NEEDED Spark Editor Features
tagwolf
SF Bay Area Join Date: 2013-02-01 Member: 182710Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver
SF Bay Area Join Date: 2013-02-01 Member: 182710Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver
Major spark feature requests.
I've been working with spark editor for a bit...And really had a very tough time battling with some missing features.
Can you please consider adding the following:
* Ability to enter in length of a line / dimensions of a rectangle
* Ability to hold shift while using the recangle tool to create a square
* Ability to use arrow keys while in move mode (possibly scale too...?) in order to move the shape 1 increment of the snap you have set.
- Hold alt to move 1/2 or less of that increment
* Ability to snap AND resize a large shape to the closest grid points
- Had an extremely hard time doing this. One of my levels required a hexagon. Almost everything gradually went off "whole number" measurements. I'd frequently see things at 430.38", or 26.4 degrees. etc.
* Fix rotate - On large objects, it just doesn't work. And it certainly doesn't "snap" to the angles you give it
* Add ability to manually input an objects base angle based on it's center or a line / vertex, whatever.
* Ability to set snap to ALWAYS snap. It often fails to snap to the grid during shape creation, making a new line, etc. You then have to go off the line you are manipulating til the grid reappears in the fog and "catch" it on the grid again.
* Export / Import functions from commonly used 3d modelling formats
* Ability to build an overview preview and launch a map directly to NS2 built into sparks (I've currently scripted this.)
* Ability to turn on a "sticky edges / verticities" so you can easily drag a shape to another and get it lined up properly
* Mirror mode. (Useful for building symetrical maps)
* Mirror copy / paste (Useful for copying things from one side to another, working with hallway lights, etc)
* ALWAYS show a lines length when clicking on it
AND / OR - have a ruler tool to measure a line or between two verticies or points always
* When working with complex faces...Sometimes auto face creation causes major issues. Can you find a way to disable this during shape creation, etc. Or try to make face creation more intellegent.
* Also the selection filter. Currently it's a filter of what you WANT to select. I think the majority of people use it for what they DON'T want to select. Any way you guys could reserve this.
* Manual face creation and being able to turn off any face creation on a shape. When trying to model additional geometry, spark edit often creates strange, diagonal faces, etc. Which need to be deleted, recreated multiple times, etc. Very unintuitive.
* Ability to work on a texture from spark edit, export to photoshop instantly, save it, and have spark immediately build it and show the results.
I have seen many people with convoluted workflows. Hopping between blender, builder, photoshop, etc.
Also I'm trying to contribute to the wiki and documentation a LOT as it's severely lacking and difficult for new mappers to start. While I am building video tutorials and wiki entries. It'd really help to have a full manual. Something describing entities, importing, tools, minimum heights/widths for lifeforms, min. entities to make a map, etc.
Documentation certainly needs a lot of work and community help. I'm willing to help as much as I can.
For instance people don't know how commander cameras work, locations, power grid, ready room requirements, face creation, etc.
I know it's a big list. I'm just going over things I think would help devs, mappers, and the community at large.
Thanks for all your support..
One last thing though. It'd be nice to see a feature added to the engine to help with multi level maps commanding. Adding a simple mousewheel input to cycle through camera views on overlapping levels would allow for some interesting and complex maps. (I'm working on some myself and need to stagger levels out a lot).
I've been working with spark editor for a bit...And really had a very tough time battling with some missing features.
Can you please consider adding the following:
* Ability to enter in length of a line / dimensions of a rectangle
* Ability to hold shift while using the recangle tool to create a square
* Ability to use arrow keys while in move mode (possibly scale too...?) in order to move the shape 1 increment of the snap you have set.
- Hold alt to move 1/2 or less of that increment
* Ability to snap AND resize a large shape to the closest grid points
- Had an extremely hard time doing this. One of my levels required a hexagon. Almost everything gradually went off "whole number" measurements. I'd frequently see things at 430.38", or 26.4 degrees. etc.
* Fix rotate - On large objects, it just doesn't work. And it certainly doesn't "snap" to the angles you give it
* Add ability to manually input an objects base angle based on it's center or a line / vertex, whatever.
* Ability to set snap to ALWAYS snap. It often fails to snap to the grid during shape creation, making a new line, etc. You then have to go off the line you are manipulating til the grid reappears in the fog and "catch" it on the grid again.
* Export / Import functions from commonly used 3d modelling formats
* Ability to build an overview preview and launch a map directly to NS2 built into sparks (I've currently scripted this.)
* Ability to turn on a "sticky edges / verticities" so you can easily drag a shape to another and get it lined up properly
* Mirror mode. (Useful for building symetrical maps)
* Mirror copy / paste (Useful for copying things from one side to another, working with hallway lights, etc)
* ALWAYS show a lines length when clicking on it
AND / OR - have a ruler tool to measure a line or between two verticies or points always
* When working with complex faces...Sometimes auto face creation causes major issues. Can you find a way to disable this during shape creation, etc. Or try to make face creation more intellegent.
* Also the selection filter. Currently it's a filter of what you WANT to select. I think the majority of people use it for what they DON'T want to select. Any way you guys could reserve this.
* Manual face creation and being able to turn off any face creation on a shape. When trying to model additional geometry, spark edit often creates strange, diagonal faces, etc. Which need to be deleted, recreated multiple times, etc. Very unintuitive.
* Ability to work on a texture from spark edit, export to photoshop instantly, save it, and have spark immediately build it and show the results.
I have seen many people with convoluted workflows. Hopping between blender, builder, photoshop, etc.
Also I'm trying to contribute to the wiki and documentation a LOT as it's severely lacking and difficult for new mappers to start. While I am building video tutorials and wiki entries. It'd really help to have a full manual. Something describing entities, importing, tools, minimum heights/widths for lifeforms, min. entities to make a map, etc.
Documentation certainly needs a lot of work and community help. I'm willing to help as much as I can.
For instance people don't know how commander cameras work, locations, power grid, ready room requirements, face creation, etc.
I know it's a big list. I'm just going over things I think would help devs, mappers, and the community at large.
Thanks for all your support..
One last thing though. It'd be nice to see a feature added to the engine to help with multi level maps commanding. Adding a simple mousewheel input to cycle through camera views on overlapping levels would allow for some interesting and complex maps. (I'm working on some myself and need to stagger levels out a lot).
Comments
I think that one is the most important, since it immediatly answers the other points. You can simply create the map in the 3D software you prefer, with all their shortcuts and tricks!