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(Created page with "'''Chip's Challenge Creator''', commonly known as '''CCCreator''', is a level editor developed by The Architect. It is the only editor that can create both Chip's Ch...")
 
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'''Chip's Challenge Creator''', commonly known as '''CCCreator''', is a [[level editor]] developed by [[The Architect]]. It is the only editor that can create both [[Chip's Challenge|CC1]] and [[CC2]] levels, and the only still being updated.
'''Chip's Challenge Creator''', commonly known as '''CCCreator''', is a [[level editor]] developed by [[The Architect]]. It is the only editor that can create both [[Chip's Challenge|CC1]] and [[Chip's Challenge 2|CC2]] levels.


== History ==
== History ==
When [[Chip's Challenge 2]] was released in 2015, a level editor was included. However, this "official" editor faced criticism for being hard to use and lacking several features commonly available for CC1 editors. While [[Chuck Sommerville]] released a simple script, [[dat2c2g]], to convert [[DAT]] files into CC2 levelsets, several people experienced issues getting it to run. [[The Architect]] therefore decided to create his own editor to address these issues; the project was publicly announced on [[CCZone]] in November 2016.
When Chip's Challenge 2 was released in 2015, a built-in level editor was included as DLC. However, this official editor faced criticism for being hard to use and lacking several features commonly available for CC1 editors. While [[Chuck Sommerville]] released a simple script, [[dat2c2g]], to convert [[DAT]] files into CC2 [[Custom level set|levelsets]], several people experienced issues getting it to run. The Architect therefore decided to create his own editor to address these issues.


In August 2017, private beta testing of CCCreator began, to find bugs before a widespread public release; the first public release took place on 2 January 2018. In order to make sure people are always using the latest public version, previous versions are set to expire and become unusable a few months after release.
The project was publicly announced on [[CCZone]] in November 2016. In August 2017, private beta testing of CCCreator to find bugs began. The first public beta release took place on January 2, 2018. In order to make sure people are always using the latest public beta version, previous beta versions are set to expire and become unusable a few months after release, displaying a message instructing the user to update to the latest version. This practice will be discontinued in the future with the first full-feature release, version 1.0.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
Line 10: Line 10:
! Version !! Release date !! Expiration date
! Version !! Release date !! Expiration date
|-
|-
| 0.1.0 || 2 January 2018 || 31 December 2018
| 0.1.0 || January 2, 2018 || December 31, 2018
|-
|-
| 0.2.0 || 14 March 2018 || 31 December 2018
| 0.2.0 || March 14, 2018 || December 31, 2018
|-
|-
| 0.3.0 || 2 April 2018 || 31 December 2018
| 0.3.0 || April 2, 2018 || December 31, 2018
|-
|-
| 0.3.1 || 18 June 2018 || 31 December 2018
| 0.3.1 || June 18, 2018 || December 31, 2018
|-
|-
| 0.4.0 || 21 December 2018 || 1 May 2019
| 0.4.0 || December 21, 2018 || May 1, 2019
|-
| 0.5.0 || March 7, 2019 || September 1, 2019 <!-- originally 5-1-2019; extended on 4-30-2019 -->
|-
| 0.5.1 || May 23, 2019 || September 1, 2019
|-
| 0.5.2 || July 30, 2019 || December 31, 2019
|-
| 0.5.3 || January 1, 2020 || July 1, 2020
|-
| 0.5.4 || June 30, 2020 || December 31, 2020
|-
| 0.5.5 || January 1, 2021 || July 1, 2021
|-
| 0.6.0 || June 30, 2021 || December 31, 2021
|}
|}


== Platform support ==
== Platform support ==
CCCreator is written in the Java programming language and distributed in a JAR file. Therefore, it can run on any system that supports Java 8 or later, including Windows, MacOS, Linux and even Haiku.
CCCreator is written in the Java programming language and distributed in a JAR file; therefore, it can run on any system that supports Java 8 or later, including Windows, MacOS, Linux, Haiku and Solaris.


