Mad Level Manager - Level chooser and manager

Mad Level Manager 1.5.1 has been released!

This is the first bugfix release of 1.5.x line.

Bug Fixes

- Broken synchronization when renaming scenes
- Layouts not synchronizing when there’s no active configuration
- “Look at last level” option was not working for free layout

Upgrading

It's safe to upgrade from 1.5.0, but as always please backup your projects ;-)

[ Homepage ] [ Blog Post ] [ Changelog ] [ Asset Store Link ] [ Support ]​

 

Hi,we find we can not jump to a select scene after configurate the 'level configuration' file.It jump to the top scene of the list automatically.
How can I solve this problem?Thanks!

 

Hello there!
I am away from home on the weekends. Please show me the code how are you trying to load level select screen, and how your level configuration looks like. I will get back to you most probably tomorrow. Thank you for understanding ;-)

Cheers!
Piotr

 

Hello,
Sorry to bother you but I am really confused about how to implement the save (Completed, unlocked) levels mechanics into my game. Your level select works perfectly and I'm sure your saves do too. I am very new to this and if there is any tutorials out there that you can point me to (I've looked at the Save/Load API on your website with little success) or youtube videos that would be great! (I loved your youtube tutorial by the way! Wish you would make more)

 

Hello co500,
I think this is a great idea! I will create one and I will let you know as soon as it is ready!

Cheers!
Piotr

 

Thank you! Its always nice to see someone still taking part in the community with their product
I am extremely greatful for your help,
Thanks again!

 

My brain is burning. I'm not native speaker. Still I need to create more of these to get better with presentations ;-)
Let's say this is unofficial, because it is lame!

Cheers!
Piotr

P.S. The previous one was done by Sebastian, who is unavailable at the moment

 

Wow, I was expecting you to take a few days! I've watched the first 2 minutes and your voice comes across crystal clear! I'm really impressed and I'll get back to you on my progress!
Great job on the video and thanks!

Edit: just watched it all, very helpful and once again it was a great tutorial

 

Update: Announcing 3 additional themes for Mad Level Manager!

I've just created 3 additional themes for Mad Level Manager! OK, it is not entirely true, I am not a graphics designer...
Anyway these three has been created for you, and I am sharing them for fair price of $5 each ;-)

Desert Theme


Grass Theme


Space Theme


Demos available under the links!

Cheers!
Piotr

 

Great job with new themes for Mad Level Manager.

Question - is there anything specific that would prevent seamless integration between Mad Level Manager and 2D Toolkit?

 

Hello goranobradovic,

Thanks!

There shouldn't be any issues. I've got these two as well! Level select screens are using Mad Level Manager render system, levels are using 2D Toolkit render system.

Cheers!
Piotr

 

Mad Level Manager 1.5.2 has been released!

It took a while, because of long Asset Store review queue caused by GDC 2014.

Improvements
- Greatly improved usability of icon and properties setup
- Free Layout: Added “Look at Level” option

Bug Fixes
- Grid Layout: Fixed default sizes of templates
- Grid Layout: Couldn’t completely remove slide icons
- Free Layout: Fixed unwanted animation on start

Upgrading

It's safe to upgrade from 1.5.1, but as always please backup your projects ;-)

[ Homepage ] [ Blog Post ] [ Changelog ] [ Asset Store Link ] [ Support ]​

 

Quick question, can I easily set it up so that the next level 'group' is unlocked only when I accumulate a certain number of 'stars'? For example, next page sprite unlocks only when I have X number of points on the current page?

 

Hello twbowen,

No, not easily unfortunately :-( This feature is in my TODO list though. I know how important it is to have level groups and ability to set the unlock rules. I will introduce groups in 2.0.0 (the next version) and from then on, I will work on group select screens tool (addition to level select screens).

If you want, I can send you the beta version of 2.0.0. Just email me on support@madpixelmachine.com with your invoice id ;-) Groups will make this possible, but still with some effort (and programming experience).

Cheers!
Piotr

 

Great tool, it's really handy, but i'm concerned about draw calls.

Do you have plans to implement an atlas system soon?

