How to use layers (advanced)

There's more to layers than you might think. They can be used for complex effects like rain, suggestion of movement and many other things. But first we'll look at the basic options you'll use to get there. You're going to learn about close fore- and background, a 3D cloud background and we'll take a look at automaticly moving layers.

1) Load the level you edited in the lighting tutorial or download this level and then load that.

We'll start with the tunnel:

2) Go to the thin bridge and change it into something like this.


3) Go to layer 3 and click on "layer properties".

4) Then, change "X-speed", "Y-Speed", "Width" and "Height" as shown in the picture below:


"X-Speed" and "Y-Speed" (in the "Relative Movement" group) determine the speed with which the layer moves when player moves. (X is horizontal, Y is vertical). A speed of "1" means that a layer moves just as fast as the player (or as layer 4). In this case, it's neseccary to make layer 3, 4 and 5 the same speed. The size of the level is shown in "Width" and "Height" (in the "Properties" group). The other options will be explained later.

Now we're going to put a wall infront of Jazz (on layer 3) so he will really walk through a tunnel.

5) Put some tiles on the spot on layer 3 that is empty on layer 4. Like this:

Check the preview window to make sure you got it right.

6) Save & Run the level.

The result is a wall with a secret tunnel. A similar thing can be done with layer 5...

7) Go to layer 5.

8) Change the X-Speed, Y-Speed, Width and Height to the same as layer 3.

9) Go to area behind (from your point of view) the carrots.

10) Place the white castle there. It should look sort of like this in the preview window:


11) Save & Run.

We're done with that now. Next, we'll make moving layers and 3D clouds...

12) Go to layer 8.

13) Go to the layer properties, make "Auto X-Speed" and "Auto Y-Speed" 1 and check/mark the "Textured mode" option (below).

For some reason, Auto Speed doesn't work on layer 8 when "Textured mode" is not on. It does work on all the other layers, though.

14) Save & Run.

As you can see, the clouds are now 3D and are moving to the upper left. A negative number for Auto Speed will result in movement in the other direction. X is horizontal and Y is vertical... So,
Auto X-Speed 1 is left,
Auto X-Speed -1 is right,
Auto Y-Speed 1 is up, and
Auto Y-Speed -1 is down.

15) It's usually a good idea to make layer movement a little more subtle...So, change Auto X- and Y-Speed on layer 8 into 0.2 .

16) Save & Run.

If you'd like to compare the result with what I made, get my version here.

Later, (in the expert tutorials) we'll deal with more complex layer effects, but for now, this is all you need to know.


© Rabbits Only 2000
tutorial written by Ninja Dodo