[Update] Hocus Pocus Level editor v1.2

[Hisymak]

[Update] New version (1.2) was released. Go to the new post about the update.

Hello there!
I've just registered on this forum to tell you that I just have finished my work on a new Level Editor for Hocus Pocus.
I was looking for an editor for this game for a long time. Of course I downloaded and tried out Camoto Studio, but I found it incomplete and not capable of editing all features of the game. I also ran into an editor called Hocus Creation Station, but it was quite hard to use and I don't think it could edit everything too.
So finally I decided to make my own editor, which would be easy to use and complete in terms of level editing. And after almost two months of work the editor is finally here!

Download here:
http://www67.zippyshare.com/v/O20cIquU/file.html

Here are also screenshots (to prove I'm telling you truth):



I'd like to ask you for testing the editor a bit and telling me if you find anything wrong.
Currently Hocus Pocus v1.1 full version is supported, but the editor supports configuration for different versions of the game.

Here is some more info about the editor:

Installation:
Just unzip all files into your Hocus Pocus game folder.
You can set up paths (your game and Dosbox folder) and several other settings in HocusEditor.ini file - it will be created after opening and closing the program first time.

Feature list:
- Open/save maps directly from/to HOCUS.DAT file or an external map file
- Advanced map editing possibilities, allowing you make maps more easily and fast:
- Three editing modes: Basic Tile mode, Pattern mode and Block mode
- Predefined Pattern and Block presets for each tileset, ability to add your own presets
- Undo&Redo feature
- Copy&Paste feature (works also between different maps)
- Fill area feature
- Auto-place window edges feature
- Shift map feature
- Full support for editing all special objects and events (teleports, monsters, switches, locks...)
- Support for editing animation and monster data
- Show/hide specific map layers, show grid feature
- Minimap feature (providing schematic overview of all map)
- Save map image feature
- Simple statistics (number of crystals, healing potions, points etc. in a map)
- Test map feature (map is saved, game is launched in Dosbox, tested level is "saved" on the first savegame slot)
- Many keyboard shortcuts, pattern/block presets can be quickly selected with keys (1,2,3,4,5,...,Q,W,E,R,T,...)

NOTE: The controls of the editor may seem to be a bit complicated - there are many different actions for different mouse buttons (left, right, middle) and their combinations with Shift and Ctrl keys. I strongly recommend reading the help and getting familiar with the controls, so that you will be able to use full potential of editing possibilities and make your maps easily and fast.

[Lunick]

Wow, thankyou!

[MainMemory]

This is pretty nice. I've been trying to figure out how to design a level editor for my "HocusSharp" tool set for a while now, but I guess I don't really need to now. The only issue I can think of is that there's no way to see what's behind a destroyable/removable area without disabling the entire foreground.

[Hisymak]

I actually wonder whether there is still anyone who is interested in making any new Hocus Pocus levels with the editor. I'd really like to see and play some cool new levels, because the originals are sometimes boring (the difficulty is childish and the level design and gameplay is repetitive, especially in higher episodes). So will there ever be any mods or level packs for this nice classic game?

[DOSGuy]

This is very cool! Hocus Pocus is one of my favourite games.

If you need somewhere to host it, I'd be happy to add it to the site. I want to encourage these kinds of projects, and I'm going to add a modding section to the site that will include a few of my own level editors. I could probably set you up with FTP access if you'd like to be able to upload updates without having to going through me. (Same goes for anyone else who has created a level editor.)

[MrFlibble]

If you need somewhere to host it, I'd be happy to add it to the site. I want to encourage these kinds of projects, and I'm going to add a modding section to the site that will include a few of my own level editors.

This sounds like a very good idea!

In fact, archiving all sorts of modding tools, mods and custom levels for old games is a very important endeavour on its own. Not to derail the discussion, but a while ago I found a site archived by the Wayback Machine which has some downloads of user levels for Abuse (including those compatible with the shareware version). The Abuse community seems to have dissipated, and there is no centralised place to get these levels (and others which have not been preserved by the Wayback Machine), even though all levels can be played either with the fRaBs open source version or with the ports of Abuse that were allowed by Dave Taylor to distribute the registered data.

[Hisymak]

This is very cool! Hocus Pocus is one of my favourite games.

If you need somewhere to host it, I'd be happy to add it to the site. I want to encourage these kinds of projects, and I'm going to add a modding section to the site that will include a few of my own level editors. I could probably set you up with FTP access if you'd like to be able to upload updates without having to going through me. (Same goes for anyone else who has created a level editor.)

Thanks!
I already got the editor hosted on Modding Wiki (shikadi.net), but it's good idea to host it also on classicdosgames.com, so that there is better chance that someone can potentially find it. So good luck with setting up the new Modding section. It's also nice to hear that there are more level editors existing.

