Any changes in tileset?

[Ronnie S.]

Hi dudes. Is the Alien Assault tileset the same as in Space Hulk v1 ? Or are there any changes in how it works?

I really like the board sections from the Space Hulk rerelease and want to make an addon pack for AA with them.

[Niklas]

In TDSH V1.0 the tileset was one big file with all the tiles in two collumns. In AA V1.0 the tileset will be split so each tile is a separate file. There can be 200 different tiles (0-199.bmp) and the default tileset is 100 tiles (0-99.bmp). That means you can add 100 new custom tiles to your campaign to extend the original tileset OR go ahead and replace the original ones to if you want to make a "pimp my tileset" patch for the game.

[Ronnie S.]

Thanks for explanation
Can I make the tiles any size? If not, what's the maximum dimensions?

[Niklas]

140x140 pixels is max. Each square 20x20 pixels (7x7 squares).

But I added a space saving feature that the tiles doesn't have to be 140x140, they can be any size smaller than that...
...but I guess that feature would have been much more appreciated back in the 56K times in the early 90s.

[CRasterImage]

How does the game know about the files? Is there a text file with a list that will need to be updated? How does the game logic know the shape of the valid squares in the tile?

[Niklas]

Originally Posted by CRasterImage

How does the game know about the files?

The game tries to open the files, if they exist it loads them. If it doesn't exist it stops looking.

How does the game logic know the shape of the valid squares in the tile?

What do you mean? The game doesn't know the shape. The game knows the logic tiles. The tiles are just a visual layer ontop of the logic tiles which most of the time fills the same squares as the logic tiles but modders might do floor tiles that are bigger.

[CRasterImage]

Ok, thanks. So there is a step where you specify which tiles are (logically) open, solid, door, etc... Then a seperate step where you go and layout graphic images on each tile. There is no inherent connection between them. Cool, thanks.

[Jorgen]

In this recently released preview of the new editor you can clearly see how Niklas is working.

1) first placing the logical squares where soldiers and aliens can walk
2) then adding the graphical tiles, to fit the logic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbcBilz97LU

[CRasterImage]

Cool! Thanks. That video really helps.