Areas and Area Options

Areas are part of the level structure, the editable region within one level. Areas could be seen as the containers for all objects and all zones (objects are tiles, sprites, locations, entrances, and paths).

Additionally, each area has their own "Area Settings". The level timer can be changed there for example. It's also possible to set some level modes that are then activated for that specific area, such as the "Toad House", "Wrap Across Edges", "Credits", or "Ambush" modes.

The entirety of one area is also called the Canvas. Four areas can exist per level, while there is always a minimum of one. The size of an area is 1024 x 512 blocks, or 16384 x 8192 pixel.

It is important to note that all object types using IDs will reset and start again using value 0 in every area. Creating a location with ID 7 in both area 1 and area 2 is legit and even recommended (also for entrances).

Object types affected:
 * Entrance ID
 * Location ID
 * Movement Type ID
 * Rotation ID
 * Line ID
 * Hill ID
 * Stretching Blocks ID
 * Wiggling Mushroom ID
 * Burner ID
 * Bolt ID
 * Path ID
 * Path Nodes ID

Events are special in that regard, please see #####Events.

Reasons for a new Area
WIP New Tilesets

Areas
Areas are your new friend when making a NSMBW level. The first one will automatically be created by the level editor.

Reggie loads the default Pa0 tileset when creating a new area (Pa0_jyotyu), the other three tileset slots are empty and can be changed by the user via the dialog.

Timer Control, Initial Entrance, Midway Flag
The initial entrance to the level is always in area 1. It uses the entrance ID 0, unless this value is changed in. It doesn't matter in which zone this entrance is, as long as it is in area 1. The timer used in the level depends on the values put into  ->   ->   in Area 1. Putting anything into this field in areas other than area 1 has no effect, unless the Midway Flag is involved, see below.

The timer for the midway flag is calculated in an unusual way: This gives us two options to work with:
 * Use the time (from Area Options) in the area with the midway flag.
 * Subtract 200 seconds from this time.
 * Keep the midway flag in area 1. This will cause Mario to start with 200 seconds less from the midway flag than he had at the start.
 * Move the midway flag to any other area than area 1. This gives us the option to set any time on the midway flag respawn.

Sprite Loading Behaviour in Areas
Sprites are usually placed inside zones, but in some cicumstances they may need to be placed far outside. If they are placed far outside zones then it depends on the sprite type to determine which zone they belong to. It's usually the zone closest to that sprite.

Technically speaking, all sprites from one area will be loaded when the player enters any zone in that area. We'd have to say more precisely that the needed resources will be made available for immediate use if needed. To actually load a sprite into the environment of the player, other factors are taken into account.

Area Options
WIP