Archive for November, 2007
TileSets, now in XML
cubed2D
November 17th, 2007.
over the passed two days ive cleaned up my tile engine to allow for it to be serialized in to Xml. now, TileSets are read in from xml sheets created in a new simple TileSet builder tool Ive made. Im now working on a map builder, which will beable to save out maps in Xml.
1. open up the TileSet Builder tool, small splash screen.
2. next, you select tile image file that holds the tiles
3. now we can input some basic info about the TileSet, such as the amount of tiles on the sheet, the size of any spacing between the tiles and the height and width of each tile. A preview of the tile set is shown as well, you can click on it to see it full size and unstreached. Later im going to try and a grid over the preview image so you can check if the inputs are correct.
4. next we define the base tile information
5. and then we can tweak it more in more detail! this is mainly for setting up anumated tile sets, you can remove a tile from the set(you only want the base animation frame to be part of the set), change the FPS and ID numer of a tile aswell as add and remove frames from the animation list.
6. finaly were all done, and can save out the TileSet
At the moment the tool is a bit sloppy, you can probably tell its far from idea, but its great for buiding up XML files for quick testing!
First screenshot of CrimsonEngine’s new Tile based map support
cubed2D
November 12th, 2007.
(note: mouse not showing up on screen shots :(, trust me, the tile location stuff is right 
)
Currently Supports
- - Maps of any size with any amount of layers
- - smooth scrolling
- - basic saving and loading
- - tile picking
- - multiple tile sheets
- - tiles with attached data
Coming in the next few builds
- better camera support (zooming, possibly rotation)
- better file definition
- quadtree based object renderer
- intergration with CrimsonEngine’s object and console systems
- improved resolution independance
A useful code snippit
cubed2D
November 10th, 2007.
Whenever i start a new codefile, alot of the time i find myself haveing to add all the xna refrences at the top, so i realised this would make an exilent snippit
save the following xml as UsingXNA.snippet
- <CodeSnippets xmlns=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet“>
- <CodeSnippet Format=”1.0.0“>
- <Header>
 <Title>XNA Using statments</Title>
 <Author>NekoCake Industries</Author>
 <Description>Inserts all the using statments needed for good xna useage</Description>
 <HelpUrl>www.nekocake.com</HelpUrl>
- <SnippetTypes>
 <SnippetType>Expansion</SnippetType>
 </SnippetTypes>
 <Shortcut>UsingXNA</Shortcut>
 </Header>
- <Snippet>
- <Code Language=”CSharp“>
<![CDATA[
#region Using Statements using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Audio; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Content; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Input; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Storage; #endregion
 ]]>
 </Code>
 </Snippet>
 </CodeSnippet>
 </CodeSnippets>
Then start up GSE, click tools -> code snippet manager -> add then find where you saved the xml, and load it in. whenever you need the xna refences, just type UsingXNA and press tab twice when intelesence picks it up!
Im still alive
cubed2D
November 06th, 2007.
Still alive, still makeing progress! i started a rewite on Crimson Engine last month. Wanted to reimplement my object system and other things i thought wernt flexible enough. Just finished re implementing animated sprites last night, so its high time for an ‘im still alive’ post. I plan to write up some new tutorials and engine design posts over the next few weeks, and clean up the site abit!