 

Hello Lucas,
Thank you!

Yes, I have it ready right here ;-) It will be published as 2.0.0, but only when I'll make sure that it is stable enough, and when the documentation will be updated. As before if you want it earlier, please write to me on support@madpixelmachine.com with your invoice ID.

I believe it will be available in the Unity Asset Store in around 2-3 weeks. It should take me around a week to polish and another week is for the Unity Store review team to do their job. Third week may be necessary if I discover something nasty that shouldn't be published, like my naked photos in Assets folder or something similar ;-)

Cheers!
Piotr

 

I'm glad to hear it!
No problem, i will get it as soon as it become available in the asset store.
Thanks for the fast reply.

 

That would be great, thanks! I emailed you my invoice ID.

 

Did you know that you can create 3D backgrounds with Mad Level Manager? ;-) It is really simple! Here's a little tutorial video that I did today.

[video=youtube_share;WlUql_-cl_I]http://youtu.be/WlUql_-cl_I​

Cheers!
Piotr

 

Are the Playmaker Actions (http://docs.madpixelmachine.com/madlevelmanager/doc/latest/integration/playmaker.html) compatible with the newest plugin?
And will 2.0 be compatible with the Playmaker Actions?

 

Hello vicegold,

Yes it is. Please note that I've updated it recently. The most recent version is always included in the package.
Also the PlayMaker package will soon be updated with the newest API changes.

If you have any troubles with it, please write anytime! ;-)

Cheers
Piotr

 

any luck with groups?

 

Hello deiong,
Just finished adding new methods to API yesterday. Few more changes, and I will have a release candidate ;-)

I'm sorry for the delay, but this is quite big release and I must be sure that everything is working: http://madlevelmanager.madpixelmachine.com/doc/2.0.0/changelog.html

Do you want a preview version earlier?

Cheers!
Piotr

 

Hello Genail,

Can i get preview version?

Thanks,

isa can

 

Sure! One small change and I will send it you today ;-)

Cheers!
Piotr

 

yes would love the preview. thanks

 

@ Genail: I'm really interested in your product, but I do have a few questions. Some may end up being feature requests more than questions, but here goes.
1. Do all the level icons have to be the same when using the tool? I would like to use different icons to represent different level settings in my game.
2. It seems possible to award stars out of order, yes? So if I use them to represent three collectibles hidden throughout each level, I could, say award the player with the second and third stars but not the first one because the player didn't find the first collectible, right?
3. Are we limited to 3 stars/items? i would like to hide three collectibles in each level, have a "par" time award for completing within a time limit as well as a (possible?) perfect end award, like jumping to the top of the flag pole in Mario. Can the star system handle this?

 

You both should have it on PM right now.

Strange... I was sure that I've posted a message here about the preview... No good... Looks like I'm starting to imagine things ;-)

OK so here's the changelog: http://madlevelmanager.madpixelmachine.com/doc/2.0.0/changelog.html
Level groups (hot!): http://madlevelmanager.madpixelmachine.com/doc/2.0.0/advanced/level_groups.html
And level extensions(even hotter!): http://madlevelmanager.madpixelmachine.com/doc/2.0.0/advanced/extension_editor.html

The documentation and the preview version is not final, so please be aware and write back to me if you're experience any issues.

Cheers!
Piotr

 

Hello Louis,
Thank you for writing!

1. For the grid layout you can change icon textures and properties when switched to manual mode. The free layout is always-manual, but you have the button to replace all instances with a new prefab.
Please look in here: http://madlevelmanager.madpixelmach...s/grid_level_selector.html#the-top-rebuilding

2. That's right! Stars are properties with boolean state, so you can earn them in any order. There may be other properties like medals etc., but stars are the most common so I'm using them in my examples.

3. As I said before these are only properties. You can make any number of them, name them as you want and earn in any fashion.
Please look in here: http://madlevelmanager.madpixelmachine.com/doc/latest/advanced/creating_icons.html
This one is also very important for me. I'm also a game developer and I want these kind of features to be available for Mad Level Manager.

Please write if you have any other questions!

