When comparing Tiled vs GAF Converter, the Slant community recommends Tiled for most people. In the question“What are the best 2D animation tools for game development?” Tiled is ranked 9th while GAF Converter is ranked 18th. 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 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.
Pro Supports 99% of what can be created in Flash
Artists and animators don’t need any special planning or preparations of their SWF files before converting.
Pro Allows using Flash animations in Unity
You can convert Flash animations directly in Unity with the help of plug-in. The converted .gaf file consists of a texturte atlas and a binary config.
Pro Supports different frameworks
Full playback API supported in Unity3d, Cocos2d-x, Cocos2d, Starling.
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.
Con Sound support only in Premium version
GAF Converter supports sound but only in the Premium version.