The Official Level Editor Has Arrived
After a lot of hard work, I’m proud to announce that the Citrus Engine’s Level Architect is available for beta testing starting today. The Level Architect is a level editor specially designed for the Citrus Engine. While there are other level editors available, you will find that this one is the most ideally suited for designing your levels in the Citrus Engine.
The new Level Architect features
- Start creating levels immediately, without writing a single line of code! Just install the Level Architect and start designing and testing your levels. The Level Architect makes it easy to ease into learning the rest of the engine.
- Live code monitoring puts all the game object classes right into the editor so they can be dragged-and-dropped.
- The Level Architect knows all the properties for all game objects, showing them to you automatically. No more scouring the documentation trying to figure out what properties the hero has. This even works automatically for custom-made game objects using live code monitoring!
- Automatically creates Citrus Engine projects for you by downloading and installing the latest version of the engine. And you can upgrade at any time with the click of a button.
- Test your level changes right from the editor. No need to switch over to your code to compile.
- Uses Adobe Air and works on both Mac and PC.
- A detailed Manual helps you get off the ground quickly.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Get the Level Architect.
- Read the Owner’s Manual.
- Grab some quick tips.
- Post some feedback. Being that this is a beta version, it has not been tested with a large audience (thanks to my small group of focus testers for your great feedback!). This full version will be available for free for a limited time. Once the Level Architect reaches a stable state, it will become fully integrated with the Citrus Engine. The Level Architect will become the official delivery platform of the engine, and will likely be split into a free version and a commercial version. So make sure and try it now while it’s free! I have many plans for the Level Architect if you guys make it successful. In the future, I would like to add most, if not all of these features:
- An asset store where people can create, sell, and download game objects, then start using them immediately.
- Improved layer and object management.
- New navigation features such as zooming and snapping.
- Automation of project-setup for FlashDevelop, Flash, and FlashBuilder.
The Level Architect has an auto-update feature (thanks to Adobe Air, this is easy to do). As these new features arrive, you can easily update the Level Architect.
I would love to hear feedback about your experience with the Level Architect. Please visit the forum or social media and join in on the conversation.
Happy designing!