Cheers!
Piotr

 

Thank you so much genail! This does look like what I'm looking for. One little question. Would it be possible to use a property to define the level theme and use a sprite for that property that simply acts as the backing for the button? Just trying to think of a way to avoid using the manual set up to keep things easier to edit. Not a big deal though. I might just pick this up.. no point until I make more headway with my project, though.

 

Ooh! Also. Any plans to switch the sprite system to use Unity sprites now that that's an option?

 

Hmm, never though of it that way, but I believe this is perfectly possible. Anyway you should try the manual mode too ;-)

No, Unity sprites won't be used for at least two cases. First is that Mad Level Manager still supports Unity 3. Second is that there's no real possibility of switching to Unity sprites and maintaining backwards compatibility for what there is now, and this will anger most of my clients ;-)

Cheers!
Piotr

 

got a quick question, i plan on having a in app purchase to unlock all levels. is there ea simple way for me to disable the lock on each and every level????

 

Hello deiong,
Yes. You can do this in that way:

Code (csharp):

1. string[] levelNames = MadLevel.GetAllLevelNames(MadLevel.Type.Level);
2. for (int i = 0; i < levelNames.Length; ++i) {
3.     MadLevelProfile.SetLocked(levelNames[i], false);
4. }

Cheers!
Piotr

 

Finally Mad Level Manager 2.0.0 enters RC stage!

This will be one of the most biggest releases so far. And you know what? There shouldn't be any upgrading issues! It's fully compatible with 1.5.x line ;-)
If everything will go well, new release will be available at the end of next week!

Here's the changelog: http://madlevelmanager.madpixelmachine.com/doc/2.0.0/

New Features
- Atlases support
- Level groups
- Level extensions (ability to setup scenes to load before and after levels)
- More options for looking at the last level
- Premultiplied-alpha textures support
- Multiple panels support
- Easier usage with UnityScript and Boo

Improvements
- Scenes were marked as always-dirty
- Scene files can be now dragged and dropped into the configuration window
- Panel do not have to be located under the Camera 2D

Bug Fixes
- Atlas creation could fail in some cases
- Fixed error when trying to create an atlas when no textures were selected
- Fixed error when trying to create a font when nothing was selected

Important information for those who are planing to buy Mad Level Manager. I'm planing to raise its price by $5. It's not much and the current price hasn't been changed from version 1.2, so I believe it will be fair by looking at number of improvements from that time ;-)

Cheers!
Piotr

 

Mad Level Manager 2.0.0 has been released!

The day has come, Mad Level Manager 2.0.0 has reached the release stage! Say hello to atlases, level groups, and level extensions!

Mad Level Manager 2.0.0 introduces a great number of changes. The most important ones are support for atlases, level groups and level extensions.

Atlases will make your level select scenes more suitable for mobile devices. Still fonts are not supported yet, but don’t worry, it will change with the next update! Level groups are something that Mad Level Manager should have from the beginning. If you want to create multiple “worlds” for your game with multiple level select screens, now you’re able to do that! Level extensions sound mysterious, but in fact this is something that allows you to define prefix and postfix scenes for your levels. These can be objective scenes, loading scenes, score scenes and retry scenes. In fact these can be scenes that should be always loaded for each level you choose.

New Features
- Atlases support
- Level groups
- Level extensions (ability to setup scenes to load before and after levels)
- More options for looking at the last level
- Grid Layout icon alignment
- Premultiplied-alpha textures support
- Multiple panels support
- Tool for preparing Mad Level Manager to be usable with UnityScript or Boo
- Version information in the main menu

Improvements
- Scenes were marked as always-dirty
- Scene files can be now dragged and dropped into the configuration window
- Panel does not have to be located under the Camera 2D

Bug fixes
- Atlas creation could fail in some cases
- Fixed error when trying to create an atlas when no textures were selected
- Fixed error when trying to create a font when nothing was selected
- Fixed building errors for Windows Phone 8

[ Homepage ] [ Blog Post ] [ Changelog ] [ Asset Store Link ] [ Support ]​

 

Two more announcements!

