Hi, This quick FAQ file will help you with obtaining and installing additional PilesOTiles tileset levels until the rest of the site is constructed, and direct download pages have been added. This instruction should work on all versions of the game (PC, Mac and PocketPC).

Firstly, there are two types of tileset, there are desktop tilesets (large images) and PDA tilesets. It's easy to determine if you have the wrong type of tilesets, if you are running the PocketPC version of the game you will notice the tiles are extra-huge and will not fit any of the levels on the screen properly. If you are running a desktop version of the game, your level might have extra-tiny tiles and the level will fit in the center with lots of empty space all around. It's important to install the correct type of tileset for your version of the game for the best playing experience.

Available Tilesets

At this time, there are 3 additional tilesets available for the game. All three tilesets are available for all versions of the game. If you are using the Windows/MAc version, you can instantly convvert any of your tilesets to PDA format. See the game documentation for more information. Here is a complete rundown of each tileset:

Piles'O'Tiles Extended Tileset - This is an extended tileset to the version that ships with the game. We wanted to keep the initial download size to a minimum when we first released Piles'O'Tiles, so this tileset wasn't included. This new set features 99 brightly coloured tiles with beautiful pictures and interesting images. With more than double the original tile count, it is certainly the biggest and brightest tileset available. A much bigger version will be made available for the new Piles'O'Tiles that is currently being developed.

Mahjongg Tileset - This tileset was created by Berklee and features beautiful mahjongg tiles taken from a real mahjongg playing board. Adds an interesting perspective on the game and makes it feel a lot like the original. We like this tileset a lot!

Playing Cards Tileset - One of our players is a card player, and asked me to make a tileset featuring playing cards as he can easily see differences between the faces. After making the tileset and playing it for a while, I started to like it and therefore kept it as a public download.

Downloading Additional Tilesets

Below are the direct-download links to obtain each of our tilesets. Be sure you are selecting the correct versions before you download!

PocketPC/PDA Tileset Downloads
Piles'O'Tiles Extended Tileset - http://www.f1-software.com/downloads/tilesets/pda/AndyKellett/defextende...
Traditional Mahjongg Tileset - http://www.f1-software.com/downloads/tilesets/pda/AndyKellett/mahjongg.z...
Playing Cards Tileset - http://www.f1-software.com/downloads/tilesets/pda/AndyKellett/playingcar...

Desktop Tileset Downloads (Windows & Apple Mac Versions)
Piles'O'Tiles Extended Tileset - http://www.f1-software.com/downloads/tilesets/desktop/AndyKellett/defext...
Traditional Mahjongg Tileset - http://www.f1-software.com/downloads/tilesets/desktop/Berklee/mahjongg.z...
Playing Cards Tileset - http://www.f1-software.com/downloads/tilesets/desktop/AndyKellett/playin...

Installing The Tilesets

Each tileset archive contains 2 files. The TLS file is the tileset information file which tells the program a little bit about the tileset, such as who made it etc. The DXP file contains the actual images themselves and is significatly larger.

Unpack the ZIP file to the tileset folder of your installation, which is typically 'c:\Program Files\PilesOTiles\data\gfx\tiles' on Windows versions, or 'Program Files\PilesOTiles\Data' for PocketPC/PDA. Mac users can locate it in 'data/gfx/tiles' from wherever the installation ZIP was unpacked for the game. It is important that no additional folders be created when you unpack the archive. If so, the tileset won't be recognized by the application. You should also see additional DXP/TLS files in this folder for any additional tilesets that you have installed.

Now when you re-launch the game, the tilesets should instantly be recognized and available in the tileset selection manager. If not, be sure to check all the files are present. If you still can't get it to work, make apost to our support forums for help.

I Would Like To Create A Tileset For Piles'O'Tiles!

Piles'O'Tiles is always looking for new and exciting tilesets to use in it's game, especially with the release of the 2007 edition versy soon! For the time being, the old level creation tool has been made unavailable as the new game will have such a tool built directly into it. This new tool will be useable by registered and unregistered players.

In the meantime, you can still go ahead and create your own levels to process. Each individual tileset must be 96x120 pixels, the game will automatically scale the tiles as needed when they are loaded into the game. This is what makes the graphics look so much more appealing, as most other games have a resolution of less than half of that size. We use the TGA File format to store unprocessed tile data. The TGA must be 24-bit (retains more colours making the tiles look much better) and save without compression. Each row within your TGA File should contain 9 tiles, and you can specify as many rows as you want (we don't reccomend much more than about 200 tiles max, otherwise some machines can't handle the memory needed to process the loaded tileset). The game will automatically count the rows and process them accordingly.

To get you started with a sample layout, you can download http://www.f1-software.com/downloads/ExampleTilesetLayout.zip which is a checker-board type layout that you can just insert your tiles into after resizing them. It's important to remember that an entire row must be filled, you cannot leave gaps or stop midway through the row! As always, any advanced questions about this subject can be posted to our support forums where we will gladly help you.

If you have created a really awesome level for the game and would like to see it in action, contact me directly at andy@f1-software.com and I will instruct you further on how to apply the tileset to the game.