[PRJ]Teeter level editor NOT RELEASED - help needed

[hellodavedave]

Please don't get excited, this is far from finished, and I'm about to go away for a week.
What I have done so far has taken about a week, but I guess its still a month away from a beta release,
sorry about that but I'm doing this in my spare time.

After reading this thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=410398), I thought this would be a good project to learn VB.net with.
I did a bit of VB6 years ago, but since then its been mainly web stuff (php, javascript, sql),
more recently I have been studying oop Java with the Open University.
I'm going to look for a good VB.net forum when I get back, Ill probably need some help to finish this.
Let me know if you know of one, or even better a VB.net for windows mobile forum :)

So far, I have read the text files in and drawn them to the screen using GDI+.
The next step is to write the code to let you edit, but before I get to that I need a little help with something else.
The images I'm drawing to screen do not line up perfectly with the levels in Teeter,
have a look at the first 6 levels on this page (http://www.allak.co.uk/teeterLE/) to see what I mean.
These are composite screen shots, I have overlaid what my program draws onto the real levels in Teeter.
You can ignore the starting dots as the ball had moved by the time i took the screen shot.

My guess is I need to apply a transformation of some kind on the data before I draw it to the screen
(and eventually in reverse before I write it back to the text file),
but I'm not 100% sure if that's right, am I missing something about why this is happening?
Will there be any problems with this approach?
Maybe I can just move the holes a set amount, but what about the walls?
Anyone have any ideas?

[dzign-it]

Hi

Im not a coder, but just my observation. The black lines that you draw go from corner to opposite corner on each graphic, minus the drop-holes but there still in the corner.

My gues is the coding is seeing this as a full object. So that data that you are pulling and showing looks correct.

[hellodavedave]

Ahh, yeah, so maybe the coordinates of the walls represent the top left and bottom right of the walls, not just end points.
Ill make some screen shots of the rest of the levels to check.
I guess the levels where the walls are not straight up or straight down will give more clues.
Thanks :)

[dzign-it]

Glad i could help

I code in php and using the GD graphic librays to display line graphs etc always do have stripped down co-ordinates, i suppose its so you dont have to use loads of info just to draw a line. top corner, bottom corner is far more speedy then drawing 6 coordinates or more.

How have you dound going from php, javascript mysql to vb? I keep getting tempted by vb and id love to make some interesting things for my mobile.

Im pretty much high level php/sql medium javascript, high level xml. Where would you recommend i begin? Cheers!

PS: im from Leeds so just up the motorway lol.

[hellodavedave]

My memory of VB6 is that in general, all the books are wrong.
I really struggled to find examples that worked without fiddling around with it.

VB.net has been a similar experience, maybe a bit easier because Visual Studio has improved so much. I'm still a massive noob with it so I cant really give you that good an answer.

I'm starting to realise that the reason I find programming for the web so much easier than for windows is that the latter has so much more to deal with.

If you think on the web, your playing field is the browser, in windows, your playing field is the OS. There is so much more that you can do, finding help with what you want to do is so much harder.

Some people are very good at working out how to get something working, it sometimes takes me hours to solve one little problem. I don't have that much formal training in programming, so I tend to work by fiddling with things until they work. The difference in php is I've seen so many working examples that I know what I am doing is 'a good way' to be doing it.

In VB I have no idea if what I am doing is good, its just the only way I've found that works. Eventually I will release the source files for this, in the hope that 'good' VB programmers can help me do things in 'a good way'.

Where to begin? Get yourself a copy of Visual Studio, there are loads of versions, don't ask me which one you need, I don't know, I got mine of a friend who runs a software company, they have some package of set software from MS and more licenses than she needs.
Bookmark the MSDN library (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/default.aspx) and start reading :)
All I use at the moment is that page and google.

Good luck!

[hellodavedave]

Problem solved, it was pretty simple in the end :o
The top left, bottom right thing dzign-it pointed out (many thanks),
and the gdi draws the hole with the coordinates you give as top left.
I can move on to the actual editing now :)

[dzign-it]

Hey

Great to hear, not many people seem interested in this lol, i am though, a level editor would be fantastic, and im sure when you have a beta out for people to start making thier own levels etc..everybody will jump on board.

[Brunkage]

go for it hellodavedave. People will be glad. :)

and credit to you

[xep624]

That would be nice!
My little 2-year-old girl loves Teeter but she only solves the first level.

I'd like to have a "kids version" with only a green hole in the middle and kind of these easy things...

(yeah, I know: WHAT!? You give your diamond a baby...!? :D)

[Nunwood PDA]

Has any progress been made on this? I'd love to see this working

[surur]

There is now a level editor. You can download a new level here.

http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=1536

Surur