First: For those who want to get to know how to setup group select screens using Mad Level Manager I've created this page and the example package! http://madlevelmanager.madpixelmachine.com/demos/groups.html

Second: Do you have a game that uses Mad Level Manager? You can be listed in here! If you want your game to be listed, just write to support@madpixelmachine.com with 300x150px image and url of your webpage or store page of your game! ;-)

Cheers!
Piotr

 

Hi,
When using extensions with Loading example you have provided in the 2.0 package it gives an error looking for Unity Pro. Are this type of extensions only available in Unity Pro?:
Asynchronous Background loading is only supported in Unity Pro.
Please use Application.LoadLevel or Application.LoadLevelAdditive instead.
UnityEngine.Application:LoadLevelAsync(String)
MadLevelManager.Level:LoadAsync() (at Assets/Mad Level Manager/Scripts/Base/MadLevelConfiguration.cs:695)
MadLevelManager.MadLevelExtension:ContinueAsync(MadLevelScene, Int32) (at Assets/Mad Level Manager/Scripts/Base/MadLevelExtension.cs:84)
MadLevelManager.MadLevel:ContinueAsync() (at Assets/Mad Level Manager/Scripts/Base/MadLevel.cs:857)
MadLevelManager.MadLevelLoadingScreen:InitFinalize() (at Assets/Mad Level Manager/Examples/Scripts/MadLevelLoadingScreen.cs:136)
MadLevelManager.MadLevelLoadingScreen:Start() (at Assets/Mad Level Manager/Examples/Scripts/MadLevelLoadingScreen.cs:96)

 

Hello There,
Thank you for writing!

Extensions are working perfectly with Unity Free. I've must messed up the example code. I've been playing with loading bars and I think I forget to add an condition to check for pro. I will fix this when I'll wake up (yes, I am sleeping in theory ;-)) and I will send you the updated version.

Cheers!
Piotr

 

Ahh one more thing. If you'll decide to write it without looking at the example, just keep away from methods that have "Async" postfix. These are only meant for Unity Pro. My mistake was to use one without checking the version of Unity. All others should be fine!

Cheers!
Piotr

 

Thanks Piotr. It works now - I just checked off async and it is ok.

 

I'm glad to hear that ;-)
I must fix it anyway ASAP! Thank you for the report!

Cheers!
Piotr

 

OnLevelWasLoaded(int) don't work when the scene is loaded by MadLevel..

How can we check if a new scene were loaded?

Fixed. My bad.

Our team.

 

Mad Level Manager 2.0.1 is out!

This is the first bug fix release of 2.0.x line.

Improvements

- Removed from MadAnchor “Move in 3D” and “Look at Camera” options
- PlayMaker: Added basic example scene

Bug Fixes

- Extensions example needed Unity Pro to work
- Free layout example had missing scene
- Fixed anchoring to objects
- Changing Panel object position had no effect on child sprites

[ Homepage ] [ Blog Post ] [ Changelog ] [ Asset Store Link ] [ Support ]​

 

I'm having a hard time working with group select screen. Can you please make a quick tutorial which shows the first game logo screen, then the group select screen, and then the level select screens.

I was able to get my game framework working with just level select with version 1.5 but now stuck with group select.

 

Hello cryogee,

Have you seen this example? I've created it because I've realised that creating groups in 2.0.x will be little difficult task. Groups will be much, much easier to create and customise in incoming 2.1.x and 2.2.x.

I am off on the weekends, so if you want modified version of this example, I can send you one on Monday ;-)

Cheers!
Piotr

 

Let me check that. Whats the ETA on 2.1x and 2.2x.?

This is a really great asset by the way.

 

I want to release 2.1.0 within two weeks from now. I'm trying to release new versions in 2-4 weeks period. Bugfix releases are of course releases when needed.
I'm glad that you find my tool useful!

Cheers!
Piotr

 

Is there a way to add lots of levels programmatically or in bulk in Level Configuration

Manually configuring level is good for few levels but if you're making a game with 1000+ levels (which I am ) I wish for a better approach

Thanks

 

Nevermind, I was able to modify the MadLevelConfigurationInspector file to add as many levels with just once click.