This is the first project of mine in a long time that will be seeing the light of day. I won't be showing much at once, but I have different piece demo's I need tested by others. There is actually a lot more going on underneath the hood, even though it doesn't look like much. I have created these from scratch in C#, so it's a little slower going then an Rpg Maker, but I can do whatever I want with it.

I am currently looking for,

BETA TESTERS

Simply download the project, and follow the instructions in the README.txt. I need testers to report anything they find,
Whether it's a bug, glitch, or hidden feature. I also would like suggestions on how it can be made better, or features of it you would like.
DISCLAIMER: You only need to run setup once, to make sure you have the correct redistributables. after you have completed setup once, you never need to again for any projects from me that you download. You can just go in and run the DHLE.exe, I believe. (Unless, of course, microsoft upgrades to a new version, in which you should be able to just re-open setup and it will install it for you.) The redistributables can take a few minutes to download and install, but they are fairly common frameworks that a lot of games use.

---
Q. What exactly is Digital Hijinks?
A. Digital Hijinks is Imagination'd's first game released to the public. It is many things... Think about Smash Bros. mixed with Super Mario, with customizable characters, weapons, skills, levels, items, and the networking to play with up to 16 people online.(Whether it be Co-op in the story, or head to head in multiplayer.)

Q. What kind of features does the Digital Hijinks Level Editor (DHLE) have?
A. DHLE includes, but is not limited to;

● Tileset Importing
You can import you own tilesets so the levels you create are unique and your own.

● Tile Animation
Is built right in to the editor, so all you have to do is provide the animation.

● Damaging, Healing, and Destructible Tiles
You can flag a tile as damaging, healing, or destructible. (You can even set how much damage it does, how much it heals, or how much damage it can take.)

● Instantaneous Playtesting
With the tap of a button, you get dropped into your level, no pre-processing needed. You can dynamically switch
between the editor and the level. You can either play normally, or play with walk through walls.



Q. Okay, so what is the Digital Hijinks Level Editor (DHLE)?
A. It is a visual IDE (Integrated Development Environment) in which you can import your own graphics, tiles, and elements to play and share with friends. (Coding it before coding the game makes it easier on me to make the game, as an added bonus.)

Q. What do Beta Testers get out of it?
A. Beta Testers who continually show good feedback, on multiple tests, will not only be awarded a free copy of Digital Hijinks and the DHLE upon release, but will also have access to any and all DLC for free.
---

The current thing being tested is the Editor.



Beta Testing Forms

You can find the testing form in the corresponding post the editor version was released in.



Download

Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment~ ^ Newest Download ~
* Last Updated 12/28/12*

Feedback, problems, suggestions, comments, questions, and concerns, are not only welcome, but are required. I want to make this amazing.

...Did I mention full Xbox 360 Controller support?*
*It doesn't right now, but it will in the end, it's, like, the easiest thing to do on my list... Xd

i wouldnt mind trying this. :2 It looks interesting, although im still not sure what it is. ('XD)
But sign me up. o/

Well, see, I'm making the level editor for my game before I make the game, so I can use the editor to make the game, if that makes sense. It makes it easier on me as an independent developer to visually see what I'm programming - most programs that come from scratch don't have the gift of visual placement, so you have to debug after debug, and it's fairly time consuming. Think of this demo as the Tile Selector in an Rpg Maker, but a little more elaborate. You can move it around, close/open it, and select your different tiles. It's also a sample of how the windows and buttons will work in the game. I'm working on incorporating resizing, snapping, and a locking mechanism on all the windows.

Also, go ahead and start if you would like. The download is already up.

I'm up for it, just about to d/l it now. I'll do some Beta'ing for you

..Hmm, i can't seem to get it working... (...") (-D-")\ idk if u want me to fill in the form now, although i wont have much to report, lol.

i keep getting this error, regardless of whatever i try running:

This is an image of my graphic card/adapter properties, in case.. :
i run Windows 7 Professional 64-bit on an HP w/ an integrated graphics card, if that helps as well.

Ah, ok. I can fix this problem. It's my fault. XD I knew I should have just kept that setting normal. I'm updating the download now, it should work this time.

I'll be happy to test this out for you... After I get back of course.
Just for reference, I'm running a Windows 7 (service pack 1).

