Features that would be nice to see in Torque Constructor
by Jesse McKinney · in Artist Corner · 06/16/2005 (2:32 pm) · 41 replies
Title says it all here is the list:
From this point out in this doc Torque constructor will be abbreviated with "TC"
Ability to import your .ter file and all terrain scaling info into TC
Why: So you can build directly on the terrain which means you wont have to rescale, or reposition objects once you load them into TSE.
Re-mappable GUI menus and shortcut keys
Why: so we can re-configure the GUI to look like any map editor we want and re-map the Shortcut keys to mimic the shortcuts of other Map editors. I have been mapping with Radiant for various games for the last 4 years (Quake X, Doom X, Star Wars Jedi Outcast and Star Wars Jedi Academy) and have become quite attached to the interface. (worldcraft is slowly growing on me but Radiant still is my favorite level editor when I am allowed to use it). I am sure some of the people that have been using Quark or WC for a while might want the interface layout and hotkeys to be the same in TC as it can be found in WC or Quark.
The ability to save the Custom GUI's and shortcuts
Why: so only one person has to remap the GUI and shortcuts everyone else that uses TC can just download the interface file.
The ability to Load any .map and export to any .map file format.
Why: there are slight differences between the .map file formats of Quark, Worldcraft and other .map editors it would be nice to be able to share our .maps with other people that are to scared to try TC and or are building outside of TC and want to import to use the shader lab.
List of .map Editors
Qark
Worldcraft
Maya exporter
Cartography Shop
The ability to View dif collision boxes
Why: to help detect collision anomalies
If its not already in the plan, build the shader lab into TC
Why: saves compile times and can give us a rough glance at what things would look like compiled
Rewrite of the DIF exporter
The cartography shop exporter creates smaller dif's and seems to create better looking lightmaps it would be nice to have this in TC.
\/\/ Really wishful thinking and I hope my wish comes true\/\/
Ability to access TC from within TSE
Build TC into TSE so you can access and build thing on the fly in game, most other current engines have this feature and it makes logical since to map things from beginning to end without having to jump through a bunch of hops just to build and import a building. This would also allow full use of shader effects (after all your building interiors while in the actual mission) without needing to transplanting a bunch of code from TSE to TC, the need to scale objects to fit the map would be a thing of the past (your building on the **Actual** terrain and can see exactly what the water height is going to be as well as where other ground and air objects will be), there would be no need to import difs unless you were not using TC, half my above list will be instantly complete :), and it would have countless other advantages over TC being a stand alone program.
Everyone feel free to add to this list and or comment....
Thanks GG staff for taking the time to read this thread :)
From this point out in this doc Torque constructor will be abbreviated with "TC"
Ability to import your .ter file and all terrain scaling info into TC
Why: So you can build directly on the terrain which means you wont have to rescale, or reposition objects once you load them into TSE.
Re-mappable GUI menus and shortcut keys
Why: so we can re-configure the GUI to look like any map editor we want and re-map the Shortcut keys to mimic the shortcuts of other Map editors. I have been mapping with Radiant for various games for the last 4 years (Quake X, Doom X, Star Wars Jedi Outcast and Star Wars Jedi Academy) and have become quite attached to the interface. (worldcraft is slowly growing on me but Radiant still is my favorite level editor when I am allowed to use it). I am sure some of the people that have been using Quark or WC for a while might want the interface layout and hotkeys to be the same in TC as it can be found in WC or Quark.
The ability to save the Custom GUI's and shortcuts
Why: so only one person has to remap the GUI and shortcuts everyone else that uses TC can just download the interface file.
The ability to Load any .map and export to any .map file format.
Why: there are slight differences between the .map file formats of Quark, Worldcraft and other .map editors it would be nice to be able to share our .maps with other people that are to scared to try TC and or are building outside of TC and want to import to use the shader lab.
List of .map Editors
Qark
Worldcraft
Maya exporter
Cartography Shop
The ability to View dif collision boxes
Why: to help detect collision anomalies
If its not already in the plan, build the shader lab into TC
Why: saves compile times and can give us a rough glance at what things would look like compiled
Rewrite of the DIF exporter
The cartography shop exporter creates smaller dif's and seems to create better looking lightmaps it would be nice to have this in TC.
\/\/ Really wishful thinking and I hope my wish comes true\/\/
Ability to access TC from within TSE
Build TC into TSE so you can access and build thing on the fly in game, most other current engines have this feature and it makes logical since to map things from beginning to end without having to jump through a bunch of hops just to build and import a building. This would also allow full use of shader effects (after all your building interiors while in the actual mission) without needing to transplanting a bunch of code from TSE to TC, the need to scale objects to fit the map would be a thing of the past (your building on the **Actual** terrain and can see exactly what the water height is going to be as well as where other ground and air objects will be), there would be no need to import difs unless you were not using TC, half my above list will be instantly complete :), and it would have countless other advantages over TC being a stand alone program.
Everyone feel free to add to this list and or comment....
Thanks GG staff for taking the time to read this thread :)
#2
All the good features from Quark:
Path Duplicators
Radial Duplicator
Hollow makers
Wall Makers
Stair Makers
Arch Makers
Negative brushes
Diggers
Texture alignment, fit texture, etc.
