12 replies to this topic

[connor.clark]

I asked this in chat a week ago and got some good feature suggestions. Namely, the editor now has these features which address some pain points people had:

- Test mode specific "Init Data" setups, you can now have multiple sets of Init Data for testing purposes. Less messing around in the cheat menu

- Shift+Minus/Plus in combo editor to switch combos

 

Use this thread to discuss more! I'm specifically looking for things we can add to greatly reduce friction / wasted time in developing a quest. Additional engine features likely aren't that, unless it really would save a lot of editor time.

 

[bigjoe]

Enter to CONFIRM string edits might increase string editing efficiency.

Edited by BigJoe, 22 August 2023 - 03:23 AM.

[Emily]

Enter to CONFIRM string edits might increase string editing efficiency.

Binding it for the whole dialog is bad for accessibility via arrow keys/tab for keyboard controls, and binding it just for the text field to send to the dialog would be a fair bit of work...

[connor.clark]

What I'm hearing is that ZQ is flawless and needs no further QoL improvements for productivity

[Alucard648]

Autocombos. They are way too out of date and need reworking.

[Moosh]

The usage of this editor is so deeply ingrained in my psyche that it's very hard to come up with annoying snags. A couple off the top of my head in no particular order though:

• Enemies are currently the only list I can find that isn't searchable by ID. In other lists you can type an ID number in the search bar to skip right to it.
• The menu for copy and pasting combo aliases is ancient and deeply uncomfortable. Does not remember what you were copying from nor does it default to the currently selected alias, so copying the same one multiple times is annoying.
• Setting Link's base tiles individually with 155 unique tile boxes is a bit of a chore. Only happens once per tileset revision but could maybe use some automation.
• Someone brought up things in the item editor that are making the user add up bitflags as an annoyance. Block flags on boomerangs and shields do this, as do certain items that can be assigned to buttons such as roc's feather and lift glove.
• Chest combos require an additional combo flag (Armos/Chest->Item) in order to function at all. Is this necessary? Could the behavior be deprecated with a QR?
• Setting an item location on screen 80 and 81 still prompts you to select an item ID even though these screens do not use one.
• In ZC, the End Game option in the Game dropdown is not indicative of what F6 actually does. New users often get confused about how to save the game. Perhaps it should be renamed to "Save or Exit" and then just "Exit" if the Skip Continue Screen rule is on?

[connor.clark]

Thanks Moosh! Good ideas. I'll just add some context to the last one, as we've talked about it before on Discord:

In ZC, the End Game option in the Game dropdown is not indicative of what F6 actually does. New users often get confused about how to save the game. Perhaps it should be renamed to "Save or Exit" and then just "Exit" if the Skip Continue Screen rule is on?

 

 

Emily mentioning a editor feature for the F6 menu: https://discord.com/...622413579890761

So, here's idea:

F6 menu editor.

-Add howevermany options, with whatever effects. At least one option, with the effect "Quit to Menu", is required for the menu to be valid.

-Valid effects:

--Continue

--Save+Continue

--Save+Quit

--Quit

--Run Generic Script [number] in frozen mode (if the script does not continue or quit, it will return to the f6 menu afterwards)

-And a checkbox for each option allowing you to give it an 'are you sure' confirmation 

Default menu for old quests:

-"Continue" (Continue)

-"Save" (Save+Quit)

-"Retry" (Quit, confirm exit)

Default menu for File->New default:

-"Continue" (Continue)

-"Save & Continue" (Save+Continue)

-"Save & Quit" (Save+Quit, confirm exit)

-"Quit" (Quit, confirm exit)

 

 

 

Great for customization.

But for the common case (quest makers not wanting to make their own menu) and the existing state (all existing quests have this bad menu) - I suggested (shortly after the above message) also a setting in the player, which defaults to "Modern End Game Menu" - allowing us to change the text used for these strings, or change the UI all together. We'd put that on by default, but allow users to go back to the old thing if they want.

