Mindbelt | The Keener's Editor (version 1.3)

Utilities for editing Keen:Vorticons levels.
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ckguy
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Mindbelt | The Keener's Editor (version 1.3)

Post by ckguy »

The latest version is Mindbelt 1.3.
Here is the original message text, which is outdated.
The latest version should always be available here.


Several days ago, I finally looked seriously into DOS KeenWright's source code to figure out the level format worked. I wrote a nice little level viewer, and then a simple level editor, and then I kept adding nice features, and eventually I decided that it was nice enough to release, even in its beta state.

So here it is. The very first release of my new Windows-based Keen: Vorticons editor.

The main problems with it currently are its lack of heavy testing and its lack of documentation. So here are a few things to look over after you read what documentation is there:

To place the current tile or sprite, left click. To pick one up, right click. You can see if you are in sprite or tile mode by the status bar in the lower right. Switch between them by either pressing space, or with the Settings >> Sprite Mode menu.

To operate the various tools, select them in the Tools menu, or press its hotkey. Then left click in one or two places (depending on the control) on the level. Note that the block fill/copy/paste/flood fill commands only work with tiles now - I'm not sure if I'll extend these to work with sprites.

The Link tool lets you create a switch -> bridge link for Keen 2, or a patched in-level teleporter for Keen 1. Select the Link tool, click on the source, then click the destination.

Although this editor is still in beta, I believe that it is (or will be after a couple of debug releases) the nicest Keen: Vorticons level editor out there in terms of features and not crashing (ahem, Windows KeenWright and iKeen).

Anyway, have fun, back up your levels, and try this level editor out! I was going to just privately email it to a couple of Keeners for testing, and release a stable version for a 3/14 surprise, but I decided against that, figuring it would get more testing this way.

Tell me what you think!
Last edited by ckguy on Wed Jan 09, 2008 1:36 am, edited 11 times in total.
KeenRush
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Post by KeenRush »

Cool, a new Keen tool! It's simple and I like how one can quickly choose tile by clicking with right button.

I know this is early version, but it'd help if one could all the time see the tile one has currently selected, and it'd also help if one could see the sprites placed on the level.

Anyways, good work.
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ckguy
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Post by ckguy »

KeenRush wrote:it'd help if one could all the time see the tile one has currently selected
Yes, this is the next thing I'm planning to add.
KeenRush wrote:it'd also help if one could see the sprites placed on the level.
Hmm ... you can do this already ... did you accidentally turn on map mode?
EricMushroomWilson
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Post by EricMushroomWilson »

I'm just having a go at using it now... the link function is a very good idea.

Edit: there seem to be some unidentified sprites along the bottom of the second level in Keen 2... do they show up usually?

Edit2: I like this editor. :) It's functional, it's straightforward, and it makes one of the less convenient aspects of Keen level editing (bridges/teleporters) a lot easier.
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Freeyorp101
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Post by Freeyorp101 »

there seem to be some unidentified sprites along the bottom of the second level in Keen 2... do they show up usually?
yes, they appear in any editor, and they can also be found in keen1 levels as well; they seem to be placed randomly.
EricMushroomWilson
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Post by EricMushroomWilson »

How odd. Maybe they do something?
Kdash
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Post by Kdash »

I don't think so. But IIRC, there are similar random sprites at the bottom of a level in Keen 1. Maybe it's just an error with whatever level editor the original guys used...
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Post by levellass »

I know they were planning to use sprites to make the Yorp statues work.
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ckguy
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Post by ckguy »

So I added current-tile crosshairs like in my Ck456Tli, I improved the documentation some, fixed a few serious bugs, a couple less-serious ones, and uploaded version 0.2. Let me know what you guys think!
EricMushroomWilson
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Post by EricMushroomWilson »

Hmm, it seems to crash when I try to load the map level... I'm not sure if this is only when I have another level open/have previously opened another level, but it's happened twice now.

Edit: Nope, it crashes when I try to open the map level. For reference, the map level in question is the one from Yorphius II.
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XkyRauh
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Post by XkyRauh »

levellass wrote:I know they were planning to use sprites to make the Yorp statues work.
I'm curious what your source is.
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ckguy
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Post by ckguy »

EricMushroomWilson wrote:it crashes when I try to open the map level. For reference, the map level in question is the one from Yorphius II.
I checked this, and I get it too. It seems to happen with several of the Yorphius II levels, I haven't noticed it anywhere else. My guess is that its because the levels were made with KMO2 (which is gross). I rewrote the load procedure slightly, and it no longer crashes, but sprites seems to show up in the wrong place ... but in the same wrong place as they do in DOS KeenWright ...

I'm planning on implementing a new feature or two (in particular, being abke to copy a block of tiles directly from the tile palette) and releasing version 0.3 this weekend.
EricMushroomWilson
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Post by EricMushroomWilson »

I think the map sprites being in the wrong place is due to the way KMO2 saves them or something, because they show up that way in every editor I've opened it in.

I don't know why they don't act like they're there in-game though, considering they're saved there...
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ckguy
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Post by ckguy »

Weird. Solution: don't use KMO2. ;-P
levellass
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Post by levellass »

Well, several editors compress or don't compress the levels in various ways; maybe that has something to do with it?
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