RPG Maker Tileset Builder (Current Release: March 25, 2015)

[taarna23]

New information in the first post, including the download of the first release! It only supports A1-A4 of the RTP for the moment, but it's a start.

 

[Matombo]

it doesn't load the tilesets after selecting the rpg maker directory

 

[taarna23]

You need to choose a tileset type from the right-side dropdown before any tilesets are loaded. Different tilesets have different requirements, at least among A1-A4.

 

[GrandmaDeb]

Good luck with getting this complete and working. Others have begun but not finished. A truly complete - select a tile and add it without editing - type of utility would help many people.

Keep at it! =]

 

[taarna23]

Good luck with getting this complete and working. Others have begun but not finished. A truly complete - select a tile and add it without editing - type of utility would help many people.

Keep at it! =]

Thanks! Once I can figure out the managing of sets that can have inconsistently shaped and sized tiles, it's all just a matter of whether or not the tilesets to load from are in the XML. Well, that and allowing it to dig through the DLC folder, as well. I'm not sure I'll be able to support addon packs that aren't in a DLC folder, however. I guess we will see when I get there.

For now, it's time to take a break from the code and spend some time with my RPG. I had previously determined it would not see any work until such time as this program saw a release.

 

[Matombo]

You need to choose a tileset type from the right-side dropdown before any tilesets are loaded. Different tilesets have different requirements, at least among A1-A4.

ah thank you

 

[taarna23]

Hi all,

Looking for a little feedback as I try to plan out the addition of the A5 and B-E tiles. How would you, a potential user, feel about when adding an item (say, a pillar, or large gravel pile), that the entire item gets added in to your tileset in progress, but for removal, you would need to remove each segment individually? In trying to puzzle out the best approach to fit items in to the result tileset, I'm realizing that keeping track of the size and shape of every piece added, as well as where it resides may be a huge headache and involve a lot of extraneous data. If people need it to be that way, I can do it, however, this will also remove some customization options.

Take this example: What if you only need the top of that pillar, or the bottom of the rope? To remove the whole thing turns it into an all-or-nothing approach. Removing only parts presents its own issues, as now you have that bottom of a rope sitting in the middle of your tileset. In the grand scheme of this whole program, I see this as fairly minor, however I reiterate that I am a fairly novice programmer.

Regardless, please let me know your opinions!

 

[Sharm]

Why not just do a drag selection thing like most mapping programs do?

 

[taarna23]

Why not just do a drag selection thing like most mapping programs do?

Because I have no idea how. School prepared us for boring form-related stuff. Like 'hey, I want to add an entry to this database' kind of stuff. A lot of what I'm working with is code found on google and hit with a hammer until it did what I wanted it to. The fact that I got it as far as I have so far completely blows my mind. My next step before I add anything is to request a code review from a co-worker, if any are willing to look at terribly unoptimized, noobish code. We will see where this ends up from there.

 

[Sharm]

Well, it seems the most obvious solution to me. Working around your weaknesses can only get you so far, you may not be able to complete this project that way.

 

[taarna23]

Well, it seems the most obvious solution to me. Working around your weaknesses can only get you so far, you may not be able to complete this project that way.

Yes, but there's also the need to learn it in small steps. Having a big final goal is fantastic; trying to achieve that goal straight off is foolish. It's a road full only of frustration and disappointment, as anyone that has tried to go from beginning programming to expecting to be able to game dev could tell you.

The reason that I am going to try to get a code review is so that I can get the advice and be pointed into the directions I need. The things that the people I work with I would swear are pure magic. I am nowhere near their level yet, but I can use this as a learning experience. I'm just trying to use my learning experience as something useful for the community.

 

[Sharm]

You've got two goals here. Trying to make this program that works well for RMers and learning programming incrementally. The best way to do the program isn't going to be the same as the best way to learn. You weren't asking for opinions on how to meet your learn to program goal, you were asking for opinions on how best to do the B tiles. My opinion is to do it the way I suggested because anything else is going to be awkward to me. If you decide that your programming goal is more important than the program, that's fine, but I can't give you an opinion on how to do both because in this case they're conflicting goals.

 

[taarna23]

You've got two goals here. Trying to make this program that works well for RMers and learning programming incrementally. The best way to do the program isn't going to be the same as the best way to learn. You weren't asking for opinions on how to meet your learn to program goal, you were asking for opinions on how best to do the B tiles. My opinion is to do it the way I suggested because anything else is going to be awkward to me. If you decide that your programming goal is more important than the program, that's fine, but I can't give you an opinion on how to do both because in this case they're conflicting goals.

Well, upon picking brains at work (I maintain that these guys perform magic), it seems like our suggestion of click to place/paint may not be as hard as I thought. It seems like I'm already halfway there with my erasing work anyway. With the A1-A4, I would basically Go based on click location and place things much as they are now - this would be primarily due to the restriction of autotile arrangement. For A5 and B-E, I can do placement based on the nearest-clicked 32x32 tile space. I wouldn't even need to track what is current occupied, either, it can just freely paint over what's there.

I think my next step will be to set up that manner of "painting" in my A1-A4 handling.

[update] Progress made! A1 tilesets can now be made by selecting a tile in the left list, and left clicking to place. Right click will remove.

Current goal is complete, but I'm adding in a background grid for the tileset types. This grid will be visible when transparent/translucent tiles are placed, but will not be present when the finished tileset is saved.

Will do another release when this is complete for the other currently-supported tileset types. Afterward I will work on adding A5 and B-E support.

 

[ロリ先輩]

Nice program. Is it possible to have it look at a directory of loose tiles (properly formated for the autotiles, but just loose tiles or tilesheets [i.e., if a tile takes up more than one tile]) and lets you pick which ones to bring in?

I make my own tiles a lot of times, but they aren't always in RM format (mainly loose tiles).

 

[taarna23]

Nice program. Is it possible to have it look at a directory of loose tiles (properly formated for the autotiles, but just loose tiles or tilesheets [i.e., if a tile takes up more than one tile]) and lets you pick which ones to bring in?

I make my own tiles a lot of times, but they aren't always in RM format (mainly loose tiles).

Hi there. Thanks for the response. I feel like this would be doable in the future. Currently the display of small tile pieces is essentially driven by an XML database of the size of the graphic and the placement it has in its home tileset. I don't think it would be too hard to add in support for some predefined directories for tileset pieces, although I think they would have to be single pieces only, or they would need their own entries into the database. This behaviour may be alterable in the future, but right now that's how it works.

 

[Diretooth]

I am completely confused as to how to get this thing to recognize the tilesets.

 

[taarna23]

I am completely confused as to how to get this thing to recognize the tilesets.

I'm not sure what you mean by recognize. Which folder to select? The bug where it fails to reload the tileset list and you need to select a tileset type again (will be fixed next release)? I need a little more information to point you in the right direction.

 

[Diretooth]

Well, I have no idea what folder to select, I have no idea if the folder has to be named something specific, I tried selecting the whole RM folder, then just the tilesets, yet nothing.

 

[taarna23]

Well, I have no idea what folder to select, I have no idea if the folder has to be named something specific, I tried selecting the whole RM folder, then just the tilesets, yet nothing.

No; just select your RPG Maker VX Ace folder. It doesn't matter where you have it, or what it's called. Just pick the main program folder, and it will find the tilesets folder all by itself.

 

[taarna23]

Version 0.3 is now released! Support is added for custom directories, and even includes some free tiles in these folders to indicate what type of items should be placed in them. Also included is a folder manager to help easily add/remove folders in your configuration, and one can point to the RPGVXAce folder, or the tilesets folder and the application will work.