Treating multiple faces as a single unit for texturing
Face Extruding
Curved surfaces
The "Red Lines" that make sections of the map "read only".
06/16/2005 (3:01 pm)
And:All the good features from Quark:
Path Duplicators
Radial Duplicator
Hollow makers
Wall Makers
Stair Makers
Arch Makers
Negative brushes
Diggers
Texture alignment, fit texture, etc.
Treating multiple faces as a single unit for texturing
Face Extruding
Curved surfaces
The "Red Lines" that make sections of the map "read only".
#3
There may be ways to do this (hacks) but it isn't something that will be directly supported (would up the system requirements to run TC a hundredfold).
Already done.
I support everything but the very latest Q3 format which only Quark outputs to (it also can output to a large number of formats so no worries). Last I counted I can import .map's from 14 different applications.
It will export to Valve220 and Q3 original format. These are the two most common formats for importers. Everything on your list except Hammer/Worldcraft natively works in the Q3 format.
Ummm....the whole point of dif/brushes is that what you see is what you collide against. So...everything out there that loads/edits .maps or .difs already does this.
Not gonna happen in 1.0...may not ever happen...a material editor is a completely separate product from a brush builder and combining them will only increase complexity and learning curves. In some future version there may very well be a rendering mode to show the shaders (like TSE TST Pro).
Already in progress.
Not gonna happen in 1.0
Which ones? None I know of.
You mean vertex editing? That is already planned.
Path Duplicators (not in 1.0)
Radial Duplicator (not in 1.0)
Hollow makers (not even sure what this is...there will be a carve tool)
Wall Makers (you can build this yourself in script)
Stair Makers (you can build this yourself in script)
Arch Makers (already planned)
Negative brushes (not gonna happen in 1.0...requires a fundamental philosophy change from normal brush building)
Diggers (not sure what this is)
Texture alignment, fit texture, etc. (already planned)
Treating multiple faces as a single unit for texturing (should be in...depends on timeframe)
Face Extruding (maybe...again depends on time)
Curved surfaces (not in 1.0)
The "Red Lines" that make sections of the map "read only". (may have a way to "lock" brushes in 1.0...depends on time)
06/16/2005 (3:33 pm)
Quote:
Ability to import your .ter file and all terrain scaling info into TC
There may be ways to do this (hacks) but it isn't something that will be directly supported (would up the system requirements to run TC a hundredfold).
Quote:
Re-mappable GUI menus and shortcut keys
The ability to save the Custom GUI's and shortcuts
Already done.
Quote:
The ability to Load any .map
I support everything but the very latest Q3 format which only Quark outputs to (it also can output to a large number of formats so no worries). Last I counted I can import .map's from 14 different applications.
Quote:
and export to any .map file format
It will export to Valve220 and Q3 original format. These are the two most common formats for importers. Everything on your list except Hammer/Worldcraft natively works in the Q3 format.
Quote:
The ability to View dif collision boxes
Ummm....the whole point of dif/brushes is that what you see is what you collide against. So...everything out there that loads/edits .maps or .difs already does this.
Quote:
If its not already in the plan, build the shader lab into TC
Not gonna happen in 1.0...may not ever happen...a material editor is a completely separate product from a brush builder and combining them will only increase complexity and learning curves. In some future version there may very well be a rendering mode to show the shaders (like TSE TST Pro).
Quote:
Rewrite of the DIF exporter
Already in progress.
Quote:
Ability to access TC from within TSE
Not gonna happen in 1.0
Quote:
most other current engines have this feature
Which ones? None I know of.
Quote:
a scale face option would be great
You mean vertex editing? That is already planned.
Path Duplicators (not in 1.0)
Radial Duplicator (not in 1.0)
Hollow makers (not even sure what this is...there will be a carve tool)
Wall Makers (you can build this yourself in script)
Stair Makers (you can build this yourself in script)
Arch Makers (already planned)
Negative brushes (not gonna happen in 1.0...requires a fundamental philosophy change from normal brush building)
Diggers (not sure what this is)
Texture alignment, fit texture, etc. (already planned)
Treating multiple faces as a single unit for texturing (should be in...depends on timeframe)
Face Extruding (maybe...again depends on time)
Curved surfaces (not in 1.0)
The "Red Lines" that make sections of the map "read only". (may have a way to "lock" brushes in 1.0...depends on time)
#4
06/16/2005 (3:34 pm)
Kinda late to be requesting features btw. We have a pretty solid feature list and plan for finishing TC already in place.
#5
Also is there a link to the final feature list, I must have overlooked it.
06/16/2005 (3:45 pm)
Better late than never, I did not see any post on what people were looking for in TC so I started one. Its not like everything needs to be added into 1.0 but it cant hurt to have a running wishlist of features the community wants to see ;)Also is there a link to the final feature list, I must have overlooked it.
#6
06/16/2005 (4:17 pm)
Will constructor support moveable Diffs, ie like making Levels for Marble Blast?
#7
06/16/2005 (4:31 pm)
When the engine supports them it will.
