   creating levels
  i was wondering how you create a level. Im gettin to the point where ive got the building blocks of the level, but i want to create a level. Do you need some kind of file reading to input the start position of each object??  
  It really depends on what you mean by "level".there are several ways to go about creating a level for your game however. If you are doing a basic 2-D level, it is possible to create it in a text file by means of ASCII values where each value corresponds to a tile, you then have your game engine decode the values into tiles.if you have a 3-D world, you can also use a text file for creation. you could use a series of defentions (again to be decoded in your game engine) for game objects and walls, as well as room exits and such. Otherwise, you could try to do all the defining in the engine its self.One approach, once youve decided on a method of level creation, is to make a level creation program, so that it is simpler in the future to create or edit maps, as well as the ability to have other people design maps that could be played in your game. ;  Inside your game, I think objects are represented a certain way (from the memory point of view), for instance using a list of all objects, or maybe an array, or maybe again a tree, etc...This structure can only exist at runtime, so you need to build it from some other kind of data every time a level begins. And that other kind of data is, in your case, a file on your hard drive.[ Stored data ]==( loading process )==>>[ In-game data ]Once you know how the stored data gets translated into in-game data, you know what stored data to create for it to generate specific shapes. What you do is create a level editor that is made of an interface, and a compiler.The interface is there to allow you to translate your ideas into concepts that can be displayed back to you easily. As a human, you will be able to both read and write data through the level editor interface in an understandable way.[ ideas in your head ]<<==( level editor interface )==>>[ Level editor data ]When you are done with creating the content, you call the compiler part of your level editor. It turns the understandable-by-man data held in the editor into understandable-by-game data stored on the disk.[ Level editor data ]==( level editor compiler )==>>[ Stored data ]So what you need to actually do is:1- Decide how to store the data on the disk2- Decide what is the most intuitive way to edit data3- Create the interface, the compiler, and the loader.   Victor Nicollet, INT13 game programmer 