About this manual
This manual explains what the project setting “View Mode” (Side View / Top View) actually changes. It is the item you pick when creating a new project, and it switches the choices the editor offers you and the templates newly created things are based on to match the viewpoint. Read it when you hit things like “this is supposed to be top-down but the character keeps falling” or “the node I want to place is not in the list”.
What View Mode is
| Mode | The kind of game it assumes |
|---|---|
| Side View (default) | Side-scrolling. Things fall under gravity and jump |
| Top View | Top-down. There is no gravity and you walk in all four directions |
There are two places to set it.
- The new project dialog (this is the normal place to choose it)
- The editor’s “Settings” → “Basic Settings…” → “Project” tab → “View Mode”
This setting switches “the choices the editor presents you”. It is not a switch that changes physics itself, so changing it later leaves already-made maps, objects and project settings exactly as they were (details below).
What differs when creating a new project
Picking a view mode at creation time sets the following to match the viewpoint.
| Item | Side View | Top View |
|---|---|---|
Gravity (physics/2d/default_gravity) |
980 (downward) | 0 |
| Sample map’s layer composition | Backgrounds (far / near) + base tile + decoration tile + post effect + UI | Backgrounds (far / near) + floor tile + wall tile + post effect + UI |
| Default control keys | Shared (up / down / left / right, jump and so on are set automatically) | Shared |
Gravity is decided here. That is the real cause of “this is supposed to be top-down but the character falls”, and a project created without picking Top View keeps gravity at 980. Changing only the view mode later does not change gravity, so set gravity to 0 from “Settings” → “Basic Settings…” → “Project”.
The tile layers differ in name and role. Side view defaults to a “base + decoration” stacking; top-down defaults to a “floor + wall” one.
Differences in map building
The new map template
Maps created with “+ New” in the “Maps” list are based on a template prepared per view mode. They start with the background layers’ stacking order and parallax already in place.
Which elements you can place
The Map Layers dock’s add menu swaps some entries depending on the view mode.
| Element | Which view it appears in |
|---|---|
| Pass-Through Platform | Side View only (it is meaningless in top-down) |
| Water Surface | Appears in both, but the node behind it is different (one for side view, one for top-down) |
The water surface is implemented separately per viewpoint. The side-view one makes the surface a mirror to produce reflections, but in top-down there is no axis to mirror across, so ripples, sinking and reflections are produced by a different method in a dedicated node. Both are labelled “water surface”, so whichever one you can see is the one for your project.
Every other element (portals, courses, force areas, gimmicks, labels and so on) appears in both views.
Environment presets
The presets that bundle a map’s backgrounds, lights and effects list only the ones that suit the current view mode. Side-view presets do not appear in a top-down project (ones that work in either appear in both).
Tile auto-detection
The default arrangement for autotiles (which cell is which seam) changes.
| View Mode | Default autotile format |
|---|---|
| Side View | Action Game Maker format |
| Top View | RPG Maker format |
This is the default, and it can be changed by hand in the tile palette settings. Pick the one that matches your assets.
Differences in object building
Object creation templates
The template list in the object creation dialog is filtered by view mode. “Top-view player”, “top-view ranged enemy” and so on appear only in a top-down project.
The dialog also has its own view switch dropdown. Its initial value is the project setting, but switching it there lets you create from the other view’s templates as well. Useful when you want to put a top-down minigame into a side-scrolling project.
Default movement keys
When movement keys are set up automatically while creating from a template, what gets set differs.
| View Mode | Movement keys set automatically |
|---|---|
| Side View | Left, right |
| Top View | Up, down, left, right |
The default direction of animations
The “direction” assigned to a newly created sprite animation changes.
| View Mode | Default direction |
|---|---|
| Side View | Left, right (assuming horizontal flipping) |
| Top View | All 8 directions |
Both assume Auto Y Flip. You can change it afterwards on the 3×3 grid.
Loading templates
“Load from template” on the Sprite Animation tab offers both formats in either kind of project.
| Menu item | What it assumes |
|---|---|
| For top-down view (RPG Maker format) | 4 directions × walk / run / idle / stop (and attack) |
| For side view | Side-view row composition, with horizontal flipping |
Importing official assets
The official asset catalogue also lists only the assets that suit the view. That dialog too has a dropdown for switching.
