Reggie Interface

This tutorial will help you understanding how Reggie works, and will explain what the various buttons and options in the editor. Click on any of the encircled areas of the image below to reach the related paragraph.

Canvas
The canvas contains all the level elements rendered as where they will be in the game. Select an item by clicking on it. Select a group of items by clicking and dragging across an area. Click and hold any selected items to drag them around the screen. Right-click on the canvas to paint any selected item from the palette tab.

At the bottom is information such as : On the right is also a handy zoom slider, with buttons to set it to minimum, default and maximum size.
 * Mouse position (both measured in tiles and pixels)
 * Elements under the cursor (if pointed over them)
 * Amount and type of selected elements (if selected), along with additional data related to them.

Palette
The palette is a window that contains all the elements you can add to your level. It is a fully customizable window, meaning you can dock/undock it, resize it, put it as a tab along with the level minimap, but also close it completely. It consists of 8 tabs, explained below, which you can scroll between by using the arrows.

Level Minimap


The minimap shows a preview of your level, and allows you to quickly move through it by clicking on the map. It is a fully automatic window, as it updates itself to always be the best possible size for whatever you have in your level. It's also a fully customizable window, meaning you can dock/undock it, resize it, put it as a tab along with the palette, but also close it completely.

Toolbar


The toolbar is an essential collection of functions you might need while using the level editor. Every item in the toolbar has a keyboard shortcut, and a descriptive tooltip. The first set of buttons is fundamental for level editing : Next up are the zoom buttons. They are incredibly handy for getting a better perspective on large chunks of your level, or on adjusting elements very delicately : The next five buttons control visibility. Selecting or deselecting these options will control which elements you can see on your canvas. For more in-depth explanation as to what these elements are, please refer to this page. The last options are :
 * New File : Creates a new level.
 * Open Level by Name : Allows you to choose from any level from the original game. This option is useful for getting a feel as to how to design your levels, and for looking up references.
 * Save : Saves the current level.
 * Level Screenshot : Allows taking a screenshot of the current area. You can choose between Current Screen, All Zones or a specific Zone.
 * Cut : Cuts the currently selected elements. Please note you cannot cut entrances, paths or locations.
 * Copy : Copies the currently selected elements to the clipboard. Please note you cannot copy entrances, paths or locations.
 * Paste : Pastes the elements in the clipboard into the canvas. Please note that if the copied elements would result offscreen once pasted, they will all be jumbled at the edges of the current canvas screen, so make sure to have the proper zoom level when pasting.
 * Zoom to Maximum : Sets the zoom to the highest possible level.
 * Zoom In : Zooms in.
 * Zoom 100% : Sets the zoom to the default value.
 * Zoom Out : Zooms out.
 * Zoom to Minimum : Sets the zoom to the lowest possible level.
 * Switch Grid : Turns on/switches the type of grid. The grid is extremely useful to align elements properly. There are two types of grid : one is made of outlined white squares, the other is made of semi-transparent squares.
 * Show Layer 0/1/2 : Toggles viewing of Layer 0/1/2 tiles.
 * Show Sprites : Toggles viewing of sprites.
 * Show Locations : Toggles viewing of locations.
 * Area Settings : Opens the area settings window.
 * Zone Settings : Opens the zone settings window.
 * Background Settings : Opens the background settings window.
 * Area Selector : Allows switching between different areas of the level.

Area Settings
This window allows modifying the settings for the current area, such as tilesets, the timer, the starting entrance and other things. You can choose the tileset for each slot by selecting one of the four suites and choosing the tileset you'd like to use. You can also use a custom tileset by typing its name in the text box at the bottom. For further information, please refer to this page.



Zone Settings
This window allows modifying the settings for the zones in the current area. Each zone is a tab. Create and delete zones by clicking New and Delete. There are several options : Dimensions controls its position in the canvas, Rendering and Camera controls settings such as lighting, camera tracking, zoom and layer 0 behaviour, Bounds controls the screen scrolling, while Audio controls the played music and the echo. For further information, please refer to this page.



Background Settings
This window allows modifying the backgrounds for each zone in the current area. Each zone is a tab here as well. Backgrounds can be not be deleted or added, as every zone requires one. There are two types of backgrounds : Scenery (codenamed bgA) which is in front and Backdrop (codenamed bgB) which is in the back. You can set up to three backgrounds for each category, but in reality you can only set one once or multiple times. Other options modify the scrolling speed, zoom and positioning. For further information, please refer to this page.



Drop-down Menus
The drop-down menus contain a huge amount of useful options, along with the hotkeys that you can use to call them.

