Optikon: A WYSIWYG Level Designer for LÖVE

[Optikon]

Focus more on building beautiful levels, and less on coding.

Optikon is a free and simple drag-and-drop level designer, which makes stunning 2D level design in LÖVE possible for everybody.

Optikon is a work in progress. Stick with us as we continue to roll out updates and add new and exciting features.

To get started, download Optikon here: https://optikon.co.uk/download.html and run the installation file. Optikon supports 64-bit and 32-bit Windows 7 , 8 and 10 machines. You can run Optikon on Linux and Mac OSX using WINE.

FEATURES

Drag and Drop Level Design

Optikon is a simple drag-and-drop level designer for LÖVE 2D, which generates basic Lua code in real-time as you create your level, so that you can focus more on building great levels and less on repetitive coding. Simply copy and paste this code straight into a .lua file to run your game, or click "Run" in Optikon to play your level in an instant.

The visual level designer (VLD) window is scrollable, which is ideal for large maps and horizontal/vertical platformer games.



What's new?
06/12/2020

• Create your own Custom Components and generated code!

• Fix for the 'duplicate component' bug;

• Stability improvements for Optikon used in WINE on Linux and MacOS.

What's coming?

• File browser and better file management for LOVE Lua projects;

• Improvements to Lua generated code;

• Support for plugins;

• Easy image component animations;

• Run level on connected Android device from PC.

To read our extensive documentation, visit www.optikon.co.uk/documentation

NOTE: (1) Optikon does not export to 'main.lua'. Please note that when exporting your Optikon project (Project > Export Project), you can change the name of the lua file and make your own custom class by manually editing the lua code.

(2) you do not have to credit us or reference your use of this tool in your game, although obviously it would be nice if you did!

(3) you can fully customise Optikon's code output and tailor it to your project.

[Optikon]

This is more suitable for the Libraries and Tools topic - admins please transfer.

[monolifed]

I really can't wait for asset store to open

[Optikon]

I really can't wait for asset store to open

EDIT: We are no longer working on an asset store following user feedback.

[zorg]

The program itself looks really good.

I kinda feel meh about the asset store only because it has "store" in the name; it's not like people weren't already helping the community with their coding issues on here and discord, so i'm assuming it'll mostly be visual/aural(sound) assets and not scripts/code solutions?

[Optikon]

The program itself looks really good.

I kinda feel meh about the asset store only because it has "store" in the name; it's not like people weren't already helping the community with their coding issues on here and discord, so i'm assuming it'll mostly be visual/aural(sound) assets and not scripts/code solutions?

Thanks Zorg, hope you enjoy it!

The Asset Store will comprise only of Optikon levels designed by other users. We'll make that clear when we do finally launch it.

[Optikon]

Ok, so we just released update 1.4.7 and here are some of the new features you can expect:

• You can now move components using the arrow keys on your keyboard for precise placement;

• You can now edit image components after insertion in the visual level designer;

• You can insert vertical and horizon rulers to assist with level design;

• You can duplicate image components using the keyboard shortcut CTRL + D or delete image components using the shortcut 'Del' key on your keyboard;

• Following user feedback we are no longer working on an asset store.

What's coming?

• Improvements to Lua generated code;

• Users will be able to save their levels to the cloud;

• Ability to edit text components after placement;

• Support for plugins;

Download the new version on our website or launch Optikon and it will update automatically.

[That_Effin_Guy...]

Kool, thanks for implementing a feature I requested. (MrChuckBerry here....)

Just thought I'd let you know, uninstalling from the Control Panel on Win 10 doesn't work. The uninstall reports successfully, but the program is still listed and nothing seems to change and it still functions normally, I think. Of course, attempting to uninstall it a second time will prompt Windows to say '...program may have already been deleted...', etc., and then you can remove it from the programs list and just manually delete the Optikon folder. This happens in the 1.0 version and latest version too. Although, both times I installed it to a custom location, not the default Program Files(x86).(it was C:\Tools\Optikon, FYI)

Also, I got quite a few 'exception errors' with the 1.0 version. Running as admin seemed to fix those, but I'm not 100 percent certain. I had spent a couple hours building a map in Optikon - and editing tiles in gimp as I was going along - the last time it happened and I lost it all when I tried to save so that sucked. :/

I haven't messed with the latest version yet so I hope that's been fixed.

Otherwise, it looks to be shaping up nicely. I'll try it out later today.

Edit: I played around with the new version and discovered it wigs out if you have High DPI enabled and drag components or edit the code directly from the tab on the right(window resizes, text glitches, etc.)

Overriding the High DPI scaling from Properties->Compatibily fixes this.

Diggin' the new features, btw.

[Optikon]

Kool, thanks for implementing a feature I requested. (MrChuckBerry here....)

Hi Chuck, good to hear from you! Your other feature requests are on our list and we're working on them.

I can confirm there is a problem with the uninstaller which we will fix in the next update.

Also, I got quite a few 'exception errors' with the 1.0 version. Running as admin seemed to fix those, but I'm not 100 percent certain. I had spent a couple hours building a map in Optikon - and editing tiles in gimp as I was going along - the last time it happened and I lost it all when I tried to save so that sucked. :/

I haven't messed with the latest version yet so I hope that's been fixed.

I'm really sorry to hear that Chuck but the latest versions will have ironed out many of those errors. You shouldn't have to run Optikon in admin mode ever - if you encounter any more exceptions, please do your best to send us a screenshot over at hello@optikon.co.uk.

Edit: I played around with the new version and discovered it wigs out if you have High DPI enabled and drag components or edit the code directly from the tab on the right(window resizes, text glitches, etc.)

Overriding the High DPI scaling from Properties->Compatibily fixes this.

This was an issue with Optikon's DPI-awareness but was fixed in an update pushed out earlier today. You should now find that Optikon handles high DPI scaling just fine.

Diggin' the new features, btw.

I'm so glad, thank you Chuck. We realise Optikon has a long way to go but we'll keep working at it!

[That_Effin_Guy...]

Hi Chuck, good to hear from you! Your other feature requests are on our list and we're working on them.

Kool.

I can confirm there is a problem with the uninstaller which we will fix in the next update.

Also kool.

I'm really sorry to hear that Chuck but the latest versions will have ironed out many of those errors. You shouldn't have to run Optikon in admin mode ever - if you encounter any more exceptions, please do your best to send us a screenshot over at hello@optikon.co.uk.
...
...

This was an issue with Optikon's DPI-awareness. We just fixed this and sent out another update earlier today, and you should now find that Optikon handles your high DPI just fine.

Yeah, I'm running 1.4.8 without admin or DPI compatibility options. So far, so good. Nice work! If I do happen to stumble into another error, I'll try to take a screenshot for you.

I'm so glad, thank you Chuck. We realise Optikon has a long way to go but we'll keep working at it!

I'm looking forward to each update. Good luck!