Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Track Editor Plan

As you know, the focus over the next few months is a track editor for OutRun levels. This was always the plan once Cannonball became a reality; I first blogged about this long-term goal back in in 2009!

Cannonball will of course continue, but there's a shift in focus as the next exciting instalment begins. It will mean fewer blog updates whilst I get the project off the ground, until I have something interesting to talk about.

The plan for the initial release is as follows:
  • The editor will be a separate application from Cannonball.
  • The editor will be developed in C++ and QT. This will support a solid cross-platform GUI. 
  • The editor will use Cannonball to preview the final level in some kind of debug mode.
  • The editor will output to a format compatible with Cannonball, and the original OutRun hardware. So you could potentially play the best levels on original hardware.
  • The following features will be supported: Road path/direction, road width, road height, scenery & track debris placement, road palettes.

Future releases could include additions like:
  • Road texture editor.
  • Sprite editor.
  • Sprite palette editor.

I've made a start, I'm learning QT and progress is steady. Maybe you have an idea for a feature or even the name of the editor. If so, comment below! 

9 comments:

Trad Flakenblerg said...

How about "Skids" ?

Or "Reynolds"? (as in Burt)

d from Shmups said...

Incredible news. We are working with qt and c++. What a coinsidence! Please tease us with a pic or vid when you have another track for Cannonball. The mere thought of having different tracks!

yt said...

What are you working on?

d from Shmups said...

Oh sorry, that's for non-gaming related software at the company where I work at. I am the Test Coordinator. We work with c++ & qt.
I am not really a developer so I really cannot help you with software. This project off yours almost makes me want to dive into programming, but it will take too long before I totally 'get it'.
I check your website numerous times every day to follow the development.

yt said...

I wouldn't check back multiple times a day. I have a day job ;-)

Trad Flakenblerg said...

Because I can't stop thinking about it:

OutTracker
OutLayer
LayOut

yt said...

Layout is a good one!

Trad Flakenblerg said...

RouteRun

yt said...

LayOut it is!