Tilengine - The 2D retro graphics engine forum - Presentations

Reflecting on its development

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 08:36:26 +0000

Hi Marc,

If you could go back to 2015 when you started working on Tilengine, how do you think your development process would have changed? With your current understanding of software development and the project itself, would you have chosen a different approach to create Tilengine? What do you wish you had known before starting to work on Tilengine?

I would like to express my appreciation for your remarkable work. I respect the passion you have for this project. Thanks

A GUI for ResourcePacker

Mon, 04 Jul 2022 10:29:11 +0000

Hi everyone,

I've been working on a GUI application based on the ResourcePacker command line tool. The application makes it easier to pack, preview and unpack assets. I wanted to make sure the application was as polished as possible before releasing it, so I spent three months working on the project. I thought this would be a good place to share it since the tool is primarily used with Tilengine.

The application allows you to do the following:

Create a package, optionally with AES-128 encryption, and to choose which files to include or exclude from the package.
Create a file list for the package, or just the package.
Preview resources from inside a package, with a hex view, text view, or image view.
Reconstruct a folder structure from the entry IDs and a provided file list.
Extract all resources from a package, or just a selected amount, to a folder of your choice.
Preview or extract an existing package without a file list. The IDs are used as the file names, where the extensions are determined by the MIME type based on its contents.

The application is available for Windows 7 and above. The binaries are available on the Github releases page:
https://github.com/vonhoff/ResourcePackerGUI/releases

The source code is available on Github and is written in C# using .NET 6:
https://github.com/vonhoff/ResourcePackerGUI

Please let me know if you have any feedback or suggestions.

Thanks

Tilengine Anim Suite

Thu, 05 May 2022 04:25:24 +0000

I made a tool use to generate the sequence and atlas descriptor files needed when creating sprites, the video is one of the first version, it's still pretty buggy in places but someday soon I plan on releasing it so other people can use it.

Also in the video I never showed the actual generated files so I'm attaching the text of those as well

Sequence File:

Code:

       0,1,2,3,4

Atlas Descriptor:

Code:
= 0 0 30 39

= 30 0 30 39

= 60 0 30 39

= 90 0 30 39

= 120 0 30 39

The .TileAnim file is just a json string containing the path to the sprite sheets and the frame data, it was easier than loading the sequence file again or I would have just loaded it the same way tilengine does.

Let me know what you think! I'm sure I'm not the first person to do this but I'm pretty proud of this little tool

CsTilengine for version 2.9.5

Thu, 31 Mar 2022 18:42:51 +0000

Hello all, my name is Simon. I'm a 23 year old aspiring software engineer. I'm mostly proficient in object oriented languages where I prefer to develop my applications in C#. Furthermore, I have a great passion for game development but I'm not a game designer or artist. So I mainly deal with the programming aspect of it.

With my background as a .NET developer, I wanted to use Tilengine's C# binding. However, I noticed that the binding was not up to date with version 2.9.5, so I thought it would be a fun challenge to write a binding that is an up to date 1:1 API translation of the original C version, with every piece of documentation I could find included as XML documentation tags.

Using the current version of CsTilengine as a base and the C# wrapper of SDL2 as inspiration, I finished the binding in almost four days of work. I also added most of the samples from the original version. However, I only had some problems getting the TLN_GetListObject() method to work correctly. So I excluded the port of the QueryLayer.c sample from this version of the binding.

You can find the source code of my binding here: https://github.com/vonhoff/CsTilengine
Any form of feedback is greatly appreciated

Falconet - Made with Tilengine

Fri, 29 Jan 2021 15:59:04 +0000

Greetings Tilengine community!

I wanted to share some work I have been doing using Tilengine. It's a game called Falconet which is currently under development.

The alpha build gameplay footage was recently featured on tilengine.org (thanks megamarc!). Check it out here: https://youtu.be/vpKXPO_U6uI

You can also engage with the community over on Discord to get updates as development progresses: https://discord.gg/uNFek2GHyb

Some concept art

And a screenshot

Let me know your first impressions. Looking forward to your feedback!

