Tile

A **Tile** is the smallest component of the terrain and scenery in *YODA STORIES*, and the smallest unit of measurement.

A Cell consists of a square grid of either 18x18 or 9x9 **Tiles**. 9x9 Tiles is also the size of the main viewport where all the action takes place. Each Tile is exactly 32x32 pixels in size.

A Tile always contains a piece of the background image, such as sand, grass, ice, metal grating, an open doorway, and so on. Even outer space, such as is seen around the landing deck of  Darth Vader's Star Destroyer, is made up of tiles.

On top of this background, the Tile may or may not have a "foreground" object. This could be an obstacle, an interactive object, an Item, a Moveable, an NPC, an Enemy, or  Luke himself. Although two foreground objects may sometimes be present in the same tile at the same time, only one of them will ever be visible until this "conflict" is resolved.

Both  Luke Skywalker and his Enemies can only move from one Tile to an adjacent Tile - including diagonally. No entity may move into a Tile that already contains something else.

Tiles are also an important factor when attacking Enemies (or being attacked by enemies). Each of Luke's Weapons has a different area of effect, which is measured in Tiles.

## Dimensions

Each and every Tile in the game is exactly 32x32 pixels in size.

Large Cells, which make up the majority of Cells in the game, consist of 18x18 tiles arranged in a square grid. This makes a Large Cell 576x576 pixels in size. However, the size of the viewport is only 9x9 tiles (or 288x288 pixels), which means that only part of a Large Cell can be seen at any given time.

Some Cells are much smaller, containing only 9x9 Tiles. This is exactly the same size as the Viewport - 288x288 pixels.

(Note that some foreground objects are larger than 32x32 pixels. For example, trees tend to be either two or three tiles in height; However only the base of the tree actually "occupies" a tile, so  Luke can freely step into the tiles concealed by the top of the tree. This is how secret paths are typically hidden on Forest Cells.)

## Background

The first component of a Tile is its background - the image used to give the tile texture.

The background image of a tile typically portrays nothing but the ground. In a Desert, it will usually be sand. On an Ice planet, it will usually be flat snow. Inside an Imperial bunker, it is most likely to be some sort of metal grating. However none of these are binding; There are regions in the Forest that are sandy, just as there are regions in the snow that are paved over to make an airstrip.

Furthermore, the game has a whole array of different sprites to use for each kind of ground texture; A sandy desert tile could have some rocks strewn on it, whereas snow could clump into a big pile. This helps add some variety, but has no actual impact on the game.

Most importantly, a background texture can help Luke spot a point of interest. For example, all open doorways are just background textures that Luke can walk straight through. This includes paths snaking into dense trees, a ladder, a trap door, and so on.

Finally, sometimes the background is painted in the "foreground", so that anything that moves into the tile becomes hidden behind the terrain. This effect is used to create a tunnel through which  Luke and/or Enemies can move. Keeping track of Luke's position as he tries to navigate through such a tunnel - without being able to see exactly where he is - is the whole trick to some puzzles in the game.

## Foreground Objects

The background of a Tile is mostly inconsequential. What's important is what's actually in the tile - or rather, in the tile's foreground.

For the most part, only one object can be in the foreground of a tile at any given time. Should a conflict occur, the game will only display the "most important" object, hiding anything else behind it. However, objects that can move are completely prohibited from entering any tile that already has anything in it.

### Obstacles

An Obstacle is an immobile, inert object whose purpose is simply to block movement into that tile.

Common obstacles include walls, rocky cliffs, and deep water such as lakes or rivers. Indoors, they include almost every part of the furniture, machinery and computer consoles. There are many other types of obstacles as well, from trees and rocks to wrecked spaceships and unusable vehicles. There are too many to count, especially since none of them has any function other than to block movement.

Many obstacles are multiple tiles in size, although from the game's perspective they are actually made up of discrete pieces - each occupying a single tile - that simply look like a continuous object. A building, for example, is a collection of such pieces put together to resemble one large multi-tile object.

In some cases, part of a large obstacle is actually interactive, or can be passed through. The most common example of this are doors in the front of a building.

### Moveables

*Main article: Moveables*

Moveables are obstacles that can be pushed or pulled by  Luke Skywalker. They include various crates and boxes, but also rocks and blocks of stone.

A Moveable can only be pushed into a tile that doesn't contain another object, character or enemy. Nevertheless, this rule has exceptions, as sometimes it is *necessary* to push a Moveable into an otherwise inaccessible position in order to break it open and allow movement through it.

Many puzzles involve pushing or pulling Moveables in order to clear a path. This is sometimes more difficult than it sounds, especially in tight spaces with many Moveables and other obstacles in the way.

On occasion, a Moveable will have an Item hidden underneath it. Moving the obstacle in any direction will result in the object being revealed, at which point it can be picked up by  Luke. The Cell itself determines which Items are hidden under which Moveables, with some minor randomness involved.

### Interactive Objects

Sometimes stepping onto a tile, or trying to step onto it, will cause some tangible effect in the scene. Whether such a tile visibly contains an object or appears to contain nothing, it is nevertheless said to contain an "Interactive Object".

