TileMapLayer: Stores runtime data

[Sur-Ring]

Proposal: Could each tile in TileMapLayer store different runtime data instead of having to set the same type of tile in TileSet to have the same data?

Application scenario: In some cases I just want to store some very simple data. For example I want a float to record the life of each tile so I can further process it based on it. I am not sure if this is a common problem so I just create a discussion.

Detailed description:

First of all, there are some trouble to store data in scene tiles, which be discussed in #4833 and #11687. I don't think that's the right way to handle this scenario.

Secondly, of course you can store data yourself, but it is more troublesome to make data storage that perfectly matches the working process of TileMapLayer.

However, I think it may be simple to integrate with TileMapLayer, because I can create another layer of TileMapLayer to store integers or enums at fields like source_id.

But I can't do that for floats, and I think there should be no difference between storing a float and storing a integer like source_id. I don't know the implementation of godot, but it feels that way from the perspective of an common programmer.

so can we add this to TileMapLayer, or as a new type(maybe TileMapDataLayer), instead of storing data such as the source_id of each tile, but storing custom runtime data?

[MatthewAzzopardif32821]

This would help immensely with the development of sandbox games and implementing light bleeding

[MatthewAzzopardif32821]

I'm also a novice, but I've spent the past couple days researching implementations for light bleeding and what I ended up finding was people having a second tilemap purely for storing light data, they did this by using tiles of varying transparency.

Currently if you try altering for example the colour of a cell on a TilemapLayer, then it will change the tile instead, which changes the colour of every cell that's using that tile, which is not the intended effect.

TLDR; If you were able to store unique data per cell, then you'd be able to adjust each cell individually without having to create a second TilemapLayer.

[Sur-Ring]

Thank you. I understand roughly, but not completely. That's true if the other TileMapLayer just stores data, but my imagination of what you said is that there are two textures overlaped, and at that situation I think this thing I'm talking about might not help.

[Sur-Ring]

I'm not sure if it's easy to support dynamic modification of the tiles based on these dynamic data, maybe you can combine it with a shader.

[MatthewAzzopardif32821]

Currently there are two textures overlapped or shaders at play, however if cells were able to store data then we'd be able to alter them directly. You're essentially suggesting that each cell be made unique which is why it would help in this scenario.

[Sur-Ring]

I'm not sure it's as simple as allowing to add another field like source_id to store dynamic data. But maybe. I don`t know.

[theraot]

Have you seen Custom Data Layers (API and example)?

[Sur-Ring]

yes,I know it. But as I know, it`s shared by all of the same tile. It`s connected with the tile in TileSet, but not TileMapLayer.

[Sur-Ring]

I'm not a native English speaker. Please let me know if I don't make the difference clear.