== File formats ==
== File formats ==
CCCreator, by default, saves levelsets using the ''Chip's Challenge Unified Data Model'' (CCDUM), developed by The Architect to store levelset data in a version-independent way. Such files have a CCS extension, and store all levelset-related information, including not only the levels, but also [[CCX]] and [[C2G]] data.
CCCreator, by default, saves levelsets in the ''Chip's Challenge Series (.ccs)'' file format using the ''Chip's Challenge Unified Data Model (CCUDM)'', developed by The Architect to store levelset data in a version-independent way. Such files can store all levelset-related information, including not only the levels, but also [[CCX]] and [[C2G]] data. Data can be imported to a CCS file; for example, adding CCX data or additional levels from other files. CCS files can then be exported into a variety of other formats, including [[DAT]] for [[Microsoft's version of Chip's Challenge|MSCC]] and [[Tile World]], as well as C2G and [[C2M]] for Chip's Challenge 2.


Data can be ''imported'' to a CCS file, for example adding CCX data or additional levels in other files. CCS files can then be ''exported'' into a variety of other formats, including [[DAT]] and [[DAC]] for [[Tile World]], as well as [[C2G]] and [[C2M]] for [[Chip's Challenge 2]].
As of version 0.5.0, CCCreator can export levels into several image formats: BMP, GIF, PNG and JPEG. CCCreator also has its own level image format, similar to the level BMPs created by the ingame CC2 editor, but with a few notable differences. In the CC2 editor's BMPs, info about a level is displayed in the following order: ''title, file name, designer, [[time limit]], level map''. In CCCreator's image exports, info is displayed like this: ''title, designer, time limit, level map, [[hint]] text (if applicable)''. <!-- an example and/or better formatting might help here -->


== Features ==
== Features ==
CCCreator includes many features that originated in [[CCEdit]] and [[CCDesign]].
CCCreator includes many features that originated in [[CCEdit]], [[CCDesign]] and the [[Chip's Challenge 2|CC2]] official editor, as well as a few novel features of its own.
 
CCCreator has several ways to place tiles: draw, pencil (straight line), box (filled rectangle) and path maker (draws a path of [[ice]], [[force floor]]s, [[railroad track]]s, etc.) Exclusive to CCCreator is a flood fill feature, which fills an entire area with the specified tile.
 
The tile selection menu separates the tiles by type: basic, obstacles, doors, items, blocks, creatures, miscellaneous, logic, and non-standard. An "all elements" option is also available. A future version will give uses the ability to create their own tile palettes.


Tiles can be placed on the ground layer by holding the Ctrl key while clicking; to place tiles on the bottom layer in the MS ruleset, the shift key should be used instead.
There are several ways to place tiles: ''Draw'', ''Pencil'' (straight line), ''Box'' (filled rectangle), ''Path Maker'' (draws a path of [[ice]], [[force floor]]s, [[railroad track]]s, etc.) and ''Flood'' (fills an area with a tile). CCCreator does not currently have the CC2 editor's "select" tool, which allows you to select an area and place it around the map as if you were using the normal draw tool.
Additionally, the tile selection menu separates the tiles by type: ''Basic'', ''Obstacles'', ''Doors'', ''[[Item]]s'', ''Blocks'', ''[[Monster|Creatures]]'', ''Miscellaneous'', ''[[Logic gate|Logic]]'', and ''Non-standard'', as well as an ''All elements'' option. A future version is planned to give users the ability to create their own tile palettes.


CCCreator can also display metagraphics, making it easy to see linked [[teleport]]s and [[button]]s, as well as logic circuits, a [[time bomb]]'s explosion area, the in-game play area (in both 9*9 and 10*10 sizes), a [[grey button]]'s control area, and monster paths. These can be disabled if the user doesn't want them.
Placing a tile on the ground or [[terrain]] layer normally erases everything above it, similar to the CC2 official editor. Holding the Ctrl key while clicking will suppress this behavior. To place an [[Invalid tile|"invalid" tile]] on the bottom or "buried" layer, the Shift key should be used instead. The ''Inspect Element'' tool also makes it possible to examine all elements on a single tile, modify each one's properties, and remove some of them without removing the others.