[Hisymak]

I'd like to note this (as I haven't explicitly mentioned this in my first post):
If you have already tried out this editor and ran into any problem with it or do not know how to use it, please don't hesitate and let me know about it (send me email (kozten@seznam.cz), PM or post your question here). I'm really willing to help and assist you and do some improvements and changes in the program, as this is the very first release of the editor tested by no one except me, and you are the first people to meet with the editor. I admit that there can be some errors and confusing points in the program and I haven't written any documentation or video tutorial about it yet (as I suck in doing these), but if you are really interested in the editor and want to use it, you can contribute by giving me some feedback.
I also wanted to make some sample custom map which would show and demonstrate the possibilities of level editing, but I thought that editing the levels for this game is so much simple that anybody who knew well this game would not have any problem with it. But I still can make one if it will help.
Thank you very much in advance!

[robert]

I've tried the editor and it is awesome! Very easy to use, but there are some stuff that I would like to know:

- How can I set a level's time?
- Why is there a "Hidden" mode?
- In the "Level properties" there's a section about Animation, could you explain a little bit about how it works?

Thanks in advance, and thanks for sharing your awesome tool!

P.S. Please excuse my lack of speech, I'm still learning the language

[Hisymak]

Hello and thank you for asking these questions! These will help me with making some more detailed help document for the editor as this way I can see what is confusing for most users.

1. There is no way to set the level time - it is currently unknown, where the time information is stored in the game files, it can be probably hardcoded in exe.
2. Hidden layer is a special third layer which serves only to store tiles which are not initially visible, but are "spawned" by flipping a switch or entering a specific tile (Switch and Insert tiles actions). If you view some levels, tiles in the hidden layer are marked with white diagonal stripes.
3. For each tile in the tileset there is animation information. For most tiles there is no animation, but there can be two types animations: permanent and random animation. Permanent is used on lava, spikes and crystal, random is used on treasure, keys and keyholes (and spikes in polar levels). For each tile within the animation range you simply set animation type, first and last tile index of the range (just look at how it is set for existing levels).

If you already made some level or tried to do some modification, you can send it to me as I'm quite curious about the new stuff (you can simply export the level to a .hpm file which I can then easily view on my side).
Thank you once more!

[robert]

Thank you for claryfing my doubts, I haven't made any complete level yet, but as soon as one is finnished I'll send it to you! I'm not actually very fan of Hocus Pocus so it will take me some time haha

[Hisymak]

Just for information, someone has recently supplemented the information about level time limit on modding wiki: http://www.shikadi.net/moddingwiki/Hocu ... time_limit . So it is hardcoded as I originally thought, I can add support for editing it if I make a new release of HocusEditor. For now you can simply use hex editor.
Good luck with making your first full new level.

[arthurdecastro]

Love this so much. When I was young, my PC was a Pentium (100 mhz) with 16 MB RAM and a Windows 98 (yeah, runs kinda slow). One of the firsts (if not the first) CD Games I got from my father was just some shareware's from Apogee. There was Alien Carnage, Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins, Hocus Pocus....

Hocus Pocus is, certainly, my favorite game in the CD. Seeing that someone has made a level editor is very good to the heart xD

Now, on college, I need create in one week a platform game (on Construct 2), and I've decide to get the sprites from HP (since I'm no artist, so I can't do sprites by myself - yet). When I finished this one, I could probably recreate the levels I'm gonna do to the HP itself thanks to you.

I just wonder: can I change the background of the map? (and why can't I see them in the editor?).

[Hisymak]

When I was young, my PC was a Pentium (100 mhz) with 16 GB RAM

You probably meant 16 MB, right?

Seeing that someone has made a level editor is very good to the heart xD

Thank you man! Actually making the editor was a big pleasure for me, althrough so far I got no inspiration to make some level with it.
And the level format was already reverse-engineered many years ago and a level editor was partially made by one guy, but was not fully complete and not really well-known in the public.

Now, on college, I need create in one week a platform game (on Construct 2), and I've decide to get the sprites from HP (since I'm no artist, so I can't do sprites by myself - yet). When I finished this one, I could probably recreate the levels I'm gonna do to the HP itself thanks to you.

That sounds really great. Currently there is real lack of custom levels and mods for Hocus Pocus, so I will definitely appreciate playing something new, rather than the originals with quite repetitive level design and childish difficulty. So go for it!

I just wonder: can I change the background of the map? (and why can't I see them in the editor?).

The background probably can be changed, but use a different program for it: http://www.shikadi.net/camoto
I personally haven't tried changing any graphics with it as I had no need for it, but as I see that people would like to use their custom graphics, I will need to try it and test with the editor as well.
You cannot see the background image in editor simply because the background is parallax horizontally and static vertically in-game so there is no proper way how to render it in editor, but having light blue as a background is okay isn't it?

Just to note I am planning to do a new release of HocusEditor (version 1.1) which will add possibility to edit par times and will have some improvements in the editing interface (according to my experience with making Vinyl Goddess from Mars level editor) and I will also add a readme file with basic instructions how to use the editor and make things because there is none right now. So stay tuned please.

[arthurdecastro]

When I was young, my PC was a Pentium (100 mhz) with 16 GB RAM

You probably meant 16 MB, right?

Yes, MB, how dumb am I ><" (16 gb is what I got nowdays... fuck)

And yeah, no problem with the background xD