MapMaker (for RMXP)

[DerVVulfman]

MAPMAKER
for RPGMaker XP

This is a handy-dandy little tool that you need to have!

Does it Slice?  Does it dice?  Does it take your favorite drinks and chills it with its own flavored ice cubes?  Does it bake your favorite treats and leave no trace in its non-stick surface?  Nope.  You wish....

This is a game-development tool made to create png files of the maps within your game.  While it does not render sprites, it does render every tile in your map, generating a map which it saves within a Maps folder located within your project's root folder.

DOWNLOAD LINK:

  MapMaker.zip (Size: 855.44 KB / Downloads: 8)



INSTALLATION:

Very simple.  After downloading the .Zip file, extract it into your game's root folder.

The file package contains:

• MapMaker.exe
  
• MapMaker.ini
  
• MapMaker.rxdata
  
• MessageIntercept.dll
  
• RGSS104E.dll
  
• Read Me.txt
  

INSTRUCTIONS:

Merely run the MapMaker.exe file and you will see a menu, the left side being the list of all the scripts in your project, and the right the render and decision windows.  

All major control is in the left side.  Clicking on a map within the map list window chooses whichever map you want to render. And after selecting the map, you may first 'Generate' the map which will eventually appear, and then 'Save' the map as a PNG file.

More in depth descriptions of the system, how it works, the INI file and more are in the Read Me.txt file

DURATION:

Okay, it may take some time to make a map. Small maps, virtually no time at all.  Large maps of 200x200 quite a bit of time.  And when it comes to actively creating and saving the PNG file, much more time is expended.  So if you have a number of large maps to create, feel free to get a bit to eat while it is running.

REMOVAL:

Well, other than the newly created Maps folder, you merely need to remove the contents from the installation package (except perhaps the RGSS104E.DLL), and very likely the log file it creates:  MapMaker.log.

[DerVVulfman]

BUMP

I just updated the package, now removing the need for one of the dll files.  I fixed an issue if you are running batch map conversions while not in focus, and a very detailed read me document.

[JayRay]

As a reviewer of the Mapmaker tool, I find it completely valuable not just to export a map file, but also as a tool to allow a map PLANNING tool for use in other engines. Being able to map out levels and visualize what your map would be with the near infinite size of tiles is awesome.

With that being said, I have a simple suggestion, if it's even possible to do. 

Can there be an end script when exporting that offers the ability to...

A. Seperate the maps by the tileset layers?
B. Pictures!

Here's my thinking behind this idea.

By seperating maps by their layering, one can already preplan parallaxes and overhangs for the maps, something that could be visually assessed. It wouldn't need to be something that just always happens, as some people would still want to cut things out, but one of the more annoying parts of creating parallax maps is the idea of cutting parts of their parallax maps back out and re-entering them as a new layer. With this addon, the work would somewhat be done FOR them. 

Secondly, PICTURES! - while having characters able to be on the map, what might be a great boon, is the ability to have any pictures also appear, as unlike characters, picture layers are set, one over another, and can easily be manipulated in the editor to create composites as characters themselves can't always stand on the same tile, and when they do, having one take a z-priority over another is sometimes problematic.

Cirrently I have the ability to add the panorama and the fog or not, the characters/events or not, and even get away from the placed tiles entirely, but... beyond those settings in the INI file, I'm curious if seperating the tilemaps by their placed layer is possible, or even feasible.



Otherwise, it's a great too!!

[DerVVulfman]

Well, what do you know about that....

You now have the ability to export maps with just the ground layer, the lower layer or the upper layer visible, not just ON/OFF.

However, pictures in a map are governed by the show-picture event, an who knows what a person will set up for rotating pictures, huds or whatnot.

So yep, the tool has once again been upgraded.