ZOME

While tilemap editors are fairly common on the existing market, there's always room for improvements. ZOME aims to be a simple, even basic, tilemap editor, giving users the opportunity of reaching their level-editing goals faster and easier. There aren't tons of features included in this particular program, yet it's not always best to have lots of features if you really can't or won't use them.

For some, already used with your average menu-filled apps, this is going to need some adapting to. While it's clean and easy to use, having to deal with quite a bunch of hotkeys might become a nuisance for some. Whether you need to load map data, save it, import tileset images, trim or paint your creation, there's no shortage of key combinations for launching all these particular tasks. For example, if you want to select a tile situated below your cursor, Shift + Right Click are your best friends. If you want to quickly fill an area with a certain tile, Alt + Ctrl will do the trick.

While many tile editors might encounter loading issues and choppiness, ZOME seems to have no such symptoms. It works smoothly and accurately. With it, whatever levels you want to work on shall be done in no time. Simply load up your image file, set the appropriate side for one particular unit within your tilemap, and you are set. Don't waste time converting any of your images, as this application will most likely be compatible with the format your files find themselves in. Once you're done, use Ctrl + S command to save your creation as JSON type file.

ZOME is an application that will help most retro game designers in their quest to create the perfect level. It's easy to use, and the fact that the resulting files can quickly be integrated into whatever project you've got going on is definitely a good thing. You won't fill anything missing, even though ZOME is quite basic in appearance and functionality.