The File drop-down contains generic level handling options : The Edit drop-down contains several level editing options : The View drop-down contains options for toggling the view of several elements. The Settings drop-down contains generic level setting options. The Help drop-down contains options for information related to the editor and its usage.
 * New Level : Creates a new level.
 * Open Level by Name : Allows you to choose from any level from the original game. This option is useful for getting a feel as to how to design your levels, and for looking up references.
 * Open Level by File : Allows you to open any level file.
 * Recent Files : Lists recently opened levels, to make looking for them easier.
 * Save Level : Saves the current level.
 * Save Level As : Saves the current level in a new file.
 * Save Copy of Level As : Saves the current level in a new file, but does not switch over to that file for editing.
 * Level Information : Allows to add metadata to your level, such as name, author and website, and you can add a password to protect such details.
 * Change Game : Allows you to add custom resources from other game mods into the editor, such as Newer Super Mario Bros. Wii.
 * Level Screenshot : Takes a screenshot of the current area. You can choose between Current Screen, All Zones or a specific Zone.
 * Change Game Path : Allows changing the folder from where Reggie loads levels and tilesets.
 * Reggie Next Preferences : Opens the settings dialog, where you can customize the toolbar buttons, the tileset picker, and the editor's interface style.
 * Exit Reggie Next : Exits the app.
 * Select All : Selects all elements in the area
 * Deselect : Deselects currently selected elements
 * Undo/Redo : Currently broken, but are supposed to undo or redo your last action.
 * Cut : Cuts the currently selected elements. Please note you cannot cut entrances, paths or locations.
 * Copy : Copies the currently selected elements to the clipboard. Please note you cannot copy entrances, paths or locations.
 * Paste : Pastes the elements in the clipboard into the canvas. Please note that if the copied elements would result offscreen once pasted, they will all be jumbled at the edges of the current canvas screen, so make sure to have the proper zoom level when pasting.
 * Shift Items : Allows moving all selected elements by a specific amount of space, both vertically and horizontally.
 * Merge Locations : Allows merging multiple selected locations into a single one.
 * Swap Objects' Tileset : Allows swapping all objects from a tileset to another one, both one-way and two-ways (e.g swapping from Interactive Suite to Background Suite).
 * Swap Objects' Type : Similar to the above option, but more advanced, as it allows swapping specific objects with other ones.
 * Level Diagnostics Tool : Checks the area for known crash issues and reports them. You should use it when possible.
 * Freeze Objects/Sprites/Entrances/Locations/Paths/Comments : Freezes the respective elements, meaning you can't select them, as if they weren't there. This allows easier editing in case of cluttered stages.
 * Layer 0/1/2 : Toggles viewing of Layer 0/1/2 tiles.
 * Tileset Collisions : Toggles an overlay showing the collision properties of tiles. Currently bugged, as it also shows collisions for Layer 0/2 tiles.
 * Tileset Animations : Plays tile animations, if any are available.
 * Real View : Toggles viewing of enviromental sprites, such as water, particles and others.
 * Show Sprites : Toggles viewing of sprites.
 * Show Sprite Images : Toggles viewing of sprite images.
 * Show Locations : Toggles viewing of locations.
 * Show Paths : Toggles viewing of paths.
 * Show Comments : Toggles viewing of comments.
 * Switch Grid : Turns on/switches the type of grid. The grid is extremely useful to align elements properly. There are two types of grid : one is made of outlined white squares, the other is made of semi-transparent squares.
 * Zoom to Maximum : Sets the zoom to the highest possible level.
 * Zoom In : Zooms in.
 * Zoom 100% : Sets the zoom to the default value.
 * Zoom Out : Zooms out.
 * Zoom to Minimum : Sets the zoom to the lowest possible level.
 * Level Overview : Toggles the level minimap window.
 * Quick Paint Properties : Toggles the Quick Paint Tool window.
 * Island Generator : Toggles the Island Generator window.
 * Palette : Toggles the palette window.
 * Area Settings : Opens the area settings window.
 * Zone Settings : Opens the zone settings window.
 * Background Settings : Opens the background settings window.
 * Add New Area : Adds a new area to the level. You can only have up to 4 areas in a single stage.
 * Import Area from Level : Allows importing an area from another level.
 * Delete Current Area : Allows deleting the current area.
 * Reload Tilesets : Allows reloading tilesets, in case you have edited them while the editor was running.
 * About Reggie Next : Opens an information window about Reggie Next.
 * Help Contents : Opens a series of offline documents related to the editor's usage.
 * Reggie Next Tips : Opens an offline document with some tips related to the editor's usage.
 * Check for Updates : Currently broken, but it's supposed to look for updates to the editor.
 * About PyQt : Opens an information window about PyQt.