#8
06/16/2005 (4:40 pm)
Any chance of when an entity is linked to another (for example a trigger linked to a door, or a string of path nodes) that a line is drawn between them so we can see what is linked to what. Radiant has this feature and makes it very easy to see entity relationships. It should be pretty easy to add just look for one entity targeting another and if so draw a relationship line.
#9
06/16/2005 (5:12 pm)
See previous reply. 
#10
06/16/2005 (6:58 pm)
I may have missed some posts but is this torque constructor going to be free?
#11
06/16/2005 (7:18 pm)
No...it will be a stand-alone product you must buy.
#12
Does that make sense?
06/16/2005 (8:08 pm)
Something that I would like to see is additive and subtractive collision brushes. For example: right now I have a building with a staircase in it. I want the player to run smoothly up the stairs unstead of stepping up it. What I have to do now is copy the entire building into a collision brush except make the stairs a ramp. But what I'd like to be able to do is just flag the stairs as "no-collide" and create the ramp as an invisible "collide" brush. Does that make sense?
#13
That it be released soon... PLEASE! :)
06/16/2005 (9:39 pm)
Number 1 feature I would like to request...That it be released soon... PLEASE! :)
#14
oh :(
for god knows what reason I thought this was going to be integrated into TGE's engine so that you could do all of this in the ingame editor. I thought that was what was going to be so cool about this, back to reality for me.
06/16/2005 (10:58 pm)
"No...it will be a stand-alone product you must buy."oh :(
for god knows what reason I thought this was going to be integrated into TGE's engine so that you could do all of this in the ingame editor. I thought that was what was going to be so cool about this, back to reality for me.
#15
I'm nuts.
move on.
nothing to see here.
06/16/2005 (11:07 pm)
Yep went back and looked at the original discussions about Constructor. I'm nuts.
move on.
nothing to see here.
#16
Also, Eric's post is very important. Applying invisible collision brushes also helps to make sure the player doesn't get stuck at weird geometric areas within a map.
Nick
06/17/2005 (12:53 am)
I know you guys hate to talk about Constructor before anything is announced but I need to know if decals will be supported. Will you be able to apply a texture on top of another one on single/multiple faces?Also, Eric's post is very important. Applying invisible collision brushes also helps to make sure the player doesn't get stuck at weird geometric areas within a map.
Nick
#17
Thanks for posting the suggestions guys. I've bookmarked this post to come back to later. Feel free to keep adding to the list.
As Matt has already written, some of the ideas you guys have put forth are being worked on or are complete. Others we'll understandably have to leave to a future release. People are already starting to camp outside the GarageGames' office waiting for Constructor to be released, and we don't want it to turn into a full-scale riot! :o)
Regarding the GUI, I've worked hard to make it as flexible as possible. If any of you have used Modo you'll have an idea of how the various frames and panes may be setup.
And I'd like to tell you about the Torque Script based tool plug-in system, but my monthly 5-minute break from Constructor work is now over. :o)
- LightWave Dave
06/17/2005 (7:34 am)
Greetings!Thanks for posting the suggestions guys. I've bookmarked this post to come back to later. Feel free to keep adding to the list.
As Matt has already written, some of the ideas you guys have put forth are being worked on or are complete. Others we'll understandably have to leave to a future release. People are already starting to camp outside the GarageGames' office waiting for Constructor to be released, and we don't want it to turn into a full-scale riot! :o)
Regarding the GUI, I've worked hard to make it as flexible as possible. If any of you have used Modo you'll have an idea of how the various frames and panes may be setup.
And I'd like to tell you about the Torque Script based tool plug-in system, but my monthly 5-minute break from Constructor work is now over. :o)
- LightWave Dave
#18
06/17/2005 (7:43 am)
Oh sweet! I love Modo's interface setup and customizability!
#19
This is like a dynamic carving entity. You drop shapes into it, and the tool makes them hollow. You can resize the source object, and the "hollowness" is recalculated at runtime. Basically, It makes it easy to make rooms, etc, and resize them.
06/17/2005 (9:42 am)
>> Hollow makers (not even sure what this is...there will be a carve tool)This is like a dynamic carving entity. You drop shapes into it, and the tool makes them hollow. You can resize the source object, and the "hollowness" is recalculated at runtime. Basically, It makes it easy to make rooms, etc, and resize them.
#20
Not asking for anything gui fancy, even just a box to punch the numbers into would work.
Milkshape does this for scaling a face, didn't quite see it in all of the info however could make it extremly fast to model some items.
06/17/2005 (9:57 am)
Didn't quite mean vertex editing really meant face. By selecting a face it selects the vertex's, then the ability to scale on x planes. Say I need to create a column with a tapered edge, this would allow me to select the face and scale the entire face.Not asking for anything gui fancy, even just a box to punch the numbers into would work.
Milkshape does this for scaling a face, didn't quite see it in all of the info however could make it extremly fast to model some items.
Torque Owner David Tiernan
I am not sure if it will have boolean operations but that would be nice, also a scale face option would be great can't tell you how hard it is sometimes to make a simple flower pot using BSP when you can't scale a face.
Anyone else want to add to the wish list?