Layer 4 and 5?

[gondracorn]

I am having a problem with layering. I want to place a building on top of a building, but that building is already on layer 3.

does ace come with unlimited Layers?

 

[Zeriab]

I suggest using events where you put the wanted tile as graphic.

You can also flatten a couple of layers and add that as a single tile to the tileset.

Ace does not come with unlimited layers. You'd probably rather fine the mapping in Ace limited compared to XP.

*hugs*

 - Zeriab

 

[amerk]

Ace comes with a few layers, but these don't behave as well as XP.

Layer 1 = autotiles (TileA)

Layer 1.5 = autotiles add-ons (like worldmap forests)

Layer 2 = add-ons (TileB through TileE).

Layer 3 = Events

You can only have 1 tile from each group on a tile grid. So, you can have a grass (Layer 1), a worldmap forest (Layer 1.5), a worldmap town (Layer 2), and an NPC standing on the town (evented Layer 3).

With the exception to the evented Layer 3, anything you touch as part of the map design will effect all tiles above. So if you decide that you want to change the grass to sand, it will wipe out the above layers and you will have to add them back in.

 

[gcook725]

Honestly, XP's engine is way more flexible when it comes to mapping in my opinion, the only real exception being the Shadow Pen tool in Ace (which is by far my favorite addition to the program). But when it comes to flexible layers, XP is pretty much the way to go.

However with some Photoshop know-how (or gimp or whatever image editing program is popular these days) a person can get around system limitations by making parallax maps that effectively have as many layers as you want them to. The major downside though is the file size: Your game will be monstrously huge. Parallax maps can also be time consuming depending on the amount of detail you want to put in.