Prefab Editor (Alpha)

[Kubikus]

How ready is your editor, Pille? Can it already create usable prefabs? Would give it a try then.

[Pille]

Yes, it can build usable prefabs.

 

@Slaan

I fixed the 64 bit version. Could you please check this?

Edited June 18, 2017 by Pille (see edit history)

[Slaan]

yeah got that up and running, no problems... yet

[Pille]

Great. Thank you Slaan.

[zingo2]

Hey hey!

 

Looking into this mod- read- Hal redirected to your mod.

 

So Im taking it all in- can you give short description what this mod can do currently?

 

My problem: I have a base that i want to import over. So far i have been using(pasting) Region data- but that's a no go as i dont need whole region- just my thing. Any short tutorial on your mod how to do it in less steps?!

 

* I know you can build prefabs from scratch but then what?! What software do I use to import them in game (Alpha 16)

 

* Also How hard is to code a sensing algorithm? In game you go to your created thing and you click on the outer block. Then Algorithm takes over and loads/ saves everything in a file that is connected while it searches for valid connected blocks. It would make sense and get rid of the stage where you manually trim your cube.

 

(As Player has limited block count in game- that wouldn't be too costly on system resources- it just has to draw in and make a prefab. After its done you can edit it if you want.)

[Pille]

Hi zingo2,

 

if you want to import or export prefabs you have use Hal's editor (the import and export commands are still compatible to A16 experimental b113) or Stompy's tool.

There is another way to import prefab to Navezgane. You can edit the prefab.xml (Location of prefabs.xml: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\7 Days To Die\Data\Worlds\Navezgane).

 

* Also How hard is to code a sensing algorithm? In game you go to your created thing and you click on the outer block. Then Algorithm takes over and loads/ saves everything in a file that is connected while it searches for valid connected blocks. It would make sense and get rid of the stage where you manually trim your cube.

 

My editor cannot read the region files at the moment. I think it wouldn't be hard to implement an export/sensing algorithm once the editor knows the region file format.

 

 

Edit:

I guess Hal's tool is not compatible with the latest experimental patch b119. So we have to wait for an update.

Edited June 23, 2017 by Pille (see edit history)

[zingo2]

Ahh thank you! Yea experimental releases are tricky!

 

Yea that could work. Then extract all info made by player ID from the region and you got your player prefab- easy! looking forward to this.

 

Well good luck I will watch how you develop your mod- it has great potential!

 

 

_ _ _

Could you give me the link for that Stompy mod?!

Edited June 23, 2017 by zingo2 (see edit history)

[Pille]

I think it's called Bad-Company-Manager (according to this thread: https://7daystodie.com/forums/showthread.php?65304-Prefab-making-question&p=665241&viewfull=1#post665241 ):

 

https://7daystodie.com/forums/showthread.php?57569-Bad-Company-Manager-(ApiMod-for-Servers)

Edited June 23, 2017 by Pille (see edit history)

[Pille]

A new update is available.

 

Instructions for prefab imports:

1. Click on "insert prefab" and select a prefab file.

2. Click on the grid in one of the views (top view, side view 1 & 2) to change the position of the blue box (represents your imported prefab). The box can only be moved if the prefab tool is active (house symbol).

3. Press "Fix position" to insert the prefab.

 

Edited July 8, 2017 by Pille (see edit history)

[Guppycur]

So I finally got around to installing and taking a look at this; I managed to get it to do some basic functions, and took a video of my journey trying to figure things out. 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. ;-)

 

Once I get the hang of it a bit more, I'm happy to do the tutorial video. This thing is way different than Hal's, so I need to master this.

 

Video is probably still processing, but:

 

[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.

Edited June 25, 2017 by Pille (see edit history)

[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.

Edited June 25, 2017 by Pille (see edit history)

[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!

Edited July 8, 2017 by Pille (see edit history)

[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.

Edited June 26, 2017 by Pille (see edit history)

[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".^^

Edited June 27, 2017 by Pille (see edit history)

[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)