Group/Layer Managers for Level Builder
by Oliver Rendelmann - DerR · in Torque Game Builder · 07/06/2006 (1:02 am) · 8 replies
Hiya!
A few days ago I postponed work on my current game project in favor for a small Level Builder extension. When my levels started to become more and more complex I nearly got insane trying to manage all the sprites, objects and whatnot, so I decided to implement a Photoshop like layer/group manager to make things easier. :)
Right now you can set layers/groups to invisible which makes them unpickable. If you need their visual appearence but still want to exclude them from picking you can just lock them away. And if you work with many layers and groups you can name those so you don't have to look up the numbers from your notes all the time! :)
Tell me what you think. Any critics welcome... I might combine the managers into one so you have one window with two tabs but I'm not sure. The third manager you see in the window is going to be a t2dObjectGroup manager that lets you create named groups and subgroups. Have fun. :)
Oh, and I should mention that the managers create an object in your level file to save the settings.. I couldn't come up with a cleaner way without changing the engine; I hope no one minds.
A few days ago I postponed work on my current game project in favor for a small Level Builder extension. When my levels started to become more and more complex I nearly got insane trying to manage all the sprites, objects and whatnot, so I decided to implement a Photoshop like layer/group manager to make things easier. :)
Right now you can set layers/groups to invisible which makes them unpickable. If you need their visual appearence but still want to exclude them from picking you can just lock them away. And if you work with many layers and groups you can name those so you don't have to look up the numbers from your notes all the time! :)
Tell me what you think. Any critics welcome... I might combine the managers into one so you have one window with two tabs but I'm not sure. The third manager you see in the window is going to be a t2dObjectGroup manager that lets you create named groups and subgroups. Have fun. :)
Oh, and I should mention that the managers create an object in your level file to save the settings.. I couldn't come up with a cleaner way without changing the engine; I hope no one minds.
#2
07/06/2006 (8:39 am)
What exactly is in that zip file? I figured I would drop it into my TGB directory as some sort of addon but it seems to be a complete install of TGB itself. Which parts are needed to just add your editor mod?
#3
07/06/2006 (8:40 am)
It's a complete TGB. That's necessary because I made engine changes.
#4
07/06/2006 (9:40 am)
I would be wary about posting it on here...I'm not sure how the EULA for binary only versions applies.
#5
07/06/2006 (10:07 am)
Okay... I have removed the link for now. :/ Anybody who is interested can look at screens in my latest .plan..
#6
07/07/2006 (12:11 am)
Locking and hiding groups and/or layers would be a much appreciated feature! I hope you can release the code for this or publish it as a resource or something.
#7
07/07/2006 (3:04 pm)
This sounds very interesting!
#8
07/13/2006 (11:19 am)
I'm still waiting for this stuff to be approved... I will make it public for free as soon as possible. :)
Torque Owner Oliver Rendelmann - DerR