Map Editor Feature Request Thread.

A few other amazingly helpful things would be:

• Documentation on the data formatting of .pas files; it would be really good for people new to the editor to be able to quickly find information on what each component of each data array actually does/refers to.
• More complete implementation of CSG manipulation tools in the system editor: some CSG don't rotate, others don't stretch, the height controls don't seem to do anything, and so on. Although I can edit the .pas files to make these things happen, being able to set precise rotation, skew, and stretch values (about each axis) for CSG in the editor (perhaps in a helpful dialog box) would save me a ton of time. And grief.
• A clean-up of the metal placement interface, and making it a bit more reliable: currently hand-placed metal brushes will often appear at right angles to the ground, or upside down. Also, metal in deep water (placed by the terrain generator) can't be manually deleted - you have to drop CSG on top of it to get rid of it.
• Multiple planes of symmetry for planets, and a few bugfix passes on metal symmetry (not all symmetrical metal places correctly). Custom symmetry planes would be SUPER SWEET, but just 2-, 3-, 4-, and 8-fold symmetry settings would be a lovely addition.
• The option to turn 'symmetry mode' off when placing landing zones, metal, and CSG. Not least so that you can get stuff placed a bit more accurately at the equator.
• Being able to set flags on CSG in the editor, so that a flagged CSG will have the variable '"isflagged": true'. This would allow CSG to be earmarked in the editor for fine-tuning in the .pas file. I would find this super helpful.
• Map/system info data arrays in the .pas files (and in the game) so that the name(s) of the mapmaker(s), recommended player count, and some fluff/description could stay attached to the maps.

I know some of this is repeating Emeraldis's post, but I wanted to emphasise that these problems are still here, and they don't just bother Emeraldis. Also, I know I've not made specific references to the database files PA uses to store its systems in 'native' format, so what I say for the .pas could just as well apply to them. I just find it much easier to tweak stuff via the .pas file, is all.

That's why I wrote them all down in notepad.

I often start a 2nd instance of PA just to check the hotkeys xD

Something that would be nice is to have memorable seeds for different types of planets. I don't know how the planets are generated based on the seed, but it would be nice if seeds like 0 would generate a planet that is completely flat with no CSG's, and no water/lava, and some other number (maybe 100?) could be for a planet with just lava/water. I know that these are fairly easy to make, but it would help a little bit.

I find it ironic that a player who uses hotkeys in game often can't remember the editor hotkeys.

has to do with how rarely I edit maps

Touche.

yeah I just took a screenshot using steam and shift-tab to open the in game steam menu and leave the screenshot open there so I just have to shift-tab again whenever I forget

• A "Delete All CSG on Planet" button would save a lot of labour

A brush to use a terrain height tool. pls.

• Placing normal, reclaimable wreckage to create ruined cities/bases would be epic!

Height map tools. And biome brushes.

Did ya read that @cola_colin? This guy takes a screenshot, you load another instance of the client!

I would like more control of the spawn points, for sure. Btw you can already place your own spawn points? I'm working on getting N equidistant spawn points for a planet of R radius at the moment, so if Uber want to put that in, that'd be great. Trying to get maps for custom servers, setting spawn points and making them fair is a bugger!

Locking armies to spawns would be very helpful indeed.

I have multiple instances quite often anyway. Memory is freeeeeeeee

I just downloaded a ton of RAM as well, gotta love the modern age

A way to place effect emitters on the surface of the planet like a csg. I'm not sure if that requires too much work, but wow! That would remove all the complaints about the planets looking "lifeless"

As someone who loves to work with map editors for games, I've listed some things that the current editor could use to make it just that much more powerful.

1. Biome brush.
2. Terrain brush. Things that increase, decrease, smooth, sharpen, or flatten the terrain are fantastic.
3. Paint brush. The ability to color different areas allows us to make new and interesting planets that look unreal, like a bright pink jungle surrounded by red desert and yellow mountains. In other words, candyland.
4. Change the water color.
5. Place water sources. The way it works now is fine, but being able to place water sources to determine exactly how high the water is and where it can go would be great. When planets collide, water will fill in the crater if it's touching. Being able to do the same thing here would be great.
6. Space planets evenly from each other.
7. Distance planets from each other based upon the time taken until collision.
8. The ability to place units and wreckage. Obviously, maps with pre-built units should have a warning in the lobby for anyone looking for a competitive game.
9. The ability to modify the orbital height by changing the mass of the planet associated. Small planets have high orbital layers, while larger planets have small orbital layers. However, the height of these orbital layers are affected by the radius only, not the mass.
10. Smooth out some numbers, so you don't end up with weird irrational numbers while trying to rotate or translate planets. I'm not sure if this is possible.
11. Place planets farther from and closer to the sun.
12. Make temperature actually do something. Maybe it already does; I haven't used the editor in a long time, so I wouldn't know.
13. Fiction mode, where standard planet placement rules don't apply and planets can be designated for being unable to collide with other planets. Halleys still work, it just removes the editor restrictions. This also has to have a warning attached, in the likelihood that it may crash your game.
14. No-build zones and no-fly zones. Starcraft has markers for these purposes in the editor. They're unbelievably useful when you're trying to make a mountain range and flying units are clipping through it in ways that you don't want.
15. Orbital predictions that show where planets will go after a certain amount of time. This is useful for making time-bomb planets and for making sure that planets with elliptical orbits don't collide with anything.
16. Set planets to orbits that are exactly the same, but change their positions. If a planet has an even slightly smaller or larger orbit than another planet near it, it will inevitably collide. It probably won't happen, but in the case of a 4 hour + game, a small mess up like that can make a big difference when two player's home planets start rubbing against each other.
17. Show predictions for how long it'll take for units to travel from planet to planet.
18. Rotate terrain and objects along all axis. This doesn't include biomes, so an Earth planet won't have its ice caps facing the sun.
19. Different types of symmetry with a visual example.
20. Move metal deposits. I saw an option for this in the CSG editor, but it didn't seem to do anything.
21. Place decals.

Some of these things are probably impossible, but I'm just throwing it out there.

1) To be able to start with a blank planet and terraform it from scratch, then paint land textures on it, adjust terrain heights, etc. I don't know if anyone ever played Trainz but their terrain editor was pretty cool.

2) To be able to remove all CSGs at once from a planet.

3) To be able to add custom description that appears in the lobby when you select a map.

4) True 3D terrain features: arches and bridges that do not break the flow of the game and affect pathing.

5) To be able to create true lake and rivers.