Prefab Editor (Alpha)

[Pille]

Thanks for making this video!

I think it would be much easier to understand if we make a teamviewer session.^^

Just a few hints:

You've overlooked the text in the middle: "Close the editor and Click Ok to start the download". So you have to close the editor manually before starting the update process.

There is a tool for direct editing in the latest version (pencil symbol).

Mass select works with the right mouse button (keep it pressed).

This is a raw video of my very first impressions and experiences, and maybe by you seeing what I went through, it may help your design out a bit, or it may just lower your opinion of me. ;-)

After watching the video I think I should add some hint texts to the editor.

 

[Guppycur]

Yeh let's schedule a TeamViewer; I should be available tomorrow morning/afternoon, which is likely your night, but lemme know.

 

[Pille]

Ok, just shout when you're ready.^^ I am available when I am online here.

 

[Slaan]

There is a tool for direct editing in the latest version (pencil symbol).

I wish I could offer more critique but if this is allowing the drawing of blocks straight onto the grid then happy days, can I hold shift when in pencil mode to draw lines/boxes? also when in this mode maybe have r.mouse (or another button) directly copy another block when clicked? The reason being, if I make a mistake atm I have to select the block, dig out the edit on the block list and hit set then switch back to what I was using and continue, in hals I would just r.click some air, edit the offender and r.click what I was doing and continue.

Everything else I've tried outside of importing a prefab into another prefab (as soon as prefabbing is back on its feet I do this lots) has worked.

Some mouse over text would be a massive help, especially for those who are familiar with hals' and kinda know what they're looking for but not sure how yours goes about it.

I like the method of painting and being able to set those blocks, but 99% of the time if Im in the editor it's to make corrections or save time building big walls or just tedious jobs you can do in seconds instead of placing manually in game (concrete pole rotations... I'm looking right at you).

One thing I do believe may be missing is the ability to copy multiple layers within a prefab, I tried selecting on multiple layers but once I moved up or down the selected area drops. Hals editor used to let us select the amount of layers we wanted to copy then you could simply size up the area on the bottom layer and paste it where ever. Now you side views mean I can build layer by layer in any direction so I could work that way, but sometimes when I need a full prefab it's simpler to set the amount of layers it has and select the whole area in the bottom layer to bring it all over in seconds.

I didn't want to say earlier as I'm only really starting to use it a bit more now, but what an amazing piece of work, the features I've needed so far have all been there and aside from a few minor QoL adjustments I don't think we could ask for more (but can we have some more!).

 

[Slaan]

One other little thing, by default scrolling the mouse moves the grid up/down, even working on big prefabs I tend be be zoomed enough to view the whole grid.

Can this be swapped with scrolling through layers by default? or perhaps this is a minor change I could tweak myself? I't cool we can mouseover the bars and scroll, but again if im working layer by layer, the ability to place and move up without having to move the cursor is quite handy as I tend to ctrl + scroll for zooming anyway so I don't have to leave the grid.

 

[Pille]

I wish I could offer more critique but if this is allowing the drawing of blocks straight onto the grid then happy days, can I hold shift when in pencil mode to draw lines/boxes?

No, but you can hold the right mouse button (click and keep it pressed to draw lines and boxes).

also when in this mode maybe have r.mouse (or another button) directly copy another block when clicked? The reason being, if I make a mistake atm I have to select the block, dig out the edit on the block list and hit set then switch back to what I was using and continue, in hals I would just r.click some air, edit the offender and r.click what I was doing and continue.

Mhh I am not sure what you're trying to do.^^

I think the copy function is what you're looking for. Actually, it's not intended to be used with the edit tool. I would use the selection tool (see red circle in the screenshot bellow): Select an air block and press control + c (ctrl + c) (this will copy the block to the clipboard. the clipboard can be displayed by pressing V (the cursor has to be over the grid)). Then press control + V to insert the copied block.

If you don't want to switch to the selection tool, try the following: Click on the air block and keep the left mouse button pressed. Press ctrl + C to copy the air block and then release the mouse button. This will overwrite the air with the data from the edit fields but that's not a problem since the air block data are copied / stored in the clipboard. So you can restore it using ctrl + V. That also works with the right mouse button (multiple block selection).

