As of today, the editor is currently approx. 90% complete which is a great feeling since it's taken me a long time to do so little!
Our aim is to replicate the original before adding new/improved features so we know that it works 100%.
The roadmap looks something like this:
- Complete the trigger settings
- Saving original compatible levels
- Complete new file dialog
- Allow rendering items with alternate palettes (bombs, monks, etc.)
- Turn the LR2 font into a bitmap font so we can render any string.
Right now, the game contains pre-generated strings, such as "Are you sure?", which can't be made to fit all scenarios. It will also make localisation possible. - Cleanup and finalise everything so far
- Release a multi-platform test to gather feedback
- Improve existing features where possible and add new ones
To spice up this rather underwhelming post, check out these lovely screenshots/progress!
As you already know, unlike the original's stand alone Editor, this is going to be bundled into the game (like MMR). The menu also features a background that we think could also cycle through all available backgrounds.
Monk options are complete - you'll notice the '#' box has been removed due it not actually being used in the original. The regen delay has moved to the left to take its place.
Camera loading currently has a bug that affects a small amount of random levels that cause the camera to be nowhere near where it should. Both camera coordinates in the LVL and in-editor are correct so this will need debugging at some point.
Speaking of the camera, holding and dragging mouse wheel was added some time ago to scroll around the viewport.
Prefabs load and paint perfectly, with support roughed in to allow custom prefabs. The aim is to load them at launch and list them with the standard set for each world and allow you to delete them from the brick window (excluding defaults). Not sure where to create them after selecting a range of bricks though at the moment so if you have any ideas, let us know.
Fun fact: the Tube/Industrial world uses a slightly different format for the prefabs than the other 4.
Like the original, this editor also can't highlight paintable shadows correctly due to their colour being dark. The active brick background may need to change to a colour other than black when a shadow is picked too.
The 'Reveal' tool that was added almost 2 years ago needs to be fine tuned. Currently, when activated, it slices away the level to leave only a small portion left centre camera. I think this is fine but you need to press X, Y, or Z whilst dragging to choose what gets removed. An on-screen gizmo may be required to make this more user friendly?
So, as you can see, not a great deal remains!
Questions or comments? Join us on Discord.