Level Editing Off the Beaten Path

I think storing maps as images is quite common actually for simple games not made in a game engine that handles maps.<p>You can also use the drawn map as a template, and add random details (random variants of each tile). Also, you&#x27;ll quickly find you want to use more sophisticated autotiling which handles multiple tile types meeting, and special cases. Here&#x27;s an article about autotiling by defining rulesets which goes into more detail: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.squidi.net&#x2F;three&#x2F;entry.php?id=166" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.squidi.net&#x2F;three&#x2F;entry.php?id=166</a>

That technique is older than a lot of game devs. ;)<p>Alternatively use some ASCII painting tool and use characters for the indexes.

Well written, but as others have mentioned, this technique is almost as old and well-known as game development itself.<p>However, it&#x27;s still pretty cool and refreshing to use. See e.g. Notch&#x27; Ludum Dare streams where he makes his levels in Paint.net: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.twitch.tv&#x2F;notch&#x2F;b&#x2F;293084461" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.twitch.tv&#x2F;notch&#x2F;b&#x2F;293084461</a> about 3:23:00 in.