[✓][SUG][ED] Load style of selected piece into Piece Browser

[IchoTolot]

So I recalled Arty's level creation stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsI9kSsZXlc

He still used the old editor as he has one major problem with the new format one and I can see that problem being a bigger issue for people using a lot of tileset mixing.

I personally haven't noticed it due to me sticking to 1 or 2 tilesets in most cases.

So the problem is: You have to constantly select and switch the tile selection bar for changing tilesets -- a huge problem when using many different tilesets and switching constantly.

I thought about a possible solution, but still I am not sure if making it standard or a selectable option would be better.

Proposed solution: Clicking on a tile changes the selection bar to the tile's tileset.

This would minimise the tileset selecting, as you would only need to select it once from the list, due to then having the option to click on a matching tile to switch. Also people who rarely use tileset mixing won't notice this due to them having only 1 active tileset most of the time.

Still I am wondering if making this an option under "Settings" would be a better call. If somebody does not like this behavior they simply can leave this deactivated.

I even would call this a higher priority, as this prvents people to switch to the new editor and they even take the extra step of converting for this.

So is my proposed solution acceptable? Is having this as an option better? Other proposals?

[namida]

Definitely could get annoying. Possible less-annoying alternative: A "switch to tileset of currently selected piece" hotkey.

[Proxima]

Right-click?

[IchoTolot]

Right-click?

Right click is already for scrolling and I think that would lead to too many accidental tileset swaps, if we only differenciate between holding and single-clicking.

Definitely could get annoying. Possible less-annoying alternative: A "switch to tileset of currently selected piece" hotkey.

A hotkey I would call a better alternative. So I personally would say either a hotkey or an option under "Settings".

[Simon]

Proposed solution: Clicking on a tile changes the selection bar to the tile's tileset.

I like this; easy to discover, and needs some testing whether it get in the way. I believe it will feel okay.

The tilebar should, in addition, scroll to center on the selected tile. This makes it easiest to select similar tiles, which is the original basic idea. I miss such scrolling in the Lix tile browser, too.

-- Simon

[Colorful Arty]

It's not just changing tilesets all the time, it's also not being able to change a piece of terrain that is already inserted! THAT is without a doubt my #1 annoyance with the new editor. If you inserted a piece of terrain and want to change it; tough luck, you have to delete it, insert the piece you want, and move it to the exact spot the old piece was in. That is a 3 step process instead of a 1 step process. If it's from a different tileset, then it turns into a 4 step process.

[IchoTolot]

It's not just changing tilesets all the time, it's also not being able to change a piece of terrain that is already inserted! THAT is without a doubt my #1 annoyance with the new editor. If you inserted a piece of terrain and want to change it; tough luck, you have to delete it, insert the piece you want, and move it to the exact spot the old piece was in. That is a 3 step process instead of a 1 step process. If it's from a different tileset, then it turns into a 4 step process.

Hm, maybe while selecting a tile: Clicking on another tile on the selection bar changes the tile to the selected one.

This could maybe help.

[Colorful Arty]

Possibly, but I feel like that would cause a lot of annoyance for people accidentally triggering this when they just want to insert new terrain because they forgot to deselect the terrain they were working on. Maybe not though.

[IchoTolot]

Possibly, but I feel like that would cause a lot of annoyance for people accidentally triggering this when they just want to insert new terrain because they forgot to deselect the terrain they were working on. Maybe not though.

Yes, that can be an issue. The "While selecting a tile" requirement could hinder mistakes, but then the designer would need to ensure to clear their selection of tiles after they're done. The "Undo" function could be the saving grace though.

With or without the quick tile replacement proposal: Clicking on a tile changes the selection bar's tileset to the tile's tileset - Either as standard, an option or as a hotkey - would still be beneficial in my opinion.

Edit:

"The tilebar should, in addition, scroll to center on the selected tile."

I feel this is helpful in addition to that.

[Nepster]

Clicking on a tile changes the selection bar to the tile's tileset.

To make this a little more precise, let me reformulate this a bit: Whenever a single(!) piece gets selected, the selection bar changes style and/or position, so that the selected piece lies in the middle of the selection bar.

It's not just changing tilesets all the time, it's also not being able to change a piece of terrain that is already inserted! THAT is without a doubt my #1 annoyance with the new editor. If you inserted a piece of terrain and want to change it; tough luck, you have to delete it, insert the piece you want, and move it to the exact spot the old piece was in. That is a 3 step process instead of a 1 step process. If it's from a different tileset, then it turns into a 4 step process.

We are all used to the vanilla Lemmix editor, where adding an arbitrary piece and then changing it to the desired one is the way to get a piece. However I still remember how weird that feeled when first getting into the editor. So I partially take this criticism as "I am used to this workflow, so everything else feels weird".
Secondly I would question how often one has to change a piece into some other at the very same location. For me I usually have to change the location as well, if I decide to change the piece.
Finally, changing pieces was easy to use when there was only one style in each level. But now I would have to add a full style selection, too, which makes changing a piece requiring lot more complex interface.
The upshot is: I will not implement this.

[nin10doadict]

There have been times when I wanted to change a piece to a different one without moving it; this is usually the case for pieces that have the same collision (like my Tetris Attack panels). That said, it's something I'm getting used to going without.
The tileset switching upon selecting a single piece sounds like a great idea. I'm finding myself mixing tilesets more and more as of late, so this would be appreciated.

[∫tan x dx]

Suppose a terrain piece or object is selected in the editor. Pressing a certain combination of keys (possibly Ctrl+F?) would change the currently selected style to the one that originally specified that item. This would not change the theming of the level.

If multiple items are selected, and more than one style is represented in that selection, then the action simply does nothing.

This will help users who are creating levels using mixed styles, particularly if those styles are not adjacent in the ordering. This would also help users to locate tilesets that they might want to work with in the future.

[mantha16]

so if you like a piece is someone elses level and fancy using it you can load it in the editor and find out what style it comes from? if thats what it means then I'm on board

[WillLem]

+1

Great idea, this

[Simon]

Warmly recommended, yes.

I built this feature in Lix 1-2 years ago, and it's a solid broccoli feature: Hard to think of it at first, but you grow fond of it.

When you open the tile picker, if you have a tile in the level selected, the picker will start with your tile's directory, it will scroll the selection to centor on your tile, and even highlight the tile in the list. It's quick to pick similar tiles.

In Lix, I rarely switch tile directories any more with the normal directory navigation. I only do that to place a tile from a new directory for the first time in a level. It's far nicer to select a tile from the desired directory in the level first and hit the picker hotkey. It feels like I'm asking the editor: I have this tile here, I want to build more similar things, please inspire me with similar tiles.



NL's tile picker is always open, so it makes sense to introduce an extra key/click/action to trigger the feature. In theory, you could always scroll the picker to whatever tile you select in the level, but I have a weak hunch that this will be distracting. Hard to tell.

-- Simon