jLevelBuilder 1.88 (june, 9th 2021)

[LJLPM]

Menu properties like remembering your last opened folder and things like that would be nice.

Ok. I've just fixed this one -and I definitively should have done this earlier since it was very easy to do!-
So, now, "open/save file" process now remembers the last used folder (depending on whether it's for dealing with a .ini or a .lvl file).
New version with this convenient fix will be online today or tomorrow: I'll keep you informed.

It looks like it's going to make the whole level building experience a lot easier.

Thanks!

I'm wondering, are there any tools out there to rip (and resize - without any antialiasing, preferably) the terrain pieces from the Ground0o/Vgagr0 files from DOS?

Sorry, I don't know. Maybe someone else?

[namida]

Okay, I tried it out a bit and, while it looks neat, it also tries to take up more space than is available on my screen, pretty much making it unusable. On the right-hand side, the window itself cuts off part way across a button. Perhaps all the menus at the bottom could be better done as seperate popup windows, to reduce the size of the main one? Or alternatively, under tabs?

[LJLPM]

Okay, I tried it out a bit and, while it looks neat, it also tries to take up more space than is available on my screen, pretty much making it unusable. On the right-hand side, the window itself cuts off part way across a button. Perhaps all the menus at the bottom could be better done as seperate popup windows, to reduce the size of the main one? Or alternatively, under tabs?

No problem here, just edit the "config.ini" file to set GUI's width to a value that suits your needs.
In this file, find the "GUI_WIDTH" entry, set a lower value than the default one, and your're done!
The "GUI_BOTTOM_PANEL_HEIGHT" entry may also be used to shorten the GUI's height.

I really wanted this editor to be usable by the maximum number of people, so I had to work on the GUI's size, and I've just finished working on the ability to resize the GUI (and that was quite a work, actually http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/smiley.gif" alt=":)" title="Smiley" class="smiley" />).
Now the level editor could virtually work on any size of monitors: so whatever size is your computer's screen, you will be able to fully use the level editor http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/smiley.gif" alt=":)" title="Smiley" class="smiley" /> The config file is initially set with relevant data to launch the editor using large width & height. But you can freely edit the config file to set a smaller (or bigger!) size for the GUI, depending on your needs.

2) SET YOUR OWN CONFIGURATION (optionnal)
you can freely modify the "config.ini" and the "keyconfig.ini" text-files located in software's root-dir.
For example, if you want to adjust GUI's size according to your screen's dimension or if you want to change default directories, then go editing "config.ini".
Key configuration is best modified directly from the level-editor's GUI ("Options" > "Key configuration")
You'll find backups of the original files in the "_backups_" folder.

[namida]

Took a while to work it out. It would be nice if it could get the resolution and adjust size basd on that, but at any rate, once it's set up right, it's a very nice editor.

[LJLPM]

It would be nice if it could get the resolution and adjust size basd on that

Good idea! I'll try to add it for the next release!
I'm also focused on optimizing code to make the editor work faster when dealing with many items.

[mobius]

I don't see a "close level" option, although it's not immediately important.

-I'm noticing that when opening snow LVL levels; objects seem to be moved to the right a little.
-I can load ini files fine now, i dont think that's a problem; Sometimes when loading any kind of level it glitches, the screen is empty and the terrain says special., Or it just loads in another incorrect terrain.

You had explained "scenes" and those extra things in this thread right? I have to look over that again, I don't know what all those things mean.

why does zooming require I new window to open up? I prefer being able to zoom in and out with the main window.

[LJLPM]

I don't see a "close level" option, although it's not immediately important.

What would do a "close level" option?
("CTRL+R" or "File>New Level" reset the editor allowing you to start a fresh new level)

-I'm noticing that when opening snow LVL levels; objects seem to be moved to the right a little.

Actually, snow LVL levels behave exactly the same as other LVL levels. Maybe there's a small offset to the right, but if it's the case, then it should exist for any other LVL levels (bubble, rock, etc...).
1) could you confirm it's ok (or not?) with other types of LVL levels, please?
2) what is your reference, please? (Lemmix, Lemmini, other?). Knowing that, I could proceed with some tests. Thank you.
--- EDIT ---
I've just performed tests opening lvl1013.ini and lvl1013.lvl (snow level), and they open exactly the same way in the level-editor (no left or right shift between .ini and .lvl)
note: whenever possible, feel free to provide the file name of the level which causes troubles ; it will help me for finding & fixing bugs http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/smiley.gif" alt=":)" title="Smiley" class="smiley" />

-I can load ini files fine now, i dont think that's a problem; Sometimes when loading any kind of level it glitches, the screen is empty and the terrain says special., Or it just loads in another incorrect terrain.

I think the bad loading is the result of a buggy previous action you did (but what is the buggy action is mystery). I have to investigate on this problem... If you can think of/determine a previous action which failed, then it may be a lead: thank you.

You had explained "scenes" and those extra things in this thread right? I have to look over that again, I don't know what all those things mean.

Sorry for not having been very clear on this one: scene=level state.
You can quicksave and quickload complete levels.
for example: you can work on a level, quicksave it, make some changes, then you can quickload your level from its quicksaved state if you don't like the new changes you made.
You can quicksave/quickload up to 4 scenes (= 4 level states), and also up to 4 entity selections (it can be very useful)
See "Quick Saves" section here: http://www.lesjeuxlesplusmieux.com/jlevelbuilder.html" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">http://www.lesjeuxlesplusmieux.com/jlevelbuilder.html

why does zooming require I new window to open up?