Hello!

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 10:54:24 +0000

Hello, I'm TheEmeraldFalcon, but you can call me TEF or Kyle or whatever you'd like. I'm a 14 year old, and have been programming since I was about 9. Recently, I've taken an interest in creating retro-styled games, considering I've always had a fondness for retro systems and such, I find limitations like that really enjoyable. I began with Java, but quickly moved to C# and Unity. Now, I use C++ and UE4, but I do have to say, C and Rust are definitely my favourite languages to program in.

I think my main goal for using Tilengine is to have fun creating, as well as being able to use it on my resume and such when I need to start job-hunting.

Sorry for going on so long but I just find this whole thing really cool and can't wait to begin using it!

Interest on retro and future game projects

Wed, 25 Mar 2020 03:13:39 +0000

Hello. I'm Uneven Prankster, writer of a few C/C++ games made with only SDL2, and some other interesting games made with engines. Currently I am working on Lone World, a platformer made with Godot Engine focused on being surreal and odd. Whilst we are indeed facing loneliness at the time I write this post, the game was not made about that topic, but about the oddity of what surrounds us.

You can check these games out on here, some of them have their source code available for preservation and poking around. Generally I like poking too with software and ever since one of my previous Math teachers had encouraged me to move forward with exploring programming, I have managed to climb up the steep yet rewarding road so I can make games for people to play. It's my dream and even in the harshest of times it brings me joy!

And old consoles also bring tons of joy. Old games which turned the constraints of hardware into creative solutions. From turning clouds to bushes to making 3D out of affine transformations! And this is why I have taken interest in Tilengine: I hope to use it in upcoming C/C++ projects and even contribute to it. The docs are lacking and that saddens me, so I'd like a ton to add info there so I don't see no more blank spaces.

Currently, I have written a beefy program testing out most of the things I want: sprites going into places, animating, wobbling, stretching and zapping at the sight of scanlines, I love it! And I am going to make a RPG using this stuff. While I may have come into a few misconceptions of mine about what some things do, reading the source code along with the samples helped a ton. Here is a photo of it!

Into Space, a game I have been working on

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 18:39:11 +0000

Not sure if this is the right forum, but I would like to post this somewhere.

The past month or so I have been working on a game engine for retro 2D games, in order to easily create this new game I have been working on, which uses Tilengine.
I have to say, the experience is extremely fun, and this is a great way to learn C++ even with the lack of documentation for Tilengine (which upped the challenge, but it taught me a lot more than if there was more documentation).
I don't really have much beyond a demo that scrolls through a scene and plays music, but it took a lot to get there, and I basically made my own system from scratch for handling objects, layers, cameras, etc.
The best part of this project is that it uses LUA for a scripting system so you can create the game without having to compile the engine ever again, and it makes it extremely easy for anyone to make their own retro 2D game, because it abstracts everything to a level where you don't have to worry about anything besides making the game.

This engine though, is really rough around the edges, there is still a lot to implement and clean up, and things I need to work on to make it usable, which is why I wont be releasing any of the builds for it yet, but I would love to eventually do that and even possibly make it open source similar to Tilengine, but that is still a long ways off.

Here is a picture of the game so far (all pixel art created by me and a friend):

intoSpaceTilengine.PNG (Size: 40.26 KB / Downloads: 15)

Here is the LUA code it took to make that happen (not using Tilengine LUA bindings):

Code:
function startup ()

     -- Play theme song (looped by default)

     playMusic("theme", "game_theme.ogg")

     -- Add image as background layer on X: 0 Y: 0 that is immovable

     addImage("logo", "menu_logo.png", 0, 0, "immovable")

     -- Add image on background layer on X: 0 Y: 0 Distance: 0 (Moves with foreground)

     addImage("ground", "menu_ground.png", 0, 0, 0)

