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F2: Dungeon Editor v2 - Complete Guide

Last Updated: October 10, 2025
Related: E2-development-guide.md, E5-debugging-guide.md


Overview

The Dungeon Editor uses a modern card-based architecture (DungeonEditorV2) with self-contained room rendering. This guide covers the architecture, recent refactoring work, and next development steps.

Key Features

  • Visual room editing with 512x512 canvas per room
  • Object position visualization - Colored outlines by layer (Red/Green/Blue)
  • Per-room settings - Independent BG1/BG2 visibility and layer types
  • Flexible docking - EditorCard system for custom workspace layouts
  • Self-contained rooms - Each room owns its bitmaps and palettes
  • Overworld integration - Double-click entrances to open dungeon rooms

Architecture Improvements ✅

  1. Room Buffers Decoupled - No dependency on Arena graphics sheets
  2. ObjectRenderer Removed - Standardized on ObjectDrawer (~1000 lines deleted)
  3. LoadGraphicsSheetsIntoArena Removed - Using per-room graphics (~66 lines)
  4. Old Tab System Removed - EditorCard is the standard
  5. Texture Atlas Infrastructure - Future-proof stub created
  6. Test Suite Cleaned - Deleted 1270 lines of redundant tests

UI Improvements ✅

  • Room ID in card title: [003] Room Name
  • Properties reorganized into clean 4-column table
  • Compact layer controls (1 row instead of 3)
  • Room graphics canvas height fixed (1025px → 257px)
  • Object count in status bar

Architecture

Component Overview

DungeonEditorV2 (UI Layer)
├─ Card-based UI system
├─ Room window management
├─ Component coordination
└─ Lazy loading
DungeonEditorSystem (Backend Layer)
├─ Sprite/Item/Entrance/Door/Chest management
├─ Undo/Redo functionality
├─ Room properties management
└─ Dungeon-wide operations
Room (Data Layer)
├─ Self-contained buffers (bg1_buffer_, bg2_buffer_)
├─ Object storage (tile_objects_)
├─ Graphics loading
└─ Rendering pipeline

Room Rendering Pipeline

TODO: Update this to latest code.

1. LoadRoomGraphics(blockset)
└─> Reads blocks[] from ROM
└─> Loads blockset data → current_gfx16_
2. LoadObjects()
└─> Parses object data from ROM
└─> Creates tile_objects_[]
└─> SETS floor1_graphics_, floor2_graphics_ ← CRITICAL!
3. RenderRoomGraphics() [SELF-CONTAINED]
├─> DrawFloor(floor1_graphics_, floor2_graphics_)
├─> DrawBackground(current_gfx16_)
├─> SetPalette(full_90_color_dungeon_palette)
├─> RenderObjectsToBackground()
│ └─> ObjectDrawer::DrawObjectList()
└─> QueueTextureCommand(UPDATE/CREATE)
4. DrawRoomBackgroundLayers(room_id)
└─> ProcessTextureQueue() → GPU textures
└─> canvas_.DrawBitmap(bg1, bg2)
5. DrawObjectPositionOutlines(room)
└─> Colored rectangles by layer
└─> Object ID labels

Room Structure (Bottom to Top)

Understanding ALTTP dungeon composition is critical:

Room Composition:
├─ Room Layout (BASE LAYER - immovable)
│ ├─ Walls (structural boundaries, 7 configurations of squares in 2x2 grid)
│ ├─ Floors (walkable areas, repeated tile pattern set to BG1/BG2)
├─ Layer 0 Objects (floor decorations, some walls)
├─ Layer 1 Objects (chests, decorations)
└─ Layer 2 Objects (stairs, transitions)
Doors: Positioned at room edges to connect rooms

Key Insight: Layouts are immovable base structure. Objects are placed ON TOP and can be moved/edited. This allows for large rooms, 4-quadrant rooms, tall/wide rooms, etc.


Next Development Steps

High Priority (Must Do)

1. Door Rendering at Room Edges

What: Render doors with proper patterns at room connections

Pattern Reference: ZScream's door drawing patterns

Implementation:

void DungeonCanvasViewer::DrawDoors(const zelda3::Room& room) {
// Doors stored in room data
// Position at room edges (North/South/East/West)
// Use current_gfx16_ graphics data
}

2. Object Name Labels from String Array

File: dungeon_canvas_viewer.cc:416 (DrawObjectPositionOutlines)

What: Show real object names instead of just IDs

Implementation:

// Instead of:
std::string label = absl::StrFormat("0x%02X", obj.id_);
// Use:
std::string object_name = GetObjectName(obj.id_);
std::string label = absl::StrFormat("%s\n0x%02X", object_name.c_str(), obj.id_);
// Helper function:
std::string GetObjectName(int16_t object_id) {
// Example: 0x10 → "Wall (North)"
return "Object";
}

4. Fix Plus Button to Select Any Room

File: dungeon_editor_v2.cc:228 (DrawToolset)

Current Issue: Opens Room 0x00 (Ganon) always

Fix:

if (toolbar.AddAction(ICON_MD_ADD, "Open Room")) {
// Show room selector dialog instead of opening room 0
show_room_selector_ = true;
// Or: show room picker popup
ImGui::OpenPopup("SelectRoomToOpen");
}
// Add popup:
if (ImGui::BeginPopup("SelectRoomToOpen")) {
static int selected_room = 0;
ImGui::InputInt("Room ID", &selected_room);
if (ImGui::Button("Open")) {
OnRoomSelected(selected_room);
ImGui::CloseCurrentPopup();
}
ImGui::EndPopup();
}
#define ICON_MD_ADD
Definition icons.h:84

Medium Priority (Should Do)

6. Fix InputHexByte +/- Button Events

File: src/app/gui/input.cc (likely)

Issue: Buttons don't respond to clicks

Investigation Needed:

  • Check if button click events are being captured
  • Verify event logic matches working examples
  • Keep existing event style if it works elsewhere

Lower Priority (Nice to Have)

9. Move Backend Logic to DungeonEditorSystem

What: Separate UI (V2) from data operations (System)

Migration:

  • Sprite management → DungeonEditorSystem
  • Item management → DungeonEditorSystem
  • Entrance/Door/Chest → DungeonEditorSystem
  • Undo/Redo → DungeonEditorSystem

Result: DungeonEditorV2 becomes pure UI coordinator


Quick Start

Build & Run

cd /Users/scawful/Code/yaze
cmake --preset mac-ai -B build_ai
cmake --build build_ai --target yaze -j12
# Run dungeon editor
./build_ai/bin/yaze.app/Contents/MacOS/yaze --rom_file=zelda3.sfc --editor=Dungeon
# Open specific room
./build_ai/bin/yaze.app/Contents/MacOS/yaze --rom_file=zelda3.sfc --editor=Dungeon --cards="Room 0x00"

Testing & Verification

Debug Commands

# Verify floor values load correctly
./build_ai/bin/yaze.app/Contents/MacOS/yaze --rom_file=zelda3.sfc --editor=Dungeon 2>&1 | grep "floor1="
# Expected: floor1=4, floor2=8 (NOT 0!)
# Check object rendering
./build_ai/bin/yaze.app/Contents/MacOS/yaze --rom_file=zelda3.sfc --editor=Dungeon 2>&1 | grep "Drawing.*objects"
# Check object drawing details
./build_ai/bin/yaze.app/Contents/MacOS/yaze --rom_file=zelda3.sfc --editor=Dungeon 2>&1 | grep "Writing Tile16"

Related Documentation


Last Updated: October 10, 2025
Contributors: Dungeon Editor Refactoring Session