In-game map editor Created 12 years ago2012-10-27 07:39:30 UTC by bojidar4oto

I was wondering why there isn't a map editor built in-game instead of hammer?
It would speed up mapping alot, AND you can try out your map immediately instead of having to compile it each time.

source filmmaker looks like sort of an in-game editor though i have still yet to try it. The new portal editor is suppossed to be pretty neat too, though i know it's not in real time.

inb4 bsp process flaming

I see you don't understand how source/gs works.
Since they are not realtime engines everything has to be precomputed for them (lightmaps, geometry etc...) hence why we compile.
It would be impractical to have an ingame editor, if your pc is slow running the game at the same time would not be the best mapping experience, having to alt+tab every time you need to edit a model, sound, texture would be a pain and would kill productivity.
Doom3 and Quake4 had a built in editor, even though they used dmap(not sure exactly) some elements still had to be compiled.

There is an ingame editor for Portal 2, but is very primitive though interactive
I agree hammer is a bit "out of date" compared to other editors, but we got used to it, and so will you.

Btw you can't link images from you pc, upload them to the web first (imgur, imageshack ...)

...wow.

I will admit that source could easily take a different approach to level design. Use hammer to get the basic geometry down, then have a gmod style system to place models, dynamic lights, enemies etc.

No. Because then level designers will go out of business

Modern editors like UDK and the Cryengine SDK are all essentially in-engine, anyway. UDK for instance still requires compiling, but offers fairly accurate, speedy light previews. It does wonders for work flow.

It's not beyond Valve's capability to do this for the tools. They really should have received a similar update a long time ago, to stay somewhat current. But Valve's work with the Filmmaker, Portal 2 editor, and Gabe's own comments makes me sure they have something big in the works.

There is Nem's Map Viewer for VHE 3.5 that allows you to preview the map without having to compile it. It allows you too see lighting and entities and so on without having to compile. Maybe there is something like that for Source too?

Running a quick compile can be automated to launch the game and shouldn't take more than a few seconds anyway, so is it necessary with an in-game editor?

Btw shouldn't this thread be moved to one of the engine discussinons?

EDIT: I'm actually not so sure about the lighting in Map Viewer, eeh..

so is it necessary with an in-game editor?

Yeah no, not really, but it would be amazingly helpful to have a working light preview, or to be able to pose lights in real-time would be insanely helpful.

Until then, we can always cordon compile for a quick vrad preview i guess.

The game, Cube 2 Sauerbraten, whom I took the screenshot from is NOT a real-time game. Actually the players, "box" and "barrel" entities and triggers are the only real-time things in there. In this game, once you build something, say a car, you can't destroy it even if you blow a truck of nuclear missiles next to it, just like 'boxes' in Source, which are not breakable. Lights are precompiled in-game, using just a single console command, and just in a matter of seconds. The editor's grid size can be adjusted too, from 0(which is as small as...umm...1 inch, compared to the player's size) to 12(one cube covers 1/4 from default sized map).

As for the light preview - the newest version of Hammer does have one, but it is a little buggy and very ugly. :