json.lua VS tiled

One option might be to look at the Path of Building “Data” folder. If you need them in another format (e.g. json), it wouldn’t be that hard to write a Lua script to export them in your preferred format (using this json library, for example.

If you don't want to reinvent the wheels, you might want a json encoder to transform data into strings and back. Or bitser if you want better performance and smaller files in exchange for human-readability.

Honestly, I just went with JSON because there's a nice Lua library for it (thank you https://github.com/rxi/json.lua).

I haven't thought about the file format much so far, just the experience of writing in it as if it's the "ground truth". We all seldom open our text files in a hex editor.

JSON https://github.com/rxi/json.lua

Get json.lua from here. Put it in your project directory alongside file1.lua.

Good point. How about this? It allows you to encode/decode Lua values into/from JSON.

I like this json library and tend to use it for save files (also makes them easy to edit by hand while debugging). It gets angry if you use tables with a mix of string and numerical keys, but I'd advise against that anyway. I've also used binser, which is also effective and easy to use.

lua json module can be found from here: https://github.com/rxi/json.lua

When you decide on the high-level design of the resume, start building your map in Tiled. You can customise the map from the basic game you already have or build your one from scratch - just try and see what works best for you.

A more sophisticated approach may be to use something like Tiled (https://www.mapeditor.org), but it typically takes a lot of code to to parse a Tiled map, so I wouldn’t start there. The exact needs of your game will dictate the approaches you use. Starting simple means you can make good, visible progress getting your game to work. And I’m sure that plenty of real games have shipped where the levels are just text files.

When I first messed with Phaser, I just used a 2D array to plop in my tiles, but that was very tedious. That's when I discovered the Tiled map editor! I was able to "paint" with my tilemap to create a map with various layers. I made a ground layer, a wall layer, an enemy layer, and a potion layer.

There is also Tiled from https://www.mapeditor.org/ as a tilemap editor.

and for the map creation side there is plenty of software ! this one is nice and open source and free etc etc : https://www.mapeditor.org/

PolishedMap, for use in-game. But, if you're just sketching stuff out, PolishedMap doesn't have the most convenient UI, so something quick with great features like Tiled works well

I use Tiled with this tileset I found in Pilot NET. The maps it creates are entirely form over function - no fancy art or effects unless you add them a different way - but they're very legible. Then I use Foundry's drawing tools to sketch out outlines for cover, object sizes, etc. (Here's an example of a map I made for a Train Heist combat - orange is Size 1, yellow is soft cover, purple is difficult terrain, and so on.)

If you want to add grids or hexes, you’ll need to edit the image in an image editor to add those. I’d suggest looking at TileD at https://www.mapeditor.org or something along those lines.