Axis – move object on its current axis.
• Move X – move object along the X axis only.
• Move Y – move object along the Y axis only.
• Move Z – move object alone the Z axis only.
• Rotate on Axis – rotate object on its current axis.
• Rotate X – rotate object on the X axis only.
• Rotate Y – rotate object on the Y axis only.
• Rotate Z – rotate object on the Z axis only.
• Scale all Axis – resize object on all axis.
• Scale X – resize object on the X axis only.
• Scale Y – resize object on the Y axis only.
• Scale Z – resize object on the Z axis only.

Draw – places tiles (from Tile-Sets) onto your Map. You can click and drag inside the Tile-Set picker to select multiple tiles and place them all in one go. You can also right-click a tile to bring up the Tile-Set editor and right-click tiles on a Map to grab/capture the tile or delete them. (You can change this setting in the Options window).

Dim – adds or removes columns, rows or layers on your Map.

Actor – creates new Actors (characters, vehicles, turrets, dynamic objects and more).

Actor Route – creates a patrol route for an Actor to follow.

Timer/Spawn – used to run a script at specific intervals. By placing an Actor on top of it you can have it re-spawn.

Door – places Doors on your Map.

Item – places Items/Magic on your Map for Actors to pick up and use in-game.

Light – adds lighting to your Maps. These Lights have only aesthetic purposes.

Speaker – plays Sounds at a specific point on your Map. 001 Game Creator utilises 5.1 surround sound technology.

Zone – adds a scripted area to your Map. Zones can also be used as a means of blocking an Actor’s path temporally or permanently.

Blocking – used on Maps as a means of permanently blocking an Actor’s path (cannot be scripted).

Comment – places comments on a Map. This is useful to quickly jot things down or explain certain functions to other developers, if you’re working in a team. Comments only appear in the editor and not in-game.

Play Map – starts playing a Map from a specific set of coordinates.

Test Map – starts playing a Map from a specific set of coordinates with the option to add additional scripting when the Map is loaded.

Drawing Tools

Flip Horizontally – flips the tile on the horizontal axis (X axis).

Flip Vertically – flip the tile on the vertical axis (Y axis).

Pencil – the default tool for placing tiles on your Map.

Filled Rectangle – allows you to click and drag a rectangle that is then filled with the selected tile.

Rectangle – similar to the “Filled Rectangle” tool, only it places tiles around the edge of the rectangle and does not fill it in.

Filled Circle – allows you to click and drag a circle that is then filled with the selected tile.

Circle – similar to the “Filled Circle” tool, only it places the tiles around the edge of the circle and does not fill it in.

Line – allows you to click and drag out a line of tiles in any direction.

Fill – fills a rectangle or an entire Map with the selected tile.

Erase – removes placed tiles. This can be used with the “Pencil” or “Rectangle/Circle” tools to remove large amounts of tiles or only a few at a time.

Wall Height Slider – allows you to increase/decrease the height of wall Tile-Sets.

Display

Animate Animations – stops/starts animations from playing on the Map. This doesn’t affect in-game animations.

Enable Lighting/Fog – turns a Maps lighting/fog on or off. This is useful for preventing slowdown while editing large Maps.

Enable Clouds/Rain – plays Map weather effects, if they are specified in the Map Environment window.

Enable Music/Speakers – stops/starts Music/Speakers on a Map.

Enable Grid – displays a 32×32 pixel grid across the Map, which is useful for precise tile placement.

Snap to Grid – when ticked; objects will snap to the Map in 16 pixel increments. Otherwise, they’ll freely position at where the cursor is pointing (excluding Doors and Timers).

Visualise Layers – shows Map elements that are on different layers. These are indicated as either being green or red depending on which layer the Map elements are on and the layer you are currently viewing.

Enable Zones/Blocking – turns all Zones and Blocking on/off in a Map.

Enable Icons – turns the various Map icons like Actor/Light/Speaker/etc. on/off.

Zoom – used to see your Map close up or from a distance.

Properties – opens the Map Properties window.

Environment – opens the Map Environment window.

Map Properties

Display Name – is used to identify the Map in the editor.

Scripting ID / Filename – is used to identify the Map through scripting.

Width/Height/Depth – sets the different dimensions of your Map in 32-pixel tiles. Any number you type in for Map dimensions will be multiplied by 32.

View – changes the camera view and affects how your Maps are displayed. In Action / RPG projects, the default view will be “Standard 45°”. In Platformer Game projects the default view will be “Front”. Other views include: “Top”, “Side”, “3D Isometric” and “3D Perspective”.