     -- Add image on background layer on X: 0 Y: 0 Distance: 8 (Moves slowly with background)

     addImage("water", "menu_water.png", 0, 0, 8)

     addImage("sand", "menu_sand.png", 0, 0, 10)

     addImage("grass", "menu_grass.png", 0, 0, 12)

     addImage("mountains", "menu_mountains.png", 0, 0, 14)

     addImage("mountainsBG", "menu_mountainsbg.png", 0, 0, 16)

     addImage("moonBG", "menu_moon.png", 0, 0, "immovable")

     addImage("starsBG", "menu_starsbg.png", 0, 0, 500)

     addImage("spaceBG", "menu_spacebg.png", 0, 0, 1000)

end

function update ()

     moveCameraLeft(20)

end

I already have this running on a Raspberry Pi, and I plan on adding other features like integration with some sprite editors, as well as integration with a LUA IDE.
One problem I had, since I am using SDL2 for windowing and sound, was getting the CRT effect to work. I made a post earlier which megamarc kindly replied to about how to get it working, but I had to copy a lot of code from Tilengine's source files and it ended up being very clunky and unstable (which is my fault, I'm not the most experienced with SDL2), and it would have been way easier if it were a standalone module of some sort. Other than that I recommend Tilengine 100% if you can get over the learning curve!

Thanks for checking this out!

Megamarc, what motivates you to make an engine?

Sat, 02 Mar 2019 09:03:50 +0000

I figure this belongs in this board

Megamarc, I'm somewhat intrigued that you put so much work into this engine for free but have never made a game with it. I imagine if I made it, the first thing I'd do is try to make a game with it, but then again, I'm not the sort of person who has choosen to put the time in to learn what it takes to create a whole engine (even though I would like to have the time to learn this stuff). All of the work that goes into making this cross compatible and having all the language bindings is a lot of work and would consume a lot of your time.

I assume you are confident a game can be made in it with your testing, but even if there are unforseen problems, I know as soon as someone runs into a problem trying to actually make a game with the engine, you do everything to fix it. So in the end it doesn't matter if you yourself don't make a game with it, you'll make sure other people can.

So - are you consumed with the desire to make a game with it, like I am? Or is it enough for you that it exists and other people would use it? And why is that enough?

(BTW I had to focus fully on something that will bring in money, and I haven't got an idea yet that Tilengine would be appropriate for, which would also bring in money... hopefully I get to do something with it someday soon)

I love Tilengine and the 80s :D

Sun, 03 Dec 2017 20:50:49 +0000

Hello to all. My name is Stefano, I am 40 years old and since 1984 I am a lover of technology.

I have done a lot of research for many years to realize my projects (retro and C-64 and Amiga style games).

Tilengine is a very nice project, easy and satisfies almost all my wishes. I would be very happy to share my experiences and ideas with other veteran and nostalgic users like me.

I have studied various programming languages all these years, but every time I am faced with limitations, lack of documentation or radical changes to the API I use for my projects. In the end I always go back to C ++ even if I'm not a professional programmer, but C / C ++ gives you the freedom to decide how to realize the logic of your project, while the scripting languages (Python, Ruby, Lua) always found very anomalous and hostile (they are only apparently easy).

Tilengine is almost perfect in my opinion. Only the following features are missing to make it perfect:

Documentation always updated and with many progressive and complete examples.
Improvement of the included examples (Shadow and Barrel have many collision bugs and frames management).
The idea of including a small documentation in pdf I find it a brilliant and really beautiful thing (I really appreciated). For the occasion I ask permission to implement the Tilengine guide in LaTeX, I open a repository on github and I realize the pdf in LaTeX (I also include the source of course, so everyone can improve it). If you like my idea I begin to realize the preamble (the main.tex to configure the typographic template of the manual in A5).

To make Demoscene (crack screens in the Commodore Amiga and C-64 style) Tilengine is great! are days that I make small experiments to test effects on the text (especially these) and background. Tilengine is a 2d graphics engine so I rely on SDL2 for audio? what do you recommend?

To conclude all that I will achieve I want to release it on github and share it with the community to enrich the study material and all the resources necessary to understand the use of this magnificent engine. Thanks to the author of Tilengine, it's really a nice gift for a nerd like me who was fond of the 80s.

Greetings to all from Italy (Rome).