Differences in the visual script and at runtime
The only runtime behaviour that changes with view mode is pathfinding. Everything else works the same regardless of viewpoint.
Pathfinding (avoid walls) is top-down only
| Feature | When it appears |
|---|---|
| “Avoid walls with pathfinding” on the movement templates “Move toward a nearby object” and “Follow the mouse cursor” | Top View only |
| “Avoid walls” on “Move Object” | Top View only (except with a direction specified) |
In side view the field itself does not appear. Pathfinding works by tracing tile cells, so it cannot hold up in a side-scrolling game with jumping and falling.
Even in Top View, pathfinding does not run while the setting to ignore wall collisions is on. When no route can be found, it approaches in a straight line as before.
Knockback direction
“Knockback Self”'s “knockback direction type” offers all three options in either view. They are not labelled as such, but the intent is:
| Option | Assumed for |
|---|---|
| 360 Degrees | Top View |
| Left Or Right / Launch | Side View |
It does not switch automatically with the project setting, so pick the one that suits your viewpoint.
How score drops fall
Score drops (coins, experience orbs) have their own “fall style” setting.
| Option | What it is |
|---|---|
| Auto | Follows the project’s view mode setting (default) |
| Side view | Falls in Y under gravity, with tile collisions as the floor |
| Top-down | Falls along a height axis, with height 0 as the ground |
Leave it on “Auto” and it matches your project’s viewpoint.
When you change the view mode later
What changes is only “the choices and templates from here on”.
| What changes | What does not |
|---|---|
| Which elements appear in the Map Layers dock (pass-through platform, which water surface) | Gravity (the project setting value stays as it is) |
| The environment preset list | Nodes you already placed and maps you already made |
| The object creation template list and its defaults | Movement keys and direction settings on objects you already made |
| The default autotile format | Tiles you already set up |
| Whether the “avoid walls with pathfinding” field is shown | Values already saved (the value is kept even when the field is hidden) |
| The new map template | The layer composition of maps you already made |
When switching viewpoint partway through, at least fix gravity by hand. You can change it from “Settings” → “Basic Settings…” → “Project”.
Worked examples
Starting a top-down game
- In the launcher’s “New Project”, pick “Top View” for the view mode.
- You get a sample map with gravity 0 and a floor-tile + wall-tile composition.
- The object creation dialog offers the top-view player and ranged enemy templates.
- You can use “Avoid walls with pathfinding” on enemy movement templates.
Turning a project started in side view into a top-down one
- Set “View Mode” to “Top View” on the “Project” tab of “Settings” → “Basic Settings…”.
- On the same screen (or in the project settings under “Advanced Settings”), set gravity to 0.
- Add the up and down movement keys to the player’s “move and jump” settings.
- Widen the animations’ “direction” to 8 directions as far as you need.
The layer composition of maps you already made does not change automatically. Add the floor and wall tile layers by hand.
Putting a top-down minigame into a side-scrolling game
- Leave the project setting on Side View.
- Set the object creation dialog’s view switch dropdown to “Top View” and create objects from the top-down templates.
- Gravity is one value for the whole project, so build the characters on that map with a setting that cancels gravity (unaffected by gravity, or similar).
The pathfinding fields read the project setting, so they do not appear with this approach.
Things to watch out for
- Gravity does not switch with the view mode. It is only set automatically when creating a new project, so fix it by hand if you change viewpoint partway through.
- The default is Side View. A missing or invalid value is also treated as Side View.
- Changing the view mode does not change anything you already made. Maps’ layer composition, objects’ movement keys, animations’ directions and tile settings all stay as they are.
- “Water surface” is a different node in side view and top-down. The label is the same, so changing your project’s viewpoint swaps which water surface appears in the list. Water surfaces you already placed stay as they are (their kind does not change).
- “Pass-Through Platform” only appears in the list in side view.
- “Avoid walls with pathfinding” and “Avoid walls” only appear in top-down. Saved values are not lost when the field is hidden.
- The autotile format is only a default. If your assets are in the other format, pick it again in the tile palette settings.
- The object creation template list and the official asset list can be switched with the dropdown inside the dialog. You can use the other view’s items without changing the project setting.
- The knockback direction type does not switch automatically. Pick “360 Degrees” for top-down, and “Left Or Right” or “Launch” for side view.
- Leave score drops’ fall style on “Auto” and it follows the view mode. An explicit choice takes priority over the project setting.