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How to Use Layers?


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#1 ZCnoob

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Posted 10 June 2019 - 01:46 AM

I'm pretty lost about how to lay tiles onto overhead layers and such, so far I've only been able to

draw on layer 0. Help would be appreciated, my username shows my "skill."



#2 Lüt

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Posted 10 June 2019 - 03:29 AM

Oh, this took me a while to get.

Basically, you've got 3 "levels" of layering:

1: Ground (layers 0, 1, 2): These layers are drawn under Link and all enemy sprites. Walkability is maintained on these layers, so if you put a solid combo on layers 1 and 2, Link will bump into it and ground enemies will be blocked by it.

2: Overhead Ground (layers 3, 4): These layers are drawn above Link and ground enemy sprites, but under flying enemy sprites. Walkability is not maintained on these layers, so if you put a solid combo on layers 3 and 4, Link can walk beneath it and ground enemies can pass under it.

3: Overhead Flying (layers 5, 6): These layers are drawn above Link and all enemy sprites. Walkability is also not maintained on these layers, so they are strictly visual. Best used for things like weather effects and shadow overlays.

Layers are drawn on one screen by stacking combo layouts from other screens. There's no special "layer screen" type or category in ZQuest - you just use normal screens on normal maps. On each screen, you can press F12 to bring up Layer Data. Then you choose the map number and screen number you want for each layer.

What a lot of people do is set aside entire maps for layer screens. For example, if I was starting a new level that I knew was going to heavily use layer 1 and layer 3, I would design the main map on Map 1, put all the layer 1 screens on Map 2, and all the layer 3 screens on Map 3. This way, when I go to assign layers for each screen, the screen numbers would align and I wouldn't have to remember which layer was where (meaning, if I was setting up layers for screen 7B, then layer 1 and layer 3 would also use screen 7B, and I'd only have to change their map numbers to 2 and 3).

And if you go with that setup, you can click the "Auto" button below the layer data and it'll automatically match all the screens on one map to their counterparts on another map - just choose the map you want to use, and every screen will be set.

Really, if you've got 15 minutes, just check this video. It uses a deprecated ZQuest layout, but the concepts are the same, and it gives good visual examples of layers in action.



I should note, there's also layers -2 and -3. If you press F9 to bring up Screen Data, the "S.Flags 1" tab will have checkboxes for "Layer 2/3 Is Background." This takes layer 2 or 3 and draws it beneath layer 0. Walkability on a negative layer matches its positive counterpart, so layer -2 maintains walkability while layer -3 ignores it. This tends to be useful for situations involving functionality limitations, such as where you want to layer a certain combo type but that combo type only functions on layer 0 (i.e. water), or if one undercombo per screen is too limiting.

#3 ZCnoob

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Posted 11 June 2019 - 06:40 AM

Thank you for the information, this was really helpful




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