There's no particular reason ; I just wanted to be able to keep on eye on the 1:1 level while having a zoomed view, too.

I prefer being able to zoom in and out with the main window.

I will see if I can do something for that, but I can't promess this feature will arrive...

[ccexplore]

I think the bad loading is the result of a buggy previous action you did (but what is the buggy action is mystery). I have to investigate on this problem... If you can think of/determine a previous action which failed, then it may be a lead: thank you.

In general, it may be a good idea to get the program to write out a text log of important/interesting things (along with timestamps of course, and flush to disk aggressively so you get stuff written even if the program died horribly from crashing) that happened, to help with bug investigations, precisely to deal with situations like this.  It's not as flashy as adding new cool features to the program, but can prove really helpful down the line--your average users may not always remember all the things they did leading up to an issue, but the log sure can.

[LJLPM]

Yes, actually I already have something like this for handling "Undo/Redo" jobs, but I may have to improve it a little bit to write logs as you suggest.

By the way, I have uploaded "beta 1.01":
- last used folder are now remembered when opening/saving .ini and .lvl files http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/laugh.gif" alt=":D" title="Laugh" class="smiley" />
- some code optimization (@möbius: please tell me if those changes have improved speed... or not. Thanks!)

You can download the update here:
http://www.lesjeuxlesplusmieux.com/jlevelbuilder.html" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">http://www.lesjeuxlesplusmieux.com/jlevelbuilder.html
if you have modified the config.ini and/or keyconfig.ini file(s), be sure to backup your modified file(s) before overwriting them with those included in beta_1.01!

@möbius: about the bug when loading levels (glitches, empty screen, terrain "Special", ...), could you just tell me what tilesets/styles are installed on your computer, please? Because maybe we have different tilesets installed, and this is why the bug occurs (I may have missed something with this tileset thing). Thank you very much!!!!

[mobius]

I wanted to test it out more and keep up with this but I got busy and my computer's been updating all day long and I couldn't do anything. Thank you for your very prompt replays for this however!  http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/thumbsup.gif" alt=":thumbsup:" title="Thumbs Up" class="smiley" />

I can at least answer your question:
I uploaded Lemmini graphics only so far into your programs folder. As to what other graphics I have on my computer I have only Lemmini and the DOS and custlemm styles or Lemmix.
(the styles which somebody uploaded somewhere and ccx points to for newcomers who don't have an actual copy of the gamedata
There is one odd thing but I doubt it could cause this problem: I have DroidlingsGfx uploaded by someone here styles in my Lemmix/gamedata folder (which I haven't even looked at yet  http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/sad.gif" alt=":(" title="Sad" class="smiley" /> ).

[ccexplore]

I'm wondering, are there any tools out there to rip (and resize - without any antialiasing, preferably) the terrain pieces from the Ground0o/Vgagr0 files from DOS? (If not, I might look into making something myself... I know there's extractors for these files, so then it's just a matter of converting them into GIF.)

I could see if any such thing still lurks on my old computer but don't hold your breath.  Incidentally, I believe there are a number of free programs out there that can do mass conversions of graphics files from one format to another, so as long as the extractors can extract into an established format like BMP, conversions should be trivial.

I'm still a tiny bit curious/confused as to what your objectives are though, given that you hinted at reusing the graphics at 2x resize?

[namida]

The hi-res graphics from WinLemm (the ones that Lemmini extracts and this program uses) are double the size of the DOS version graphics. Therefore, to display correctly, ones extracted from DOS would need to be double size.

The reason for this is simply that I've heard hi-res graphics aren't always pixel-perfect accurate to the traditional ones.

By the extractors, I meant your own tool for extracting the compressed data from DAT files. Ldecomp, I think it was called.

[ccexplore]

Oh I see, I probably missed it somewhere on the thread on how LJLPM's editor gets the graphics from.  Unfortunately I checked the one old computer most likely to have such extracted graphics, but fail to find anything there.  I'll keep looking as time permits, but it's not looking too good.

May also be worthwhile to search through archived posts of old forums to see if anyone else may have extracted the graphics at some point (whether they're still around or not may well be an issue though).  I may have documented the relevant formats, but IIRC one or two people were ahead of me in terms of programming, as soon as I had published how the compression works (ie. the ldecomp stuff).

[mobius]

The reason for this is simply that I've heard hi-res graphics aren't always pixel-perfect accurate to the traditional ones.

Yes, they are not.  For example; builder bridges don't extend as far as they should causing a lot of annoyance in Lemmini. I would be interested in this as well btw, I like that the graphics in Lemmini look more detailed and nicer but it's a big down side that they have to be "mini" and the above problem of course.

[LJLPM]

@möbius: ok; thank you for your reply. I can confirm that tilesets in Lemmix, Lemmini, etc...'s folders don't interfere. Only the styles/tilesets in jLevelBuilder's own directories are handled. So we have exactly the same tilesets used in the level-editor. Please, could you also confirm we have the same number of items in each style (these values include .gif images (including helpers) + stylename.ini). Thank you!

- brick=101 items (.gif, .ini)
- bubble=106
- crystal=80
- dirt=93
- fire=107
- marble=101
- pillar=105
- rock=108
- snow=78
- special=33