I'd cheat - I'd use PAINT BRUSH... Make the image the size of your level... and use RGB codes for the TILE ID's. (I'd use ones I could see though to make it eaiser... e.g. don't start with ZERO and ONE for your color
)
Then I'd load the image (Either PNG or BITMAP - something lossless), convert it to a memblock, then loop through the image... when you convert a image to a memblock... the first 12 bytes are the dimensions and bit depth:
IMAGE WIDTH = 1 DWORD = 4 Bytes
IMAGE HEIGHT = 1 DWORD = 4 BYTES
IMAGe BIT DEPTH = 1 DWORD = 4 BYTES (Usually = 32 meaning 32 bits per pixel - RGBA or Red, Green, Blue, alpha)
The rest of the memblock is pixels. 1 DWORD = 1 PIXEL = RGBA. Rows across, then next row, then next etc.
--Jason