CCCreator has an "inspect element" ability, making it possible to examine all elements on a single tile, modify each one's properties, and remove some of them without removing the others.
CCCreator can also display metagraphics, making it easy to see linked [[teleport]]s and [[button]]s, as well as logic circuits, a [[time bomb]]'s explosion area, the in-game play area (in both 9x9 and 10x10 sizes), a [[gray button]]'s control area, and monster paths. These can be disabled individually if the user doesn't want them.


CCCreator also has several menu options to make it easier to add multiple [[hint]]s in CC2 levels, and perform basic [[C2G]], scripting like adding music or text between levels.
In the built-in editor for CC2, having multiple hints requires editing a level's "Comments" field and starting each new hint with [CLUE] (plus an extra [CLUE] tag after the last one), and there is no way to implement C2G scripting like adding music or text between levels unless you use a text editor and manually edit the C2G file. CCCreator has menu options to make it significantly easier to add multiple hints in CC2 levels, and perform basic CCX or C2G scripting.


While CCCreator does not yet have the ability to directly export levels to image files, there is a workaround, by selecting the entire level and then copy/pasting it into an image editor.
CCCreator's undo and redo buttons are more global than those found in CCEdit or CCDesign; if the user makes a change in level 1, then selects level 2 and hits Ctrl+Z, the change the user made in level 1 can still be undone even while viewing another level. Additionally, in CCEdit, deletion of a level is a process that cannot be undone (unless the set is not saved before it is closed); but in CCCreator, this is not the case.


=== Missing/upcoming ===
=== Missing/upcoming ===
CCCreator is still under active development, and therefore there are several features not present yet. The Architect is currently working on a way to check a level's [[ruleset]] compatibility. Other notably absent features are [[C2G]] import (exports work fine) and playtesting capabilities (currently levels must be exported before they can be tested).
CCCreator is still under active development, and therefore there are several features not present yet. The Architect is currently working on a way to check a level's [[ruleset]] compatibility. CCCreator also lacks MSCC and [[Lexy's Labyrinth]] playtesting capabilities - currently levels must be exported before they can be tested on those versions. CCCreator also lacks any playtesting capabilities on Linux<!-- And OSX maybe? -->.


== External links ==
== External links ==
* [http://pillowpc2001.net/CCCreator/ Official website] and download
* [https://cccreator.bitbusters.club/ Official website] and download
* [http://cczone.invisionzone.com/topic/1294-my-new-project/ CCZone thread] about CCCreator
* [https://forum.bitbusters.club/thread-1325.html CCZone thread] about CCCreator
* [http://cczone.invisionzone.com/files/file/587-ccudm/ CCDUM documentation] on CCZone
* [https://forum.bitbusters.club/thread-542.html CCUDM documentation] on CCZone


[[Category:Programs]]
[[Category:Programs]]

Latest revision as of 10:35, 8 July 2021

Chip's Challenge Creator, commonly known as CCCreator, is a level editor developed by The Architect. It is the only editor that can create both CC1 and CC2 levels.

History[edit]

When Chip's Challenge 2 was released in 2015, a built-in level editor was included as DLC. However, this official editor faced criticism for being hard to use and lacking several features commonly available for CC1 editors. While Chuck Sommerville released a simple script, dat2c2g, to convert DAT files into CC2 levelsets, several people experienced issues getting it to run. The Architect therefore decided to create his own editor to address these issues.

The project was publicly announced on CCZone in November 2016. In August 2017, private beta testing of CCCreator to find bugs began. The first public beta release took place on January 2, 2018. In order to make sure people are always using the latest public beta version, previous beta versions are set to expire and become unusable a few months after release, displaying a message instructing the user to update to the latest version. This practice will be discontinued in the future with the first full-feature release, version 1.0.

