A Room with a View

If there is something important you think is missing in the current version of ZGameEditor then you can post a feature request here!

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slobu
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Joined: Mon May 19, 2008 1:00 pm

A Room with a View

Post by slobu »

How about a "level editor" a.k.a. room object that allows the end-user to place 3D objects? One should be able to select the 3D object to place and single-click to do so. Double-click should tell the editor to go to the properties for that object. Room properties may be RoomSize.x RoomSize.y RoomSize.z to describe how big the room is. RoomWrap = TRUE would allow the objects to wrap around to the other side of the room.

I think the "room" concept is something Game Maker did right.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Maker
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jph_wacheski
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Post by jph_wacheski »

Although I'm not too sure how this could be implemented in the editor,. I suspect that it would be a boatload of work to do,. I would not wait for it,. and instead just forge ahead using the tool as it is,. If you plan out SIMPLE levels in relatively simple game designs it is possible to place objects by x,y,z values simply using spawnObject components. Bust out the grid paper! Have a look at the FPS Demo in the example projects to see one way to use text files to layout levels as well., .

Beyond that a much simpler thing that we could perhaps see sooner would be for the ZGE file handeling component to get saving functionality,. by using this we could build simple level editors into our projects. Place objects in the game (edit mode) and then save the values to a file,. suppose this could require more scripting functions as well,. . would have to try it.
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slobu
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon May 19, 2008 1:00 pm

I See your Point but..

Post by slobu »

I understand your viewpoint. Level editing could be done by hand or by experienced ZGameEditor Gurus. The user who wants by-hand would be coding his own by scratch though. This (ZGameEditor) is an Editor and there is a clear need for level editing/3D object placing tools. This is a feature request.

I too thought this would require heavy coding but then I realized when you click to place something it could just refresh those values for an existing object or create a new one. In other words, I don't believe a separate "level" file would be needed. The GUI is already has the internal functions to add objects and change x, y and x values. It just needs an interface to place objects.

I know you were trying to be helpful and I appreciate the comment. Until my feature is considered or implemented I'll try to wrap my head around the file loading and FPS example.

The save state feature you mentioned sounds awesome too (just not for level editing). It's hell during development and testing because as your code changes your old levels/save states become incompatible.

EDITED: For clarity.
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Kjell
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Post by Kjell »

Hi slobu,

In case your developing non-commercial games, I'd highly recommend XSI Mod Tool for Environment Creation / Editing. The only downside is that I believe you cannot export to .3ds ( neither can Softimage / Maya by the way ) .. so you'd need a convertor.

Good luck,
Kjell
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