DKC Atlas Forum

[Qyzbud]

Simion's correct.

I'm wondering whether to feature those in the level maps, or not to bother... I mean, they are there, and they even affect gameplay fairly often, if you jump high enough. What do you think; should I mark them as 'bonus return barrels', to prevent confusion?

[Stone]

You see, I was confused
Haven't thought about the second bonus.

[Raccoon Sam]

Very impressive..!
Water levels look a bit wonky though.. Are they supposed to be like that?

[Qyzbud]

Yeah, weird as it looks, that Coral Capers terrain has been checked numerous times, and cross referenced with image data from Simion's extractor (although I must say, the lowermost tiles don't appear using the extractor, but I've mentioned this to Simion, and it looks as though they do belong there). Quite a few levels have some rather strange off-screen quirks like this, as the terrain was never meant to be viewed with as wide a scope as this mapping project allows for.

I will be adding new terrains, sprites, backgrounds etc. over the next few days. The maps are a little slow to load, but I'm hoping to develop a loading progress bar for each of the map elements, so that viewers (especially those with slower connections) can see that things will indeed appear, if given the time.

Lastly; what do you guys think of my early efforts to animate the torches in the background of Millstone Mayhem?

[Simion32]

I think that the animated torches should be considered as being part of the background, because they aren't technically sprites - but for simplicity's sake, the way you've set the torches up makes sense. It will also allow people to view the weird numbered tiles which are not normally shown. And yes, the bottom two rows of tiles are missing from Coral Capers.PNG which the current release of the extractor generates. This should be fixed by the next release.

[Raccoon Sam]

Awright.!
And yeah, the torches look really fine to me. There are still numbered spots here and there but you probably knew that already.

EDIT: Forgot to ask, are the PNGs uploaded ran through PNGGauntlet first? It is a tool that compresses the size of PNGs vastly; even smaller that optimized GIFs.

[Qyzbud]

Simion: Yeah, I realise that the torches aren't sprites, and I'll shift them to the BG layer next chance I get. Cheers.

Sam: I've only done the first few torches, as you mentioned... was just seeing if people thought it was a nice idea to animate them... Takes a bit of time/effort, but hey; that's just my way. I haven't heard of PNGGauntlet, but I'll take a look. I've been using the Save for web optimisation in Photoshop CS2, which does a fine job. If PNGGauntlet does a better job, and doesn't lose any data/quality, I'll consider using it for all files. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Tiptup Jr.]

The Map Viewer is mindblowingly awesome. Keep up the good work, guys!

[Kiddy14]

I've sneaked through some of the unfinished maps, I find the Terrain Layer really slow to dowload, or maybe it's my internet connection, but the background layer downloads ok, so I don't know.

Anyway, I've noticed Coral Capers has a lot of... un-terrained parts? But I've noticed the GBA version has terrain in those parts =S

[Qyzbud]

Kiddy, you're gonna want to sneak around to see those unfinished maps again... they are still unfinished, but most of them are improved, and now there's at least terrain mapped out for all of the levels in Kongo Jungle, Monkey Mines and Vine Valley. I'll see how much more I can get done tomorrow, then I'll make an official site update.

Take a look at Millstone Mayhem (which now has its full set of animated torches) and Ropey Rampage (for some cool 'dark and stormy night' aesthetics).

The level terrain files are generally between 300KB and 500KB in size, so a bit of patience may be necessary.

I will get sprites, overlays and additional graphics happening as soon as possible. I'm thinking up some ideas for making Coral Capers (and other underwater levels) look a bit better than they currently do. The unusual dimensions of these levels (and Slipslide Ride) make them a bit trickier to work with, but I'd like to make them a bit clearer to view. Feel free to hit me up with any suggestions, questions and comments.

I hope you like what I've done so far!

[Kiddy14]

Oh I thought it was un-terrained for the same reason the Brambles levels in DKC2 are un-terrained in some parts. It's just, many "unterrained" parts in the SNES version of Bramble Scramble have been filled up in the GBA version.

[Qyzbud]

I have spent lots of time working on the Kongo Jungle maps in the last few days, and now they are all online.

The most recently completed map is Coral Capers, which has a custom-designed background image and grid layer. Hopefully this helps to make it look a bit nicer, even in the 'unterrained' parts. At the very least, it should now be easier to follow the level's path with your eyes.

