overworld editor

Overworld Editor

The overworld editor is based on the stb_tilemap_editor library.

Usage

Keyboard keys:

• Arrow keys: scroll the map area.
• S: Select tool.
• B: Brush tool.
• R: Rectangular fill tool.
• E: Eyedropper.
• L: Link tool (unimplemented).
• G: Toggle grid.
• CTRL+X: Cut selected area.
• CTRL+C: Copy selected area.
• CTRL+V: Paste selection.
• CTRL+Z: Undo.
• CTRL+Y: Redo.

There is also a toolbar which corresponds to each of the keyboard actions:

Edit State

Along the left side of the editing area is a box with editing state:

The box shows the current dimensions of the map, the cursor position within the map and which tile is currently selected. Zelda 2 overworld maps must be 64 tiles wide and 75 tiles tall.

NOTE: unsure about the height requirement.

Tile Palette

The tile palette allows you to choose which tile to paint onto the map.

Top Level Tool Bar

The top-level tool bar allows you to perform several global actions to the map editor.

• Select which map to edit.
• Show or Hide overworld connection IDs.
• Edit overworld connections.
• Edit overworld encounter destinations.
• Save the edited map into the ROM.
• Change the zoom level.
• See information about where the overworld map is stored in the ROM.

Overworld connections

There are may positions on overworld maps which transfer link to other locations or to side-view areas. These are shown on the map by a 2-digit number over the tile which causes the transfer.

The Connections button in the top tool bar allows you to view and edit the connection data.

• The Entry field is which connection in the list of connections is being displayed.

• The View Area button opens the MultiMap view, showing you the destination side-scroll area and all the areas it is connected to.

• The xpos and ypos are coordinates on the overworld which activate this connection.

• The map value controls which sideview area to enter.

• The w and ov values control which world and overworld to connect to.

  • When connecting to a sideview area that is part of the current overworld, w and ov should both be zero.
  • When connecting to another overworld, w should be zero and ov should be the number of the overworld. An ov of 1 always refers to the second overworld in the same bank as the current overworld:
    • From Western Hyrule, ov = 1 means Death Mountain.
    • From Eastern Hyrule, ov = 1 means Maze Island.
  • When connecting to another world (such as a palace), w should be the world number and ov should be the number of the current overworld. This is used to control which overworld Link returns to when he exits the destination world.
  • NOTE: The w and ov fields allow you to enter the full range of values supported by those fields, including illegal values. For example, ov = 3 does not exist. Setting an illegal value has undefined behavior.

There are several properties which control the behavior of a connection.

• entry: X pixel to enter the sideview area. This is used to put link into the middle of an area, or on the right-hand side of an area.
• extern: this connection is external to this world. This is used to transfer link between East and West Hyrule, Death Mountain or Maze Island.
• second: this is the second (or last) room of a multi-room transfer.
• 2 lower: exit this two tiles lower than the entry.
• right: force entry on the right-hand side of the area.
• passthru: the area is a pass-through area.
• fall: Link falls down into the area.

Right-click context connection editor

If you right-click on the 2-digit number on the map, a context popup window will allow you to edit the properties of the connection.

In the right-click context popup, changing the Swap field will swap the transfer ID with the ID you select. More precisely, the position, connection and properties will be exhanged with the new ID, making the new ID the transfer table entry for that location on the map. Allowing the exchange of IDs is necessary because of some of the connection table requirements.

The other items in the context window allow behave just as they do in the normal connection editor window.

Connection Requirements

Connector Caves

When a cave connects two areas together, the left entry of the cave (or set of caves) must use the lower numbered ID. For example, Parapa cave uses IDs 10 and 11.

Overworld-to-Overworld connections

When connecting two overworlds together, the connection must use the same ID in both maps. For example, the raft connection between East and West Hyrule uses ID 41.

Vanilla game connectors:

• ID 40 connects East Hyrule and the Maze via the bridge.
• ID 41 connects West and East Hyrule, via the raft.
• ID 42 connects West Hyrule and Death Mountain near Saria Town.
• ID 43 connects West Hyrule and Death Mountain near the graveyard.

Overworld Encounters

When Link gets a random encounter on the overworld, he is taken to a side-view combat area based on the type of overworld tile he was standing on at the time of the encounter (grass, desert, etc). Furthermore, every overworld has a north/south dividing line, allowing the game designer to send Link to different enounters based on whether he is on the North or South side of the map.

The Encounters popup allows you to change both the location of the North/South line, and the side-view area for each tile type.

The North/South Dividing Line determines which vertical position divides the overworld map between North and South sides.

The rest of the fields allow you to select which side-view area Link will be sent to for an encounter. The Screen field allows you to control where Link appears in each area. In the vanilla game, all encounter areas are 3 screens wide, so the default is for link to appear in the middle.

NOTE: The encounter destinations are per bank, not per world. This means that Western Hyrule and Death Mountain transfer link to the same numbered area for a given encounter type in each respective world. For example, in the vanilla game, a desert encounter in Western Hyrule or Death Mountain sends link to area 29. However, Link is sent to area 29 of whichever world he is in: in Western Hyrule, he is sent to west_hyrule 29, and in Death Mountain, he is sent to death_mountain 29.