(If no post being made after this one, I'll edit to feedback, bug reports, and suggestions)

--EDIT--
Alright, so everything seems to be running as intended. A suggestion would be to add a faster way to select tiles (holding down the D would repeat movement that way as opposed to pressing it multiple times)

Arg, crap, i almost forgot about this. /o\' Heres my feedback. /o/

Q. What OS are you running?
A. Im running Windows 7 64-bit.
Q. Did you have any trouble getting things installed and working? If yes, please state what went wrong.
A.After the update, none. : )
Q. What do you like and not like about the Tile Window?
A.it can get dragged only from the top, so if u move the tile window offscreen too far, it can be hard to move it back. Also.. I think it might be good to write a small summary of what the program does/ is for in the negative space below the text. (Or add some spacing/ formatting to the text.)
Q. Of what you don't like, what could I do to get you to like it?
A.i think the snap feature u mentioned would be great. o/ the rest... I think i explained a bit above.
Q. Do you have any suggestions for features of the Tile Window?
A.i kind of noticed that the bottom outer corners of the tile selection cursor seemed to give the illusion of it slightly moving/ of an error.. maybe border the gradient pattern on the cursor with an opaque or slightly darker/ lighter colour..?.. o/
Q. Did you find any Bugs, Glitches, or Errors?
A.I dont think so.
Q. It currently only supports an image up to 256x512 pixels. Would you like it to be infinite?
A.if this program is for tilesets, i think the 512x512 size is good. If its for mapping, i think... maybe a limit of (max map size in VX)/2.
Q. The top left of the window has a preview of the selected tile, x16 or x32. Is this useful to you?
A.yes.
Q. Any other comments?
A.Sorry, i still feel a little lost about what... Well, what the program is for... > <"\ like if its for developping games, what specifically about games?.. And even specifically how.. (Im sorry, i really hope this doesnt offend, but u know, i hope u know what i mean. /> <)

-UPDATES-

I have since revamped the window, it now supports;

~} Zoom In/Out
Dynamically zoom the camera in and out to get a bigger view of your level.

~} Show / Hide
Basically hiding/showing the window like before. (Although, some graphical errors were fixed, since it's drawn different.)

~} Lock
Will lock the window to it's size and position. (The said variables cannot be altered unless it is unlocked.)

~} Snapping
Will snap the tile window to the edges of the "Actual Window" so you can't lose it. You can turn this on/off.

~} Close Window
close the window

~} Resizing
Dynamic window resizing

~} New Window Format
The whole window now fits into a nice little texture;
Click to view attachment

~} Suggested Features
I could easily add rotation of the camera(EXTREMELY EASILY, the codes already in my camera, I would just have to set keys/buttons), but can you guys think of any actual uses for this? Rotation seems kind of useless in this case, and it would probably just end up disorienting the user.

BUG FIXES


This has since been fixed. I noticed it too, it bugged the crap out of me. Took me a few minutes of staring at it to figure out why it was doing that.

COMMENTS


Lol, no offense taken. Your fine, believe me. The next update will help you see more along the lines of it's purpose. It's a tool I'm building to build the levels for my game, and then just include it with the game as a level editor.

I'll have a new demo and screenshots out within the next coupla days, I'm working out a few kinks. (And making it actually usable.)

@Kayden
Could u fill out my lil form plz k thnx baii.

RD...It's more Jinks than Kinks

Yey you've added snapping to the window. It's the reason why I WON'T use GIMP. Cause the Windows are all over the place.

Completely off topic but I'll fill out forum
GIMP Updated so it just has one window now. You can't hate what is free forever!@
----------------

Pages, eh? Could probably be do-able, but is kinda pointless if you only have 128(x32) or 256(x16) tiles.

The other two suggested a hold down button to move tile selector type feature, I have added this to my list.

I have changed the transparency sprite in the new demo.

Zooming has been implemented.

----

Eh? Still two windows for me. Although, some of it's new features bug me. Like the fact that it doesn't save my settings anymore. Or that it's new rectangle select is to complicated.

Still the only thing I use though.

* EDIT UPDATE*




Finished. Will add an option later to change the speed of the scrolling.

Just a question, are these updates implemented already? I ask because it hasn't changed since the initial release for me

Posted last night at 12:10 AM.

I haven't updated it yet, I'm gonna adjust a few things, and switch out the keyboard input for mouse input.
(ATM I've got like 20 different keys on my keyboard being used for different functions... XD)

Nearing release of v1.0!!

I've been avidly working on the tile engine these last few days, and if I don't post a new demo tomorrow(might not since Christmas is a little busy), I will upload demo v0.95 on the 26th. I have gotten just about everything working correctly.

