With some basic character controls working, our next step was to choose how build our maps. Creating our own editor with the Bones Game Engine has the most potential, but questionable feasibility. So I took the first step and explored the possibility making my own interface, and over the course of the month, it went pretty well! You can watch the video below to see it in action!

Basic Tile-map Editing

I got just enough basic features to build out the map aesthetics. These include a tile selector with zooming and panning, movable tile layers, and an export button that outputs a YAML file with the map data to the chosen file location. There is plenty more fancy features that could be added in the future, but for now, the tile editing is mostly doing what we need. I'm also partially through implementing collision layers so that the character will be able to run into walls and objects on the map.

Why Make Our Own Editor?

Now the biggest question is why we would make our own editor when there are options out there made with fancy features already in them. First of all, the editor I made is editing the game data live, so when I make a change, I can play with the changes right away. There is also less integration work with the editor since it is built directly in the game. On top of this, the editor can stretch further than just map design. On our current infrastructure, it is trivial to add game values onto sliders in the editor that allows changing things like camera size and character movement speed while you play. Really, sticking with our own editor means being able to change anything we want live. Doing it now also puts down the ground-work for use in later and larger games where efficiency is much more important. It comes with improvements in development speed, developer moral, and maybe even the emergence of general Bones UI someday.

Based on my progress this month, I'm optimistic that investing in developer tooling will be worth every bit of time. Stay tuned for more updates next month!

Written by, Latency: Lead Game Programmer at K-tech Studio