Well, in a german thread (you can find it here: http://www.coniserver.net/ubbthreads/sho...bb849df9daa890) we discussed the lack of 3D Gamestudio for state of the art tools, abilities, functions.. etc.pp. I collected all suggested features and compiled them into an organized list. Most complains adress the toolchain of 3D Gamestudio. So this list covers here only WED, MED and GENERAL request. Each problem adds an authors suggestion. Most are mine, some are of others.

Each request is sorted into categories. If other users want to add their own request in this list, I suggest to do it the same way as I did it: categorize your requests, make a list in each category and just simply tell whats wrong and add one or more suggestions.

This thread should be a more mature approach than the previous thread - so please avoid discussion and stuff. Simply press LIST START, LIST ITEM and LIST END, formulate your posts in english language. Thats all and we are fine. JCL has very limited time nowadays, so, lets keep it as tight as possible.

I will begin:

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GENERAL

• Asset managing gets worser and worser if a project grows rapidly. The problem is, that external skins have to be in the same folder as the model file which uses it. It is common to seperate assets by skins, materials and meshes into seperate folders. If you use same models in different levels which are located in single folders, you are forced to have mesh and skin duplicates in each level folder, if you place the models in WED. Suggestion: lets save relative paths for external skins in models and model references in WED.

WED REQUESTS

• Its not that easy to make custom builds. When publishing, everything is thrown into one folder. Suggestion: instead of the automatic process, WED uses an optional file (XML?) which defines all folders which are to be created, file ignore tags, specific files, included file types, calling other programs with parameters (so that at the end an instruction calls an installmaker executable which passes parameters to build a custom installer for the current build).
  
  
• Instead of LOD, there is another possibility to provide lower levels of detail for level maps. You can simply pull certain entities into different groups (low, mid and high) and compile for each setting one single level WMB file ("level_low.wmb", "level_mid.wmb", "level_high.wmb"). The workflow is very exhausting to do this, just for the cause you changed some details. Suggestion 1: add a geometry detail flag in WED (a listbox with the entries low, mid and high; default: low) and when you compile, the compiler creates 1 WMB file. The level_load instruction is extended with one argument, that indicates which entities should be ignored in the loading process (if you select low, all mid and high entities are ignored). Suggestion 2: add an optional compile script files (XML?) which tells the compiler how it should compile the map; i.e. compile with all groups, duplicate wmb 2 times, rename them and update entities for the duplicates with ignoring these and those groups and so on.
  
  
• The treemanager is too limited. Suggestion 1: add a multiselect with the shift key and mouse left Suggestion 2: when I edit a group, please let me edit parts of it without scoping down, so that I see the environment
  
  
• Prefab inheritance: When a designer makes some prefabs, it is very easy to stitch together a WMP file. The downside is, that if the designer makes an update, the whole level needs a cleanup whereas each prefab has to be replaced. Suggestion 1: save relative path to the prefab file and watch for modifications. Whenever I make a file update, the prefabs are updated in the level, too. Suggestion 2: add a "lock geometry" flag for prefabs to prevent overriding by file updates or texture changes Suggestion 3: add a "lock texture" flag for prefabs to prevent overriding texture changes Suggestion 4: if the user changes a prefab in WED, all other same prefabs are changed. When saving, the original prefab file will be overwritten.
  
  
• WED Texture management: if you want to store your textures in one central folder and your level files are distributed in the folder hierarchy, its bad that you cannot reference to them with a relative path. It worked when WMP were ASCII files, but now they are binary. Suggestion: add a relative path to the texture file (WAD) or folder. Very useful when you use for example revision control like subversion.
  
  
• Its a mess to compose materials by hand. I have to start the engine several times to see if materials are right. Suggestion: add a material composer inside WED. The user assigns WDL/.h file for that single level and the composer rewrites the file each time materials have been changed. The 3D window shows the material changes in realtime. With "material" I mean the standard directX material settings, not shaders or FFP's! The cinema4D solution for material composing is very nice, if you look for an idea.
  
  
• I have trouble to pose models in WED, even though they are rendered with skins: if they consist of alpha enabled skins it could be sometimes very hard to do it right Suggestion: add an alpha preview function for the 3D window of WED.
  
  
• I like the idea of having background images in a 2D view when modeling in a corresponding (modeling) application. When composing in WED a scene, this isnt possible. Suggestion: add the possibility to add a background image for each view, that moves with the camera and is being scaled, when zooming in.
  
  
• Sometimes - in an illuminated scene - some objects (blocks/static meshes) would need a higher or even a lower resolution shadowmap. Currently we are forced by the texture scale. Suggestion: add in WED an option that defines the shadowmap resolution per object/group/block/surface
  
  
• When you want to convert an already placed model into a static mesh, you have to reload it and place it again with all other adjustments. That could be tricky if you have dozens of entities in your level. Suggestion: one click and multiple selection model to static mesh conversion utility.
  
  
• Static lights are a bit underdeveloped over the years. With some more options you could rapidly increase the overall light and shadow quality of scenes. Suggestion 1: add a light type option: point, spot, tube Suggestion 2: add a casted shadow type: none, hard, soft (last 2 are presets, see next suggestion) Suggestion 3: add an options tab for shadows casted by this light: density (~alpha), color, blur radius Suggestion 4: add a noise map option. The user can define a texture which is mapped as noise map Suggestion 5: add a projected texture for spot lights

MED REQUESTS

• If you have a series of FBX/OBJ/etc (all ssupported import files in MED), its a bit too much work to convert them file by file into MDL7. Suggestion: please add a batch mode for external model formats with the ability to convert them into one single folder or to convert them in the folder where the processed import file is being located.
  
