[LibGDX] Storing Leveldata in 2D Arrays

Newbie & Debugging Questions
#1

I am pretty new to LibGDX and game developing in general and i am currently writing my first game (a breakout clone) with LibGDX.

I have tried to store the Leveldata (positions of Blocks) in a 2-dimensional array like this:


// 1 = block, 0 = empty
levelArray = new int[][] {
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
		{1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1},
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
		{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0}
};

Currently there are only normal blocks, that can be destroyed by the ball. In the future i will implement unbreakable blocks and blocks that drop upgrades like more balls or balls that break through blocks.

When a new game (or level) is created i iterate over the Array and create the blocks like this:


brickStorage = BrickStorage.getInstance();
for(int y = 0; y < levelArray.length; y++) {
	for(int x = 1; x < levelArray[y].length; x++) {
		if(levelArray[y][x] == 1)
			brickStorage.add(
				new Brick((x*BRICK_WIDTH+MAP_EDGE)/PIXEL_TO_METER,(y*BRICK_HEIGHT-MAP_EDGE)/PIXEL_TO_METER));
	}
}

My question now is, if i want to create a new level i have to write another array. Is there a better way to store Block positions and types when loading a new level?

If further code is needed i will of course edit it here :slight_smile:

#2

I use classes to denote levels. For example,


public class Map01 extends MapInfo
{
    public Map01()
    {
        MapData = "BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB\n" +
                  "B               B\n" +
                  "B  S  S   S  S  B\n" +
                  "B S S S S S S S B\n" +
                  "B S S S S S S S B\n" +
                  "B S S S S S S S B\n" +
                  "B  S  S   S  S  B\n" +
                  "B               B\n" +
                  "B       o       B\n" +
                  "B        b      B\n" +
                  "BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB";
        MapLoader = Game.MapLoader;
    }
}

And MapLoader has method called [icode]getObject()[/icode] in which I hardcode the objects.


public class MapLoader extends BasicMapLoader
{
    public GObject getObject(char id, int tileX, int tileY)
    {
        switch (id)
        {
            case 'B':  return new Block(tileX, tileY); break;
            case ' ':  return null; break;
            case 'S':  return new Stone(tileX, tileY); break;
            case 'o':  return new Ball(tileX, tileY); break;
            case 'b':  return new Bat(tileX, tileY); break;
        }
    }
}

And here is my [icode]loadMap()[/icode] method.


public void loadMap(MapInfo map)
{
    int tileX = 0;  int tileY = 0;
    int tileSize = 32;   // Fixed for my game

    currentMap.destroyAllObjects();

    for (char ch : map.MapData.toCharArray())
    {
        if (ch == '\n')
        {
            tileY += tileSize;
            tileX = 0;
            continue;
        }

        GObject obj = map.MapLoader.getObject(ch, tileX, tileY);

        if (obj != null)
            currentMap.addObject(obj);

        tileX += tileSize;
    }
}

This works and is easier for me to change maps. You can guess what the other objects has.

#3

Thank you for pointing my to a better direction. I will come up with my own solution to this and then post it here as a refernce for other ppl :).

#4

I would use files to store the level data. You could then load a certain file based on the level you want.

#5

@Longarmx

Using files is easier too. But I prefer classes because I don’t want others to edit my levels.

#6

If people really wanted to, they could edit your classes :wink:

#7

@Longarmx

That’s a possibility too. But it may be a bit enough from getting edited by common players. I can still obfuscate my code using progaurd.

#8

I now have my own solution (well pretty much as it has been very inspired by SHCs solution^^)

I create a class for each Level:


public class Level1 extends BasicLevel {
	public Level1() {
		levelData = "MMMMMMMMMMMMMM\n" +
					"MMMMMMMMMMMMMM\n" +
					"EEEEEEEEEEEEEE\n" +
					"E            E\n" +
					"E BBBBBBBBBB E\n" +
					"E BBBBBBBBBB E\n" + 
					"E BBBBBBBBBB E\n" +
					"E BBBBBBBBBB E\n" +
					"E            E\n" +
					"EEEEEEEEEEEEEE\n";
	}
}

After trying it with 2D-Arrays i figured SHCs solution is much easier to handle so i use chars to figure out where to put everything…

Every Level is initialised when the game is started in a Storage and there put into an ArrayList. That way i can get every level by just calling:


levelStorage.getLevel(1) //returns level 1

The current level is also saved as an int value in the Storage class, so that i can change to the next level by just adding 1 :).

#9

@sirkarpfen

You can also make a MapManager. You can see mine here MapInfo.java. You can even extend it to make layered maps. Make sure you read that package’s every class.

#10

Well for my purpose the storage is enough. If i will sometimes create more complex maps i will think about actually writing a MapManager :).