Level, come here!!

Ok i am drawing maps using an array of images like so

map(0,1) = 1

so the tile 0,1 is picture 1

is there a way i can declare a load of these in a module or text file and call them from a form. eg. instead of saying on form load draw map(0,1)= 2, map(0,2) =1 etc, could i just have draw.map1

or something

You can load it from a text file. The text file would look like this:

Code:

---


wwwwwwww
wwsssssw
wsggtgsw
wsgggsww
wwssswww

---

You don't need to use numbers, you can for example use "w" for water, "s" for sand, "g" for grass, "t" for a tree, etc :)

Now, to load that into the map array, use this:

VB Code:

Dim X as Long, Y as Long, TempStr as String
 
Open App.Path & "\Map.txt" For Input As #1
 
For Y = 0 to 5
    Line Input #1, TempStr
    For X = 0 to 7
        Map(X, Y) = Mid(TempStr, X+1, 1)
    Next X
Next Y
 
Close #1

Now, if you use numbers instead of the letters I used, it will work just fine, but you'll be limited to tiles 0 to 9. All you have to do is make each tile in the map a fixed-lenght string (with a lenght of 1), and you can use all the characters you want :)

hmmm, but how does this code know where to look for the tile image?

Same way the code I wrote you does.

If you don't have too many tiles, you can use a Select Case... of course the most efficient way would be a binary file, but for that you'd have to create a map editor :)