@GreWeb

A long time ago, video games were only two-dimensional. Of-course this was due to our poor hardware capabilities, but when computers became faster and faster 3D games appeared in mass.
Did it kill 2D games? Nope. They continue to exist because it offer a different gameplay and are easier to make. Maybe also a bit because we are nostalgic of old-school games!

We can distinguish two kinds of 2D games:

Tile based games where the game world is simplified with a big grid – each grid position has some properties.
A map editor is not always needed for tile based games, because the map can be straighforward to represent and maintain like in a Bomberman or in a Pacman. A simple editor is generally used to make graphism with sprites.

Non-tile based games, which can be called “polygon based games” are more complex.
In such game, like a Worms or a Sonic, it’s totally crazy to write the map by hand (objects positions, polygons coordinates, …). The alternative, is not to use predefined maps, but on-the-fly generated maps which doesn’t fit every games.

Making the game engine is one thing, but designing the game levels can be one big work too and we need tools to make it easier.

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A long time ago, video games were only two-dimensional. Of-course this was due to our poor hardware capabilities, but when computers became faster and faster 3D games appeared in mass....