Hal's Prefab Editor

[h0tr0d]

[QUOTE=HAL9000;307967]Time for another video? To be fair to LazMan we have to make assumptions about what people are doing when they come with questions. I have to assume they're on a PC, I have to assume they have a mouse and keyboard, I have to assume they're not trying to create the prefab only through staring at the screen and willing the mental image of the prefab they want to build at the screen. Saving is a basic part of computer use. You wouldn't write a letter in Word and expect it to still be there next time if you didn't save it. This is why the videos are so handy. They take away the assumptions and show us what people are actually doing. Hi DJBREIT, That error message is the bane of my life. It could mean one of a million causes. Have you run the prefab through the converters? They're in the tools section of the modding area. Black boxes should be changable if the prefab version is correct. Sounds like a very old prefab if it's not. Hal[/QUOTE] Bad analogy. Have you tracked down that error Laz mentioned earlier in the thread where it causes multiple saves with .tts? barn_01.tts.tts.tts.tts and so on? Causes all sorts of issues making prefabs.

[Laz Man]

[QUOTE=h0tr0d;307970]Bad analogy. Have you tracked down that error Laz mentioned earlier in the thread where it causes multiple saves with .tts? barn_01.tts.tts.tts.tts and so on? Causes all sorts of issues making prefabs.[/QUOTE] Yah I think hal fixed that one already. Trying doing a manual update. Version number won't change I don't think though.

[HAL9000]

[QUOTE=h0tr0d;307970]Bad analogy. [/QUOTE] Very well. I was trying to be polite and use an analogy to lighten the blow of the message. But you seem to have a blunt nature so let me return the same. The problem was down to your lack of understanding on how both the editor and the file system in general works. You simply didn't know it's the saved file that gets loaded by the game rather than the data stored inside the editor. Fine, it happens, but its a very basic mistake. But to imply that Laz assumed too much is not only foolish but rude. Show some appreciation to the strangers on the internet that are willing to take time out of their day to help you solve a problem you're having. [QUOTE=h0tr0d;307970] Have you tracked down that error Laz mentioned earlier in the thread where it causes multiple saves with .tts? barn_01.tts.tts.tts.tts and so on? Causes all sorts of issues making prefabs.[/QUOTE] Yep, already fixed. Do a manual update to get the latest version of the editor.

[h0tr0d]

[QUOTE=HAL9000;308037]Very well. I was trying to be polite and use an analogy to lighten the blow of the message. But you seem to have a blunt nature so let me return the same. The problem was down to your lack of understanding on how both the editor and the file system in general works. You simply didn't know it's the saved file that gets loaded by the game rather than the data stored inside the editor. Fine, it happens, but its a very basic mistake. But to imply that Laz assumed too much is not only foolish but rude. Show some appreciation to the strangers on the internet that are willing to take time out of their day to help you solve a problem you're having. Yep, already fixed. Do a manual update to get the latest version of the editor.[/QUOTE] Thank you. It wasn't really a lack of understanding, it was just knuckleheadedness, sometimes I just forget the obvious--missing the basics and thinking it has to be more complex. And yes I prefer honesty as opposed to innuendo or anything hinting at passive-aggressive. This reply by you is refreshing, the other one I felt overly- insulting versus this one which does not insult me! Yup I am acerbic at best. Laz is more relatable than I ever will be, and he was not meant to be the sole target of my ire. My angst lies more broad in scope with the way people have traditionally "helped" on these forums. I get tired of being told to go to this video or search through 404040 forum posts as if there is some sort of initiation involved in spending 400 hours looking for an answer they could provide in 40 seconds. But I wasn't implying anything was assumed, I was stating it, and then again I refer to my previous statement. It wasn't meant to be a sole attack towards him but I don't imply. Anyways..no excuses (But I was out Lamictal all weekend) and wow, I wasn't ready to deal with people off of it. Should it still say 14.3? Also something else I noticed. When replacing terrain with blocks it causes a weird terrain mesh surface error, I did a video of my looking at it [URL="http://youtu.be/jBea75Sxjb8"]here[/URL]