Maybe I find a better way to implement what you want without disturbing the current control concept. A configurable (user defined) tool would be a good solution. So you could decide (to some degree) what the tool does.

Some mouse over text would be a massive help, especially for those who are familiar with hals' and kinda know what they're looking for but not sure how yours goes about it.

There're already plans for this feature.^^

One thing I do believe may be missing is the ability to copy multiple layers within a prefab, I tried selecting on multiple layers but once I moved up or down the selected area drops. Hals editor used to let us select the amount of layers we wanted to copy then you could simply size up the area on the bottom layer and paste it where ever. Now you side views mean I can build layer by layer in any direction so I could work that way, but sometimes when I need a full prefab it's simpler to set the amount of layers it has and select the whole area in the bottom layer to bring it all over in seconds.

Yep, it's not implemented yet. I should have a look at Hal's editor to get what you mean. There is a replace layer tool in the tools tab but I guess that's not what you want?

One other little thing, by default scrolling the mouse moves the grid up/down, even working on big prefabs I tend be be zoomed enough to view the whole grid.

Can this be swapped with scrolling through layers by default? or perhaps this is a minor change I could tweak myself?

I knew someone would ask for this feature. So it's already on my to-do list (will be implemented as option). Let me put it in the next version. I don't know if it's a minor change.^^

I didn't want to say earlier as I'm only really starting to use it a bit more now, but what an amazing piece of work, the features I've needed so far have all been there and aside from a few minor QoL adjustments I don't think we could ask for more (but can we have some more!).

Thanks for the kind words and for your feedback!

 

[Pille]

Can this be swapped with scrolling through layers by default?

Done.

 

[zerotraps]

Everything seems great so far, is there anyway to remove the non needed layers form the Prefab? currently it seems when i save it it is the full 256 high and really i only need layers 52-77

thanks

 

[TopMinder]

A good Editor. I try with this to safe my Tower from vanishing by B119 ^^

Is there an option to undo ?, it could be that it is there but i can´t find the button.

 

[Pille]

Everything seems great so far, is there anyway to remove the non needed layers form the Prefab? currently it seems when i save it it is the full 256 high and really i only need layers 52-77
thanks

Yes, click on side view 1. Select some blocks which belong to the layers you want to remove. Then click on tools -> remove rows. The remove rows feature is unstable at the moment, so save your prefab after each step.

 

[zerotraps]

Perfect thanks for the quick reply

 

[Pille]

A good Editor. I try with this to safe my Tower from vanishing by B119 ^^Is there an option to undo ?, it could be that it is there but i can´t find the button.

It's not implemented yet. I am still looking for an ideal way to program this feature. Maybe Shia Labeouf is right and I should "just do it".^^

 

[Pille]

also when in this mode maybe have r.mouse (or another button) directly copy another block when clicked? The reason being, if I make a mistake atm I have to select the block, dig out the edit on the block list and hit set then switch back to what I was using and continue, in hals I would just r.click some air, edit the offender and r.click what I was doing and continue.

After rereading your text and playing with Hal's editor, I am starting to think that all you want is some kind of shortcut (or mouse button) for the function of the block picker tool (see screenshot bellow). Am I right?

 

[Batman!]

After rereading your text and playing with Hal's editor, I am starting to think that all you want is some kind of shortcut (or mouse button) for the function of the block picker tool (see screenshot bellow). Am I right?

YES! Please, maybe bind it to middle mouse button? Or make it configurable? It would save alot of mouse movement! Excellent tool by the way, looking forward to seeing it progress.

 

[Guppycur]

As far as removing layers, I think you're taking a gui approach to what would be easier (for the end user) as a command approach. "Remove Layers", then choose what range of layers to remove.

With columns and rows, Hals' function key method was pretty damn good as well.

(for some reason the editor no longer starts, although it did yesterday... I think windows is jacking with me)

 

[Slaan]

After rereading your text and playing with Hal's editor, I am starting to think that all you want is some kind of shortcut (or mouse button) for the function of the block picker tool (see screenshot bellow). Am I right?