These player settings could perhaps have a "Global" value and a "Quest-Specific" override value, in case that matters.

Important to keep the default behavior wrt key input the same (to not mess with muscle memory).

[Colin]

What is a freeform combo and what does it have to do with ZScript? (rhetorical question though I actually don't know the answer but I know I can go read the docs)

Layers referencing a screen on another map is super weird, can adding layers be abstracted away from the user? i.e. I'm looking at a new screen, can I just reference layer 1 on a screen without having to Screen -> Layers -> Backtrack because I haven't set up the map yet -> Edit -> Map Count -> Increase Map Count -> Go back to Screen -> Layers -> Type in the map number I gotta remember -> Type in the screen number, hopefully I don't mistype. I know there's the auto-layer feature that you can set up one time per map, but even that feature seems gratuitous.

Can I have a vertical list of my quest's maps and give the maps custom names and then click between them rather than scrolling on the minimap or knowing the map number corresponding with the area I want to edit?

I don't know if this is still a thing, but the misalignment between selected palette for a screen and that the DMap applies a palette is weird (I know hypothetically you can use more than one palette for a screen, I dunno).

"Compile ZScript" seems mislabeled because it brings up a dialog with a whole bunch of buttons one of which includes compiling ZScript and some other stuff. Is it necessary to be a dialog? Can the dialog be merged into the ZScript dropdown?

I don't like the gradient on the UI bars.

I don't like the default blue theme, I like the light theme. Can the selected theme apply to ZQ, ZC, and the launcher by default?

Tile Page - "Grab" and "Export"... "Import" and "Export"?

 

 

EDIT - got another

 

Add a notion of combo folders maybe with customizable names? Adapting the current concept of pages, say in my tileset, pages 1-3 had terrain on it, I'd call pages 1-3 "Terrain" and then there could be a list of combo pages of which "Terrain" is an entry. e.g. DoR has "Section 1.0 - Overworld Combos", and then "Section 1.1 Slashable and Shrubs", I'd like to see all these section headings in a list where I scroll to that section automatically by clicking the section header.

Edited by Colin, 13 September 2023 - 03:17 AM.

[Mitchfork]

Lists of script names in various places are ordered alphabetically. Some are case insensitive (assigning script slots during compilation) and some are case sensitive (assigning a script to an individual FFC). Would probably prefer if they were all case insensitive.
 
When using test mode, the DMap that you start on is automatically chosen based on matching the map number/screen palette to the first DMap in the list that matches these.  This is mostly pretty good but sometimes fails if you're using multiple DMaps with the same palette on a given map (very common for multi-floor dungeons) and it's actually a lot of time to manually select the correct DMap if you're doing a bunch of tests repeatedly (I think ZQ forgets your selection if you change screens at all). Would be nice to have ZQ remember permanently if you manually override it.
 

I don't know if this is still a thing, but the misalignment between selected palette for a screen and that the DMap applies a palette is weird (I know hypothetically you can use more than one palette for a screen, I dunno).

Yeah, this one's annoying but it seems pretty fundamental to how DMaps work.  Anecdotally I do use this for one screen (not convinced this is artful or good, mind you).

[Redmage777]

Sprite Data needs a way to test the animation,  like what the Item Editor has...

[Emily]

Sprite Data needs a way to test the animation,  like what the Item Editor has...

err, it has that though?

[Redmage777]

Awesome!  I thought I have the latest version...  I do now and appently you have been very buzy.  I'm Quite Impressed with the newest developments (And the one I was useing seemed like a big step up)

 

Forgive me if I suggest something else that already there, But in the Tile Editor,  a Hot Key that Lists all the ways is which a tile is being used.  The "?" key seems to be availabe.

[Matthew Bluefox]

That you can't have a screen-specific music other than MIDI overwriting the DMap's music temporarily or permanently. There are so many NSF files out there which sound even better than MIDI files in my opinion, and it sucks that these can't be treated the same way MIDIs do.