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Revamping the Actor Editor (merging with ActorViewer)


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So, yesterday I saw this page: http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/Actor_Editor?version=7

I personally don't use the ActorEditor, since I use Notepad++ do edit the codes and stuff. However with the new shader implementation, one thing that I noticed is that is really a pain to reload atlas every time I make a change in the code or in the material codes.

So here's the idea: Preview the .daes with it's texture and material within the NewActor Editor. Create a material preview and editor, just like the materials tab on Blender. (Yeah, I know it sounds too ambicious, but it would be awesome and great, even to future mod makers). Making everything more visually and integrated would be great for us, artists that don't like to get our hands dirty with some codding - I know it's simple, but it's code :P - and it can be n00b friendly.

I would come up with a GUI-mokup but I'm not on my personal computer right now. But I guess you guys got the idea.

Your thoughts?

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Yeah, it definitely shouldn't be necessary to reboot Atlas to preview every little tweak. However, I wonder if creating a f*ckload of materials (one or more per actor) is really the right approach here? Would it not be better if things like normal map intensity could be set in the actor file itself?

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Already asked myconid about that... sounds like that it's not going to happen. The intensity values are in the material file. :(

At the moment they are, but that doesn't mean it's never ever going to happen. :)

In fact, it shouldn't be too hard to add, and it's something we should add for completeness.

But, for now, it makes no real difference where the settings ("uniform") are stored. If two materials have the same effects enabled ("define"), they map to the same shader internally, so there's no recompilation overhead or memory use. The uniforms are really fast to switch.

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Sounds like two problems, one is that hotloading is broken or unintuitive in Atlas which should be fixed, and also that having a separate tool is annoying which I agree with. I think eventually Atlas will be expanded to have a number of editors including entity, actor, and mod editors. Basically everything about modding the game should be done in Atlas and instantly previewed. There is a partial mockup for a new layout somewhere, which Michael created years ago.

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