The Overworld Tilekit
Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2020 4:15 pm
So, uh, hey, I forgot this thing existed for like two years. I guess it was waiting on Beta 4 and then it kinda got sidelined with the advent of the 3D map functionality and expanded tile arrays?
Well, Beta 4's been out for a month now so I should probably go ahead and release it, shouldn't I?
WHAT IS IT?
This is not a graphics pack in the traditional sense, it's a template package for the free Tiled map editor. It can help with making overworld maps if you use a similar approach to the old LCJ episode.
LCJ?
Level Contest Japan. As the name suggests, it was a 2017 level contest whose compilation episode had this really fancy overworld made by enjl and pyro.
Back in Beta 3 there were a lot fewer overworld tile slots, so they got around those asset limits by making the map's terrain as one big image and then splitting it into different chunks.
Nowadays we have more tile IDs to work with, so I can make everything I need in the editor. How is this still relevant?
Aside from whatever Quality-of-Life improvements Tiled has added in the two years this package has been collecting dust on my computer, one big advantage that software has over SMBX's overworld map editor is a proper layer system in the vein of image editors.
In SMBX's map editor, when you want to have, say, a seam between cliffs and ground, you need to make a variant for every combination you'll be using: cliff/green grass, cliff/purple grass, cliff/sand, cliff/rock, oh god now we're adding a second cliff type that's going to DOUBLE the seam tile count... it adds up very quickly both in time spent making the images AND the tile ID usage.
But in Tiled? Just have the transparent cliff seam on one layer and the ground tile on another. Then if you want to change the ground you can just change the tiles on the ground layer and vice-versa. And this package comes with some pre-made tilesets and terrain brushes to help you get started right away!
THIS ISN'T A COMPLETE REPLACEMENT FOR THE SMBX MAP EDITOR, IS IT?
Of course not! All elements that animate or serve gameplay purposes will still need to be placed via the SMBX editor. This also won't help with any of the fancy lua-based stuff you see in the LCJ map video (though folks have since released lua scripts that recreate some of the functionality, like the single-screen submaps.) The Overworld Tilekit is strictly for helping with static terrain.
TL;DR?
Using this tilekit means a slightly more complicated workflow, so I don't recommend it for beginners. But for more intermediate and advanced SMBX users who are A) looking to make more complex world maps, and B) aren't afraid to learn a new tool to help with it, this tilekit should be more efficient to work with than doing the terrain directly in the SMBX editor, ESPECIALLY with maps that have a lot of verticality like LCJ's or otherwise would be a headache to modify using the traditional method.
WHERE DO I GET IT?
Here! (GitHub repository)
Be sure to check the readme on that page before downloading.
Enjoy!
Well, Beta 4's been out for a month now so I should probably go ahead and release it, shouldn't I?
WHAT IS IT?
This is not a graphics pack in the traditional sense, it's a template package for the free Tiled map editor. It can help with making overworld maps if you use a similar approach to the old LCJ episode.
LCJ?
Level Contest Japan. As the name suggests, it was a 2017 level contest whose compilation episode had this really fancy overworld made by enjl and pyro.
Back in Beta 3 there were a lot fewer overworld tile slots, so they got around those asset limits by making the map's terrain as one big image and then splitting it into different chunks.
Nowadays we have more tile IDs to work with, so I can make everything I need in the editor. How is this still relevant?
Aside from whatever Quality-of-Life improvements Tiled has added in the two years this package has been collecting dust on my computer, one big advantage that software has over SMBX's overworld map editor is a proper layer system in the vein of image editors.
In SMBX's map editor, when you want to have, say, a seam between cliffs and ground, you need to make a variant for every combination you'll be using: cliff/green grass, cliff/purple grass, cliff/sand, cliff/rock, oh god now we're adding a second cliff type that's going to DOUBLE the seam tile count... it adds up very quickly both in time spent making the images AND the tile ID usage.
But in Tiled? Just have the transparent cliff seam on one layer and the ground tile on another. Then if you want to change the ground you can just change the tiles on the ground layer and vice-versa. And this package comes with some pre-made tilesets and terrain brushes to help you get started right away!
THIS ISN'T A COMPLETE REPLACEMENT FOR THE SMBX MAP EDITOR, IS IT?
Of course not! All elements that animate or serve gameplay purposes will still need to be placed via the SMBX editor. This also won't help with any of the fancy lua-based stuff you see in the LCJ map video (though folks have since released lua scripts that recreate some of the functionality, like the single-screen submaps.) The Overworld Tilekit is strictly for helping with static terrain.
TL;DR?
Using this tilekit means a slightly more complicated workflow, so I don't recommend it for beginners. But for more intermediate and advanced SMBX users who are A) looking to make more complex world maps, and B) aren't afraid to learn a new tool to help with it, this tilekit should be more efficient to work with than doing the terrain directly in the SMBX editor, ESPECIALLY with maps that have a lot of verticality like LCJ's or otherwise would be a headache to modify using the traditional method.
WHERE DO I GET IT?
Here! (GitHub repository)
Be sure to check the readme on that page before downloading.
Enjoy!
