When comparing DAME vs Tiled, the Slant community recommends Tiled for most people. In the question“What are the best 2D tilemap editors?” Tiled is ranked 1st while DAME is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose Tiled is:
Not everyone uses the same operating system and why should they? Tiled supports Windows, Mac, and Linux so you can work in any environment you like. Also with daily builds you get to stay ahead of the curve!
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro "Matrix" Tool
DAME comes with a matrix tool that allows you to create a custom matrix of tiles that you can then use to paint varying sizes of that grid onto your map. It also allows you to randomize the tiles in the center of the grid making this a great tool for creating backgrounds.
Pro Parallax Scrolling
DAME features support for parallax scrolling with multiple layers.
Pro Full Control Of Sprites
DAME allows you full control over each individual sprite. For example, you can draw directly on each sprite to make it unique. It even goes detailed enough to let you choose which frame an animated spite starts on.
In addition, DAME has a "Sprite Trail" feature that makes it easy to draw a series of sprites on the map any way you wish. This is especially useful when placing things like coins.
Pro Supports Custom Lua Exporters
DAME allows you to write your own custom Lua exporters to adapt DAME to your needs.
Pro Multi-platform
Not everyone uses the same operating system and why should they? Tiled supports Windows, Mac, and Linux so you can work in any environment you like. Also with daily builds you get to stay ahead of the curve!
Pro Free and open-source
Using the GPL license means you get to use this software free and are free to make changes to it as you see fit.
Pro Unlimited layers
Sometimes you need 20 layers to make something epic. Tiled lets you create as many layers as you need.
Pro Use shell commands
Setup shell commands within Tiled so you can setup workflows for each of your games.
Pro Supports Orthographic and Isometric tiles
Whether you want a straight on look at your world or a slightly skewed one Tiled has you covered.
Pro Terrains
Setup boarders with your tilesets so making tiles provide the correct connections automatically. This feature will speed up your level creation.
Pro Auto-mapping
One of the coolest things is to create rules so you can automate the mapping process. Want to have certain tiles to always have a collider? Simply make a rule for it and it'll do it automatically. Speed up your mapping process with this feature.
Pro Many engines already have support
A big list of engines already have support for Tiled provided by those in the community. See if the engine you use is already on the list.
Pro Can create colliders and triggers within editor
Tiled makes it easy to setup triggers and colliders with its vector tools or you can set up a tile that’s invisible in your game. Change collider/trigger properties so you can access them within your game.
Pro Tile size and image size do not have to match
Want to import a giant object but don’t want to split it up? Import it and place it the exact size you want it as one object.
Pro Properties
Create properties for your map, layers, tilesets, tiles, and objects. Have the flexibility you need to create the best levels for your game.
Pro Engine agnostic
Tiled provides an easy solution for tile maps for any engine even the custom engine you are now making. This makes Tiled a very versatile tool for 2D games.
Cons
Con Must implement .tmx if your engine doesn’t support Tiled.
It’s not a huge deal but you do need to implement Tiled into your engine if you don’t have it. Don't be lazy just follow this guideline to get your game running. Must implement .tmx if your engine doesn’t support Tiled.