NEXXT - a newer "NES Screen Tool"

[FrankenGraphics]

NEXXT 0.21.0 is up.

-The new BMP importer is the big new feature. Preview the import as you change the parameters.
A little more flexible with the options. Also subtly improved results.

Other new features:
-Find 3 "most similar" tiles
-Sort by Detail
-Deselect individual multiselect tiles

Various bugfixes, including correct display of the full 64 entry palette, should you use it.

[olddb]

This looks good.
After playing with it for a while a have some requests:

-paint bucket fill type
-more depth for undo (control-z)
-full window mode

Also, it would be nice to have a 'data layer' to set unpassables, over-under tiles, etc.

[FrankenGraphics]

Glad you've found it useful!

Bucket fill:
-Exists! For the CHR edtor, or while in free draw mode, hold ctrl and click.
For tile-fill on screen, make a selection on the screen canvas (shift-click-drag), and press F.
You may want to consult the cheat sheet png:s included to discover more similar actions.
Also keep an eye on the status readout field for more in-context usage tips.

Full window mode:
-Will likely not happen. The current GUI is too brittle and the reward too low compared to other features on the roadmap.

But, for seeing & editing the whole map, use the Navigator [F6]. Apart from the functions that are similar to photoshop Navigator, it can also perform arrangement tasks like copypastes and drag-swaps; see the the tutorial GIF:s and videos on the itch messageboard.

(There actually are quirks that allows Windows to make NEXXT go full screen, but you won't like it )

Undo history:
-Is coming sometime. Another user has been working on it in a fork and when it's completely ready, i'll merge it.

Since back-forth action easily accessed via repeated ctrl-z presses is essential for pixel art, though, undo history will use a subcommand instead with some modifier key. Ctrl-alt most likely.

Until the merge happens, i recommend getting acquinted with the checkpoint system.
It works like this:
-When you like what you've got so far, press ctrl+shift+z to set the checkpoint.
-Then; carry out a number of actions.
-Now press shift-z repeatedly to compare the checkpoint vs your edits. You can also copypaste parts from the two time points into each other to get the best of both.

Getting in the habit of setting checkpoints means a faster and freer workflow. It should feel familiar to working with savestates in emulators.

Data layers:
-May happen, just not yet. NEXXT and its predecessor NESST was originally made as a screen layout tool, but it is growing out of its original visuals-only shell slowly. There are some growing pains.

A collision map referring to direct chr tiles is planned for, since it's simple to use and covers some scenarii.

More importantly; i'm working on a metatile library/tool that will also have a very generic collision map solution that may suit some. But that's always the problem with NESdev; every engine is very particular about when, where and how to use level data. This won't be ready in the next upcoming release, but possibly the one after that.

[Pokun]

What is this "back-forth action easily accessed via repeated ctrl-z presses is essential for pixel art" about? In my experience Undo is generally CTRL+Z and Redo is CTRL+Y (or SHIFT+COMMAND+Z on Macintosh), and this is no difference in image editors specifically made for pixel art like Graphics Gale or Aseprite.

[FrankenGraphics]

So, i should've lead with a more humble "in my practice, 'toggle undo' is a more frequent action for pixel art".

When undo history started becoming norm in raster editors, toggle undo tended to get demoted to a subcommand. This makes a lot of sense in photo editing, where to reach a goal you often do do a string of pretty distinct, different actions.

For instance, in photoshop, toggle-undo is demoted to ctrl+alt+z. This is a fine compromise.

In my personal experience, deep-undo makes a bit less sense when working with borders between pixel clusters, where i spend more time trying things on for size to get the exact right suggestion, going back and forth, than i spend on long sequences of complex and varied tasks. Ie, most of my undo actions are spent going back and forth 1 step anyway.

Again in photoshop, Redo is ctrl-shift-z.
This is overall is *a lot more* comfortable than for example Asesprites' solution (ctrl+y). Notice how far you need to stretch the left hand to go back and forth between undo and redo. It makes you avoid doing it even at times when you might want to. Of course, and thankfully, aseprite has plenty of shortcut customization options, so it needn't be a problem if you don't like the out of the box setup.

I didn't detail it in my first response, but in my conversations with the fork author, i mentioned i will make it a preference if you want deep undo or toggle undo to be the more convenient one (ctrl+z).


As for deep undo in tools like photoshop, i prefer using the history list over stepping through serially with commands. So, it's possible i'll eventually add that as an additional method, though it's sort of a second priority feature compared to getting other stuff in.

