Updated the documentation. There is still a few flaws.

[supertux.git] / LEVELDESIGN

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+- Level editing for SuperTux -
+http://super-tux.sf.net/
+
+Last update: April 26, 2004
+

 This document describes both the level format and
 the level editor.
 
 = LEVEL FORMAT =
 
 This document describes both the level format and
 the level editor.
 
 = LEVEL FORMAT =
 

+The level format used to be pretty easy to understand, but it
+is now more complex.
+Anyway, should be pretty usefull to know a bit of it, when you
+want to do stuff just as to just change the author's name or
+something small.
+
+It uses the Lisp syntax and is pretty intuitive. Here have a
+look at a quotation:
+(Comments can be made using ';')
+
+; This is a comment!
+(supertux-level
+; a few level's info: version, author and level's name
+  (version 1)
+  (author "Ingo Ruhnke")
+  (name "Night Chill")
+; number of tiles used (currently the height has to be 15)
+  (width  515)
+  (height 15)
+; Tux starts position
+  (start_pos_x    100)
+  (start_pos_y    170)
+; Background image, if any is specified, the color below will be used
+  (background "")
+; Music file
+  (music "Mortimers_chipdisko.mod")
+; Colors, as you can see you can have different colors in the top
+; and in the bottom, thus creating a gradient
+  (bkgd_red_top    0)
+  (bkgd_green_top  0)
+  (bkgd_blue_top   0)
+  (bkgd_red_bottom    120)
+  (bkgd_green_bottom  120)
+  (bkgd_blue_bottom   0)
+; Time (it is not in seconds!)
+  (time  300)
+; Gravity to be used (you should let it stay in 10 for ordinary levels)
+  (gravity  10)
+; The particle system allows that images can be displaying simulating weather
+; In the writing of this text, both "snow" and "clouds" are supported
+  (particle_system "snow")
+; Theme is the tiles look that are used
+  (theme "antarctica")
+  (interactive-tm
+; here goes a lot of numbers that are the tiles places
+  )
+; Reset points, there can be more than one
+; Reset points are positions where the player passes through and
+; if he dies, he will be back to there. They are invisible
+  (reset-points
+    (point (x 6988) (y 222))
+   )
+; Objects include enemies, may include more stuff in the future
+; just as moving plataforms...
+  (objects
+    (mriceblock  (x 13919) (y 384))
+    (mriceblock  (x 14258) (y 366))
+    (mriceblock  (x 12996) (y 248))
+    (mriceblock  (x 13058) (y 250))
+    (mriceblock  (x 12933) (y 245))
+  )
+   )
+
+
+= LEVEL EDITORS =

 
 

-HEAD:
---------
-
-1. Name of the level.
-2. The theme of the level. The game will look in "supertuxdir/data/images/theme"
-3. The time you have to finish the level.
-4. Defines the music file, which should be played.
-5,6,7. RGB values for the background of the level.
-8. Defines the level's length.
-
-Example:
-----------
-Antarctica
-antarctica
-240
-ji_turn.it
-128
-192
-255
-375
-
-MAIN:
--------
- 
-Levels are created with the following characters:
-(15 lines and as many columns as defined in the seventh line of the levelfile)
-
-X/x <- Brick0
-Y/y <- Brick1
-A/B/! <- Box full
-a <- Box empty
-C-F <- Cloud0
-c-f <- Cloud1
-G-J <- Bkgd0
-g-j <- Bkgd1
-# <- Solid0
-[ <- Solid1
-= <- Solid2
-] <- Solid3
-$ <- Distro
-^ <- Waves
-* <- Poletop
-| <- Pole
-\ <- Flag
-& <- Water
-
-Bad guys:
-
-0 <- BluescreenOfDeath
-1 <- Laptop
-2 <- Money
-
-= BUILT-IN LEVEL EDITOR =
-
-
-//FIXME: Check if all the informations are still valid, when releasing 0.0.6.

 USING THE BUILT-IN LEVEL EDITOR:
 --------------------------------
 
 USING THE BUILT-IN LEVEL EDITOR:
 --------------------------------
 

-The built-in level editor can already be used for
-production, but more advances are expected in the
-future, including a mouse driven interface.
-

 When opening the leveleditor, a menu will appear. This
 When opening the leveleditor, a menu will appear. This

-menu can be used to add, edit, load, save and test levels.
-
-Menu entries:
-- Return to Level Editor - just closes the menu and goes
-to the editing mode. To come back to the menu, press Esc.
-- New Level - creates a new level. The number of the level
-is showed in the upper left part of the screen. The level
-file are currently placed on data/levels/default.
-- Test Level - if you want to test the current level, use
-this option.
-- Level Settings - this allows you to edit the header of the
-file (as described in the beggining of this document). An
-important field is the 'Level width' that allows you to
-adjust level's size.
-(Warning: there are some characters that do not work, cause
-they are not supported by the fonts)
-- Load Level - goes to a given level number.
-- Save Level - saves the current level.
-- Quit Level Editor - goes back to SuperTux's main menu.
-
-Editing mode:
-To edit the level, you'll have to use the mouse or the
-keyboard to control the red cursor, using the keyboard
-to change tiles. Tiles keys are the same used by the
-level format, listed above. You can check them in the fly,
-pressing F1. I'd suggest you to print the above list of keys.
-In the future, a mouse interface will be introduced.
+menu can be used to select or add level subsets.
+A level subset is a collection of levels. Subsets can be chose
+during gameplay when starting a game.
+
+After selecting the subset, have a look at the level editor.
+The button bar in the right is the place where you can control
+the actions related with editing. You can select levels and add
+throught there.
+To select tiles (foreground or background) and enemies, the button
+bar is the right place. There you can also save, test and setup
+the level. It is also possible between two selection cursors! Give
+a try to both.
+A right click in a button bar button will give you a description
+and a shortcut for it.
+
+To change a tile, just press the tile you want to change with a
+mouse left click. The current tile will be used. Depending
+on the selection behavior, you can or not select more
+than one tiles.
+To scroll, you just have to point over the two arrow buttons, or
+use the right button click.
+
+There is a small help that can be reached by pressing F1.

 
 To go back to the menu, just press Esc.
 
 
 To go back to the menu, just press Esc.
 

-Now, do lots of levels and HAVE FUN!!
+The levels are saved under a .supertux/levels directory in
+your home directory.
+
+FIXME: this description of the built-in level editor are
+out dated. Anyway, it is yet being developed.
+
+USING FLEXLAY:
+--------------
+
+FlexLay is an external project (it even uses different libraries)
+that is developed by Ingo Ruhnke and supports a lot of different
+games, including SuperTux (or else we wouldn't mention it :) ).
+
+Anyway, it is pretty easy to use and a lot more advanced than
+the internal one. So, if you are considering in doing a few levels
+for us, it may be a good idea to check this out.
+
+There isn't currently any webpage for it, just go to our webpage and
+you should find a download of this program.
+
+The only cons it has is that you have to have an accelerated
+videocard (with the drivers working, obviously). Anyway shouldn't
+be a problem nowadays.
+For linux, we advise nvidia videocards with the use of nvidia's closed
+drivers. ATI drivers should be enough to run this game though.
+
+
+= CONCLUSION =
+
+To sum up, go and do lots of levels and HAVE FUN!!

 
 Please, send your levels or any art you created to the SuperTux's
 
 Please, send your levels or any art you created to the SuperTux's

-mailinglist or to the maintainer (look at AUTHORS.txt).
+mailinglist or to the maintainer (look at AUTHORS).

 
 
 
 

-SuperTux developers
\ No newline at end of file
+- SuperTux developers