Idea for 2d map format using bitmaps

It's certainly possible. Just not really useful. A bitmap is just a 2D array when it comes down to it. You'd be better off using a proper map editor like Mappy, OpenTUME or Tile Studio.

What do you gain by using a an image file format to store your map? Just write your map in its own format.

Well thats what you gain. You don't have to make/find a map editor. Plus there are so many bitmap libraries out there you can easily implement this without having to write your own.

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Original post by adam4813 Well thats what you gain. You don't have to make/find a map editor. Plus there are so many bitmap libraries out there you can easily implement this without having to write your own.

But you're editing meanginless values. What does defining the 'red channel to be 128' mean anyway? When you look at the map, you'll see an image that conveys little to no meaning about what is contained on the map. It will probably look like a bunch of noise. And you are limited to 24 or maybe 32 bits per tile, which maybe enough for some applications but not for others. Creating a simple 2D tiled based map editor is not that hard.

I no i was just pointing out a possible use for something that everyone uses everyday. Random map generation could be easier this way as well with the check if colors are continuous and to be able to easily look at the map in like MSPaint to get a feel for it.

Its not like I'm going to stop you or anything. I just think its look for a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

I've actually done exactly what you've suggested. I found it kind of easy to start with, but it did have some major shortcomings. Writing your own format is a much better / more logical / more extensible solutions.

Issues I found were:

- I needed a separate file format for e.g. scripting. Having two files for the same map was really ugly, as the information should logically have gone hand in hand.

- The bmp file did kind of show what the map looked like, but not that well.

- It's actually quite fiddly using paint to say 'I want tile 4 at (10,10) on the map. You have to start typing figures in & stuff like that, which isn't as quick as clicking on the tile you want.

And I'm sure there were other problems too. But yes, it is an easy solution to get a simple map going - just not a very long term or extensible one. IMHO.

I like this idea better as a 16 color bitmap - this can be very useful for a terrain style game (such as civilization/heroes/starcraft).
you can decide (for example) green is grass, blue is sea and brown is mountains.
Then you can edit real fast a large terrain with all the nifty features of a clever editor (such as undo,copy-paste, flood-fill, spray, line,...) you can even have a bonus of downloading an image from the internet and transforming it to 16 color bitmap and have a cool level in the shape of Earth or a dragon or whatever.

For better results you can pass the bitmap to a custom made tool that would add randomized tiles and make smooth transitions.

I really like this idea! If I ever find the strength to create a terrain based game I'll use the bitmap trick.

However, for a platform game (such as Mario brothers, sonic, etc...) I think the you should use a custom made editor, especially if you want the kind of polish you see in the Mario style commercial games.

Iftah.

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Original post by adam4813 I no i was just pointing out a possible use for something that everyone uses everyday. Random map generation could be easier this way as well with the check if colors are continuous and to be able to easily look at the map in like MSPaint to get a feel for it.

May be you should give a look at EU3: Paradox uses no less than four (4) bitmaps to encode the map of the game, with additional data files. To see how it is been done, you can download the demo and install it on your computer.

You can also take a look at how AGEOD, with Birth of America, has done it. Here you can also download a demo and take a look at the files installed !

This is a very good idea. We've used it in a racing game as a height map. Each pixel is a meter square tile on the map. The benefit that people are missing saying just use an editor, is that the editor here is photoshop. Very powerful. RGB Can be colour of patch, Alpha can be the height.