LevelFX - A new way to create 2D-Jump'n'Run-Games

LevelFX - A new way to create 2D-Jump'n'Run-Games

Image you could create 2D platformers without the technical limitations of SMW hacking but with the ease and workflow of Lunar Magic. Good news. Here you go:


What started as a rather simple level building tool for my game has now evolved into a full-scale 2D platformer engine with an easy-to-use “Lunar Magic”-like editor. LevelFX allows you to build an entire game without any knowledge in coding required and by using only the level editor.

Before I’ll go more in-depth, here’s a short video trailer:
- VIDEO -


Levels
The main components of a platformer game are of course its levels. With the LevelFX level editor you can easily create and organize those. The workflow is very similar to the level creation with Lunar Magic. Levels consist of a grid of tiles on up to four different layers and a list of sprites.



Graphics
Levels are tile-based similar to SMW. Instead of 16x16 pixels, you can now choose the tile size yourself though, which means you can stay with the retro pixelated style while you can go up high-resolution as well.
All graphics can be drawn in your preferred graphics program (Photoshop, GIMP, Inkscape, whatever…) and should be provided in PNG format. In the case of backgrounds a JPG can also be useful though.



Music
No more messing around with MML music notation and ultra small sized samples. Compose your music in modern sequencers, record it yourself or just use any MP3s you can find out there.

Game Customization
LevelFX allows very easy customization of the platformer engine itself. This means you can adjust many game settings to your individual needs. Here are some examples:

• Player physics, movement and abilities
• General structure of the game (overworld with levels, level after level etc.)
• Additional level elements (score, collectibles etc.)
• Menu appearance and components
• Level selection menu or overworld

Showcase
Finally, here some screenshots of different levels/games I've created with LevelFX.




Before you can create your games…
…there’s still some work to be done. Although the main components, the engine and the editor, are pretty much finished, there are some more or less complicated things to be done. I will keep you up to date though.

Oooh, this sounds pretty interesting. That's a good way for people to create Jump n Runs without LM nor with coding. That's a very useful source.

Now this is *really* interesting. (I'd have made something similar if I had the skill. ;_;) Looks like an option I'll have to consider when I get around to making a game. (Not an empty promise; I will keep this in mind! )

What language are you writing this in, and what's the format of the games it produces? Standalone executables would be neat.

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Thanks for the feedback.



I'm writing it in C#, using the open source framework MonoGame which would actually support cross-platform (Linux, Android and iOS).
The output is what I'm currently dealing with. I would also like to have standalone executables but this turns out to be a little more complicated than I've thought.

This is actually pretty cool. I like it. Almost professional and you could sell the darn thing.

I know that editing smw has all these limitations and such and people want to get around them by making their own editors however, the real reason why I choose to hack smw is simply because I want to play a game on the snes and not pc.

But darn cool editor though.

Finally my dream comes true! I'll be known as "The Legendary Boy who made <INSERT GAME NAME HERE>" (Yes. Despite my name, I'm a boy)
Anyway, thanks! And good luck!
Keep us up to date!

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What would Brian Boitano do?