Dreamed features in editors

[RataUnderground]

The thread "crazy source port features that will never get added" has given me the idea to create a thread with ideas and features that we have always wanted to have in an editor available to us. 

I'll start. 
I would love to see UDB implement "sketch" layers where you can make drawings and notes in a similar way to Blender's grease pencil, with simple MsPaint-like drawing tools.

Something like this : 

Edited May 17, 2023 by RataUnderground

[Dragonfly]

Two big features for me in UDB would be:

 

- Ability to sort textures / flats by colour hue

 

- Ability to make _new_ textures using patches from within UDB instead of having to close the .wad down in UDB, open up slade, make the change, close the wad in slade, open UDB only to find that in the specific use case I have I need one of the patches to be realigned by 2 pixels. Having that feature in particular would make me create a LOT more single-use specific textures, too.

[RataUnderground]

1 minute ago, Dragonfly said:

Two big features for me in UDB would be:

 

- Ability to sort textures / flats by colour hue

Or even make folders/categories and label the textures in a simple way without having to edit a text file, that would be great : )

[exl]

2 minutes ago, Dragonfly said:

- Ability to make _new_ textures using patches from within UDB instead of having to close the .wad down in UDB, open up slade, make the change, close the wad in slade, open UDB only to find that in the specific use case I have I need one of the patches to be realigned by 2 pixels. Having that feature in particular would make me create a LOT more single-use specific textures, too.

 

You can use a separate resource WAD so you can edit that without closing Doom Builder. After editing the resources you can tell Doom Builder to reload the resource WAD with F8 (or from the menu somewhere), without ever having to close SLADE.

[Dragonfly]

Just now, exl said:

You can use a separate resource WAD so you can edit that without closing Doom Builder. After editing the resources you can tell Doom Builder to reload the resource WAD with F8 (or from the menu somewhere), without ever having to close SLADE.

 

This is true. Sometimes that one little extra step is enough to say "fuck it, I'll just use a different texture", but then with that mindset having it built into UDB is probably still enough of an extra step to be lazy about 😅

[Chocolate_Doomer]

An algorithm that automatically aligns all of the textures in a given sector at the push of a button would be amazing IMO. 

That way I don't have to worry about aligning the textures myself as much, and I can focus entirely on making a fun level.

Edited May 17, 2023 by Chocolate_Doomer

[Jewellds]

18 minutes ago, Chocolate_Doomer said:

An algorithm that automatically aligns all of the textures in a given sector at the push of a button would be amazing IMO. 

That way I don't have to worry about aligning the textures myself as much, and I can focus entirely on making a fun level.

Do you mean like Autoalign in 3D mode, or something more advanced?

I would like to be able to set a background image, like how you can set a view-port background in 3D modelling tools like Blender. That way you could bring a design made in another program into Doom Builder to use as a reference.

[Al-Faris M]

I'd like to have a feature in SLADE3 where I can select a couple of sprites, and then with the selected sprites I generate an actor in DECORATE/ZScript based on the sprites, and I can choose the type of actor, like weapon or monster actors. With this I can make custom weapons and monsters in a few seconds.

[spineapple tea]

The classic renderer in UDB that mimics Doom's light-banding is really cool, but it'd be way cooler if I could also preview dynamic light effects in the editor. I have not even the slightest of an idea regarding how the sector glow effect works and it's very annoying to launch the game every time I make a change to see if it worked correctly.

[DRON12261]

Built-in editor for MAPINFO, UMAPINFO, EMAPINFO, ZMAPINFO, etc. As it is with ACS scripts and dialogs. This is a VERY simple and VERY useful feature.

[DRON12261]

And probably the coolest feature in principle - the ability to automatically compile a finished .wad file with all the included textures (only those used on the maps themselves) from the used texture packs. As it was implemented separately in Doom Tools.

[wxndxx]

Simultaneously editing sectors where the floor or ceiling has the same textures.

[Walter confetti]

40 minutes ago, DRON12261 said:

Built-in editor for MAPINFO, UMAPINFO, EMAPINFO, ZMAPINFO, etc. As it is with ACS scripts and dialogs. This is a VERY simple and VERY useful feature.

Aren't already exist for UDB, at least?

42 minutes ago, spineapple tea said:

The classic renderer in UDB that mimics Doom's light-banding is really cool, but it'd be way cooler if I could also preview dynamic light effects in the editor. I have not even the slightest of an idea regarding how the sector glow effect works and it's very annoying to launch the game every time I make a change to see if it worked correctly.

 

30 minutes ago, DRON12261 said:

And probably the coolest feature in principle - the ability to automatically compile a finished .wad file with all the included textures (only those used on the maps themselves) from the used texture packs. As it was implemented separately in Doom Tools.

Those are very interesting options! Especially the sector lighting feature...

[Pechudin]

2 hours ago, Dragonfly said:

- Ability to sort textures / flats by colour hue

 

Not versed into application making, but sorting by average RGB value or something sounds doable.

[Pechudin]

36 minutes ago, DRON12261 said:

And probably the coolest feature in principle - the ability to automatically compile a finished .wad file with all the included textures (only those used on the maps themselves) from the used texture packs. As it was implemented separately in Doom Tools.

 

God yes.

[Bank]

bad map to good map conversion tool

[muumi]

way to set a certain player start as a primary start to avoid constant "oops im in voodoocloset again"

[Guff dotD]

9 minutes ago, muumi said:

way to set a certain player start as a primary start to avoid constant "oops im in voodoocloset again"

The player will always start at the latest player start you placed.

