Specify JSON format for tilemaps

[cezarywojcik]

Relational vs Array-based tile specification?

My current thoughts:

• Tiles should have an enumerated type. So, for example, 1 means plains, 2 means ocean, etc. There will be another json file that specifies what a given type's image and other attributes are.
• Array indexing makes more sense because that will make determining z-index far easier.

Proposed format

{
  someOption: value,
  // other options
  tiles: [
    {type:1,...},
    {type:1,...},
    {type:2,...},...
  ]
}

[Serneum]

I'd go with arrays and, if possible, actual enumerations instead of 1, 2, etc. Could do a rest service that returns what each number is and cache it. If it's in the cache, we're fine, otherwise call out to the rest service

[cezarywojcik]

Relevant Chat Log: http://pastebin.com/shkDn1Gb

Summary:

• We need a camera object
• Two functions, toIso and fromIso that take a camera object and a point object as inputs and return the converted point
• Each tile should have its iso and non-iso point representations
• Draggable Map
• There must be even numbers of both columns and rows for wrapping
• Each tile needs an id
• Each tile should have a list of neighbor tiles by id

[Serneum]

• Keep a "screen" that contains current min/max points of the map that are visible
• Possibly make camera and screen global for player

[cezarywojcik]

Sample JSON:

{
    "map": [
        [
            {
                "id": 1,
                "type": 1,
                "x": 0,
                "y": 0,
                "neighbors": [
                    12,
                    10,
                    2,
                    4,
                    6,
                    3
                ]
            },
            {
                "id": 2,
                "type": 1,
                "x": 1,
                "y": 0,
                "neighbors": [
                    1,
                    4,
                    5,
                    3,
                    10,
                    11
                ]
            },
            {
                "id": 3,
                "type": 1,
                "x": 2,
                "y": 0,
                "neighbors": [
                    11,
                    12,
                    1,
                    6,
                    5,
                    2
                ]
            }
        ],
        [
            {
                "id": 4,
                "type": 1,
                "x": 0,
                "y": 1,
                "neighbors": [
                    1,
                    2,
                    5,
                    8,
                    7,
                    6
                ]
            },
            {
                "id": 5,
                "type": 1,
                "x": 1,
                "y": 1,
                "neighbors": [
                    2,
                    3,
                    6,
                    9,
                    8,
                    4
                ]
            },
            {
                "id": 6,
                "type": 1,
                "x": 2,
                "y": 1,
                "neighbors": [
                    3,
                    11,
                    4,
                    7,
                    9,
                    5
                ]
            }
        ],
        [
            {
                "id": 7,
                "type": 1,
                "x": 0,
                "y": 2,
                "neighbors": [
                    6,
                    4,
                    8,
                    10,
                    12,
                    9
                ]
            },
            {
                "id": 8,
                "type": 1,
                "x": 1,
                "y": 2,
                "neighbors": [
                    4,
                    5,
                    9,
                    11,
                    10,
                    7
                ]
            },
            {
                "id": 9,
                "type": 1,
                "x": 2,
                "y": 2,
                "neighbors": [
                    5,
                    6,
                    7,
                    12,
                    11,
                    8
                ]
            }
        ],
        [
            {
                "id": 10,
                "type": 1,
                "x": 0,
                "y": 3,
                "neighbors": [
                    7,
                    8,
                    11,
                    2,
                    1,
                    12
                ]
            },
            {
                "id": 11,
                "type": 1,
                "x": 1,
                "y": 3,
                "neighbors": [
                    8,
                    9,
                    12,
                    3,
                    2,
                    10
                ]
            },
            {
                "id": 12,
                "type": 1,
                "x": 1,
                "y": 1,
                "neighbors": [
                    9,
                    7,
                    10,
                    1,
                    3,
                    11
                ]
            }
        ]
    ]
}

Shorter version:

{"map":[[{"id":1,"type":1,"x":0,"y":0,"neighbors":[12,10,2,4,6,3]},{"id":2,"type":1,"x":1,"y":0,"neighbors":[1,4,5,3,10,11]},{"id":3,"type":1,"x":2,"y":0,"neighbors":[11,12,1,6,5,2]}],[{"id":4,"type":1,"x":0,"y":1,"neighbors":[1,2,5,8,7,6]},{"id":5,"type":1,"x":1,"y":1,"neighbors":[2,3,6,9,8,4]},{"id":6,"type":1,"x":2,"y":1,"neighbors":[3,11,4,7,9,5]}],[{"id":7,"type":1,"x":0,"y":2,"neighbors":[6,4,8,10,12,9]},{"id":8,"type":1,"x":1,"y":2,"neighbors":[4,5,9,11,10,7]},{"id":9,"type":1,"x":2,"y":2,"neighbors":[5,6,7,12,11,8]}],[{"id":10,"type":1,"x":0,"y":3,"neighbors":[7,8,11,2,1,12]},{"id":11,"type":1,"x":1,"y":3,"neighbors":[8,9,12,3,2,10]},{"id":12,"type":1,"x":1,"y":1,"neighbors":[9,7,10,1,3,11]}]]}

Visualization off ids with copies "wrapped":

1  2  3  1  2  3
 4  5  6  4  5  6
7  8  9  7  8  9
 10 11 12 10 11 12
1  2  3  1  2  3
 4  5  6  4  5  6
7  8  9  7  8  9
 10 11 12 10 11 12