Map Editor Improvements

[pkyrkos7]

Apart from this topic http://www.wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=18399 I didn't find any other topic where people can suggest things (all ideas gathered in one topic) on how to improve the map editor.

-Add Triggers . sanderd17 suggested : http://www.wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=18764&hl=editor

-Allow the change of the height(y axis) of objects ; of course this may cause issues with playable units and buildings but it will allow plenty of designing freedom for clutter and landscape objects such as rocks.

-Allow the change of an object's variation without having to place it on the map first

-Create a properties window , which will allow the designer to change different properties of the selected object(s). Some of these properties could be x,y,z axis , different flags(can be captured , snow model, etc...) , hitpoints, etc.. similar to this :

http://www.cnclabs.com/maps/generals/worldbuilder/tutorials/basictutorial/images/1-objectproperties.jpg

Also you could make this window toggleable , so only advanced mappers can use it.

-Create a faction window , where you can adjust the different relationships between players.(more complicated than the player tab).

-Create a brush , which will allow landscape texturing(or not) and also the automatic placement of different objects.Age of Empires 3 has a similar system ,which automatically added different rocks,trees,clutter depending on the choice of climate/region. Such a tool can really speed up development and also have really nice results.Also one thing that could further improve this tool (AoE 3 lacked of this) is to create custom brush settings and add yourself what objects (rocks,trees,clutter) will appear.

-Create a brush that will allow to draw passability ;This means you can create places that player can't walk on without having to place objects or create mountains and water. Image as an idea from C&C Generals : http://www.cnclabs.com/maps/generals/worldbuilder/tutorials/basictutorial/images/4-screen05.jpg

-Create a similar brush as the above , that will allow to draw priorities.

-Create a similar brush as the above that could allow you to draw visibility ? What I mean , is draw for a example an area , that will be covered with a black mask , until a unit enters in.Of course this will work vise versa , meaning the units that are inside the drawn area won't be able to see outside of it unless the move out.This can play a mayor role for strategies in maps and perhaps it will allow the creation of natural hiding spots.

-Create a better texture blending system so each textures can be on another textures(add a transparency bar). At the moment I noticed that textures (even when select the circle brush) are small squares which is visible sometimes.

-Allow the real time simulation(without button) of different decorations and animals.For example when placing a bird , it will automatically flight around the map or animals will play their idle animation. (not entirely sure if it's a good idea)

-Allow the placement of sound markers , from which specific sounds can loop (mostly nature sounds)

-Create(or reuse) a wall system like the one in game , so you can easily create walls and not having to place each wall piece individually.

-Create a cliff system similar to AoE 3 perhaps.Yeah mountains are cool , but having a special tool for making cliffs is even cooler !

http://www.avnrt.com/scenedit/penwars/penin-vigosm.jpg

-Search and Replace function for Actors And Entities.

Please post your suggestions as well so we can make this list even bigger and help the level editor become a better tool

Off topic but still relevant to the editor :

--> A bug I noticed , is that when you press the play/test button in map editor so you can simulate the real game , once you press reset , the music from the game keeps playing.

Edited August 4, 2014 by pkyrkos7

[Radagast.]

-Allow the placement of sound markers , from which specific sounds can loop (mostly nature sounds)

sounds like a special trigger + basic script. For that we'd first need to settle on the trigger GUI.

-Create a wall system like the one in game , so you can easily create walls and not having to place each wall piece individually.

Better reuse instead of create. Because otherwise maintaining two fully identical functionalities may be difficult. But I'm not sure it can be easily reused as Atlas is quite separated from 0AD.

Many improvements you mention make sense. A texture blend tool might also be great, but how could it work?

[pkyrkos7]

Yeah reuse makes sense.From programming perspective I don't think it's hard to implement , since the game already has the building walls system.Of course it may require some adjustments but the basic idea is the same.

Also saying that Atlas is quite separated from 0AD , makes me think the following : Wouldn't it be easier to implement an editor in game ? AoE3 runs it's editor from the game itself without the need of external program.

As for the blend tool , perhaps something like the one in C&C Generals , where you you press a button and then all textures automatically blend with each other and so it doesn't look so squarish.

Another idea is to make the circle brush draw more smooth at the edges , like in AoE 3.What I mean is to be able to draw a normal circle(tiny squares perhaps ?) rather than the already existing brush circle which draws squares.

Another idea is to make it similar to most of the game engines , where you can use a strength/transparency bar so that when you paint the texture , the texture you apply is partially transparent with the texture that is already drawn on the ground. I am not sure if I explain this correctly so you can understand it and also I have no clue how hard it is to implement that in an Engine. The system I am talking is used , in games like Unreal , Unity, CryEngine or Skyrim http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg21/Darkrder/Tutorials/CK%20Basics/CK52.jpg (You can see the opacity text field for the current texture)

Edited August 2, 2014 by pkyrkos7

[niektb]

I thought this was a more appropriate place for such a topic. (btw. welcome to the council pkyrkos7 )

I could recall that someone was already working on a wallplacer for Atlas.

Edited August 2, 2014 by niektb

[shieldwolf23]

Agree on most points, plus, I also want that automatic placing of ambients in brushes. Many of you who has played AoK and designed there know that it halves the time to create beautiful environments if we have that tool.

[The Nivekian Konsolate]

On 8/1/2014 at 5:54 PM, pkyrkos7 said:

 

As for the blend tool , perhaps something like the one in C&C Generals , where you you press a button and then all textures automatically blend with each other and so it doesn't look so squarish.

Another idea is to make the circle brush draw more smooth at the edges , like in AoE 3.What I mean is to be able to draw a normal circle(tiny squares perhaps ?) rather than the already existing brush circle which draws squares.

Another idea is to make it similar to most of the game engines , where you can use a strength/transparency bar so that when you paint the texture , the texture you apply is partially transparent with the texture that is already drawn on the ground. I am not sure if I explain this correctly so you can understand it and also I have no clue how hard it is to implement that in an Engine. The system I am talking is used , in games like Unreal , Unity, CryEngine or Skyrim http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg21/Darkrder/Tutorials/CK%20Basics/CK52.jpg (You can see the opacity text field for the current texture)

Did any of this ever happen? Or something else that I can do to blend textures? A blend tool would sure make things easy.

 

[FeXoR]

Textures are automatically blended. See http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/Atlas_Manual_Terrain_Tab#Texturepriority for information on the priority.

Textures are still tile based and some textures doesn't blend well next to each other, we are aware of that.

Handling more than one texture per tile is not really planned AFAIK.

There are a lot of tickets with the aim to improve Atlas in general also including brushes. Some other aspects have heavily been worked on like the GUI but ATM we don't have a developer/contributor focusing on Atlas I'm afraid so things will move slowly.