Question

I’m going to build an advanced 2D Up-Down RPG.

It’ll be a C# + XNA version of my existing 2D Flash RPG Engine ( Adobe Air ).

Well, in Flash Pro i’ve simply used different MovieClips for the different Layers but how could i realize that in C# using XNA ?

I want to be able to use the output ( map-data-file ) from the Flash Map Editor I’ve made.

The Output file looks like this:

<layer1>
0.0.0.A.A.A.A.B.B.A.A.0.0.0
0.0.0.A.A.A.A.B.B.B.A.A.0.0
0.0.A.A.A.B.B.B.B.B.B.A.0.0
0.A.A.A.A.B.B.B.B.B.B.A.A.0
0.A.A.A.A.B.B.B.B.B.B.A.A.0
0.A.A.A.A.A.B.B.B.B.B:B.A.0
0.0.A.A.A.A.B.B.B.B.A.A.A.0
0.0.A.A.A.A.A.B.B.A.A.A.0.0
0.0.0.A.A.A.A.B.B.A.A.0.0.0

<layer2>
. . . . . 
. . .
.
.

<layer3>
.
.
.

an so on…

where:

0 = Blank;
A = Gras;
B = Water;

so i want to simply loop through these lines, save in arrays and add the coresponding sprites to the specific layer, maybe like this:

Layers[2].Add( tile, x, y );

how can i realize that ? and also, how can I manage the z-sorting, cuz further i want to be able to walk under bridges, or drive through tunnels.

( like in this image, there could be a ship driving unter the bridge )

or even some stairs to get to the next stage ( switch layer )

do you guys have any idea or even a refference for me ?

thx for all your answers !

EDIT:

the layer hirachy shoult look like this :

map{
    Layer[0] { // "bg"
        xyArray{ .... }
    }
    Layer[1] { // "static" - bottom part / stairs of the bridge
        xyArray{ .... }
    }
    Layer[2] { // "items"
        xyArray{ .... }
    }
    Layer[3] { // "player"
        xyArray{ .... }
    }
    Layer[4] { // "static2" - top part of bridge
        xyArray{ .... }
    }
}

// if the player is ON a tile that hat a Stair funktion, the "player" layer will be
// moved on top of the "static2" layer, so 'Layer[3].Z = 4;' and 'Layer[4].Z = 3;'
// like i showed in the Switch funktion up there

Answer 1

The SpriteBatch.Draw method has overloads that let you specify Layer

Specifically, the bottom two entries on the table here

The layer is a float between 0 and 1. You’ll also need to specify a SpriteSortMode in your SpriteBatch.Begin(). Below is an example from a board game I wrote that tints the player tokens and moves the active player to the very front of the stack for when multiple players occupy the same square:

if (i == currentPlayer)
{
     SpriteColor = Color.White;
     spriteDepth = 0f; // Front
}
else
{
     SpriteColor = Color.Gray;
     spriteDepth = 0.1f; // Back
}
spriteBatch.Begin(SpriteSortMode.BackToFront, BlendState.AlphaBlend);
spriteBatch.Draw(players[i].Sprite, SquareCentre, null, SpriteColor, 0f, SpriteCentre,0.5f, SpriteEffects.None, spriteDepth);
spriteBatch.End();

Hope this helps.