Barrel Cannon Canyon's map is complete for the time being, although I want to work on creating overlays to clarify the rotation/firing angle of barrel cannons, as well as the range of movement for moving barrels, etc. I'll post here as I work on this, to keep you all up to date.

I've spent most of my free time lately working on these maps, and the map viewer system, and I've enjoyed the chance to make so much progress. Keep your eyes out for further additions and improvements, as the mapping project is the main focus of site development at the moment.

All comments are appreciated!

[gamer_boy997]

For the barrels, prehaps you can show phantoms of all the directions the barrel faces, or a bunch of phantoms in between the paths the barrels move, it may look kind of dumb, but if there is no other way, you might as well do it that way.

EDIT: Also, did you notice that on the map list, tree top town and forest frenzy are mixed up? You might want to fix that.

EDIT 2: I also noticed that in Mine Cart Carnage, the banana cache overlay is just a broken image, you might want to fix that.

[Kiddy14]

Slipslide Ride <— Worst level design EVER! O_o
I understand you now Qyz

[gamer_boy997]

Wow, I didn't know Croctopus Chase had banana cache overlays and bonus levels, . Also, in Blackout Basement's to-do list you could put, "Show blinking light effect", or something.

[Kiddy14]

He probably copy-pasted it to all the remaining levels

[gamer_boy997]

Not all of them, go to Oil Drum Alley and Poison Pond, they only have Add Sprites and one other thing.

[Qyzbud]

Wow, I didn't know Croctopus Chase had banana cache overlays and bonus levels

Heh, I can't tell if you're teasing me, or if you think there really may be underwater secrets. Kiddy's right though; I used standard text for all maps, and tried to customise all of the relevant files afterwards... and apparently I missed a few necessary edits to Croctopus Chase. I've fixed it now, thanks for catching me out!

Also, in Blackout Basement's to-do list you could put, "Show blinking light effect", or something.

Interesting idea... I might give this a try, to see what can be done. I doubt it will be very useful, but perhaps a cool novelty. Kiddy suggested something similar for Stop & Go Station a while back, so maybe I'll give both of these tasks a go. Could be interesting.

[Jomingo]

I think it'd be kinda cool to have for those levels, or at least a way to toggle between the two lights.

[gamer_boy997]

I've fixed it now, thanks for catching me out!

You're welcome!

[FunkyKong]

Im looking forward to all these maps being complete as it will greatly help!

[Jomingo]

FunkyKong, we have warned you several times to watch your spelling and grammar mistakes, so I implore you to listen to the rules before we are forced to take further action!

[Kiddy14]

I don't see the mistakes, only the Im which must be an I'm =P

Poison Pond

What's that little bulb kind of place at the top-right corner?
It doesn't look like anything of a bonus or a secret passage =S Do we actually get to enter it? =O

[gamer_boy997]

You enter it from the bottom, and there's a Rambi icon inside.

[Kiddy14]

I knew it!

So that means it has to be the worst level end point. You actually enter that place instead of leaving the level O.o

[Qyzbud]

It does look/feel a bit wrong, doesn't it? Perhaps the Kongs swim through the seaweed in the background when they get to the 'end' of Poison Pond.

Finding these odd design aspects is one of the most interesting things about level maps, I'd say.

[gamer_boy997]

You might want to put something in Enguarde's bonus about indicating the "fake" walls.

[Qyzbud]

Good suggestion about the fake walls/hidden passages... I'll work on it.

The completed maps for Bouncy Bonanza and Stop & Go Station are now available, so please take a look, and let me know if you find any problems. I've added DK's starting position, and animated midway barrels to a few maps, and have added some missing overlay info, too.

The next level I'll be focussing on will be (yes, you guessed it...) Millstone Mayhem. I will also be aiming to add X/Y grid co-ordinates, and more sprite layer display options soon, for all maps. Perhaps I will allow red/green lighting for Stop & Go Station in the next update, too. This stuff might not be very straightforward, but I'll see what can be done.

[Gnawzooka]

Wow, these maps are really good. How long does this take you?

[Qyzbud]

It's really hard to estimate how long I've spent on any one level map; Each level presents unique challenges, and I've worked on each of these maps on and off, bit by bit over the past year and a half... I would make a guess that it's about 10 hours' work to get a level map complete and displayed online. This time could be cut significantly using Simion32's DKC Resource Editor (formerly know as the DKC Resource Extractor) to extract the terrain layout directly from the game (although that tool was not available until I finished the terrain mapping). It would be a lot quicker if I wasn't such a perfectionist, too...

