ISOMETRIC MAP EDITOR 
	by Matt Baros

CONTROLS

Shift		- Change Modes

	View Mode

Arrow Keys 	- Pan map about the screen
V		- Rotate Clockwise
C		- Rotate Counter Clockwise

	Edit Mode

Arrow Keys	- Select Tile
R		- Raise Selected Tile
L		- Lower Selected Tile
T		- Change Tile Type
O		- Place/Cycle Objects on Selected Tile

	Throw Mode

Arrow Keys	- Select Starting Tile
W, A, S, D	- Select Ending Tile
T		- Throw Projectile from Start to Ending Tile


INTRODUCTION

After college, I found myself not immediately employed as a game developer, suprisingly enough.  So I decided to pick up a few books and try my hand at DirectX.  Since I am a huge Strategy RPG fan, one of the projects I made for myself was to create a simple sprite based isometric map editor.  I wanted it to be able to display and edit tiled maps.


DESIGN

I chose to define my map as 2 dimensional array, basically a grid, and each value represented the height of that square on the grid.  Once I had my Square/rectangular array of height values, I basically rotated it 45 degrees, thus giving it the standard three quarters perspective of most SRPGs.  The top (or back) corner would be drawn first, and a tile would be drawn in relation to where the map was to be shown on the screen.  For each height increment, a new tile was drawn further up the screen and overlapping the previous, thus giving the appearance of stacked tiles.  The two tiles below (in front of) the first one where then drawn in the same fasion, giving the appearance of being in front of the back corner.  Then the three in front of that and so on.

In the next iteration, I made four tiles instead of one.  One with edges on all four sides, one with no back left edge, one with no back right edge, and one with only the front right and left edges.  This way, if an adjacent tile had the same height, the appropriate tile sprite could be drawn that there was no line seperating the two tiles on the appropriate sides.  Front edges were not a concern because the tiles in front would overlap in such a fasion as to cover up the edges if need be. 

I then added the mysterious throw mode, which serves to simulate a projectile traveling from one tile to another, which could be used for arrows, fireballs, and the like.  Once the Start and End tiles are selected, I find a parabola that contains the center of both tiles, and adheres to the hard coded, but easily altered gravity.  I then simply animate the projectile along that path.

ART

All the art was painstakingly handcrafted by myself in the illustrious Microsoft Paint Graphics Suite.  Seriously... I wasn't too worried about making it look pretty.  In fact, the grass tile set was the only one I made into more than just a colored rectangular prizm.  The bitmaps can be edited at any time to change the appearance of the program... if you're really bored.