UPDATES

- Saving and Loading Levels

- Mouse Support

- Tile Painting

- Erasing

- Zoom, anywhere from 10% to 200%

USEFUL FEATURES

- Selective Erasing

- Erase All

- Snap zoom to 100%

- Snap Camera position back to (x0, y0)

- Various Bug Fixes

- x16 and x32 tile placement, on an x16 grid, can change between the two dynamically.

FUTURE FEATURES

- A Background, A Background Layer, A Collision Layer, and a Foreground Layer

- Playtesting

- Some other features that were just on the tip of my tongue but just forgot...

Also, just so I'm not leaving you guys completely hanging, an updated screenie;

Okay guys, sorry for the extra wait time, but here is the update!

You'll find the new download here and in the OP(v0.9.5).

And, here is the new testing form;



Couple other things;

1. Although I said future versions would work with the old install, I forgot to mention that after you install once, you can uninstall it. The game doesn't need installed to be usable. So, if you want, you can uninstall it from your control panel and just run the game, the installer was just for making sure your computer had the requirements to run it.

2. You can't import a tileset bigger then 256x512. If you try to, it just won't import anything. (Until I implement it.)

In other news,

next things on my list are layers, bigger tilesets, and playtesting.

Q. What OS are you running?
A. Windows 7
Q. Did you have any trouble getting things installed and working? If yes, please state what went wrong.
A. No
Q. What do you think about the graphical update?
A. Green is interesting. Goes along nicely.
Q. What do you like?
A. Zoom in/out feature is by far my favorite part of this update so far.
Q. What do you not like?
A. I somewhat hate the fact you cannot replace an existing tile unless you delete it.
I mean, it saves you from making a mistake but on the other hand it makes editing a bit more problematic.
Resizing the amount for viewing the tileset isn't much use to me.
Q. Did you find any bugs / glitches / errors?
A. Um, I clicked off my tile selector and don't know how to get it back.
Also the commands for snapping the camera is unknown to me (I don't know what D1 or D0 is)
Q. Do you have any suggestions on features or other things?
A. Option or replacing tiles or building around it.
Instead of closing the tile selector (and perhaps using a button to bring it up again), why not just minimize and maximize it on the top part (making more compacted when minimized by removing unnecessary buttons).
If resizing the tileset viewer, makes it follow the tile (meaning move the tiles as you can select out of one's views (more of a bug))
Q. Any other comments?
A. That was a huge leap in progress to be honest. I'm impressed with the average updates so far.

Just gotta answer the standard questions, ya know.


Thanks. I'm going to make it customizable eventually.

Thought that would be helpful.

Not a bad idea, I can easily add an option for whether or not you can replace tiles.
Yea, I kinda realized that after awhile, but it's cool to know how to code something like that. I might take the resizing out, or at least limit it.

SHIT. Lol, I knew I was forgetting something. Until I post a fix, Press the 'O' key to bring it back up.
'D1' through 'D0' are found at the top of your keyboard. The normal '1' through '0' keys are numberpad keys, which I don't have on my laptop. (The D is for Digit, which doesn't help anything.)

Good idea, I can play with that.
I'm working on the scrolling, it's gonna be necessary for bigger tilesets.


Thanks, it's the first project of mine that might actually get somewhere. (And I don't have any obligations or compensations to anyone, It's completely mine and I can do whatever I want with it. ) Course, that means I also have to market it, but if it ends up decent the people will do that themselves.

That, and facebook. Lol.

Also, on a more systematic note;

On a quick test, I rendered a good 10,000 tiles without even a crack in the Frame rate(Stopped at 10k because, hell, who's going to make a level that big anyway?)
If anybody wants to mindnumbingly zoom out all the way and see how many tiles you can paint before the frame rate starts to drop, I'd be grateful.

Oh yea, and from my last post;


I forgot to add animated tiles to that list. :]

I'll test that for ya.
By the way, how is the play test gonna work? Like with the character and the NPC's?

There will be a little 'icon' you can move around in the editor, used for marking where you will spawn.
Then, once you have a spawn point out, you will just click a button to spawn a player to that location.

Kinda like the Super Smash Bros. Brawl Editor, except you get to choose your spawn point.

Oh,


And the option for different tiles to do damage to the player (Damaging tiles), after these are done.

Also, I cannot zoom out pass 10%...... Is there a way for me to break this limit or this is what you wanted to know.

I put a cap on it, because if you zoom out past 1% it will zoom into the negatives, which flips the entire screen vertically and horizontally and starts zooming back in. (It's an interesting effect)

No, the part about zooming out is because it's easier to paint a lot of tiles. I'm wondering if someone wants to see just how many they can paint before the framerate starts to drop.

