TileMeDo - A Freeware Commdore 64 Oriented 4x4 Tile Map Editor for
Windows by
Phil / Retroleum.
Download
latest version
Changes
in V1.10:
- Addition of "trigger map" overlay - Gameworld event codes
can now be placed "on top of" the map. Uses a simple 1 byte per map
location system.
Overview:
This util allows game maps to be created on the PC for use in
C64 programs.. The
features/main differences between this and similar tools are:
- You can load in an image drawn on a standard
PC paint package (with some special design considerations) and it will
create a map based on an optimized character and tile set.
- This util works from editing the character set upwards: IE:
You take a character set, build your tiles and then build a map with
the tiles. (An alternative program like Charpad works primarily around
drawing tiles within the program - the character set is then
generated from them.)
- Tilemdo is orientated around the C64's character map mode
(hi-res only or hi-res & multicolour) and the colour attribute
system is
fixed at 1 byte per charset character.
Map Editor Tab:
- Map panel: Left click a position on the map to
plot a tile (or trigger code), Right click to
pick up a tile (or trigger code for plotting)
- Duckshoot menu - Left click on the tile-selection
duckshoot menu to pick up a
tile.
- To save repetition you can create a brush and plot multiple
tiles at once. Select
Make Brush from the title bar the left
click in the map to define the top/left tile of the brush area, then
click in the
bottom/right. The brush then becomes active. You can disable it by
right clicking in the map or unticking the use brush checkbox. (It can
be
later re-enabled by ticking the same checkbox.) You can chose whether
or not to include the trigger map bytes from the area in the brush with
the menu option below "Make brush"
- To use a trigger map, first enable
it with the Trigger Map menu option, next select the "Edit
Trigs" tool and use the selection spin tool to select a byte to place.
Trigger code editing is done at tile resolution and entries are
positioned one at a time (though in map edit mode, the brush
can
be made to include the trigger bytes). Trigger codes equal to
zero are classed as inactive and not displayed on the map.
Shortcut keys:
- Cursors: Scroll around map
- F1 - Go to previous tile
- F2 - Go to next tile
Notes / Tips:
- Any undefined tiles are shown in grey with crosses.
- The scroll wheel will cycle through tiles when the Selected Tile
gadget has focus.
Tile Editor Tab:
- Tile editing
panel: Left click a location in the tile
window to plot the selected character, right click to select a
character.
- Character
editing panel: Left click to plot a pixel (using
the selected pen), right click to pick up a colour from the image.
- Character set
panel: Left click to select a
character, double right click to copy the selected character
to another place in the character set (after repositioning the cursor).
- Duckshoot
menu: Left click to select a tile, double right
click to drop a copy of the selected tile to a new location in the tile
list.
Notes / Tips:
- When you copy a tile or character to a position past the
end of the list, blank tiles (or chars) are inserted to that point.
Project Menu:
- Load / Save
Project
-Saves the character set, attribute colours, tile set and
map in a single file (with various headers etc) - see info at the end
of this document for .tmd format
- Clear All Data
- Make a fresh project
Charset Menu:
- Load / Save
Charset. The character set is in standard binary C64
charset
format, 8 bytes per character (no header)
- Remove
Duplicate Chars - will optimize the character set and
remove any
characters WITH THE SAME PATTERN AND COLOUR ATTRIBUTE that exist. The
tile set and
map will be adjusted to compensate.
- Clear Charset
- Sets all bytes to 0, character count set to 0
Colours Menu:
- Load /
Save colours. 1 byte
per character with no header.
- Clear colours
- All values are set to 1.
Tiles Menu:
- Load / Save
Tile Set - 16 bytes per tile (no
header).
- Remove
Duplicate Tiles - Any tile definitions where all 16 bytes
are repeated are removed from the tile list. The map is updated to
suit. The character set is unchanged.
- Clear Tile
Data - All tiles erased, tile count set 0
Map Menu:
- Load / Save
Map - 1 byte per map location to reference the
tile that belongs there (no header)
- Set Map Size
- Set the dimensions of the map in tiles. When
this is changed any map in the editor will be truncated (if new map is
smaller) or placed in the top left corner (if new map is bigger).
- Import/Convert
.BMP File - Loads in a bitmap image and converts it to
an optimized character set, tile set and map data. The bitmap file
needs to be specially prepared for this function (you
can't just load any old picture - it's not that clever!) The
image should be:
- Evenly divisable into 8x8 characters IE: Width and height
should be multiples of 8 pixels.
-
The RGB pixel colour values used must be the same as those used
internally by Tilemedo. See the example files for palette.
-
Each 8x8 square must obey the limitations imposed by the C64's VIC
chip in character mode. IE:
If working in hi-res only mode, only the background colour and 1 custom
pixel colour (any C64 colour 0-15) can be present in any character. If
working in mixed mode: The custom colour can only be those in the
range 0-7. A character is determined to hi-res if any of its pixels are
not in pairs.
-
Remember to set the colour mode, background and (if applicable)
multicolour0 and multicolour1 values using the gadgets under "charset"
on the tile tab before
loading the image.
- Export Map
As .BMP - Makes a bitmap image file from the entire map.
(If any
tile is undefined it will be rendered as entirely black.)
- Save
Character Map - This
option saves the map out as individual characters instead of tiles, you
can save a wndow from within the map (from the top left). Here, the
width
and height values requested are in
characters.
- Clear Map Data
- wipe all tile map data
Brush Menu:
- Make A Brush
- Pick up an area of the map for use as a brush. Select its top left,
then
bottom right by left clicking within the map.
- Include Trigs
In Brush - If using the trigger map overlay, the trigger
codes in the brush area will also be copied
Trigger Map Menu:
- Use Trigger
Map - Enable the trigger map system in Tilemedo
- Load / Save
Trigger Map - Format is simple 1 byte per map
location (no header)
- Clear Trigger
Map - wipe all data from the trigger map (set to zero)
Format
of .tmd project file:
4 bytes - Length of file
1 byte - Mode: 0 = Mixed, 1 = Hi-res
chars only
1 byte - Background colour
1 byte - Multicolour 0 (0-15)
1 byte - Multicolour 1 (0-15)
1 word - number of characters
x bytes - character data (8 bytes per character)
x/8 bytes - colour data (1 byte per character)
1 byte - tile width
1 byte - tile height
1 word - number of tiles
y bytes - tile data (Number of tiles x Tile width x
Tile height) bytes
1 word - map width
1 word - map height
z bytes - map data (1 byte per map location)
z bytes - trigger map data (1 byte per map
location) - ONLY INCLUDED IF THE TRIGGER MAP IS ENABLED