Edit:
Lastly, one more plug for the checkpoint system. It may not be quite as *safe* as deep undo, but it's a lot quicker to work with with just a little practice. Once the merge happens, you'll have both at your disposal.

[FrankenGraphics]

NEXXT 0.22 out.

full devlog here: https://frankengraphics.itch.io/nexxt/d ... jor-update

tl;dr:
-full 8x16 sprite view mode support, in addition to the "normal" view mode.
-8 additional "view modes" that sort or arrange tiles without destructing their physical memory locations
-A range of new tools for or swapping subpalettes and attributes and cleaning attributes up to save metatile/RLE space.
-Important bugfixes for the new BMP importer
-some few other minor things

Shown in the gif: the "4x1 -> 2x2 topdown" view mode, here used to make better sense of the SMB1 tileset.

[Pokun]

So, i should've lead with a more humble "in my practice, 'toggle undo' is a more frequent action for pixel art".

When undo history started becoming norm in raster editors, toggle undo tended to get demoted to a subcommand. This makes a lot of sense in photo editing, where to reach a goal you often do do a string of pretty distinct, different actions.

For instance, in photoshop, toggle-undo is demoted to ctrl+alt+z. This is a fine compromise.

In my personal experience, deep-undo makes a bit less sense when working with borders between pixel clusters, where i spend more time trying things on for size to get the exact right suggestion, going back and forth, than i spend on long sequences of complex and varied tasks. Ie, most of my undo actions are spent going back and forth 1 step anyway.

Again in photoshop, Redo is ctrl-shift-z.
This is overall is *a lot more* comfortable than for example Asesprites' solution (ctrl+y). Notice how far you need to stretch the left hand to go back and forth between undo and redo. It makes you avoid doing it even at times when you might want to. Of course, and thankfully, aseprite has plenty of shortcut customization options, so it needn't be a problem if you don't like the out of the box setup.

I didn't detail it in my first response, but in my conversations with the fork author, i mentioned i will make it a preference if you want deep undo or toggle undo to be the more convenient one (ctrl+z).


As for deep undo in tools like photoshop, i prefer using the history list over stepping through serially with commands. So, it's possible i'll eventually add that as an additional method, though it's sort of a second priority feature compared to getting other stuff in.

I forgot that Photoshop is using SHIFT+CTRL+Z for Redo (that's probably stolen directly from Apple's systems where CTRL is COMMAND). I use mostly Gimp and Graphics Gale which both uses CTRL+Y for Redo. I agree with you that it's not useful for going back and forth quickly, you need to use both hands to do that.

A preference so you could have either setting is a good idea I think.

[FrankenGraphics]

Version 1.0 is released.


https://frankengraphics.itch.io/nexxt

Among its features:

Line tool:
Available in the CHR editor, and the tileset tab (while in draw mode; shift-d)
More than meets the eye. Can make a well rounded assortment of different line algorithms, via the scroll wheel while dragging. Through them you can create virtually any shape you want. The toolbox offers many actions and settings to discover.

Noncontiguous bucket:
Ctrl+alt+click fills all pixels of the clicked on colour; typically within the current selection.

Smudge:
Available in the CHR editor, and on the tileset tab.
Push the smudge button, or hold G. Click and hold on any pixel; your pen/brush/line will use the colour of that pixel for the stroke you do (or until you release G. Great for defining borders, fields and clusters quickly without having to switch colours.

Mirror actions:
Findable under menu>patterns
Turns the patterns in the current tile selection into a middle mirrored version. There are three mirror types: vertical, horizontal, and bidirectional.

Tile associated collision properties:
Assign user defined collision properties to current tile selection. The screen/map gets collision map is derived from the tiles you reference. This is a popular collision system for games that afford some RAM space to unpack tiles in before sending to the PPU.
You can also apply special conditions (options: no, yes, all) - make collision bits count combined with specific subpalettes, or have a bit make all other bits conditional on a specific subpalette combination.

Protect colour hotkeys:
keys 5,6,7,8 now toggle colour protections on/off. These masks let you draw, move and paste "behind" colours, almost as if there were layers, but without the management that layers require.

Tileset tab toolbar:
The toolbar from the CHR editor is now available under the tileset tab as well. Note that some buttons only have effect on the tileset tab canvas while in "draw mode" (shift-d).

Improved 8x16 mode:
"Make metasprite" is now smarter about generating new metasprites in 8x16 mode.
Make sure 8x16 button is checked on the metasprites tab; and ideally the "<o>" symbol underneath it too.
Then just make a selection on your tileset and press ctrl-m. The need for post-make cleanup is largely removed.

There's more. For the full list and details, consult the changelog.