 

Anyways, for dreamed features, I would wish for the editor to automatically put the new texture entries in a PWAD's Patch Table/TEXTUREx in its own texture folder, by comparing the Patch table/TEXTUREx of the PWAD to the IWAD's Patch table/TEXTUREx.

[skillsaw]

Since we're talking about dream features I've always wanted a multi-user mode (a la Google docs, though not in a browser window of course). It would be great to be able collaborate in real time on a map.

[muumi]

1 minute ago, Guff dotD said:

The player will always start at the latest player start you placed.

i know, but i always forget to swap them around

[Dragonfly]

5 minutes ago, skillsaw said:

Since we're talking about dream features I've always wanted a multi-user mode (a la Google docs, though not in a browser window of course). It would be great to be able collaborate in real time on a map.

 

Having experienced this in random other editors, such as the Golf It course editor, YES PLEASE! 

[ChippiHeppu]

8 minutes ago, skillsaw said:

Since we're talking about dream features I've always wanted a multi-user mode (a la Google docs, though not in a browser window of course). It would be great to be able collaborate in real time on a map.

 

I was about to say the same thing. It would be beyond awesome if someone managed to implement such a feature in Doom Builder.

[OceanMadman]

21 minutes ago, skillsaw said:

Since we're talking about dream features I've always wanted a multi-user mode (a la Google docs, though not in a browser window of course). It would be great to be able collaborate in real time on a map.

Yesss, came here just to say that. 

[Killerratte]

Cooperative mapping with a maximum of four users at the same time.

[Somniac]

Real-time collaborative mapping would be a big step forward, though I'm unsure how realistic it is. One thing I think would be useful is a way to add notes or comments to sectors, like "do this with this room", somewhere you can jot down notes to come back to. I already tend to do this in Notepad, but having the functionality in the editor would be a nice little QoL improvement. IIRC UDMF format has a comments field, but I can't remember if it only applies for Things or not.  

[fai1025]

probably impossible but, I want a layer feature for map elements, I.e. having a separate layer to draw lighting or decorations, because every time after I put lighting in, the linedef look like a mess

[MFG38]

1 hour ago, skillsaw said:

Since we're talking about dream features I've always wanted a multi-user mode (a la Google docs, though not in a browser window of course). It would be great to be able collaborate in real time on a map.

 

44 minutes ago, Killerratte said:

Cooperative mapping with a maximum of four users at the same time.

 

Just invite a friend over and hotseat. That's what I did once.

 

In all seriousness, that would be a pretty cool feature.

 

33 minutes ago, Somniac said:

a way to add notes or comments to sectors, like "do this with this room", somewhere you can jot down notes to come back to. [...] IIRC UDMF format has a comments field, but I can't remember if it only applies for Things or not.  

 

That already exists in UDMF, and you can add comments for practically anything, not just things. The properties dialogs for lines, sectors and things all have Comment tabs where you can jot stuff down.

[msx2plus]

i'm sure there's a UDB script that calculates total selected line length, but while you're drawing in UDB it would great to be able to see a "total length" in the current drawing. it may even very well exist and i've been blind to it for years lol

 

4 hours ago, spineapple tea said:

I have not even the slightest of an idea regarding how the sector glow effect works

oscillates between current sector and the darkest adjacent sector. the glowing sector should be the brighter of the two. a full 0-255 glow takes 1 second, and smaller ranges take shorter the narrower the ranges get.

Edited May 17, 2023 by msx2plus

[Kristian Nebula]

22 hours ago, Dragonfly said:

- Ability to make _new_ textures using patches from within UDB instead of having to close the .wad down in UDB, open up slade, make the change, close the wad in slade, open UDB only to find that in the specific use case I have I need one of the patches to be realigned by 2 pixels. Having that feature in particular would make me create a LOT more single-use specific textures, too.

 

Deep97 used to have a built-in graphics editor back in the day that allowed to create your own textures or manipulate PNAMES/TEXTUREx inside the editor. Would be awesome indeed to get this feature in UDB, too!

[rita remton]

dreamed features:

• for udmf maps, the ability to draw+create 3d floors within the 3d visual mode.
• better map statistics. for example, in the [things statistics] in udb, items could also be sorted by type (monsters, decoration, keys, etc). there should also be like a [wadspy] stats built into the map editor to know total monster health, total ammo damage, total player health pickup points etc.
• a simple measuring ruler would be nice. currently, i have to draw a line between 2 vertices to find the distance between them, then undo that line. with a measuring ruler, i just draw a line between 2 vertices to display the distance by holding left-mouse click, and the line disappears once the left-mouse click is released.
• an inbuilt tool that calculates the total area of selected sectors in map units, including asymmetrical sectors.
• themes for the map editor such as dark theme, custom colours, etc.
• auto-versioning saves that with customised file naming format.
• in udb udmf, there are note-taking for nearly all elements of the map. wish it was available for all map types including doom2 vanilla/limit-removing since the notes could be stored in the separate db file (such as in udb). also a main note making area to jot down versioning, etc. all notes could also be searched.
• a built-in tool to generate linedefs for shadows from a light source.
• the ability to drag joined sectors without breaking their joining.
• a built-in timer that records how long the mapper has spent on a map, and the ability to bring forward that timer when "save-as" another new map (to eventually get an accurate total time spent on the map).