It’s been a while since I’ve been updating DAME so frequently but with the fixes/features in this things should be improved vastly for some users.

Firstly, DAME used to have a limit on the size of paths. Now this has finally been removed and paths can be any size you like.

Secondly, paths can now be filled in with a colour, which means they can pretty much be used like shapes now.

Finally, tilemaps that are extremely large will now render correctly.  There used to be some clipping issues that were cutting out part of the tilemap from the display.

A few fixes and features in the latest version of DAME.

• Fix DAME crashing when you try to move tiles pasted in another group than the one they were copied from.
• Fix tilemap border being draw incorrectly when the map is zoomed out far in tile matrix mode.
• Option to force snapping of tilemap positions to units.
• Added help menu option to open settings file.
• Added Tool menu option to reset to default settings.
• Fix for crash when ignore map edges is ticked on a tile matrix with special connections.

Here’s the list of fixes/features added in the new version of DAME:

• Duplicated sprite entries now copy all relevant data.
• Fix bug where loading a file with layer templates added duplicate entries.
• Added more options to control what can go in the settings file.
• Save sprites separately option has been moved to the Tools->Options window.
• Prevent the map height options from showing up on new map layers.
• Options will be reset upon loading a project saved before versions 3.1.0 and 3.1.1
• Can now add layer group templates.

What this essentially boils down to is that I’m trying to allow for the greater separation of level specific data (ie the placement of all objects in a level) and general level settings (what sprites/tilemaps/settings are used).

Previously the .dsf files were only used to save sprite entries, but now this has been expanded to include more data. Instead of being a dame sprite file it’s now a dame settings file. Fortunately, I didn’t need to change the acronym!

This version of DAME adds some new features designed to be more restrictive and make it easier for end users to edit maps and not make mistakes.

First up I’ve added the concept of layer templates. For now this is just for map layers. You can create a template from a map layer in the layers tab and then whenever you want to add a new map layer you can pick from the list of templates, instead of having to mess around with setting up tilesets.

I’ve also added some options in the Tools->Options menu to force users to only add maps from templates, and to disallow them from modifying the template list.

Another option I’ve added is to prevent editing sprite entries. Again, this is designed so that if you have a framework you can just give it to end users and not worry about them accidentally changing something. (Though, they can still change the option in Tools->Options if they need, but it’s a bit more hidden away).

In sprite entries I’ve added 2 options. One to force rotations to always be in 90 degree angles. There already was a keyboard shortcut to do this with 45 degree angles, but this is for those sprites that you only ever want placed in the simplest way. A second option I added prevents editing of tileset frames. Most people never use this feature so it prevents accidental breakage.

By default DAME should work exactly as it always did, so you’ll need to turn these features on, but hopefully it should help things a bit.

I’ve got 2 new games that were made using DAME to tell you about today.

First up is Dukes and Dirigibles, made by Backward Pies, which is best described as a game of carnage in the Victorian skies. It’s got blimps, lots of shooting and simple gameplay that keeps you playing. 

Secondly, is Anodyne by Analgesic Productions. Technically, this game hasn’t released yet. But the playable demo is out and it’s looking pretty fine. It’s an adventure game in the spirit of classic Zelda games and while it’s still early days yet, I found myself caught up in the spirit of the game.