Progress today!

[computercoder]

Today, I made history with the WDF file format and getting results from outside the 2DWD designer! I created the map inside 2DWD and exported it to the WDF format. I took the files it created and made a new game-like environment to test the ability of the map. This map contains 3 layers, but I only used two for this test. 20 by 20 grid with 32 by 32 pixels  per tile. A rather small map, but the point here is to make this format run.

It took me all day to generate the map engine, getting basic elements together so the user has a choice between full screen and windowed modes. It also is OOD based, to make it relatively segmented for maintenance and plug'n'play capable later on. I already had a good portion of this code generated in 2DWD, so I had to make some modifications (IE trims) to that code.

In the end, I generated something that is capable of displaying the map, with ALL layers as it needs to be. Its capable of scrolling, but I didn't add in the inputs to trap which will allow the user to move the map around. 

To my enlightenment, the designer proved worthy. The file format needs a little adjustment, but its otherwise proven worthy as well. In the game test, it renders fast, and displays perfectly the image created in 2DWD. Now its ime to add some polish to the World Designer!

[computercoder]

Well... as things go, I decided to work on a new core for performance reasons. Both the game and the world designer will benefit from this change. I'm trying different things out to see which will prove more successful and learn something along the way!

I started messing with a different language to see if I could get a better looking GUI for each OS - rather than something that somewhat works under them all the same. Its a bit limiting for the user of said OS anyways, and in the end, it feels strange using a one-size fits all method. 

I bought REALbasic several months ago, but only messed around with making a paint program. Ok. not excatly a big feat there, but I learned what REAL was capable of. So I thought... why not try the 2DWD development in it? It provides a great GUI development, and it should be suitable for that type of application right? We'll see soon enough!

I've actually gotten my feet totally submerged into development in REAL with 2DWD. It IS coming along; although slower than I anticipated. Thats quite alright. The code will be there. The app looks nicer IMO, and it right now seems to fit better with the MacOS. Windows and Linux are on hold for now, but I'll try them out very soon!

Along with the changes to the language, I decided to make some tweaks in the WDF format. These are allowing better performance within the game itself. The only real issue now is completing the 2DWD in RB to use the new implementation of the format

Well, that about does it for now. Hopefully in the coming weeks, I'll have a WIP demo for you to see

[computercoder]

There have been MANY changes to the designer! I've added and removed features from the original code base with the new code base which I think makes the app more robust in the long haul.

The new version is fully capable of loading tiles/tilesets, drawing with a pencil, rectangle and ellipses both filled and outlined, and drawing lines! There's even a flood fill tool to easily allow filling with or erasing entire sections with a click of the mouse! After coding the Ellipse, Flood Fill, and the Line tools, I have a MUCH greater appreciation for the work people do on similar apps with even greater tools! 

This round is fully functional for drawing with, but you cannot save or load anything except loading tiles. I figured if I left that part out for last, I would accomplish the rest of the tasks / tools the app needs first. I have even provided a few tiles for you to play around with the editor! Go crazy, and leave your (constructive) thoughts here if you'd like.

I also decided to re-evaluate the WDF format. It has some short falls that make it a bit restrictive, and I feel that with the changes made to the designer already, it really should have another look. There's a LOT of unneeded things in there now, and a good cleanup couldn't hurt.

[computercoder]

I haven't been working much on this lately, but I wanted to put something out here to update the status, and to let whom-ever reads this that it is still alive, just seriously slowed down a bit. I have been working on another project that has taken up most of my free time, but I still pop back into the code for this to do some work when I'm not feeling much like working on the other project

I still haven't worked out the new WDF format (yet), but it will come when it does I got side tracked a bit with OpenGL to see if I could get some extra performance boosts and some otherwise just cool features added to 2DWD. I dunno yet tho. We'll see how things pan out.