TRPoser - Mac OS X level editing framework

**Cochrane** · 12-02-13, 11:39

I wanted to share a little something that I've been working on a few months ago. It's been sitting untouched lately because I haven't really figured out what to do with it. Maybe one of you has an idea?

And this is it:

You can get the source code at:

https://github.com/cochrane/TRPoser

Right now, it's a simple level viewer, and not a really good one (lacking portal rendering, for example). My original goal was to develop something like XNALara, but for classic games and on Mac OS X. But then I decided to build a straight XNALara clone for Mac OS X (that thread is over here: http://www.tombraiderforums.com/showthread.php?t=193962 By the way, should that thread be moved in this section? I get the impression that this section is more for classic games). My long-term plan is to integrate this code into GLLara.

However, my level parsing and processing code can also be used for different purposes. The design is very flexible; every structure in the file format is a class, which contains only a string in a domain-specific language describing the contents. The actual implementation of the class is generated at runtime. It's probably the slowest way to read a Tomb Raider level ever, but that's not an issue on modern computers. And since the parsing code is generated automatically, I could also automatically generate code to write levels, so the code can be used to edit or possibly even create levels from scratch.

So what do I do with it? I could create a new engine to play old games on Mac OS X, but that is a lot more effort than I'm willing to undertake. Besides, as you know, others are trying that already ( http://www.tombraiderforums.com/showthread.php?t=195966 ), and I think I can add more value by creating and maintaining a Mac OS X port of these projects.

I could also create a level editor based on this. That could be either a standard room editor, or (which I find more interesting) a completely free-form editor, like Valve's Portal 2 community editor, where the split into rooms would be handled automatically. But without an engine running on Mac OS X (except for TR2, but that is hardly optimal), that would be kind of pointless.

So do you have any suggestions? And of course, if you want to use this code for your own Mac OS X Tomb Raider projects, feel free! I'll be happy to answer any questions you have.

Barry Matharoo · 15-02-13, 16:39

Wow this is very interesting.

But I think this is the wrong place to promote it. Since most of the trle users use windows.

**Cochrane** · 17-02-13, 10:47

My hope is to change that, one day, so I don't think there's a better place to promote it.

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if at least one or two were Mac users who use Windows for TRLE only.

Laras Boyfr. · 17-02-13, 11:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barry Matharoo

But I think this is the wrong place to promote it. Since most of the trle users use windows.

The reason for that is because TRLE works only on Windows

Great work Cochrane! I was wondering yesterday when thinking about the development of my game.
Would it be possible for one to convert a TRLE Custom Game for OSX ?

Barry Matharoo · 17-02-13, 11:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laras Boyfr.

The reason for that is because TRLE works only on Windows

Actually No! U can use vanilla TRLE on mac. Infact MAC had its own version of trwest and strpix for editing and combining the wads

It all became irrelevant with intel based macs!

**Cochrane** · 17-02-13, 18:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laras Boyfr.

Great work Cochrane! I was wondering yesterday when thinking about the development of my game.
Would it be possible for one to convert a TRLE Custom Game for OSX ?

No, we're a long way away from that. Basically, the old TRLE existed only for Mac OS 9, which was a completely different system that was officially buried in 2002. To make your TRLE game run on Macs, one would need a completely new Tomb Raider engine. There is work in that area, but it'll probably be at least a few years until this is really usable.

My hope is that the company that holds the rights to Mac versions of Tomb Raider games releases a new version of the TRLE at some point. They have done so for Tomb Raider II, but that's all at the moment.

12-02-13, 11:39	#1
Cochrane Golden Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Germany Posts: 16,751	TRPoser - Mac OS X level editing framework I wanted to share a little something that I've been working on a few months ago. It's been sitting untouched lately because I haven't really figured out what to do with it. Maybe one of you has an idea? And this is it: You can get the source code at: https://github.com/cochrane/TRPoser Right now, it's a simple level viewer, and not a really good one (lacking portal rendering, for example). My original goal was to develop something like XNALara, but for classic games and on Mac OS X. But then I decided to build a straight XNALara clone for Mac OS X (that thread is over here: http://www.tombraiderforums.com/showthread.php?t=193962 By the way, should that thread be moved in this section? I get the impression that this section is more for classic games). My long-term plan is to integrate this code into GLLara. However, my level parsing and processing code can also be used for different purposes. The design is very flexible; every structure in the file format is a class, which contains only a string in a domain-specific language describing the contents. The actual implementation of the class is generated at runtime. It's probably the slowest way to read a Tomb Raider level ever, but that's not an issue on modern computers. And since the parsing code is generated automatically, I could also automatically generate code to write levels, so the code can be used to edit or possibly even create levels from scratch. So what do I do with it? I could create a new engine to play old games on Mac OS X, but that is a lot more effort than I'm willing to undertake. Besides, as you know, others are trying that already ( http://www.tombraiderforums.com/showthread.php?t=195966 ), and I think I can add more value by creating and maintaining a Mac OS X port of these projects. I could also create a level editor based on this. That could be either a standard room editor, or (which I find more interesting) a completely free-form editor, like Valve's Portal 2 community editor, where the split into rooms would be handled automatically. But without an engine running on Mac OS X (except for TR2, but that is hardly optimal), that would be kind of pointless. So do you have any suggestions? And of course, if you want to use this code for your own Mac OS X Tomb Raider projects, feel free! I'll be happy to answer any questions you have. __________________ Güter auf die Bahn!

15-02-13, 16:39	#2
Barry Matharoo Professor Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 3,657	Wow this is very interesting. But I think this is the wrong place to promote it. Since most of the trle users use windows. __________________ PS VITA games. Why u not load faster?

17-02-13, 10:47	#3
Cochrane Golden Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Germany Posts: 16,751	My hope is to change that, one day, so I don't think there's a better place to promote it. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if at least one or two were Mac users who use Windows for TRLE only. __________________ Güter auf die Bahn!