Q. What OS are you running?
A. Windows 7
Q. Did you have any trouble getting things installed and working? If yes, please state what went wrong.
A. Nope
Q. What do you think about the graphical update?
A. Fantastic. : ) It really looks great
Q. What do you like?
A. i like the graphics, all the options, how small/ easy to setup the program is, drawing and deleting tiles is really easy (!)
Q. What do you not like?
A. having to read the lines on the left detailing how to use the program, how to select different tiles
Q. Did you find any bugs / glitches / errors?
A. Not really an error, but... the letter for "O" on 'show debugger/ controls' resembles the "0"s. >.<
Q. Do you have any suggestions on features or other things?
A. Would it b possible to maybe b able to select tiles using the mouse instead? Also, maybe remove the keyboard commands for resizing the tile window and possibly make it mouse-controlled too? >.< Last option... can save b changed to CTRL+S and open b changed to CTRL+O?
Q. Any other comments?
A.Nope. But wow, ur program is really coming along and looking amazing. \o/

Also, the CTRL + D0 and CTRL + D1 thing works for me. i just put them in literally. XD The only thing im not sure about is the D2 thing though; i can't really tell what selective erasing means/ if im doing it. >.<

True to that, but it's a situational thing. Clicking back and forth to select tile close to each other (i.e house wall and house roof) gets tedious. Although it's a different story when it comes to selecting something on the bottom when your cursor is at the top (maybe add a page looping, going from the top, press up and it will send you to the bottom)

Standard questions lol.

Thanks, it looks alot better then it did before.

Thanks.

Easily fixable, I can always turn it into a Readme file.

Yea, it's the way the default font is. I'm going to end up with a better font at some point.

Yea, that should be fairly easy. I'll probably leave in keyboard support though, as it is more time consuming using the mouse to place and select the tiles. The main reason it uses the keyboard is so you can use both your hands.

I am actually probably going to take this out, as it's not very useful. Or, until I can get it to scroll with the window.

Yea, I can do that. (Not sure why I didn't already, it's rather obvious... >.<)
I will probably change import to CTRL+I as well.

The D# Keys are the number keys at the top of your keyboard. Saying 'Ctrl + 1' would mean 'Control + 1 on the numberpad', while saying 'Ctrl + D1' would mean 'Control + 1 in the digit section at the top of your keyboard.'

You don't actually have to press the 'D' key, it's just a way of differentiating the two sets of numbers.


That's easily do-able as well, it's actually not a bad idea. But I can always add mouse support on top of keyboard support.

UPDATES

- The basic frame of playtesting is nearly finished, with gravity and collisions(collisions are not fun to implement, but I managed).
- A HUD, damaging tiles, and destructible tiles will be dealt with in the order they are added in.
- You can easily switch between the editor and playtesting with the tap of a key, in, like, one millionth of a second.
- currently the player graphic is mario until I get around to finding/making some characters of my own. (I have some stored away on my linux computer somewheres)

@kay: hmm, tru dat. im thinking of it like painting more i think; although i do think being able to use the mouse for selecting tiles would be more beginner/ noob-friendly, and it would make sense w/ how the mouse can be used on everything else in the tile window + the work area.
We got a compromise though. : )

@the digit thing: Ohhhhh. XDD ..Damn, and i thought i was so smart too lol.
Maybe... im wondering if itd b possible then to change CTRL+0 to something like the spacebar? And then maybe CTRL+1 to double spacebar?

Also.. I just thought of this now, but im wondering if it might b easier to have zoom operated by the scroll wheel instead. (•o•) idk if thats something that u can script though, or if thatd be too difficult.


Thanks for being willing to offer both. XD haha, thats rly awesome.
..U motivate me to want to practise at using small/ visual basic more. -D-

probably something different, but probably not double taps. (double taps/clicks are more work then they need to be.)

Yea, I've got that on my list right now. I thought the scroll wheel was the same as pressing page up/down, but I found out they're not even the same kind of input. But it shouldn't take me more then a few mins when I get around to it.

Lol, to tell you the truth, I started with VB, but was so eager to get into game programming in C# I just blew through it in like a week. (I'm completely self taught, And I can read/write anything from Ruby (RGSS), HTML/CSS, VB, C#, XNA, Some Python, Some C, some C++, And working on Java and Android next.)

Short version;

I leik teh vidja games.

EDIT:
*facepalm* Almost forgot about the selective erasing thing.

