Your thought about a good level editor

[Nysuatro]

I am making plans for programming a level editor for a project I am working on.

I have never done this before so it is going to be a big experience. Still being busy with my exams but I already wanted to ask your thoughts about good level editor features.

What are for you the most important functionality/features or what would you like to see in a level editor? And what are the things that I have to keep in mind when developing a level editor?

Your opinion is really valuable for me.

Greetz,

Nysuatro

[Minos]

Some features that come to mind:

- Should be easy to group things together (I could never manage to group anything on Radiant...)

- Easy instancing!

- Snap to grid/rotate snap/scale snap

- Ability to create solids for stuff like floors and ceilings

- Real time lighting/fog/other effects preview

[Sentura]

oh god yes snaps. simple interface; make a few powerful tools rather than a million ones you'll never use. as much as people hate it, i would definitely look at the hammer editor for inspiration.

[Pampers]

wysiwyg

[Campaignjunkie]

WASD-style 3D camera navigation

[Skjalg]

WASD-style 3D camera navigation

that can be toggled. (like in hammer)

What kind of editor (for what kind of an engine) are you making? is it a 2d scroller?

[Nysuatro]

Well it is an old project of mine that I want to bring back to life with some friends of mine. It is a (3d)third person shooter, single player puzzle/action where you have to shoot with lights in a dark destroyed world to learn about your environment.

By spraying tags (like the ones of banksy) on the right places and time you activate those by a light to bring it to life and give it interaction to the environment.

This is the project explained very fast It has to become a demo of 10-15 min. More news will come after some more progres.

Thanks for the replyes everybody.

[Skjalg]

Why not use Unity for this project, that way you can spend all your time coding game logic instead of making the editor?

If you need to do some custom editor components for Unity, that is also supported

[Nysuatro]

The project is also about creating our own Tools. And I only make prototypes in Unity. Not a big fan to make full games in it.

[Warby]

what skjalg said the world doesnt need anymore halfbaked editors

[Skjalg]

The project is also about creating our own Tools. And I only make prototypes in Unity. Not a big fan to make full games in it.

Im not really sure what kind of project you are talking about (is it for school?). If so, then I'm sure you'd have an easier time creating some other tool for your game instead of a 3d editor.

[Steppenwolf]

- no overbearing amount of features on the surface (buttons, options, settings etc)

- streamlined workflow that got rid of many of the small tasks that old level editors force their users to waste time on

- easy rotating, scaling, aligning with just a click on the keyboard (Minos already mentioned snapping which is part of that)

- easy grouping and selecting

- layers

- previews for the asset browser

- wysiwyg 3D Window

- scripting tools with a virtual interface that don't require to write any scripts by hand

- stability (yes thats's very important)

- undo/redo

[PhilipK]

Yes, good grid and rotation snap is really important. I really miss the grin-editor snap and align system for units. I haven't found a similar system in Unreal so far sadly

What I look for is being able to align stuff perfectly according to a placed objects rotation and position, and the ability to place dummies in the object to which other objects can use as a snap-target. This is really useful when working with various curved objects.

Anyone know if you can do this in ued?

[Nysuatro]

what skjalg said the world doesnt need anymore halfbaked editors

The only goal I have is to have experience in making good UI/tools by listening to artist. This is also a collaboration with other students who want to practice programming an engine.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Thanks for the good advice everybody. I am getting a lot of ideas thanks to all of you.

If there are more things that come to your mind. Every little bit counts for me.

When I can show some more progress, I will post it here.

[Hourences]

Yes, good grid and rotation snap is really important. I really miss the grin-editor snap and align system for units. I haven't found a similar system in Unreal so far sadly

What I look for is being able to align stuff perfectly according to a placed objects rotation and position, and the ability to place dummies in the object to which other objects can use as a snap-target. This is really useful when working with various curved objects.

Anyone know if you can do this in ued?

Unfortunally no, you cant.