Million Tile Engine Beta Release

Million Tile Engine
#1

mte512.png

 

Million Tile Engine Beta v0.990

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8zoywKO40aiMjZHaXh2NElPZFU/view?usp=sharing - FREE

 

 

Design

design2e.jpg
 

Program

program2.jpg
 

Build

build2.jpg
 

The Million Tile Engine is a Lua library which was designed with one goal in mind: to allow you as a developer to build enormous tile maps in Tiled and run them at full speed on almost any device. 1000 tiles, 10,000 tiles, 100,000 tiles, 1,000,000 tiles, the only constraint on map size is device memory.

 

MTE features powerful integrated function calls for performing many common tasks such as moving sprites, altering the tile map, accessing Tiled objects and properties, and more. 

 

The enormous world maps and platforming stages we’ve yearned to create are finally within easy reach.

 

Features:

  • Unlimited tile layers.
  • Unlimited tilesets / imagesheets.
  • Unlimited map size.
  • Blazing-fast performance.
  • Levels - organize Layers into multiple ground/sprite/roof ‘sandwiches’ in one map.
  • Managed sprite movement functions.
  • Managed camera scrolling functions.
  • Easily link the camera to a sprite.
  • Conversion functions- screen position to level position to map location and back again.
  • Tile animations from map properties.
  • Layer scale and parallax from map properties.
  • Functions for retrieving all tile, map, object, and layer data.
  • Dynamically scale, rotate, tint, and fade tiles, layers, and the whole map.
  • Easy world wrap.
  • Supports Square and Rectangular tiles.
  • Independently scale layers in the X and Y direction.
  • Scale-independent parallax.
  • Supports tiles which have been flipped or rotated from within the Tiled editor.
  • Easily create Physics bodies from Tiled Objects and Tiles using properties!
  • Create incredible Isometric Maps!
  • Load directly from Tiled TMX ( XML, Base64(Uncompressed), CSV ) files!
  • Load tileset properties directly from Tiled TSX files!
  • Create physics shapes in PhysicsEditor and apply them to tiles using Tiled properties.
  • Tile lighting! Torches, anyone?
  • Rewritten and optimized core functions for improved performance and flexibility.
  • A new system for handling offscreen physics interactions.
  • Map stitching: combine small maps into a larger map. (orthographic maps only)
  • Tiled Object culling. (orthographic maps only)

Coming Soon:

  • Updated documentation, new tutorials, new sample projects.
  • Map stitching and Tiled object culling in Isometric maps.

Sample Videos

 
Sonic the Hedgehog - Finale:
High speed platforming action utilizing very large, detailed tiles! One of three platforming samples included with Million Tile Engine version 0.8
 
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ5I1zI5HmM[/media]
 

Castle Demo:
A multilayered castle map using the Million Tile Engine’s advanced perspective effect. Locking the camera to a sprite is as easy as calling mte.setCameraFocus(). Moving a sprite in relation to the map with easing, independent of screen pixel resolution or even app resolution, is also just a single line: mte.moveSpriteTo(). This demo is included in the Million Tile Engine download.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ILi0haOYco
 
 
 
Tile Lighting:
This MTE sample project demonstrates the Tile Lighting system new in version 0.943. This sample is included in the MTE download along with the others.
 
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFliqQ25VkI[/media]
 
 
Physics Support:
A demonstration of newly enabled physics support for the ellipse, polygon, polyline, and box objects in Tiled, as well as the optional vector display of those objects. The physics forces have been amped up in this video for effect.
 
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m044O8W-Xc[/media]
 
 
 
Isometric Maps:
A quick run-through of one of MTE’s newest sample projects: IsometricStoryboardTMX. The new project demonstrates the new Isometric map support, changing maps via Corona’s storyboard API, and loading directly from Tiled TMX files.
 
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXKHlhMDlfg[/media]
 
 
Performance Video:
Castle Demo runs at 60fps on the iPad2 and 30fps on the iPhone4 and the iPhone3GS. The Million Tile Engine can reach all segments of the market regardless of device performance. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whF-4FqN-8w

 
120,000 tiles… on an iPhone 3GS:
Tile culling is the magic behind a successful tile engine. This 120,000 tile map was only possible because of the Million Tile Engine’s sophisticated culling system. Maps can be made much larger, too. The only limit to map size is the device’s memory. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Aw0v7z1_tM

 
Multilayered map with traditional flat view:
Everything in this video is in a single map, including the underground portions. The Million Tile Engine stores map layers in display groups, allowing developers to hide and reveal entire layers as needed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv0EMzgr5vQ

 
Animated Tiles:
The Million Tile Engine doesn’t merely animate tiles, it synchronizes those animations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoUtI1JnAh4

 
Advanced Perspective and Layer Lighting:
It’s Corona SDK, yet it has a 3D effect. Make your game stand out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajkAaYqA5r8
 
 
Zooming, Fading, and Tinting:
MTE includes convenient functions for altering the alpha channel and color of tiles, layers, levels or the whole map simultaneously, and a convenient function for zooming in and out on the map.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuPQHOP2Zz4[/media]

