Table of Contents
Background layer
The background layer is the bottom most layer of a gridslot. If the map is indoors, this layer is where the floor is located. If the map is outdoors, various details can be placed here, or the slot can even be left empty, allowing the star background from the target game to show through.
The background can exist in one of three possible types : simple, detail and random.
All sprites are available for use in the background layer.
For info about the panels in the editor which allow you to edit background layers, visit this page.
Simple background
This background type can contain any sprite. The hue, alpha value (or opacity), brightness, vertical and horizontal flip and rotation can be adjusted.
Detailed background
This is a simple background with a detail layer. This detail layer is basically another sprite that will be drawn on top of the regular image. Next to the hue, alpha, brightness, flip and rotation settings, who function similar as those for the main image, there's also an X and Y offset, which control at what point this sprite will be drawn relative to the main sprite. Note that this offset can't cause the sprite to spill over the bounds of its containing gridslot - the sprite will simply be cut off at the borders of the gridslot.
This type can be used if a specific image needs to be shown on top of a background sprite, without having to use the Decal layer for this. Note that triggers or behaviours can't target only the detail sprite of a background layer, while they are capable of targeting the Decal layer (or the background layer as a whole).
Adding detail to otherwise plain floor tiles can add to the atmosphere and natural feel of a map.
Randomizer background
This type is similar to the detail type since it also has a detail layer, but instead of editing the settings of a single detail image, a randomizer style is applied to to the detail layer. A single randomizer style can be applied to the background layers of multiple gridslots.
A randomizer style basically allows you to select a number of sprites (within a single set and style combination) and give those sprites a range of possible hue, flip, rotation and offset settings. In the game, when the map is created or loaded for the first time, all tiles connected to this style will then randomly pick one of the selected sprites and randomly apply the range of valid settings.
As with the detail type, this can be used to add more variation to otherwise plain background tiles, without having to use the Decal layer for this. But instead of having to manually add detail to the background layer of each individual gridslot, simply apply the randomizer style to any number of background layers and everytime the map is loaded in the target game, all affected tiles will look slightly different, adding to the atmosphere of a level or map.
Note that the randomizer style object itself is not part of a gridslot, when you select a the randomizer type for a background layer, you can select any randomizer style that has already been created. For more info on the randomizer object, visit this page.