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Level Editor

Started by Lithic Mar 17, 2003 at 4:24 PM 12 replies 1k views

Original Post

Mar 17, 2003 at 4:24 PM

Well I''m to the point in my game where i will need to be making a Level Editor. Wasn''t realy sure which forum to post this in, but since the people here seem to know what they''re doing, this one seemed as good as any. Plus, this is programming theory as it hasn''t been implemented yet. The problem goes something like this: I want to be able to write my own level editor so i can format levels MY way (plus canned level editors are icky). What i would like to do is somehow tile four windows in a windows window with a horizontal and vertical scroll bar for each and do this in C++. When the bar is scrolled, i wanna be able to use a function to tell what happens (the openGL thingy scrolls). I would also like a text box at the bottom and several file windows, but I have already figured out this. If somebody could somehow refer me to a source that explains something like how to put a OpenGL window in a VB pictureBox this would be PERFECT!!! Also if somebody could tell me how to do the entire thing in C++ that would be even better. I could also use a site with some source code or a site with some stuff written on this very subject. Any comments on how others made their level editors would be helpful as well! Be sure to check out my FPS project at WWW.HaVoKsite.TK --===LITHIC===-- --===WWW.HaVoKsite.TK===--

Lithic

Mar 17, 2003 at 9:00 PM

DOES ANYBODY KNOW HOW TO MAKE A OGL LEVELEDITOR?! GAH!!!! *** NERVOUS BREAKDOWN *** ITS ALL SO FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hgb y nnnnnnnnnnnnnnn *** HEAD HITS KEYBOARD ***

okay, i know i need anger management, but im FRICKING IMPATIENT!!!

--===LITHIC===--
--===WWW.HaVoKsite.TK===--

Evangelion

Mar 17, 2003 at 9:14 PM

Level editors are very complicated. As far as I know, OGL is not avaliable in VB (but I could be wrong). What your suggesting sounds very difficult. Don''t expect to do it right your first try. Anyway, if you want to get messages about keyboard, mouse, and window states in C/C++ use the WM_* messages system. I''m not going to go over it here as it is confusing, and if you don''t know how to use the Windows messaging system it will look like greek. Creating 4 seperate windows with scroll bars shouldn''t be too hard, but tying them all together might be. I suggest creating a parent CLASS (not window) that will inherit from the window class. That way, you can keep all your data together without a messy messaging system. One more thing - be prepared for a high level of frustration as you create your level editor.

cowsarenotevil

Mar 17, 2003 at 9:21 PM

Opengl is very available in vb. Just check out the ports on nehe.

-~-The Cow of Darkness-~-

falkone

Mar 17, 2003 at 9:24 PM

Actually, i think that OGL IS able in Visual Basic. Even so, that would be the way i would go. Visual Basic allows for rapid and flexible interface application development.. especially for a project like this. I have seen few resources, but i would suggest starting off with a single feature (for example, four panels and the ability to add a panel)... then just keep adding more and more features, debugging at each step. such an object oriented thing such as a level editor is easy to design.. and while difficult to program, it is just a matter of working out the minor details. Good luck

Lithic

Mar 17, 2003 at 9:31 PM

Thank you all, i HAVE checked at NeHe, however, i cannot seem to find a way to put an Ogl window into a pictureBox like i want, I have been toying around with this for a while, so if anybody could clue me in i would give tremendous thanks!

--===LITHIC===--
--===WWW.HaVoKsite.TK===--

lunarss

Mar 18, 2003 at 1:47 PM

I would use VB for this. I wonder if you could make an MDI application where each window was a different render target. That was the way I planned to approach it if I had to.

You might also look at using an available product like 3ds max and writing a plugin to support your format. Its really hard to try and weigh out whether it would be more worth it to just roll your own editor or try to hack an available one to suit your needs. Tough choice. Good luck.

Bender77

Mar 18, 2003 at 1:59 PM

I just wanted to know if you were aware that Havok is also the name for a famous physics middleware www.havok.com

As for the editor, if you would agree to use MFC instead of VB, I know there are some ressources on the net about using DirectX or OpenGL on an MFC app.

Be warned that if you''ve never done MFC, it can be quite long to learn. But MFC is very usefull for almost all kinds of windows developpement.

Try www.google.com for "MFC OpenGL" or something like this

daggerr

Mar 18, 2003 at 3:27 PM

hmm, i don not know if this is the way to do it, but i started my game by making a leveleditor, works ok so far. all though i''ve only odne the editor(simple but powerfull

) and a part of the graphics engine, but im going to start to implement physics and dynamic user/ai controlled objects this weekend i think...

NeverSayDie

May 4, 2003 at 11:16 AM

Here's the article the AP mentioned - should be useful.

[edited by - NeverSayDie on May 4, 2003 12:16:40 PM]

Amma

May 5, 2003 at 9:57 AM

Use Trolltech''s QT instead of MFC. -It''ll get you great results in no time.

walkingcarcass

May 6, 2003 at 2:46 AM

I built in a fairly simple GUI engine (basically textured squares which call a script when clicked) which means it should (in theory) be reasonably easy to incorporate an editor into the game since the script is granted access to low-level vertex information.

But I really can't be bothered.

[edited for bizarre spelling]

********

A Problem Worthy of Attack
Proves It's Worth by Fighting Back

[edited by - walkingcarcass on May 6, 2003 3:46:55 AM]

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