GLOOM Editor

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With the GLOOM Editor (gloom_editor) you create maps that you can load and use with the GLOOM library. The GLOOM library is used for GLOOM-like games (you better google that), that lands somewhere between Wolfenstein 3D and the original DOOM.

The GLOOM library is sort of "low level" compared to the Raycaster library. It's harder to use but a lot more flexible. For example, there is no "door" functionality, but walls and group of walls can be moved, scaled and rotated, which makes doors pretty easy to program. Therefor the GLOOM Editor is low level too. You can add walls with values (each wall has a number assigned to it), and there is a grid with six layer where each cell in each layer may contain a value. What the wall and grid values actually MEAN is all up to you. The values can represent texture (image) indexes, enemy starting positions or whatever you want.

I suggest that you have a look at the examples programs for the library to figure out how the library and editor can be used. Also, you can have a look at this video on YouTube, showing a game made with GLOOM.

Map size


Every map has a discrete size, and the default size is 16x16 units. The size of one unit is, as in the Raycaster library, the height from the ground up to the player's eyes times two. Or, if you prefer, the player's eyes are 1/2 unit above the ground. That's the best definition I can give you.

You can use the input fields seen in the image above to change the size of the map.

Layers


There are seven layers that you can edit. The first layer is the wall layer. You add walls to it by clicking on the map. The first click sets a wall's starting point, and the second click sets its end point. You can abort adding a wall by pressing the Esc key. The positions of the points snap to the grid seen on the large picture at the top of this document. But you can change the snap settings using the radio buttons seen in the below image.


The other layers are called Grid 1, Grid 2 .. Grid 6. Each of these layers can store a value for each cell in a discrete grid of the map's size.


After selecting a grid layer, its values will be seen on the map. Add or change values to the one currently set (see below) by clicking on the map. As stated above, it's up to you if and how you want to use these values.

Values


In the input field seen above, you can change the value that will be used when editing the layers. For example, if the value is set to 2, the walls you draw thereafter will be assigned that value. The values of a grid layer is seen when the layer is selected. But if you want to see the value of a specific wall when the wall layer is active, you have to hold the mouse cursor still over the wall for a brief while before its value is displayed above the cursor.

Erase mode

If you want to erase walls or values from a grid layer, you need to mark the checkbox next to "Erase mode" (see the first picture in this document). When erase mode is active, the walls or grid layer values that you click on will be removed.

The menus

The window menus are pretty self explanatory. You can load and save maps, clear and fill layers and such. Actually, using "Fill layer" when the wall layer is selected will set the value of every wall to the current value, which might not be that clear at all.

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