Help Required - Isometric Tile Maps

Solar2D General Questions/Discussion
#1

As some of you may be aware I am developing a tool to help import tilemaps created in Tiled to Corona (it also has a lot of other feature/niceties however this is the main crux of it)

So far it is all going very well (apart from a niggling performance issue) however I am having a lot of trouble sorting out Isometric map support.

I have got the positioning of the tiles correct however Tiled has a feature called Objects which can also be positioned on a map, this is where my problem occurs. I can’t seem to calculate the correct new position for them for an isometric map.

I am also having some issues with Z-Ordering. Aren’t iso maps fun?

So what I am asking for is that if anyone has experience with isometric maps (either in Corona or any other tool) to please get in contact with me here.

I will need to go through a fair amount of code with you just to get you up to speed on the structure of the map and Lime itself so would probably want to be able to contact you on MSN etc rather than email (well in addition to)

Free licences of Lime will go to anyone that can help fix this :slight_smile:

And for the people that have absolutely no idea what Lime is, here you go - http://www.justaddli.me/ [import]uid: 5833 topic_id: 4991 reply_id: 304991[/import]

#2

perhaps Carlos can chime in on this? Nudge nudge, carlos? [import]uid: 11334 topic_id: 4991 reply_id: 16234[/import]

#3

Graham - I have some energy for this - as I’m trying to do something along those lines (isometric maps). I’m quite into math in general (MS Stats) but just beginning to learn Corona and Lua. I’d be glad to take a look at the challenge(s) you are encountering and then either of two things…a) we get lucky with some quick/simple answers the immediate questions … or b) we scope what might really be involved and I can decide if and how I might help from there. Just mentioning that to not overpromise at the ‘understanding the question’ stage.
Would love to trade notes or chat – it wouldn’t take long to scope it a bit together.

Best,
Dave H
[import]uid: 34130 topic_id: 4991 reply_id: 26126[/import]

#4

Hi Graham,

I’ve done some basic iso work with Corona, and I’ve written my own iso engine for Flash as well a basic engine in corona.

As far as I can tell general Object support from Tiled in Corona might be impossible because Objects can be any rectangular shape if recall correctly.

You basically just want to support square shapes, that way you can just calculate the center point of the object.

Then you just transform all the iso center points to screen coordinates and sort by the y value, then loop through the list and call toFront on each of the display objects.

If you want to chat about it you can reach me at geekrelief @ gmail.com and we can talk over skype.

-Don [import]uid: 27183 topic_id: 4991 reply_id: 26212[/import]

#5

@Dave
Would love to talk more about this, when you get a sec could you email me at - graham AT grahamranson DOT co DOT uk - so we can talk further.

@Don
I will send you an email now, thanks! [import]uid: 5833 topic_id: 4991 reply_id: 26802[/import]

#6

Hey I was curious if the isometric support in lime is working well yet? [import]uid: 28912 topic_id: 4991 reply_id: 97741[/import]

#7

It’s certainly got better. Was there a specific iso feature you required or just generally? [import]uid: 119420 topic_id: 4991 reply_id: 97804[/import]

#8

Yeah, just generally. I tried working with it a little over a year ago and wasn’t able to do much aside from importing a map. I’m hoping to design a game with game play similar to final fantasy tactics, so hopefully it is to the point where I might utilize it for such an engine. [import]uid: 28912 topic_id: 4991 reply_id: 97823[/import]

#9

It’s certainly worth a try and if you already have a licence I recommend you download the latest version. There are other Iso related fixes that have gone into the Beta ( can’t remember what exactly ) however you won’t be able to use that version without access to the latest daily builds as it uses the new ImageSheet stuff. [import]uid: 119420 topic_id: 4991 reply_id: 98090[/import]