Process Map regardless of Focus – when ticked, objects inside the Map are processed even if the camera currently isn’t focussed on it.

Unload Map on Exit (Non-Persistent Map) – when ticked, this allows you to unload Maps once the player has left them. This is recommended for projects that do not need persistent Maps as it will help reduce RAM consumption.

Map boundaries are used to prevent the player from crossing the edge of the Map. If a boundary is unticked, it means that the player can freely walk past the edge of the Map in that direction.

Left Connection – used to connect to another Map. If the player moves beyond the left edge of the selected Map then they will be taken to the Map specified here.

Up Connection – used to connect to another Map. If the player moves beyond the top edge of the selected Map then they will be taken to the Map specified here.

Right Connection – used to connect to another Map. If the player moves beyond the right edge of the selected Map then they will be taken to the Map specified here.

Down Connection – used to connect to another Map. If the player moves beyond the bottom edge of the selected Map then they will be taken to the Map specified here.

• Player enters – runs when the player first enters the Map.

This section allows you to manage the Map Variables for the Map.

Map Environment

Change Music – this is used to change the current Background Music when the player enters the Map. If a piece of Music is already playing, the Music will be replaced with whatever is selected in the drop down menu. When you select a piece of Music from the drop down menu, it will automatically play so that you can preview it.

Free camera from edge of map – when ticked, this will release the camera from the edge of the Map so that it can freely pan in any direction without stopping when it encounters a Map Boundary. If unticked, the camera will stop at the edges of the Map.

Upper Color – changes the top half of the background color.

Lower Color – changes the bottom half of the background color.

When two different colors are used for the upper/lower color they will blend into each other as a gradient in order to create a subtle transition between the two colors.

Layer – you can change the order in which your Sprites are displayed by using the up/down buttons to push layers further towards the top or bottom respectively. Sprites above “Map Scene” will be displayed in the background whereas Sprites below “Map Scene” will be displayed in the foreground.

Sprite – selects the Sprite to be used as the background/foreground.

X / Y Pan Ratio – sets the position of the background/foreground along the horizontal/vertical axis.

Screen Height Ratio – sets screen height ratio which is used to better support fixed backgrounds in 3D environments.

Horizontal Scrolling – sets the speed in which the Sprite moves along the horizontal (X) axis.

Vertical Scrolling – sets the speed in which the Sprite moves along the vertical (Y) axis.

Tile Horizontally – when ticked, your Sprite will be tiled along the horizontal (X) axis.

Tile Vertically – when ticked, your Sprite will be tiled along the vertical (Y) axis.

Pan with Camera Orbit – when ticked, your Sprite will pan in the direction of the camera’s horizontal orbit.

Center on Map – when ticked, your Sprite will be centred on the Map.

Enable Fog – when ticked, this will create fog on your Map that you can tweak in the options specified below or through scripting.

Color – changes the tint of the fog.

Start/End distance – is the distance in which the fog color begins to take over the Map from top to bottom.

Sun – the color of the sun that will tint the various objects on your Map to the color specified. Leaving the sun color as “White” will apply no tint to objects.

Wind – the direction that the wind blows on your Map. Used with Rain/Snow and Clouds to change the direction in which they travel.

Sprite – selects the Sprite used as the rain/snow graphic.

Density (Amount) – sets the amount of rain/snow that will be displayed on the Map. Please note: Having a large amount of rain/snow on your Map may cause slowdown in-game.

Size Variation – changes the size of your rain/snow Sprite. The amount of size variation reflects on how subtle or how intense the size changes are.

Speed Range – sets the minimum and maximum speed of your rain/snow.

Opacity Range – sets the minimum and maximum opacity of your rain/snow.

Movement Variation – sets the amount of difference between your rain/snow Sprite’s movement.

Sprites – here you can specify up to 3 different Sprites that will display across your Map. Having multiple Sprites will increase variation which will make it look more appealing.

Density (Amount) – sets the amount of clouds that will be displayed on the Map. Please note: Having a large amount of clouds on your Map may cause slowdown in-game.

Size Variation – changes the size of your cloud Sprites. The amount of size variation reflects on how subtle or how intense the size changes are.

Speed Range – sets the minimum and maximum speed of your clouds.

Opacity Range – sets the minimum and maximum opacity of your clouds.

Randomly Flip Horizontally – when ticked, some clouds will be randomly flipped horizontally (X axis).

Randomly Flip Vertically – when ticked, some clouds will be randomly flipped vertically (Y axis).