The most common Interactive Object are doorways; stepping into one usually causes a transition into another Cell. A closed door is also an Interactive Object if it can be opened in some way, otherwise it is nothing but an inert Obstacle.

Containers are an important Interactive Object that often (but not always) reveals an Item when touched. Once the container is opened, the Interactive Object is removed, and the tile permanently becomes an Obstacle. Chests and cabinets are two common types of Containers, as is the Imperial Truck and other unusable vehicles like the Bantha. If a container cannot be opened at all, colliding with it will cause an "error" sound. If it can be opened in some way, Luke will usually have a dialog bubble hinting at what should be done.

Pressure Plates are also interactive objects, since Luke can step on one in order to activate it. Similarly, some vehicles are interactive if they can be entered and driven, with the most obvious example being Luke's X-Wing.

Switches are Interactive Objects that cannot be stepped onto, but will be "activated" when Luke tries to walk into them. Most switches can then be flipped back to undo whatever effect they caused.

Occasionally, interactive objects are intentionally invisible - appearing as a regular obstacle until Luke collides with it. In this case, either Luke will have some dialog hinting at what should be done, or an effect will immediately occur (usually removing the obstacle and revealing a path foward). For example, a few cliffsides are set to reveal a staircase or a ramp this way, allowing you to climb up an otherwise inaccessible cliff.

Finally, some Interactive Objects are activated by hitting them with the  Lightsaber or  THE FORCE. These are rare, and Luke will usually give some hint on this whenever he runs into such object.

### Items

*Main article: Items*

Items can appear on the ground, inside Containers, behind Moveables, or dropped from Enemies as Loot. Once an item appears in a scene, it acts as a sort of Obstacle - Enemies cannot move into a tile with an Item in it. This persists until Luke collides with the Item, at which point it is picked up and placed in Luke's inventory.

On occasion, an NPC can become an item to be picked up. This is especially true in Missions that require Luke to rescue someone, e.g. rescuing  Yoda at Lokondo.

### Enemies and Neutrals

*Main articles: Enemies and Neutrals*

Enemies are substantially different from any Foreground Objects, in four important ways:

1. Almost all Enemies can move autonomously to any adjacent tile that is currently empty. Some do so completely at random, while others have more deliberate movement tactics. Some move quickly, while others lumber about.
2. If  Luke ever collides with an Enemy, he suffers damage. This includes Luke walking into a tile containing an enemy; an enemy moving into Luke's tile; or the two attempting to move into the same tile at the same time.
3. Some enemies can actually attack Luke at a distance, firing blaster shots or other projectiles at him, also causing damage.
4. Luke can use Weapons to hurt and kill enemies. In almost all cases, a killed enemy is completely removed from the game. In some cases, Enemies are scripted to drop a piece of Loot when they're killed.

As constantly-moving objects, Enemies are not portrayed on most Cell screenshots on this Wiki, since their position constantly changes and cannot be predicted at any given time. Some enemies, however, are completely stationary, presenting a completely passive hazard.

Neutrals are similar to enemies in that they can and do move about on their own; However they cannot hurt Luke in any way. They can be killed just like Enemies, and may even drop Loot when they die. Since Neutrals still block movement like any other Foreground Object, they can easily become a nuisance.

### Projectiles

Both  Luke Skywalker and some of his Enemies can fire projectiles at one another from their  Blasters. Projectiles are considered Foreground Objects, which travel in a straight line until they hit another Foreground Object or exceed their maximum range.

Luke's projectiles include both Blaster fire and  THE FORCE. Both projectiles have a maximum range of 3 tiles, after which they dissipate. If a Blaster projectile strikes an enemy, it causes them a set amount of damage. The Force will instead immobilize that enemy permanently. Blaster Projectiles are also stopped by Obstacles, whereas The Force projectile is not.

Most Enemies with a ranged weapon have a maximum range of up to 4 Tiles in a straight line. Enemies often fire whether or not they have a clear line-of-sight to Luke's position. Their blaster projectiles cause damage if they manage to impact with Luke.

Note that Projectiles can only travel directly north, east, south or west. They may not be fired diagonally.

### NPCs

*Main article: NPCs*

An NPC, or "Non-Playable Character", is essentially an Interactive Object (see above) that can talk. When  Luke Skywalker collides with an NPC, some dialog will usually play out between them.

NPCs generally stay completely stationary. If they move at all, it is always due to a script telling them to move to a specific location. For example, some NPCs block a path and can be convinced to step aside (usually for a price). Other NPCs may be scripted to leave the scene altogether when their business is done. Others yet will not move under any circumstances.

NPCs are typically there either to block Luke's movement, or to hand him a Quest Item. However in order to do so, it is often necessary to solve a puzzle or give them another Quest Item as payment.

### Luke

*Main article: Luke Skywalker*

Finally,  Luke Skywalker himself is a Foreground Object. Though naturally he cannot collide with himself, Luke is an obstacle that other moving objects, such as Enemies, cannot cross.

## Attack Area

*Main article: Weapons*

Each of  Luke's Weapons affects a different area of the screen. This area is measured in Tiles.