Editor description

[Zedd]

Hey,
I'm trying to put together an overview about the editor and am somewhat unsure about design/features/etc. (v1.0/post v1.0). Although I know this editor is not based on the vanilla one, It's unclear what you are going to do different and why. To be short, I don't have the required knowledge nor experience to be able to put together a description suitable for the modding community and I was hoping somebody else, best Zini, can do it. I guess it will be best to be clear about the difference between v1.0 and post v1.0 plans.

[Zini]

Is "An editor that does not suck" enough? The original CS is an embarrassing collection of usability failures, that we do not want to repeat. That is really all we try to do with 1.0. Listing each of the problems of the original CS and what we do different to avoid these would require much more time than I have available (I could probably write a book about that).

If you want a few bullet points:
- non-blocking
- multi-threaded
- multi-document support
- multi-view support
- high scalability
- customisable GUI


As for 1.0 and post-1.0: The situation is mostly the same here as with OpenMW. For OpenCS we will support editing for all OpenMW 1.0 features. For post-1.0 OpenCS we will also support editing for post-1.0 OpenMW features. Plus some nice extras like editor plugins, that can be used to extend the editor, and the use of the editor as a debugging tool for OpenMW content.

[Zedd]

Thanks!
Again, since I don't have any insights on this from a developers/modders perspective I just didn't know if there was a lot to say about it to begin with. The fact that it seems pretty straight forward is only for the better.

[Gez]

If you want a few bullet points:
- non-blocking
- multi-threaded
- multi-document support
- multi-view support
- high scalability
- customisable GUI

Resizable windows would be the top of the list. Look at this NPC:

He is wearing two sets of common_s..., one common_p..., and one common_b.... You can resize individual columns, but these changes won't stick.

If an NPC is reference-blocked, the AI and Dialogue buttons are grayed-out and unclickable, meaning that you aren't allowed to simply check what services an NPC offers without dirtying that NPC.

The dialogue window is also unresizable. The dialogue type tabs do not remember your position when you switch to another tab then go back.

Find Text? Use Report? Also not resizable. Fortunately, there's MWEdit.

Another fun thing is the Cell View window. Select a cell, for example "Ebonheart, Imperial Chapels". Double-click on Frik, the first reference in the list. It opens the cell and selects that reference. Look carefully at the content of the cell view window. Double-click on Frik in render window to open the reference window, then close it. For some reason, the list of objects in the cell view window has been completely reordered. If you were gonna check Iulus Truptor next, you have to hunt him down now. This will happen all the time. If you've sorted the list yourself, like maybe by type? Too bad, it gets undone.

[Zini]

While these are certainly valid points, you are making the mistake of trying to improve the original CS. That is not relevant to OpenCS, since it is not an improved CS, but a completely new application. Most of the GUI elements/features you listed for improvements do not even exist in OpenCS; at least not in the same form.

[sirherrbatka]

Hey, zedd!

I already wrote about editor in the weekly post. There is not much to talk about at the moment and a short video would be better anyway but It is a little early for it.

[Zedd]

@sirherrbatka
I'm trying to gather more information about the editor for those people asking about it on external sites. I'm also working on some changes for the FAQ and I thought it would be a good time to add a paragraph for the editor.