Anyhow, I'm glad you like 'em. Thanks for the comment.

[gamer_boy997]

On the first page where it says how many maps are complete, it should say 9 maps are complete, but it only says 7.


Qyz says: fixed - thanks.

[Gnawzooka]

Here's a suggestion, should you use arrows or something to Indicate how the enemies move?

[gamer_boy997]

Qyz says: fixed - thanks.

You're welcome.

[Qyzbud]

I have added mouse coordinates (x/y) to the mapping interface now, so you can pinpoint the position of objects.

This is mostly useless for IE users in its current form, but I'll work on it further soon.

[Cyclone]

cool. I like the mouse coordinate thing. This map viewer is looking very good. Keep it up !

[gamer_boy997]

Millstone Mayhem Map

To-do List:
Improve appearance of background graphics



What about 'Show DK's Starting Position'?



EDIT: Also, why not update the list on the first post of the thread?

[FunkyKong]

I think the maps are coming along nicely. very helpful to i might add

[gamer_boy997]

I just noticed that you updated the map list, wow, you completely finished Vulture Culture in one go. The two mini-neckys facing the oppisite direction is quite interesting, it's obviously a good thing to put in the "mysteries" section. I also found out you finished Reptile Rumble, and you are almost done with Barrel Cannon Canyon. I did make a suggestion before, but if someone can come up with something better, than use their idea, (if it's better). Are you going to start on Tree Top Town?

[Qyzbud]

Very well noticed! I had only just uploaded the changes... take a look at the home page to see the full list of mapping improvements.

Yeah, Tree Top Town is next.

[Jomingo]

For some reason, the new "green lighting effect" for Stop and Go station doesn't work. When I click foregrounds, the entire map just turns to a solid green color. Everything is just solid green. Also, another strange thing, when I click overlays, a banana cache appears overtop the green, but everything else is completely covered in green.

[gamer_boy997]

Same here, it's very wierd...

[Qyzbud]

Ah. It's an IE issue... Internet Explorer doesn't understand the 'opacity' attribute. Cheers guys, I'll fix it soon.

[gamer_boy997]

It's been fixed for me Qyzbud, thanks!

[Qyzbud]

No worries.

At the moment I'm working on expanding the toggling capabilities, so instead of only being able to show/hide *all* sprites, you'll have the ability to toggle visibility of bananas/baddies/objects independently. Hopefully I'll get this complete in the next day or two.

[gamer_boy997]

Sounds cool Qyzbud, when do you plan to finish Tree Top Town?

[Qyzbud]

Well I haven't finished Tree Top Town in time for today's update, but it will be up by tomorrow's.

I've upgraded the element toggle buttons with improved functionality, and cleaned up the rest of the LMV interface a little. Take a peek.
(remember, if things don't look/work quite right, try pressing 'Ctrl+F5' to refresh the page)

My future LMV (Level Map Viewer) missions include:

• Enable additional element toggles
• Enable grid with co-ordinates
• Animate sprites on hover ? (or perhaps a toggle to animate/freeze all sprites)
• Improve in-map navigation

Are there any other features you guys would like to see?

I've looked into zooming/magnification, and it seems like it will be a massive undertaking... Firefox 3 allows you to zoom the whole page in/out (and does a fairly marvellous job of it, I must say), so that's a good option in the meantime.

[Gnawzooka]

Ah, very nice. The upgraded buttons are cool.

[Jomingo]

The buttons looks cool, but when I click on them they return to there old appearance. Also, next to sprites, it shows those little pictures that I would assume would toggle on/off those specific elements, but they don't work for me.

Probably and IE issue...

[gamer_boy997]

The buttons work for me, but they don't move, the buttons themselves show as if they haven't been pressed, but the sprites do disappear and appear depending on what I click, I think I get the same results for overlays as well.

[Qyzbud]

Have you guys both hard-refreshed? (Ctrl+F5)

Jomingo, it sounds to me as though your browser is using the old (cached) javascript file. Hard refresh/clearing your temp 'net files will fix this.

Gamer_boy, I'd suggest that you try the same measures, although I'm not entirely sure what the issue is; All techniques are working just fine at my end, in all three of my test browsers (FF3, IE6, IE7)... Let me know if the problems persist after a full refresh.