New multiplatform tools for DM/CSB

[Ciano]

Greetings adventurers,
If you love modding or customizing Dungeon Master as much as I do, you've likely run into the same issue different tools to download that rely on outdated Windows libraries !

So I decided to create another way to do it Dungeon Master Tools — a single, cross-platform web application!



It runs directly in your browser with zero setup, multiplatform while combining all core editing features into one interface without installing old dependencies or runtimes.

Key Features of Dungeon Master Tools:
Level Editor:
• Create, delete, reorder, and modify map levels effortlessly.
• Intuitive Drawing: Switch easily between single tile placement and area/fill tools for rapid editing.
• Contextual Erasing: Simply hold down the right mouse button to erase tiles using the current tool mode (single tile or area).
• Photoshop-style Layer Visibility: Toggle the display of tiles, creatures, items, sensors, and decorations on or off to clean up your view while editing.
• Onion Skinning for Stairs: Overlay outlines and stairs from the level directly above or below your current view, making it effortless to align stairs correctly!
• Edit characters, items, creatures, levels, and save states in one unified hub.
• Auto-Detection: Automatically identifies the target platform format upon loading (Atari ST, Amiga, PC, Apple II).
• Built-in Guidance: Every tool includes tooltips explaining each option and setting.

Try Dungeon Master Tools on GitHub: https://github.com/sethy/dmtoolsweb/

Little videotutorial for create a blank template https://youtu.be/lLOwicQbUFg

Please give it a try and share your feedback, bug reports, or sample files (dungeon.dat, graphics.dat, save files) across various formats and versions to help refine compatibility!

Have fun!

[ChristopheF]

Fantastic tool! It looks very powerful and promising.

I myself have also been working on and off on a web based tool to convert DM, CSB and DM2 dungeon and saved game files between binary and XML forms, supporting all platforms including the Japanese ones. My goal is loading a binary file, converting it to XML. If you don't change anything and convert the XML back to binary, you should get the exact same file as the original binary file (I think this differs from you own design).

I have used a set of test dungeon/saved game files, here is a link to a zip file you may use for your own testing: https://transfert.free.fr/mvUKOSt (available for 30 days only).
It contains all known dungeons in original form, converted form (little endian <=> big endian) and uncompressed form (if the original form is compressed). The CSB dungeons were extracted from the original MINI.DAT (and thus include objects that are in the champion inventory in the saved game, but are orphaned in the dungeon-only form).
It also contains saved games from all platforms.
And also a saved game that contains a cloned object (mentioned here viewtopic.php?p=165913#p165913 ). How does the tool handle such anomalies ? (caused by this bug http://dmweb.free.fr/Stuff/ReDMCSB/Docu ... tm#BUG0_12 )

I did not have much time to test, however here is my first feedback regarding compatibility with various files:
For example 'Dungeon Master Tools' fails to load these files from the zip above (I've not tested all of them, I'll let you make your own tests):
- DMGAME.DAT (Apple IIGS).dat
- CSBGame.dat Amiga.DAT
- CSB MINI.DAT (Amiga EN R2 & R3).DAT
- CSB MINI.DAT (Amiga EN R1 & RX).DAT

I don't know what level of compatibility you want to include, but it would be good to have a full list of supported / unsupported files / formats / platforms.
For example, you don't mention Japanese versions as supported, however I could load "DMSAVE.DAT (FM-Towns EN).DAT" which is wrongly detected as a PC version saved game, and I suppose this might create issues later.
DM/CSB saved games do contain a platform identifier value in the first block so you don't have to guess:
ATARI_ST = 1
APPLE_IIGS = 2
AMIGA = 3
PC98 = 5
X68000 = 6
FM_TOWNS_EN = 7
FM_TOWNS_JP = 8
PC = 9


Do you plan to release the source code in a readable form ?

[Ciano]

Hi Christophe,
thanks for the saved game files and feedback, I will test them soon. When you open a file (dungeon.dat, graphics.dat, gamesave) it will auto detect the platform, but I have to polish it I also use .map files to help to extract datas, for sure I have to spend more time

My goal its to support as much platform as possible, also SNES but I need more references. There is also the versions of the files that makes it more complicate especially for the graphics.dat and some platform are missing chunks that are in the executable.

With this tools I wanted to make easier and fast to mod or create new levels independently from the OS your are using.

Yes in the future I'll release also the source code.

Thank to you and the others that made this possible (source code, manuals etc..)

[Ciano]

Hi ChristopheF,
thanks to your files now Dungeon Tools could read all the dungeon.dat and saved games of all the platforms and versions, at least all the file you gave me also saved game that contains a cloned object.
I also added an experimental auto platform detection, for sure it detects DM/CSB, compress/uncopressed, header ecc.. correctly but could detect wrong the platform, by default it downloads the same structure it reades. When you change platform or platform version it will convert in that platform, also this is experimental

if you dont see the version 0.2.1 clear the cache!

[Ciano]

Something important, only if you are on the first level, (level 0) when you click a tile type floor/teleport you can set the party start and facing

[ChristopheF]

Thanks for these additions. I made a quick test and have a few questions
- Loading "DMGAME.DAT (X68000).DAT" is detected as DM 1.2, instead of X68000
- I get "⚠ 1 load warning(s)" when loading some files, but I can't find any more info about this warning ?
- If I click "Champions", the names are not properly decoded, and objects in inventory look random.
- Japanese texts are not decoded (I can give you some javascript code to encode / decode these if you're interested)

Questions
When you load/save saved games, do you properly decode/encode all data, including sensors, creature data, events in the timeline ?
Are you aware that some of the data use C bit fields, and that some (but not all) of these bit fields decode differently depending on the platform ? In ReDMCSB source code, most bit fields have two definitions to make sure bits are stored in the same order on all platforms. However, some bit fields have a single definition for all platforms, which means the data is not stored in the same order on all platforms, and you must take care of this in your decoding routines.