Yeah pretty much. The pencil mode is where I'm spending most of my time, the things that were a bit tiresome to draw in hals are easy with your brushes and I can switch over to select mode with a hot key whenever it's needed. When I'm skimming through layers and spot something that needs fixing I either select air to erase the mistake or whatever the block is directly to replace, two clicks and I'm skimming down the layers again.

Not had to remove layers yet but had no issues doing rows/columns, Hals' approach was pretty useful for that as every fresh extract will need trimming above and below, however the days of having to extract are limited for me now as I'm finding it much easier to make a base build in the editor to freshen up in an empty SP world with the games editor mode enabled with the bbb commands.

 

[Pille]

@Batman

YES! Please, maybe bind it to middle mouse button? Or make it configurable? It would save alot of mouse movement! Excellent tool by the way, looking forward to seeing it progress.

I am going to bind it to the middle mouse button in the next version and maybe add user defined tools....

@Guppycur

As far as removing layers, I think you're taking a gui approach to what would be easier (for the end user) as a command approach. "Remove Layers", then choose what range of layers to remove.
With columns and rows, Hals' function key method was pretty damn good as well.

(for some reason the editor no longer starts, although it did yesterday... I think windows is jacking with me)

Since you're "out of the game" I should ignore your feedback. ;p

I think there should be both, a gui based approach and and a command. Sometimes it's useful to see which layers will be removed. So there will be new text fields (columns and rows from and to) in the one of the next updates and a new auto-trim button which deletes outer air layers. Btw. it was easy to remove too many rows or columns using Hals' function key method and then you couldn't undo your actions. This was one of the very few things that I didn't like too much.

Just a little hint: What a layer is (or a column and row) depends on the selected view. So if the top view is selected, a layer is a horizontal rectangle with a height of 1 block. If you're using one of the side views then you have vertical layers. The consequence being that you cannot remove the needless (horizontal) layers above your prefab if the top view is selected. I admit that can be confusing.^^

(for some reason the editor no longer starts, although it did yesterday... I think windows is jacking with me)

Do you get any error messages and have you tried downloading the editor again?

@Slaan

Not had to remove layers yet but had no issues doing rows/columns, Hals' approach was pretty useful for that as every fresh extract will need trimming above and below, however the days of having to extract are limited for me now as I'm finding it much easier to make a base build in the editor to freshen up in an empty SP world with the games editor mode enabled with the bbb commands.

What's an empty SP world? A totally flat map? Can you give me a link / explanation how to do?

 

[Guppycur]

Windows was being an ass. I've got the editor installed in two places now, each with identical files, but only one starts. I entirely blame Windows 10, ever since the "creator" update or whatever, it's been a total d1ckwad.

...he is likely referring to this:

https://7daystodie.com/forums/showthread.php?47459-Unlocking-In-Game-Prefab-Editor-(Terrain-Tools)-dll-mod&highlight=unlocked

Or by changing the mixer setting to make a flat world:

<property name="scale" value="255"/> //changing 255 to 1 makes it flat if I recall

 

[Guppycur]

...or maybe Stoneworld:

https://7daystodie.com/forums/showthread.php?42268-Stoneworld

 

[Kubikus]

I've installed this now as well, here's some feedback:

Tooltips.

I have made copies of a couple of prefabs and use them as terrain decoration. Now I want to remove lootcontainers from these prefabs. To find them, I have to click every block and get the info what it is. It should show me what it is on a simple mouseover.

Editing has already been mentioned: Having to click back and forth between the arrow-button and the pen-button is very tedious.

It would be great to have a function that will highlight all blocks with a certain class. Or (potentially better) have certain colors for certain classes, like "loot" are different shades of green, "door" shades of blue, etc.

A "replace block ID x with block ID y" function has proven to be very (extremely) useful.

The program also needs an "undo"-function.

I accidently tried to open an .xml-file instead of the .tts: Program crashed.

When I open the xml-file produced by the program when I save the prefab with notepad under windows 7, the content is in one line and has no line-breaks. It is nicely formated in Notepad++.

"Square". ;-P

Other than that, what I've tested works fine, the changes I made show up, painting works. If you improve the usability, it's going to be a fine program. The side-view-option is a nice touch.