The way it works, is when it's on, you will only be able to erase tiles that have the same texture coordinate as the tile you have selected.
This DOESN'T mean that even if two tiles are exactly alike, that you will be able to erase both tiles. (The program erases by cross referencing the tile your hovering over with all the tiles in a list, and if there is a match, it will erase. Selective Erasing limits one of the tiles values to a certain (x, y) in the tile window, so it will only erase those tiles that match it perfectly.) When it's turned off, your able to erase all tiles regardless of it's texture coordinates.

Wow, holy crap, thats amazing!.. >.< All self-taught... o_o
i dont compare. ( D: ) i blew through my school course-- i actually finished my final exam in 1/3 the time. But i only know a moderate amount of VB, Small Basic, and basically a dead amount of Python + RGSS.

Also, regarding selective erasing.. it only erases tiles that match the tile u have selected in the tile window then?

yea. It has to be the same one though, position and everything, it can't just look the same. (You'll see the default tileset has like 3 sets of the same blocks.)

oh, a thing I found when rendering max tiles was that on the sides of the tileset selector shows a resize cursor if the cursor is placed over it. Well it doesn't function

Not supposed to, I disabled it. (Wasn't working correctly.)

Also, what was your max tiles?

**UPDATES**

-| Playtesting finished - You can now jump into your level whenever you want to with the tap of a key. I thought I was close to already being done with it, but I actually scrapped the whole thing and tried something else. The system I ended up implementing is actually unique and my own, I managed to happen upon it. The way collisions work, is that the player checks all the tiles in the level to see which 4 tiles are the closest, being up, down, left, and right. After that, it doesn't let the player past those marks. The four tiles you collide with are always changing, depending on how you move. (I have it coded so you can visually see which tiles it's using). It's simple, yet so rock solid it's about 99% perfect to me.

Here's a pic to show you what I mean;
Click to view attachment

Top collider = Blue, Bottom collider = Yellow(Orange), Left collider = Green and Right collider = Red.
Jumping, running(faster), walking(slower), falling, standing, and turning around(left and right) are all implemented.

Almost to the point to start making a playable game! (It's starting to seem like a game already!)

Next up is animated tiles, destructible tiles, damaging tiles, foreground/background layers, and backgrounds.

The structure of tile passability is done. You can now choose which directions are passable for a tile. (meaning if, say, only the top side is impassable, you can use it as a platform.)

Click to view attachment

1. The platform tile has arrows showing it is passable from the left, the right, and the bottom.
2. The player standing below the platform,
3. & 4. The player jumping up towards the platform,
5. The player's jump starting to climax, and
6. Gravity taking affect and treating the platform like a solid obstacle.

Q. What OS are you running?
A. Windows 7
Q. Did you have any trouble getting things installed and working? If yes, please state what went wrong.
A. Nope
Q. What do you think about the graphical update?
A.Looks awesome
Q. What do you like?
A. The snapping windows , and pretty much everything else lol
Q. What do you not like?
A. reading the lines on the left to find out how to use the program, also using keys to resize window seems abit, pointless to be honest
Q. Did you find any bugs / glitches / errors?
A. Nope
Q. Do you have any suggestions on features or other things?
A. Select tiles using the mouse instead, also re sizing the windows using the mouse, and perhaps using CTRL + S and CTRL + O for the saving and open dialogue boxes, just to keep it inline with other Windows Programs, Selective erasing, also being able to erase with the bigger tile size. Instead of it just deleting one small square at a time
Q. Any other comments?
A Nope, you've made such a large amount of progress since last time, and I'm looking forward to the next update

Oh ho ho, TBH, that's nowhere near the amount of crap I've got onscreen now. (It's not even condensed to one section, I have to iterate through the different sections. I gave up and used a button to hide it.)
I'm actually considering taking out support for x32 tiles entirely. You can do all the same things with x16 tiles that you can with x32 tiles, and possibly even more(Each 16x16 section of an x32 tile could have it's own properties, as an example. All the properties for x32 tiles are replicatable with the x16 tiles. Taking them out would also be easier on me, cuz at the moment I have to essentially program everything twice. If your thinking region erasing, that shouldn't be very hard to do.

I'm thinking about leaving in the x32 tile placement, but all that will do is generate four x16 tiles instead of one bigger tile.

I actually can't remember why I was going to include bigger tiles, since you can do the same and more with smaller ones.

And lol, I just realized I haven't released a version with the playtesting. You ain't seen nothin' yet. (I'm actually a little behind on schoolwork because I've been spending so much time on this, so updates might be a little scarce for a few days. Lol, I love reading history, but I sure as hell hate writing about it.)