TILE STUDIO

Just a small update, download it here.
• Added tile grid ([Ctrl + G] to enable/disable).
• You can pick up several colors to form a color pattern using [Ctrl + Right-click].
• Fixed: Export map as image would only export the visible region.

August 8, 2004 - Tell about your projects!

I'ld like to compile a list of games that were created using Tile Studio to be included on this site. If you've created a game with Tile Studio, please submit information about it here!

August 8, 2004 - Bugs fixed

This is not an official release, but you can get the newest version here. Exporting a map as an image only exported the visible region instead of the whole map. And copying tiles (F3) should work properly again now.

July 27, 2004 - New SDL example

I just made an little example .tsd file for use with SDL and a demo. Download it here (move with arrow keys, Esc to quit).

June 7, 2004 - Version 2.5

This new version includes quite a few changes and new features. So far, I've only tested it with my own projects, so please backup your project(s) before trying it!
• A project's .tsd file can now be saved in the project directory (which is usually a much more logical place to have it than the Tile Studio directory).
• New command #tstilebitmap creates a .BMP or .PNG bitmap of the exact tiles in your tile set (instead of the tile combinations in your maps), works the same as #tilebitmap.
• Fixed access violation error which sometimes occurred when drawing small maps with overlap > 0.
• New command #uniquetextile, which generates unique tile combinations with edges and corners! Unfortunately, due to the huge amount of tiles that are generated, this command became kind of obsolete right after I finished it. The idea was to have an easy way to use texture tiles, but without all the edges and corner stuff. Still, it can be useful for large maps, split up into small tiles that only occur once (related commands: <UniqueTexTileCount>, <UniqueTexTileNumber>, not implemented for sequences).
• You can now export complete maps as images (File menu), you might want to turn off Show Grid, Show Map Codes and Show Bounds in the map menu first.
• Right-click in a map will also select the (top most) tile in your tile set.
• You can now select the lighting direction (paint brush, filled ellipses, rectangles, etc). The direction is indicated by the small circle in the bound box (tile editor) and you can change it with [Shift] + left mouse button.
• New command #binfile for binary output. A parameter is required to set the default bit size: 8, 16, 24 or 32. Any text between quotes will be included into the file, values like <Pixel> will be stored in the default bit size (but you can override that with <Pixel:"8">). See the file Binary Output Example.tsd for an example.
• New: Tile Rotation in the map editor. In addition to the 'h' and 'v' buttons (horizontal and vertical flip) at the top right in the map editor, there is a 'r' button, which rotates the tile 90 degrees to the right. To rotate to the left, press all three buttons. You can export the rotation bit using <TSBackR>, <TSMidR> and <TSFrontR>.
• You can now also rotate square tiles / areas in the tile editor as well ([Ctrl + BkSp] and [Ctrl + Shift + BkSp]).
• You can now hide the tile set panel (which can be useful when working with large tile sets), press [Ctrl + H].
• While making a selection, the status bar shows the size of the selection, not only the coordinates.
• Anti-Aliasing (Code menu): You can now scale down your tiles while exporting them (by 2, 3 or 4). In addition to <R>, <G> and <B>, you can now also use <A>, which is the Alpha value (0-255).

Derek Danial Diaz posted a .tsd file for DarkBASIC Pro together with a working demo! See the examples section below.

February 21, 2004 - Version 2.43

This is a quick update with some small changes and bugs fixed.
• There shouldn't be any problems anymore while exiting Tile Studio under Linux.
• The color pattern (under the palette) is more advanced now, you can make any row of gradient colors by first selecting an area (so you get an arrow) and then selecting a new color with [Shift] down.
• Using the color pattern in combination with shape tools (filled rectangle, circle, etc), you can press H, V or D for a smooth horizontal, vertical or diagonal gradient. This already worked, but would sometimes cause an range check error.
• Better noise generation (Smooth Random Fill button). Line width changes the density.
• You can now use the paintbrush just like the filled shape tools (in combination with a color pattern). The size depends on the line width. Hold [Alt] down to get the old usage (line from the first shade to the last).
• Each tool now has it's own line width (you might have to get used to that).
• Several small bugs fixed.

December 28, 2003 - OpenGL scroll demo updated

A few small optimizations in the Delphi / OpenGL scroll demo: the animation is now smoother and the overall speed was improved by using Singles instead of Reals. Download it here (move with arrow keys, Esc to quit).

August 7, 2003 - Version 2.42

This new version solves the problem of maps taking a long time to load, thanks to Rainer Deyke who made the map editor only load the tiles on screen and not the entire map (sorry for the delay).

GapiDraw now also has support for Tile Studio!

April 22, 2003 - Version 2.41

This new version fixes a number of bugs that were introduced while rewriting the code generator for version 2.4. The palette and tstile commands work again and a few problems with other commands have been fixed. There have also been a few bug fixes in the palette manager.

March 16, 2003 - Version 2.4

Tile Studio can now be used with Direct3D / OpenGL texture tiles! This allows you to use 3D technology for side scrolling games, like sub-pixel scrolling (see the example).

Here is a complete list of changes:

• The .tsd code generator has been largely rewritten. It should still be fully compatible with earlier versions. If you find differences, please let me know.
• The code generator can export texture tiles. These are the same as normal tiles, except they have one extra pixel on each side. These tiles include the edges of the (most often) neighboring tiles. For tiles that have several different neighbors, you can use a list of horizontal and vertical edges and corners.
  New commands include: #textiledata ... #end textiledata (same as #tiledata, except for the extra pixels), #hedge ... #end hedge, #vedge ... #end vedge, #corner ... #end corner (lists of horizontal and vertical edges and corners and tile combinations they are used for), #hedgedata ... #end hedgedata, #vedgedata ... #end vedgedata, #cornerdata ... #end cornerdata (the edges and corners themselves).
  See the Delphi OpenGL Texture Tiles.tsd file for an example on how to use all this.
• New command to be used with tinytiles: #tilemap ... #end tilemap. This lists the numbers of the tinytiles used in your (normal) tiles. With this information, you can have your maps outside of #tinytiles ... #end tinytiles, which will make them a lot smaller, and still find the corresponding tinytiles.
• Each frame of a tile sequence can now have a relative offset. You can set this by pressing Alt+Shift+Arrows in the tile editor. You will only see the movement at the right (turn off Tile Pattern in the View menu to have only one tile there). Use <OffsetX> and <OffsetY> to export these values. This is in reply to the request for an anchor point. Although it is less pretty, you should be able to do the same.
• Several fixed bugs and small changes.

September 4, 2002 - Version 2.34

This new version fixes a bug with using multiple color palettes. Also, the variables <X> and <Y> are now available to indicate the current position within a map or tile.

August 16, 2002 - Version 2.33

A serious bug (which was introduced in version 2.2) has now been fixed. This bug sometimes caused projects to be saved wrong, which resulted in an error loading the project again.

March 16, 2002 - Source code released!

The complete Delphi source code for Tile Studio is now available for download (see below). The program is now an open source project.

The source code is available under the GNU General Public Licence. Because Tile Studio generates source code which can be included into your projects, the .tsd files (which are mainly copied) are distributed without restrictions. Therefore, you can use Tile Studio itself for any project (not only for projects under the GPL) without violating the GPL.

The project has now been set up at SourceForge, a great site for open source development.