To build a quest for Solarus (such as Zelda: Mystery of Solarus DX), we are developing and using a map editor. Even if there is no stable release yet (and no full documentation about how to use it), we explain here how you can run the current development version of this editor.

The quest editor

A screenshot of the quest editor.

The source code of the editor is available in the tools directory of the SVN repository.

Current features

The quest editor currently allows to create and modify maps, but most of the quest files need to be modified by hand. Furthermore, the current version of the editor is primarily designed to edit a quest with Zelda ALTTP graphics. This is because before 2010, there was no real separation between Solarus (the engine, i.e. the C++ code) and Zelda: Mystery of Solarus (the quest, i.e. the data files). The engine was designed to run this particular quest only. Now, this separation exists and the engine may run any quest that respects the specification of quest files. However,  this important modification is not entirely reflected in the editor yet. I need to make quite important changes so that the editor can edit any quest normally. Until then, I cannot make an official release of the editor.

Launch the editor

You can compile the editor and launch it from SVN (in the directory trunk/tools), but there is also a Java Web Start version that is much easier to run (and I try to keep it up-to-date with respect to the SVN version):

When you run the editor, a dialog box asks you to choose the directory of the quest that you want to edit. The best way to make your own quest is to edit a copy of the quest Zelda: Mystery of Solarus (i.e. the directory trunk/quests/zsdx from SVN) with another name. Creating a new empty quest with the quest editor does not work well for now. And creating it manually from scratch by reading carefully the documentation is possible, but hard!

Editing the demo release of Zelda: Mystery of Solarus DX

If you have played the demo release of Zelda: Mystery of Solarus DX, you may want to try to modify it.

Note that this demo cannot be modified with the current SVN version of the editor, because many changes have been made in the format of the quests since the demo version was released. Consequently, you need to use the old version of the editor. This old version is available in the directory tags/demo1.0/tools from SVN, or more easily with a Java Web Start version that can be run here.

Then, you can edit the quest files of the demo. You can find these quest files in the directory tags/demo1.0/data of the SVN repository or by downloading the source code of the demo. Note that when you download the demo release without its source code, the quest files cannot be modified with the editor, even if you extract them.

Running the game with your quest

You obviously want to run your quest to test it in game. To do this, you need to compile the most recent version of Solarus (the engine) from SVN (or the old version if you are editing the demo release of Zelda: Mystery of Solarus). If you are not a developer, I can provide the already compiled executable file that you need: just contact me. Then, put the data directory of your quest in the same directory as the executable file and run the executable file. See the compilation instructions page for more information about how to compile the game and run a quest.

While running the game, you can edit a map and see the changes without even closing the game. Just leave the map and come back: your changes are immediately visible.

Need more information?

Fell free to contact me to get more information about how to edit a quest or if you have some trouble with the editor.