[HAL9000]

[QUOTE=h0tr0d;308457]Thank you. It wasn't really a lack of understanding, it was just knuckleheadedness, sometimes I just forget the obvious--missing the basics and thinking it has to be more complex. And yes I prefer honesty as opposed to innuendo or anything hinting at passive-aggressive. This reply by you is refreshing, the other one I felt overly- insulting versus this one which does not insult me! Yup I am acerbic at best. Laz is more relatable than I ever will be, and he was not meant to be the sole target of my ire. My angst lies more broad in scope with the way people have traditionally "helped" on these forums. I get tired of being told to go to this video or search through 404040 forum posts as if there is some sort of initiation involved in spending 400 hours looking for an answer they could provide in 40 seconds. But I wasn't implying anything was assumed, I was stating it, and then again I refer to my previous statement. It wasn't meant to be a sole attack towards him but I don't imply. Anyways..no excuses (But I was out Lamictal all weekend) and wow, I wasn't ready to deal with people off of it. Should it still say 14.3? Also something else I noticed. When replacing terrain with blocks it causes a weird terrain mesh surface error, I did a video of my looking at it [URL="http://youtu.be/jBea75Sxjb8"]here[/URL][/QUOTE] Ha, well that's not how I like to do business on the net but if that's how you roll that's cool with me and I'll bear it in mind. My posts are never passive-aggressive, just a friendly nudge without apportioning blame. There's nothing passive when my posts are aggressive. You'd be able to see it quite clearly. No point in being angry if people don't know you are! For me it's not about being relatable but there's a difference in being a straight shooter and just being rude. You did imply that Laz assumed. You said "and most people assume too much" now as you never stated Laz but you said it in a reply to his message about assumptions then it's implied that Laz is a part of those "most people". Laz, or someone else (sorry to keep using you as an example Laz), shares his skills, knowledge and prefabs on the forums and it annoys me when people come asking for help then start blaming others when they don't help enough or get a different answer than they were expecting. You're entitled to nothing (not just you. You, me and everyone else) and anything else is a bonus. People that act differently would certainly stop getting assistance from me. These are just my rules. But as we're in my thread, using my tools, and interacting with people that have helped a lot over the course of the editor then I want people to play by my rules. Invite me over to your house and I'll play by yours. Fair is fair. Anyways... that turned out more ranty than I planned. So moving on... Yeah the editor will still be 14.3. Minor tweaks don't get a new revision number anymore. Anything that fixes something that's stopping the editor working or a new feature is when the revision gets added to. Ah yes, the weird texture merging. That started a couple of alphas ago. You can try using the reset parameter in the InsertPrefab command to get rid of it. Resetting just fills the area with air first and then does the insert. The only donwside at the moment is this can't be used when having the CopyAir box unticked as it wipes the area clean before inserting. You set the reset parameter like this: bbb ip true Also, just as an after-thought. Now the editor is in lock-down with new features for a while it's a good time for me to make a video going through the editor from downloading for the first time, installation and usage. I'll see what I can do over the next couple of days. Hal

[HectorNr666]

[QUOTE=HAL9000;305628]I don't have a dedicated server any more so I can't show you mine but check [URL="http://www.vendocode.com/Root.png"]this[/URL]. Where it says "/7DTD" on the right hand side. Copy the path to the root of the dedicated server that's in that box. If you want to run the bbb commands you'll need to replace the Assembly-CSharp.DLL file that's on the server with the dedicated server version of my editor. It's in the editor folder. If you get stuck PM me your details and I'll have a look. Hi stanislav. No, there's no written manual unfortunately. Hal[/QUOTE] i am on linux and tried to rename the assembly*dedicated; but server won't boot up then. Any ideas?

