Editor questions. And a tree!

[idbeu]

Okay, I've started fiddling around with the editor (and wanting to punch it right in the face), and have come up with a bunch of questions.

First of all, here is a tree I made.


When I say "tree", I don't mean "tree" so much as "a level that was heavily modified such that the only thing that exists is a tree". Before I finished the tree, I wanted to copy/paste it all over the terrain to get a feel for how that looks. But I couldn't figure out how to do it. I went into the XML, removed everything except the XML group that I assume is my tree, but when I load it in OG, my framerates drop terribly, and nothing seems to happen.

So my first question is this: How can I take the level file above and convert it into an object that can be placed in a level (complete with brush functionality, etc)? I realize that real objects are <objects> and not <groups>, but is there a way to bundle up my tree into a package that everyone can use?

Second question:
Has anyone taken a look at the number of objects or triangles... whatever... that can be in a level? At what point does performance take a serious hit? Is this a quantifiable statistic, given we all have different computers, etc?

Third question:
Can I turn off clipping somehow? When I try to get into the center of the tree to position branches, my 'head' hits something and I can't get in there.

Fourth question(s):
a. How do I control camera speeds? I have trouble getting the camera where I want it. It'd be super-awesome if camera speed was somehow linked to the distance between you and the nearest object. I want to fly fast when I'm far away, and go slow when I'm up close.
b. Is there some way to auto-snap views to objects? Like if I want to zoom in on a branch, I want to be able to select the branch and then Ctrl+6+G+F4 (or whatever) to make the camera zoom in and lock rotation about that object.
c. Can I save viewpoints or camera positions?

Fifth question:
I'm finding I want more precision in how I place objects. Is there any way to lock an object to the camera, and move the camera around in order to position the object? This would be sweet, especially with camera speed control. Also, how hard would it be to enable collision-detection between any two arbitrary objects? Like if I wanted to make a pile of rocks but didn't want rocks to go inside other rocks.

And, I want an object tree. Complete with grouping and naming abilities in a collapsible window (like in Photoshop) on the side of the editor. Is that feasible for you to do? Am I being greedy?

Okay, I'll stop now.

Thanks!

[Sandurz]

Todays blog will answer some of this.

[idbeu]

Today's blog didn't answer any of it. Or did it? What part? I read the blog before I wrote this.

EDIT: *gasp* I just found the Misc panel! Okay, that does answer several questions. It was off the screen while I was editing, so I never saw it. Man.

[Ozymandias]

EDIT: *gasp* I just found the Misc panel! Okay, that does answer several questions. It was off the screen while I was editing, so I never saw it. Man.

It's in the lower right... at least when I tried to play it. It's kind of obscure and doesn't 'fold out' when you click it like you would expect it too... at least int he alpha I played.

[Johannes]

How can I take the level file above and convert it into an object that can be placed in a level

Select the tree objects, Control+shift+s. this will save this item

Has anyone taken a look at the number of objects or triangles... whatever... that can be in a level? At what point does performance take a serious hit? Is this a quantifiable statistic, given we all have different computers, etc?

There is no good answer. What ultimately matters is 1. How many objects there are 2. how close your view is to them and 3. how complex the heightmap is.
As a rule of thumb, the more of your screen is covered with objects, the more the engine has to render, the slower your Framerate will be. This has to do especially with per pixel rendering such as normal mapping. How detailed the Terrain matters greatly as well. If your heightmap is completely flat you will see a large increase in the Framerate.
As you said yourself, one's computer configuration matters greatly too.
Here was the limit for mine: 2048 cubes in one location slowed my framerate to about 5fps
Here is the 2048 cube object:

StressTest.xml.zip

(23.52 KiB) Downloaded 32 times

Third question:
Can I turn off clipping somehow? When I try to get into the center of the tree to position branches, my 'head' hits something and I can't get in there.

You probably found this in the misc panel. There is a button camera collision.

Fourth question(s):
a. How do I control camera speeds? I have trouble getting the camera where I want it. It'd be super-awesome if camera speed was somehow linked to the distance between you and the nearest object. I want to fly fast when I'm far away, and go slow when I'm up close.

No easy way yet. You get faster after moving for a while, and pressing tab goes into slow-mo mode. Here's hoping they will add a slider for this. You should add this as a suggestion on the Trac report system.

b. Is there some way to auto-snap views to objects? Like if I want to zoom in on a branch, I want to be able to select the branch and then Ctrl+6+G+F4 (or whatever) to make the camera zoom in and lock rotation about that object.

Again, great idea. another one for trac.

c. Can I save viewpoints or camera positions?

Again, trac.

Fifth question:
I'm finding I want more precision in how I place objects. Is there any way to lock an object to the camera, and move the camera around in order to position the object? This would be sweet, especially with camera speed control. Also, how hard would it be to enable collision-detection between any two arbitrary objects? Like if I wanted to make a pile of rocks but didn't want rocks to go inside other rocks.

And, I want an object tree. Complete with grouping and naming abilities in a collapsible window (like in Photoshop) on the side of the editor. Is that feasible for you to do? Am I being greedy?

No, by all means request features! So far they have been great.

A whole bunch of features will be added to the editor soon, including an object inspector that lets you change the XML data in-engine, and a browser for the objects in the world, so you can name groups and individual objects.

But yeah, check out wolfire's trac site.

[idbeu]

Hey, thanks for the suggestions. I'll submit the requests to Trac and take a look at your editor tips this weekend.