


'Load Item' can also import several other formats into the tree. png, but it is also possible to save any branch of the tree separately using 'Load Item' and 'Save Item' on the resource navigator tool bar. A complete cartridge is simply the whole resource tree saved as a single. To save or load a cartridge, use the buttons at the very top right or CTRL-S to quick-save / CTRL-L to load. adding voxels to a prop), but some are limited by the context (you can not undo structural changes in the resource tree once the navigator loses focus). The navigator is used both to select which object to edit, and also which object to place in a room. While it is in focus, a thin pink border is shown to indicate that some operations (undo, copy, paste) apply to the resource tree. Object definitions are accessed via the resource navigator at the bottom right. (The name can be anything you like, and does not need to be unique unless you are using it to pick out object definition by name in a Lua script.) At the top right you can find the name of the object and its definition id number. The central section of the designer interface displays the object currently being edited. The instance id picks out a single instance of the object in the game world.įor example, there might be a single flower model in the resource tree (with it's own definition id), but then many instances of that flower placed in a room, where each instance has its own instance id. The definition id picks out a single object definition in the resource tree.

It is important to understand the difference between definition ids and instance id. For example, a door in one room might open when a switch in another room has been flipped, and would check this using the switch's instance id. This allows objects to refer to each other across rooms. Voxatron is a room-orientated engine only one room is shown or simulated at one time.Įvery object definition and every object instance each have a global integer id that is unique to the whole cartridge. Like animations, they are also represented as a folder of components including animations, emitters - you can double click on an actor in the resource navigator to see what's inside.Ī room is a collection of props (typically arranged into scenery), actors and other object instances, each with their own XYZ position along with rules about when they should appear. The most common actors are monsters, players and pickups. Objects that can move around in the game world and interact with each other are called actors. An animation is a collection of frames (each one a prop) stored in a single folder along with additional properties such as how fast the animation should be played. Props are the most basic type of object and consist of a single voxel model. Object definitions are stored in a browsable tree (similar to a file system) referred to as the 'Resource Tree'. Objects include actors, pickups, rooms, music, sound and scripts. Each cartridge is stored as a standard png image file that can be shared with other users.Īnything that might appear in the game world is an object. They are more precisely described as points without any geometric properties beyond their position in a regular grid, but Voxatron's default renderer displays them as cubes.Ī Voxatron cartridge typically contains one playable game similar to a real-world console cartridge. For example, to the extent that pixels can be thought of as little coloured squares that make up a larger image, voxels can be thought of as little coloured cubes. Anything that can be said about a pixel in 2D can be said about a voxel in 3D. Such displays already exist in the real world but are still very rare, so Voxatron also provides a simulated volumetric display that can be viewed on standard 2D monitors.Ī voxel is the 3D version of a pixel. The display can be visualised as an animated diorama placed on a table and viewed from any angle. It has an unusual display format: a 128x128圆4 block of tiny holographic cubes that can light up in patterns to form scenery, characters, text and any other visible elements. Voxatron is a fantasy console for making and playing volumetric games and other computer programs.