Version Release date Expiration date
0.1.0 January 2, 2018 December 31, 2018
0.2.0 March 14, 2018 December 31, 2018
0.3.0 April 2, 2018 December 31, 2018
0.3.1 June 18, 2018 December 31, 2018
0.4.0 December 21, 2018 May 1, 2019
0.5.0 March 7, 2019 September 1, 2019
0.5.1 May 23, 2019 September 1, 2019
0.5.2 July 30, 2019 December 31, 2019
0.5.3 January 1, 2020 July 1, 2020
0.5.4 June 30, 2020 December 31, 2020
0.5.5 January 1, 2021 July 1, 2021
0.6.0 June 30, 2021 December 31, 2021

Platform support[edit]

CCCreator is written in the Java programming language and distributed in a JAR file; therefore, it can run on any system that supports Java 8 or later, including Windows, MacOS, Linux, Haiku and Solaris.

File formats[edit]

CCCreator, by default, saves levelsets in the Chip's Challenge Series (.ccs) file format using the Chip's Challenge Unified Data Model (CCUDM), developed by The Architect to store levelset data in a version-independent way. Such files can store all levelset-related information, including not only the levels, but also CCX and C2G data. Data can be imported to a CCS file; for example, adding CCX data or additional levels from other files. CCS files can then be exported into a variety of other formats, including DAT for MSCC and Tile World, as well as C2G and C2M for Chip's Challenge 2.

As of version 0.5.0, CCCreator can export levels into several image formats: BMP, GIF, PNG and JPEG. CCCreator also has its own level image format, similar to the level BMPs created by the ingame CC2 editor, but with a few notable differences. In the CC2 editor's BMPs, info about a level is displayed in the following order: title, file name, designer, time limit, level map. In CCCreator's image exports, info is displayed like this: title, designer, time limit, level map, hint text (if applicable).

Features[edit]

CCCreator includes many features that originated in CCEdit, CCDesign and the CC2 official editor, as well as a few novel features of its own.

There are several ways to place tiles: Draw, Pencil (straight line), Box (filled rectangle), Path Maker (draws a path of ice, force floors, railroad tracks, etc.) and Flood (fills an area with a tile). CCCreator does not currently have the CC2 editor's "select" tool, which allows you to select an area and place it around the map as if you were using the normal draw tool. Additionally, the tile selection menu separates the tiles by type: Basic, Obstacles, Doors, Items, Blocks, Creatures, Miscellaneous, Logic, and Non-standard, as well as an All elements option. A future version is planned to give users the ability to create their own tile palettes.

Placing a tile on the ground or terrain layer normally erases everything above it, similar to the CC2 official editor. Holding the Ctrl key while clicking will suppress this behavior. To place an "invalid" tile on the bottom or "buried" layer, the Shift key should be used instead. The Inspect Element tool also makes it possible to examine all elements on a single tile, modify each one's properties, and remove some of them without removing the others.

CCCreator can also display metagraphics, making it easy to see linked teleports and buttons, as well as logic circuits, a time bomb's explosion area, the in-game play area (in both 9x9 and 10x10 sizes), a gray button's control area, and monster paths. These can be disabled individually if the user doesn't want them.

In the built-in editor for CC2, having multiple hints requires editing a level's "Comments" field and starting each new hint with [CLUE] (plus an extra [CLUE] tag after the last one), and there is no way to implement C2G scripting like adding music or text between levels unless you use a text editor and manually edit the C2G file. CCCreator has menu options to make it significantly easier to add multiple hints in CC2 levels, and perform basic CCX or C2G scripting.

CCCreator's undo and redo buttons are more global than those found in CCEdit or CCDesign; if the user makes a change in level 1, then selects level 2 and hits Ctrl+Z, the change the user made in level 1 can still be undone even while viewing another level. Additionally, in CCEdit, deletion of a level is a process that cannot be undone (unless the set is not saved before it is closed); but in CCCreator, this is not the case.

Missing/upcoming[edit]

CCCreator is still under active development, and therefore there are several features not present yet. The Architect is currently working on a way to check a level's ruleset compatibility. CCCreator also lacks MSCC and Lexy's Labyrinth playtesting capabilities - currently levels must be exported before they can be tested on those versions. CCCreator also lacks any playtesting capabilities on Linux.

External links[edit]