Table of contents
Enhanced Map Tiles
What is an enhanced map tile?
An enhanced map tile (represented by the EnhancedMapTile class in the Level package) is a MapEntity subclass. The idea behind this class is that it acts just like a MapTile does in every way, but with the ability to define its own update and draw logic instead of just going with the MapTile's default logic. This allows a map tile to essentially do whatever it wants while still being counted as a map tile, meaning the Player will still consider it during its collision checks based on the EnhancedMapTile's tile type. Like every MapEntity subclass, an EnhancedMapTile during its update cycle will be given a reference to the Player instance, so it is able to interact with the player directly.
And yes, I know the name “enhanced map tile” is dumb, I couldn’t think of a better name to describe these at the time and now I’m over it.
Enhanced Map Tile Subclass
In the EnhancedMapTiles package, there is currently one subclass of the EnhancedMapTile class – PushableRock. The PushableRock class defines an enhanced map tile in the game, which can be seen in the TestMap map.
Adding a new enhanced map tile to the game
This is simple – create a new class in the EnhancedMapTiles package, subclass the EnhancedMapTile class, and then just implement desired logic from there. I recommend copying an existing enhanced map tile class as a “template” of sorts to help set up and design the enhanced map tile.
Adding an enhanced map tile to a map
In a map subclass’s loadEnhancedMapTiles method, enhanced map tiles can be defined and added to the map’s enhanced map tile list. For example, in TestMap, a PushableRock is created and added to the enhanced map tile list:
@Override
public ArrayList<EnhancedMapTile> loadEnhancedMapTiles() {
ArrayList<EnhancedMapTile> enhancedMapTiles = new ArrayList<>();
PushableRock pushableRock = new PushableRock(getMapTile(2, 7).getLocation());
enhancedMapTiles.add(pushableRock);
return enhancedMapTiles;
}
Enhanced map tiles currently in game
Pushable Rock
This enhanced map tile is defined by the PushableRock class. It is what it sounds like – a rock that can be pushed around by the player.
Not going to lie, getting this to work was a lot tougher than I expected, and required a ton of fine-tuning to ensure pushing the rock went in the correct direction. And there were a bunch of other odd bugs. But I’m very happy with it now – pushing blocks out of the way is a staple of this gaming genre!
The image file for the PushableRock is Rock.png.