[Guppycur]

New vid? Awesome. Haven't used it in a while and it is obvious a lot has changed. Don't forget to show the save process. ;) /me ducks hotrods punch Hal, going forward, since changing block IDs seem to be a pervasive problem, perhaps include a "remapper" feature to your editor? Two columns, one with the current list of blocks, one with the IDs, and a way to assign them? I'm very open to the idea I don't know what I'm talking about...

[HAL9000]

[QUOTE=HectorNr666;308536]i am on linux and tried to rename the assembly*dedicated; but server won't boot up then. Any ideas?[/QUOTE] Unfortunately Linux isn't supported with the editor. The Linux build has it's own DLL that I don't deobfuscate as I don't run a Linux machine at home. [QUOTE=Guppycur;308545]New vid? Awesome. Haven't used it in a while and it is obvious a lot has changed. Don't forget to show the save process. ;) /me ducks hotrods punch Hal, going forward, since changing block IDs seem to be a pervasive problem, perhaps include a "remapper" feature to your editor? Two columns, one with the current list of blocks, one with the IDs, and a way to assign them? I'm very open to the idea I don't know what I'm talking about...[/QUOTE] Hey Guppy Yeah I think most people will know most of it but you may pick up a new trick or two. My main problem is I don't use the editor so I don't really know any time-savers or pro-tips. But it should help new people get into the editing easier. I just know the functions I've added over time. Not sure I'd mess around with the block IDs or it will change how the prefabs load. If you swapped the wood ID with the cactus ID it would have some big impacts on how things looked ^^ and everyone would need the re-map or things would get screwed up on their machine. I think I remember MM saying they're looking at the ID system with a view to opening up more slots for the modders. That should reduce the amount of overlap in peoples work.

[Guppycur]

...why da heck do you write an editor that you don't use? :) Yeh, on tertiary thought it probably wouldn't be a good idea for the average joe to go swapping block id's, I was just thinking that there has to be some way to make it easier for you when the pimps do change Id's.

[HAL9000]

[QUOTE=Guppycur;308670]...why da heck do you write an editor that you don't use? :) Yeh, on tertiary thought it probably wouldn't be a good idea for the average joe to go swapping block id's, I was just thinking that there has to be some way to make it easier for you when the pimps do change Id's.[/QUOTE] It was just a way for me to learn what was under the hood for the game. From there I branched out to blocks, items, world editing etc. And you guys seem to like it so I'm happy to keep it going! The block IDs usually only change when a new alpha comes out and they've been doing a lot of block work. Then a converter is required and there's some people on the forum that usually help me out with the data map. It's the map that takes the most work. Cheers, Hal

[Guppycur]

Okay, been playing around, all seems to work well. I'll do some digging to see how to add entities (cars, bodies, etc), are you interested in little bugs? Like if you click off the work grid while in Edit mode, you get the nifty "Unhandled Exception" error, that kind of thing?

[Magoli]

we r not only like the editor Hal !!!! U missunderstood that! WE LOVE IT ;) !!!! And i personally need it like the air to breath (<==symbolic compare) ok seriously: Do u found the time to take care about this Meta-Converter-thing I asked for ??? Mag

[HectorNr666]

[QUOTE=HAL9000;308567]Unfortunately Linux isn't supported with the editor. The Linux build has it's own DLL that I don't deobfuscate as I don't run a Linux machine at home. [/QUOTE] So i switched to Windows, copied all region files from the *nix box, they are fine; but the [B]bbb command doesn't work[/B]. [CODE] Platform assembly: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\7 Days to Die Dedicated Server\7DaysToDieServer_Data\Managed\Mono.Security.dll (this message is harmless) Hals Mod Loaded v2 [/CODE] Anything else besides changing the Assembly-CSharp Dedicated.dll to Assembly-CSharp.dll on dedicated which has to be done? Do I also have to install the server fixes from [URL="https://7dtd.illy.bz/wiki/Server%20fixes"]https://7dtd.illy.bz/wiki/Server%20fixes[/URL] ?

[HAL9000]

[QUOTE=Guppycur;308821]Okay, been playing around, all seems to work well. I'll do some digging to see how to add entities (cars, bodies, etc), are you interested in little bugs? Like if you click off the work grid while in Edit mode, you get the nifty "Unhandled Exception" error, that kind of thing?[/QUOTE] Yeah definitely, as I said, I don't use the editor so I don't see these things. If nobody mentions it then it doesn't get fixed [QUOTE=Magoli;308825]we r not only like the editor Hal !!!! U missunderstood that! WE LOVE IT ;) !!!! And i personally need it like the air to breath (<==symbolic compare) ok seriously: Do u found the time to take care about this Meta-Converter-thing I asked for ??? Mag[/QUOTE] Well I'm glad you're getting good use out of it Mag :) New stuff for the editor is on hold for the moment but as you looked at the block stuff for the last alpha I will see what I can do while I'm making the video this weekend. Remind me again though, what functionality did you want? Being able to replace the meta info like you can for blocks? [QUOTE=HectorNr666;308841]So i switched to Windows, copied all region files from the *nix box, they are fine; but the [B]bbb command doesn't work[/B]. [CODE] Platform assembly: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\7 Days to Die Dedicated Server\7DaysToDieServer_Data\Managed\Mono.Security.dll (this message is harmless) Hals Mod Loaded v2 [/CODE] Anything else besides changing the Assembly-CSharp Dedicated.dll to Assembly-CSharp.dll on dedicated which has to be done? Do I also have to install the server fixes from [URL="https://7dtd.illy.bz/wiki/Server%20fixes"]https://7dtd.illy.bz/wiki/Server%20fixes[/URL] ?[/QUOTE] You've got my mod loaded message so the DLL is working. Does the world load? The commands need to go into the chat window and not the console panel. Does it give an error or just nothing happens?

[Magoli]

hi Hal I discribe the situation. Then u know y i need it - and what i need !!! The problem is the "Lit1"-value in all lights !!! It causes the fps to drop and servers to lag! (Also problematic are walltorches - they also decreases the performance of the game drasticly ! - But this is another topic) This performance-Issue is alive since A12 !!! Iam sure TFP will fix it - but when ????? But if the Lights are "Lit2" instead of "Lit1" - then the performance is fine. (Also when i use wallcandles - instead of walltorches - But this i can make with "Replace BlockID" ) I've got here 125 Costum-Prefabs (+ the vanilla-ones) I dont want to check and fix every Light in every Layer in every Prefab manually !!! Perhaps TFP will fix this Issue soon - then I can change the whole stuff back. Perhaps they fix it not soon !!! Fact is that the ppl have nasty problems with the performance since A12 cause of this! OK What I want is a tool/function that allows me to change all "Lit1"-Lights into "Lit2"-Lights. No matter if its a wallLight, a CeilingLight or a StreetLight. All Lights in the loaded Prefab has to be META-changed (from "Lit1" ==> "Lit2") !!! It would be great if i also could choose from which meta-value to which meta-value the Convertion has to go ! Because perhaps i want some Lights turnedoff totally in future (or turn-on them again after TFP has fixed the Lightissue !!!) This is what i wish ;) Mag

[HAL9000]

[QUOTE=Magoli;308967]hi Hal I discribe the situation. Then u know y i need it - and what i need !!! The problem is the "Lit1"-value in all lights !!! It causes the fps to drop and servers to lag! (Also problematic are walltorches - they also decreases the performance of the game drasticly ! - But this is another topic) This performance-Issue is alive since A12 !!! Iam sure TFP will fix it - but when ????? But if the Lights are "Lit2" instead of "Lit1" - then the performance is fine. (Also when i use wallcandles - instead of walltorches - But this i can make with "Replace BlockID" ) I've got here 125 Costum-Prefabs (+ the vanilla-ones) I dont want to check and fix every Light in every Layer in every Prefab manually !!! Perhaps TFP will fix this Issue soon - then I can change the whole stuff back. Perhaps they fix it not soon !!! Fact is that the ppl have nasty problems with the performance since A12 cause of this! OK What I want is a tool/function that allows me to change all "Lit1"-Lights into "Lit2"-Lights. No matter if its a wallLight, a CeilingLight or a StreetLight. All Lights in the loaded Prefab has to be META-changed (from "Lit1" ==> "Lit2") !!! It would be great if i also could choose from which meta-value to which meta-value the Convertion has to go ! Because perhaps i want some Lights turnedoff totally in future (or turn-on them again after TFP has fixed the Lightissue !!!) This is what i wish ;) Mag[/QUOTE] Ok Mag, I'll see what I can do. This also ties into something BigC was asking for.

[Magoli]

yes Hal - bigC knows about this Issue too. And he asked for it - because of the same reason i did. thx so much ahead ;) Mag

[h0tr0d]

[QUOTE=Guppycur;308545]New vid? Awesome. Haven't used it in a while and it is obvious a lot has changed. Don't forget to show the save process. ;) /me ducks hotrods punch Hal, going forward, since changing block IDs seem to be a pervasive problem, perhaps include a "remapper" feature to your editor? Two columns, one with the current list of blocks, one with the IDs, and a way to assign them? I'm very open to the idea I don't know what I'm talking about...[/QUOTE] No need to duck, that is an appropriate teasing! As long as you aren't "abstracted"

[h0tr0d]

Oh, a suggestion before I forget. One thing that would be useful is if you broke up your video into segments. While your video on the editor was helpful, it would be more helpful if you had a playlist on different actions. One on exporting, one on inserting, one on rotating, one on air blocks, etc. You could combine a few I'm sure and obviously you aren't beholden to do this. But...I think it would help enormously.

[stallionsden]

Hi Hal. Dont run lol just a quick query lolz. With the bbb ip x y z command. How does it work. Cause i did it it came up with prefab loaded if you cant see it leave the are and return. I did this and there still nothing there. Logged out as well :-\ what did i do wrong Cheers

[Guppycur]

Check for negative numbers in the coordinates?

[h0tr0d]

[QUOTE=stallionsden;309117]Hi Hal. Dont run lol just a quick query lolz. With the bbb ip x y z command. How does it work. Cause i did it it came up with prefab loaded if you cant see it leave the are and return. I did this and there still nothing there. Logged out as well :-\ what did i do wrong Cheers[/QUOTE] You got the coordinates wrong? Remember x y z is east vertical north so west is -x south is -y 0 is bedrock for the middle number, do F3, and find your coordinates that way. make sure u set it at the correct middle coordinate (height)

[h0tr0d]

[QUOTE]so west is -x south is -y[/QUOTE] errr south is -z, derp 300 0 300 is 300 east 0 height 300 north -300 0 -300 is 300 west 0 height 300 south. When working in-game, F3 becomes very handy. Also copy bbb ip so when u in game u just hit "t", "ctrl v" and then type name of prefab. OR..with notepad or any text editor put it in notepad first. Typically I will goto notepad, type bbb ip prefabnamehere 300 0 300. Copy, in-game just paste. Really helpful for long prefab names or if your typing is poor.

[stallionsden]

[QUOTE=h0tr0d;309156]errr south is -z, derp 300 0 300 is 300 east 0 height 300 north -300 0 -300 is 300 west 0 height 300 south. When working in-game, F3 becomes very handy. Also copy bbb ip so when u in game u just hit "t", "ctrl v" and then type name of prefab. OR..with notepad or any text editor put it in notepad first. Typically I will goto notepad, type bbb ip prefabnamehere 300 0 300. Copy, in-game just paste. Really helpful for long prefab names or if your typing is poor.[/QUOTE] Argh ok lol my bad I did get it wrong lol ty all for the assistance

[h0tr0d]

[QUOTE]You set the reset parameter like this: bbb ip true [/QUOTE] didn't remove that odd stuff, and yes I unchecked copyairblocks and resaved prefabs before inserting. Guess U have to insert this first, then insert the prefab with airblocks saved.