[RESOLVE'D] Making files with a Level Editor

[Connorses]

First, I'd like to let you know that I have made a level editor in the past, however, this editor only exported strings of lines of Lua code. The game had a loadLevel(number) function with a lot of if statements and the levels were basically hard-coded into the game. I would much rather save and load individual files, especially since I'm considering releasing the editor with the game.

What I'm looking for is a general solution for creating a new level data file and/or loading files. I looked at the filesystem commands on the Wiki and there was no obvious function for this, which means I would have to create a new text file by hand in the save directory if I want to start a new level. I don't mind doing this, but I know I've seen love2D games with level editors, so any help is appreciated!

[veethree]

love.filesystem.newFile/write/read is pretty much the way to go about this.

[Connorses]

Thanks, I got it to save and load something today... I did not realize when reading about these commands that when you write to a nonexistent file it creates the file.

Now I just need to read up on the data format since I'm not especially familiar with this.

[arampl]

May I ask why you decided to switch from Lua files to some other format?
I find it as the best text format for my own data files (GUI, levels, configuration, etc.).
And to load it all you need is simple "require".
Maybe harder for editor to generate such files but not that hard...
If you mean to use data files from languages other than Lua then Lua embedding is at hand.

[Connorses]

I would like to keep the level editor as part of the game so the end-user can mess with it, so it should be able to export and load custom levels. If I were to package the game as a .exe, could it still load levels saved as .lua files? I honestly don't know how that would work.

Also none of this really even matters yet. I obviously have no idea what I'm doing when I try to use love.filesystem.write because the files it generates are NOT text files.

Halp.

[arampl]

I would like to keep the level editor as part of the game so the end-user can mess with it, so it should be able to export and load custom levels. If I were to package the game as a .exe, could it still load levels saved as .lua files? I honestly don't know how that would work.

It works for .love file on Linux (by requiring external file in user's save directory). I can't check .exe on Windows right now but big chances are will work too.

Also none of this really even matters yet. I obviously have no idea what I'm doing when I try to use love.filesystem.write because the files it generates are NOT text files.

Strange. This works:

Code: Select all

function love.load()
	data = "sdfsdfsdfsdfds"
	love.filesystem.write("test.txt", data, #data)
end

It creates text file.

[Connorses]

All right. I probably should have just posted my source code. I was going about this whole thing wrong. In fact, I learned quite a few things today.

For example, if you package your game as an executable or an app as per the instructions in the Wiki, it still contains ALL your source code. This is somewhat unorthodox if you're trying to make a game with the goal of selling it.

EDIT: I did find some info on how you could distribute a Love2D game with the compiled bytecode instead, but it's a thread from 2013, so at some point I'll have to figure out if their method is still compatible and/or whether I can recreate it. For now, I won't worry about all that. I'll just save levels as Lua code and I will figure out how to make the level editor export/load them later. Looks like it'll all work out though.