Is it possible to alter the Autotiles with a Script?

[Mickychi]

I know this has likely come up somewhere else before, and I have tried searching but can't seem to find a direct answer that gives me a full answer.

Basically I am a big fan of the 3x3 autotile format XP used, and want to know if it's possible to use a Plugin script in MV to:
- Change the auto tile size from the 2x2 tiles to 3x3 tiles? (MV size to XP size)
- Apply this change to specific group of autotiles for instance I am only after A1 (Animation) and A2 (Ground)?
- Go further and only apply the change to certain tiles on A2 - for example the left half?
- Go further and increase the frame amount for the A1 tiles?

I also want to know what problems would likely be found using such a plugin?

 

[Poryg]

You can alter it with a plugin, but don't forget these changes will only be visible in game, not in the editor.

 

[Andar]

That is not a size change, that is a structure change. So it is a lot more difficult.

That said, anything can be done in the MV engine, but nothing can change the editor.
Theoretically you could replace the code and redirect the engine to replace the regular autotiles with new ones in the engine only, requiring you to have two tilesets (the original and the replacement) at the same time.

 

[Mickychi]

@Andar and @Poryg thanks for the help. I do happen to have another question related to the auto-tiles, specifically the A tiles.

There are A1-A5, with in brackets saying what type of auto-tile should go there but would there be a problem using the A3 or A4 slots for more ground tiles? Using shift click mapping I mean, as that is actually what I am doing for ground tiles to use a XP format (bigger corners) but doing so takes up the entire A2 space for just 2 ground tiles that way, I'm currently already using A5 full as well.

 

[Andar]

all tilesheets have a fixed format as to what type of autotile or regular tile is placed where, and that specifically results in tiles placed outside that structure being ignored. So that means if you use larger pictures for tilesheets, you'll only fill up RAM without getting any more tiles into the editor.

But from your description I think you're mixing up different terms and doing something rather ineffective - the new tilesheet formats were developed to increase the available number of tiles while reducing the required size of the tile on the sheet, so if you're indeed need an entire tilesheet for just two tiles, then you're doing something wrong.

And that result in itself shows why you should follow the new autotile format.

If you have problems with that then tell us why you don't want to use it and perhaps we can tell you what you did wrong.
Because there are a lot of reasons why the XP-format for tilesets was discontinued, that wasn't done to cause problems to developers but to remove problems that were detected with the XP-formats.

 

[Mickychi]

@Andar The tilesheet I'm referring to uses 2 XP format auto-tiles, I've got all the possible constructions, edited so they fit within the available A2 space and can be used via shift-click mapping. I'm not using a larger picture for the tilesheet. Just to have all the constructions takes up space.

It's more of a personal preference with the larger corners XP offers appearance wise as the curve uses 1 whole space rather that the 1/4 space MV auto-tile anatomy uses.

Regarding my question before I'll be a bit more specific what I was asking, what is the difference between the A2, A3, and A4 tiles, disregarding the anatomy. Is it the level they are placed?

Other than that, now I'm interested in what was the biggest problems the XP-format auto-tiles created?

 

[Andar]

Regarding my question before I'll be a bit more specific what I was asking, what is the difference between the A2, A3, and A4 tiles, disregarding the anatomy. Is it the level they are placed?

no, all A-Tiles go into the same bottom layer.
check the help file for details - A2, A3 and A4 use different tiles for different functions.

A2 contains regular autotiles in their 2x3 block format including the inner edges (top right segment) for any combination.
A3 contains building autotiles in their 2x2 block format without any chance for inner edges, because you can't construct a building in a way that would use inner edges.
A4 contains a mixture of 2x2 wall autotiles and 2x3 ceiling autotiles where the ceiling tiles get a different passability than the regular ground tiles to simulate a 2-level-dungeon while only having one map level present.

I don't think that there was any equivalent to A4 on RMXP as it automates a lot of passability settings that would have to be very carefully set on an XP map manually to get the same effect (walking on top of walls without being able to go from walkable top to walkable ground directly)

 

[Mickychi]

Thanks for your help then

And I actually just took another look at my A2 sheet and realized that I was saying full sheet before when I meant 75% of it taken up, though I just also realized that I can still use some of the anatomy to my advantage for a xp tile and get all the constructions by using half that space.

All my questions for this have been answered - thanks.