  
• I have a lot of skins saved in a model and I want to delete them all or a lot of them. I have to click nearly a thousand times to do that. Suggestion: multiple selection.
  
  
• I want to load a series of skins into a model (skin animations). I have to click a million times to do that. Suggestion: add batch import for skins. Open a dialogbox, multi-select the image files (TGA,BMP,DDS,PCX), add a checkbox so that the user can select if the textures are external or not. FINISHED. Great time-saver!
  
  
• I use only DDS files in my project, cause I want to be efficient. Well, MED makes it all worse: I can't edit skin points or such, cause DDS skins are NOT shown in the UV editor. Suggestion: show it. Maybe rendering a quad with the applied DDS texture?
  
  
• The FBX format is a very versatile model format. Though, some modeling applications (or different application versions) don't work unfortunately with FBX. By this, sometimes you are forced to push a model through several "converter" apps to get it into Gamestudio. Suggestion: You are currently supporting OBJ and X import, so, it would be very handy if you implement X and OBJ exporters as well.

Good points and all in all I pretty much agree with all of them. Especially the .DDS request for MED, now we have to import a bmp, adjust the UV mapping and add a dds texture again.

Something I still miss quite badly, but something that already has been requested, so no critic intended;

• Change the behavior of all entities currently selected in WED (like is possible with materials now)

Cheers

disclaimer: i am no beta tester, so forgive me if i list anything that's already done.

[cont'd MED requests]

* show an error message when non-power-of-2-textures are imported. every week you can read a newbie's post why his 123x456 texture looks distorted.

* more format ports. as MED is not the premier choice for 90% of the users (estimated figure), you should foremost add more formats to the import list. i cannot understand why conitec does not support the great modelling packeges like 3ds max, lw, xsi and so on natively, instead users are forced to buy plugins form third party companies. Suggestion: start with free tools like blender if a direct port for lw or xsi would blow up the budget. including fbx is a step in the right direction. i can read "direct geometry import of max and maya for WED" on the forecast page, i'd like to know if it's only mesh (3ds) import or if it's a fully featured native importer?

* shader and transparency preview option in the editor (the "engine preview" is a nice idea, but i would prefer something more that's integrated into the editor.

* separate materials dialogue with more options, map channels management. i want to be able to define a material "color: a.dds; diffuse/specular: b.dds; normal: c.dds; brightness/tint values: ..." as it's commonly used by so many programs.
--> this is also for WED textures. Suggestion: Allow the user to set up custom materials for every texture using a small dialogue box. let him define color maps, behaviour like footstep sound, lighting/shadow reaction, ... (i did not invent this, it's a source engine concept). i do not know if HeelX thought about that already in his "mess to compose materials by hand"-paragraph, as i'd suggest the c4d material panel for inspiration, too.

Engine
* The new kernel now supports an unlimited number of dynamic lights. i'd be interested in how far this affects the shadow creation. does unlimited number of dynamic lights mean an unlimited number of independently behaving dynamic shadows as well? what about soft shadows of any kind?

* a shader editor is on the way, very well. forgive me if it's dumb to ask, but why has 3dgs to introduce its own editor again? why can't we just use the ones provided by ATI or NVIDIA and directly (or with minor modifications that do not require any greater programming knowledge, basicly renaming some keywords and variables) run these shaders in the engine? i fear this editor will be as "second choice" as MED always was.

* multiple dynamic shadows per oject.

* solving the particles alpha sorting issues.

* more light types than just omni, ambient, sun and spot. Suggestion: my votes go to e.g. area lights and heaven light simulation, mybe a "light dome"-button to prerender/bake GI into the scene.

* new modifiers for particles: e.g. wind. let particles be able to rotate and behave as sprites.

it's late and i am run out of ideas.

Power of two error already in Beta...

According to 3dgs staff (i think jcl), adding rotation, or anything else to particles would slow down too much, and it would be better to use sprites. (Sorry, worded badly)

Thanks for the partially very useful suggestions. We are especially interested in user suggestions for improving a) the workflow itself and b) the understanding of the workflow.

I'm a little busy this week, but when I've got some more time I'll post specific comments about these and other features suggested here.

Thanks for your time.

WED:
- when scoping down into object groups it would be good, if there was an option which still displayed all other level geometry. To have a better overview the level geometry outside the groupd could be greyed out and should be unclickable

- maybe a bit tricky to implement, but for Entities it would be useful to have some sort of "drop to ground" and "auto adjust rotation to floor" button - especially when working with terrains or model levels object placement can become very tedious.

General:
- I already proposed this one some while ago, so it should be on the improvement list, but just to be sure: Please please please let all editors save their backup files into some "backup" subfolder and all temporary files (Level building....) into a "temp" subfolder

*bump*

WED:

• add a shortcut for "go to object"
• if a special key is pressed, an entity or a group is select and the user moves the mouse, the view moves in an orbit around the selection
• enable saving view positions so that I can select via a view menu one of the saved views. Then the 3D view snaps on those coordinates.
• when I move an entity around in the 3D window, please adjust the camera position automatically! When I move e.g. the entity down (so that it fits the ground), I grab the z-axis arrow of the entity move the mouse down. When I reach the bottom of the window I have to preadjust the view again before I can proceed with moving the entity.

WED:

• saving view coordinates: this should already be possible! on the sidebar, go to the "views" tab, right-click "views list" and select "add views setting" - this should do it

Sorry, didnt knew that. I did not found that in the documentation. Am I able to access these view presets from the engine (is this saved only in the WMP or as well in the WMB?)