As some of you already know, I have been working on an editor for Faceball lately. Usually I would wait until everything has a certain quality before I publish first results. However, I feel like everyone already waited long enough to play Faceball so I decided to do alpha release this time.
Some words about the installation: It is programmed in c# which means you will need to install .Net 4.0 to run it. You can get it here for free: http://www.microsoft.com/de-de/download/details.aspx?id=17718 . If you use Windows 7 chances are good you already have it installed without knowing. Other then that, just extract the zip-file and start the FacEdit.exe. That’s it, the editor will setup empty levels containing one enemy and the player.
About the editor: Using it is pretty simple. You draw with a left click and delete with a right-click. All of the object stuff should be self-explaining. “Save” saves the project, “Patch” patches everything to the ROM and “Start” starts the game using Mednafen. “Flash” opens Flashboy. “1-1 Test” patches a ROM that contains the currently selected level as level 1-1 (to make the testing easier) and starts it. The Export button lets you save your current level as an XML file. The Import Button lets you import an exported XML file.
What is missing?: Well, some stuff on the UI level. You can add and remove stuff but changing stuff is not possible. I can also modify the behavior of enemies (the way they attack, move and stuff) which is not support by the editor right now. I also know how to change the orientation at start time of enemies which is not supported by the editor as well. On top of that, some enemies are treated in a special way in the game. That’s why Shieldman is missing his shield. Also Ninja is missing his clone. Death occupies other enemies and respawns them which is kind of tricky. There is one more I can’t remember right now.
Finally, there are no security check. The game likes to crash when you add more then 20 enemies. I saw it getting glitchy earlier. I guess there are similar limitations to walls and items. The overview map gets glitch if you set stuff outside of the level boundaries. I tested everything as good as I can but there might be an enemy or two not working the way I intended. You can also build levels without enemies which leads to an instant win.
Please remember that this is an alpha version. There will be more advanced version of the editor. I will try to keep the savefiles compatible but I can’t promise. If you find BUGs please tell me. If you feel the urgent need to request features, well… do it.
Other then that: Have fun.
Here is a screenshot. I will make another video soon that shows how easy everything actually is.