 

Documentation

 

API:  
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8zoywKO40aiZ0ZOVU85TmZsLVE/edit?usp=sharing

Reserved Tiled Properties:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8zoywKO40aibjNVOXVPdFJrVUE/edit?usp=sharing

Sprite Object Properties and Methods:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8zoywKO40aiQnYtZDNVc2N6Z0E/edit?usp=sharing

Tile Object Properties and Methods:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8zoywKO40aib1BVMjZIOVA2ejg/edit?usp=sharing

Tilesets, Map Structure, Getting Started:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8zoywKO40aiTHRZdHJlSWZLeGs/edit?usp=sharing
 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8zoywKO40aiMjZHaXh2NElPZFU/view?usp=sharing - FREE

#2

Nice work!

#3

Just about to order this but I was wondering how you’re going to handle updates?

#4

I’ve been looking forward to this for a while.  I just ordered it :slight_smile:

#5

Thanks Danny!

@nick_sherman: If you’re talking about distribution, I’m going to store customer emails in a mailing list and send updated files en masse. I’ll probably have updated files for you guys every two weeks or so, sooner if a serious bug needs fixing, at least until v1.0. After that updates will slow down as I work on larger requested features and the like.

I’m given to understand that Sellbox is working on a more convenient mechanism for handling updates and I’ve emailed them to see when that option might be available.

If there’s a better place than Sellbox to handle transactions/updates, I’ll gladly check it out! 

#6

This looks fantastic.  Looking forward to buying your library upon completion of my next game.

#7

Having been testing this engine for awhile I can confidently say MTE fulfills the promise that Lime sold me on so many months ago.

  1. It’s stable. (There’s a handy debug function you can run to keep an eye on framerate or memory usage)
  2. Performance is great. Very solid on all the iOS platforms I tested on. (3GS, 4, iPad2/3). 3GS obviously isn’t 60fps but it’s still quite playable.
  3. There’s a full-featured set of helper functions , and as you can see there are docs ready to go.
  4. There’s support. (Not a free license to write your code for you, but the author is here!)

The only feature that I can think of as “missing” in comparison is support for encoded Tiled formats, but considering how many times smaller a single JSON is compared to a tileset, my guess is that it won’t be missed. (And maybe it gets added later - that’s up to user feedback!)

#8

Looks cool. Any plans for isometric tile support?

#9

Good morning everyone,

I haven’t received any complaints or bug reports yet. On the immediate agenda then is rectangular tile support and, time permitting, independent x and y scaling and scale-independent parallax controlled by properties.

@samwit; between “features I plan to add” and “features I’d like to add,” isometric tile support is definitely in the latter group at the moment. I will look into it though! I always thought isometric maps were cool.

#10

Rectangular tiles and independent X/Y scaling are finished. Next week I’ll be looking at scale-independent parallax the first few days and then testing the engine the next few days with a new file available for you all by the end of the week!

#11

Are their working demos and more documentation with purchasing a license?  I’m new and find it easier to see something working in action then try to build something from scratch at this point.

#12

At the moment the download includes the engine, the documentation available above, the CastleDemo sample project (see the first and last sample videos above), and the original .tmx file for editting CastleDemo’s map in Tiled. The whole CastleDemo project folder is included, so testing the engine is as simple as opening the folder in the Corona Simulator! All the documentation that currently exists is available in the first post of the thread.

I’ll be adding more documentation and additional sample projects in the coming weeks. The next sample project will be a sidescrolling platformer. 

Dev log:

Scale-independent parallax is coming along nicely and should be finished by the end of the week. Testing and debugging will take another few days after that.

#13

The side scrolling platform is what I need.  I’m in the process of making that type of game and so far I have been making all the levels by hand, in an almost endless scroller fashion.

Is there an ETA on that sample?

How does purchasing this in Beta carry over to future updates?

#14

I have no firm ETA for the sidescroller sample at the moment, I’ll have to get back to you on that.

Buying the Beta gives you access to all updates up to and including the final release, at the least. I haven’t received any bug reports yet, so I’ll be charging ahead with new features, documentation, and samples between now and then.

#15

I guess it depends on what exactly you need from the sample. I mean, the engine works great, *right now*. You can pump out a level in Tiled and have it onscreen in very short order. If you need someone to provide you code to build a sidescrolling game mechanic that’s one thing, but if you just need a fast way to build levels and have code functions to help you connect it to your existing codebase, I think the current package has that pretty well covered. 

#16

Really impressive, congrats on what you’ve done so far!

I’m really tempted to make a large zelda style game with this now… 

#17

If from the current demo thats included, it shows you how to import a level from Tiled and handle moving around with the hero and handle collision, that that’s really all I would need.  I have read about the lime horror stories and just want to make sure this would work for me, since it’s not something you could really easily have a trial for.

#18

Nice work!

#19

Just about to order this but I was wondering how you’re going to handle updates?

#20

I’ve been looking forward to this for a while.  I just ordered it :slight_smile: