[Editor] Two-phase editor

[haenry]

But what to do, if the adapted grid of the first editor does not fit into the grid of the 2nd editor?
And setting a limit in the first editor doesn't make sense. Then you could directly start with the 2nd editor, as you can move all the blocks at once over the map to change the position, if you have problems with the limit at one side

[smwforever45]

But what to do, if the adapted grid of the first editor does not fit into the grid of the 2nd editor?

You wouldn't be able to build tracks bigger then the grid of the 2nd editor, that's it.

And setting a limit in the first editor doesn't make sense. Then you could directly start with the 2nd editor, as you can move all the blocks at once over the map to change the position, if you have problems with the limit at one side

You're right about that, but how often do you want to move the map just to get everything right? The two-phase editor would be much more comfortable in that point.

Also, maybe there could be a little indicator so you know how long you can still build and in which direction/dimension you can do that.
Does anyone on here know Picross 3D for the DS? A great and challenging game in my opinion. It also contains an editor, which has that adapting grid too. Here's a screenshot of it:

Do you see that cube on the top screen? There are numbers on each side of it: the height (H), the width (W) and the depth (D) of the shape of your current project. Those numbers stand for the number of blocks (those cubes you see on the bottom screen) you've already used in that direction/dimension. The maximum number of blocks you can build in each direction/dimension is 10. If you reached this number, the number will start to blink and you can't build blocks in that direction/dimension anymore. That cube with the numbers on it is what I'd want in the first editor too. Would make the life with the first editor much easier, you wouldn't have to count the blocks all the time to make sure you can still build on ^^

[elitechris]

So, if I understood good, you want to have something, which will calculate a number of blocks and the coordinates, so you can normally build tracks while being safe with making tracks not too close to the edges.

[haenry]

And setting a limit in the first editor doesn't make sense. Then you could directly start with the 2nd editor, as you can move all the blocks at once over the map to change the position, if you have problems with the limit at one side

You're right about that, but how often do you want to move the map just to get everything right? The two-phase editor would be much more comfortable in that point.

Yeah I know what you want to get at.
It happens often, that you have problems with the limit at one side. But did you ever had problems with the limit at both opposite sides? please be honest. I never had that in my whole life and I build tons of maps.
And even if you have this problem you can just move the side you are not building at to the end of the map and then you can see how much space you have left to build. So it's actually not a big deal.

[smwforever45]

So, if I understood good, you want to have something, which will calculate a number of blocks and the coordinates, so you can normally build tracks while being safe with making tracks not too close to the edges.

Something like that, yes. I still took Chevron's pics in the first post and edited them so you can completely understand what I mean




The cube you see in the bottom right corner is what I mean. It shows the current height, width and depth of the track you're building. And if you, for example, reached a depth of 60 blocks, then the number will start to blink or something like that, and so you know that you can't build on anymore. That way you can plan and eventually avoid the situation that you're reaching the edge of the grid and have to build everything again - like it happened to me when I was building my most recent track on TMX

And setting a limit in the first editor doesn't make sense. Then you could directly start with the 2nd editor, as you can move all the blocks at once over the map to change the position, if you have problems with the limit at one side

You're right about that, but how often do you want to move the map just to get everything right? The two-phase editor would be much more comfortable in that point.

Yeah I know what you want to get at.
It happens often, that you have problems with the limit at one side. But did you ever had problems with the limit at both opposite sides? please be honest. I never had that in my whole life and I build tons of maps.
And even if you have this problem you can just move the side you are not building at to the end of the map and then you can see how much space you have left to build. So it's actually not a big deal.

Yeah, I never really had that. But I was close to it for some times already. And I also usually build tracks which go over the whole grid. So I could live without the two-phase editor, but it'd be great if it was there as an option

[Chevron]

Thanks for an explanation, smwforever45, it seemed I couldn't do that myself.

[bucky_u]

Instead of implementing two separate phases, would the ability to select and move large amounts of blocks in only one stage work? Or am I just not understanding the idea properly?

[Chevron]

You understand the idea right. An ability to move a selection is already in game, but how many times do you want to move the track until you finish?

Edit: Also there could be only one editor but with ‛Switch the phase’ button.

[Romain42]

Center option like in a text editor? It auto-centers your map on both x and y axis in the construction zone each time you add a block. You can disable it and use the already implemented "copy/paste" option if you don't want your map to be auto-centered (i.e. moved each time you add a block).

Even if the "cut/paste" or "copy/paste" option is maybe a little more tiresome, it already seems a nice improvement to me.

[Chevron]

Little wrong. In the editor there would be two phases; switching the phases would be realized with a button. In the 1st phase there would be an adapting grid (limited) that would ‛make’ a rectangle around your track (no backgrounds, each time you add a block the grid will adapt (not the track like auto-centre)). In the 2nd phase you would place your rectangle within the building area. Also in the 1st phase there would be a counter, as smwforever45 suggested.