Using the official Jill of the Jungle level editor

Jill of the Jungle has an undocumented built in level editor which can be used to create custom levels.

A highly similar built in level editor also exists in Xargon (The key sequence to enter the editor was removed from the original retail release of Xargon, although the code is still there, and a new version of that game released in April 2024 restored the level editor functionality in Episode 1. For more information about the similar Xargon level editor, see this link)

This tutorial will briefly explain how to use the editor.

Activating the editor

The activation sequence is quite simple - press Ctrl+E on the main menu.

Using the editor

The following keys are used while working in the editor:

Key	Purpose
Arrow keys	Move the cursor around (hold shift to move half a screen at a time)
Space	Place the selected tile at the current cursor location
K	Select the tile under the cursor
Tab	Continuous draw mode (as if Space was held while the cursor moves around)
Enter	Load a tile by name (prompts for name; names are stored in jill.dma, e.g. "PLATREDL")
O	Object edit mode (see below)
L	Load a map by filename (prompts for a name, e.g. "map.jn1")
S	Save the map to a new file (prompts for filename)
H	Horizontal flood fill (all tiles on the current row matching the one under the cursor are set to the selected tile)
Y	Disalign Y (place newly inserted objects this many pixels below each grid boundary)
U	Update object sizes (probably good to do this before saving)
V	Something to do with the inventory (adding the 'hero' to it?)
Z	Clear map
N	New board (seems to do the same as 'clear map')
I	Add an entry to the high scores with 100 points (why??)
C	[Xargon only] Set colour (enter a number 0-10 inclusive)
F4	[Xargon only?] Cycle colours (palette animation?)

A notable difference between the Jill editor and the Xargon editor is that the Xargon editor allows for copying blocks of tiles by pressing F1 at the top-left corner then F2 at the bottom right corner of the block or group of blocks that are to be copied. F3 then pastes the copied block(s) at the current cursor position. Allen Pilgrim, the programmer for Xargon has confirmed that this functionality was added during the development of Xargon to make the editor easier and more efficient to use.

Object edit mode

Pressing O to brings up the object management menu. The currently selected object is the one under the cursor when the O key is pressed (be sure to have the cursor exactly over the object, taking into account any X/Y disalignment.) A menu will be displayed. Press a key to choose:

• A - add an object. Type the name (e.g. "gem", see list below) and if the other values are left at zero the object will be inserted at the current cursor position.
• D - delete the object under the cursor (type is set to 'killme')
• K - select object under cursor.
• P - paste a copy of the selected object here.
• O - move previously selected object (with 'K') to the current cursor position.
• M - modify object under cursor. Similar to A for add.

Object names

These object names were taken from the Jill of the Jungle episode 1 .exe file. These are the names used when adding or modifying objects. Note that not all objects are valid.

PLAYER APPLE KNIFE KILLME BIGANT MACROTRIG DEMON BUNNY INCHWORM ZAPPER

BOBSLUG CHECKPT PAUL WISEMAN FATSO FIREBALL CLOUD TEXT6 TEXT8 FROG

TINY DOOR FALLDOOR BRIDGER SCORE TOKEN PHOENIX FIRE SWITCH TXTMSG

BOULDER EXPL1 EXPL2 STALAG SNAKE SEAROCK BOLL MEGA KNIGHT BEENEST

BEESWARM CRAB CROC EPIC SPINBLAD SKULL BUTTON JILLFISH JILLSPIDER JILLBIRD

JILLFROG BUBBLE JELLYFISH BADFISH ELEV FIREBULLET FISHBULLET VINECLIMB FLAG MAPDEMO ROMAN

Notes

• To insert powerups, add an object of type TOKEN. Set the "CNT" number to different values to get different powerups.

Credits

The level editor was discovered by Malvineous. It was first announced on the RGB Classic Games forum.