PNG2Lightmap

WHAT'S PNG2LIGHTMAP ALL ABOUT?
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PNG2Lightmap is a simple, lightweight program meant to generate lightmap overlays for tile based games.

Excellent for :

-Those who require static lightmaps and do not wish to code a primitive light engine from scratch

-Those who are working exclusively is Java2D, or other libraries or languages that do not handle graphical operations in timely matter to make pixel perfect dynamic lighting a feasible option.

-Those who just want an extremely easy and visually pleasing lighting effect without hassle.

The user feeds PNG2Lightmap a dot map , a png representation of the area to be rendered, with each individual pixel being the equivelent of a single tile and PNG2Lightmap reads the pixel data to identify walls and light sources. It then uses that information to generate a lightmap and save it to the user's desktop. The the dimensions of the resulting lightmap are the dimensions of the supplied dot map multiplied by the tile size. This allows the user to seamlessly draw the lightmap on top of an existing tile map.

Example

If the user has a dot map 10 pixels by 15 pixels, and their game's tiles are 16 by 16, the resulting lightmap's dimensions will be 160 by 240 (or 10 * 16 by 15 * 16)

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CUSTOM INPUT :

Light sources are defined by the user during runtime. The user can choose the hexadecimal color that represents the light on the dot map, its name, and its size. This feature gives the user the ability to have varying intensities of light on single map. In addition to this, users must define their lightmap's tile size, export file type (.PNG or.GIF, .PNG being the advised format for the highest quality), and export location.

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GRADIENT QUALITY :

Gradient quality determines how detailed the shading effects are. A gradient value of 1 provides pixel perfect detail. As the gradient approaches the provided tile size, it loses accuracy. This can be used for interesting visual effects, if desired. The lightmap is generated with the dimension divided by the gradient quality. After all is rendered, the generated map is enlarged to the correct dimensions.