Spring Map Edit Revisted

[code_man]

I recently took an interest in making maps for spring and stumbled upon the spring map edit program, out of pure curiosity i downloaded and expected that it was too good to be true, but i was suprised such a great program actually worked straight out of the box on my machine.
While the program was great all together i found the interface primitive and clumsy i wondered what i could do to get it up to date.
With the help of a friend we managed to grab the src and luckily i didnt run into trouble getting that to work either.
Hence the ui this is what i worked on first, i dont know if that was so minimalistic by design or just missed work.
After a good two weeks of work here i can make a first improved release.
The only notable changes are ui improvements for now.
I will try to update and maintain this for a short time atleast.

Changes from last stable release (r321)

• Menu bar was moved to main window.
• Random map is no longer generated at start, this should conserve resources good in the long run.
• New map now can set height and waterlevel, but does not generate a random heightmap.
• Randomize terrain dialog added in menu, so you can randomize the terrain even on an existing map.
• Map properties dialog added that allows setting of height and waterlevels, more setting to come in the future.
• Removed height and waterlevel settings from the brush dialog.
• Wireframe overlay toggle button in the main menubar added (checkbox does not update yet when toggled with keyboard).
• Fps and tris measuring title removed, uses the current map name now instead (havent been able to implement fpsmeter yet).
• Renamed the main file handling functions to reflect a conventional design (save, save as open).
• The editor file handling functions now use a current file that is operated on(no more constantly having to specify what file to save as).
• If opening or making a new file you will asked if you are sure to continue so you cannot accidently lose your work.
• View mode toggles automatically depending on what editing mode is selected(heightmap view sucks, combine with wireframe for better usability).
• View mode selection removed from menu.
• Only controls for the current editing mode is shown now(but the menu does rearrange so it sill takes up too much space).
• Minor error handling improvements.
• Changed the linux startup scripts a bit and made it allocate more memory.
• Completed manual page and included it in the package.
• Includes extra features and textures.
• Included template map folder that can be used for quick map testing and deployment.

Known bugs and some workarounds:

• Terrain that is in the back can be seen trough terrain in the front, its irritating at first but you get used to it(not that i want to keep this).
• Heightmap view is too rough, has bad color scheme and is rendered trough relative terrain, it is recommended you use the wireframe mode when editing terrain
• Height setting is not properly scaled to ingame, even tough the map looks quite flat in the editor, ingame it is quite steep, so you will have to play with the height setting a bit to get good results.
• Saving may sometimes generate spikes in the terrain, this seems to be a random small compiler bug, it can usually be fixed easely but reopeing the map and using the smoothing tool maxed out.
• Editing dialog does not resize itself when editing mode is changed
• Editing dialog shows up globally on the system even when minimized, you can resize it so it takes up less space.
• Camera mode is not restrained properly and allows it to go ludacris places, there is no way to reset the view from my knowledge.
• Camera free move may be grabbing your mouse input permanently if another program pops up while using it, use with caution.
• Smoothing utility is too weak, you have to max out the slider and use it a bit for it to actually work well when working rough.
• Cursor does not always paint where it shows on the screen, but again it becomes somewhat intuitive after a while.
• There is no error message box, so if an error happens or it crashes you only get output on the console
• Saving progress is not displayed visually.
• Texture painting tools are a mess, they work but some modes are a bit off and some minor features dont work properly.
• Default texturemap exportation is bitmap, this generates huge files, will be replaced by png.
• Libraries included have not been updated, it should not pose a problem in itself but its something that ought to be fixed

Planned new features for future versions

• Console display to show cli output.
• Coordinate display, to show where your cursor is.
• Importing of brushes.
• Featuremap viewmode.
• Feature import window.
• Texture import window.
• Support for undo/redo.
• sdz import and default save support.
• More map properties settable.
• Terrain randomizing in only a area.
• Mirroring, flipping and resizing of map areas.
• Copying of areas
• Ant support for non-eclipse based development.

While the tool is mostly reliable, error feedback is not, it is recommended you use this with care and run it from a console so you get output.
Given so far i think its realistic to expect this stuff be implemented during the next year, those are more difficult than what i have done so far so it will take more time.
I would appreciate if wiki editor could link the wiki page to this thread rather than frostgens website, since this contains everything but improved.
Source is included ofcourse.
For lack of version control and a better naming scheme this version i simply title 1.3.
Here it is: [url=http://code_man.cybnet.ch/SpringMapEdit.zip]SpringMapEdit.zip[/url]
Size: 43,485,458 bytes, SHA1sum: de1f27055550ffb2e2913a1277689f1f6dc259d5

[The Yak]

Yay! I loved this program, thanks for taking up work on it.

[gajop]

I checked it, and it works for me on Linux (although has issues).
Do you have a github/project page?

[Silentwings]

Oh cool, I also enjoyed using this to make heightmaps, definately the best free tool i found for doing it, although found I had to be super careful while using it. Undo/redo would be a great addition.

One thing you coudl fix is the terracing effect it causes if you output height to a low depth file format. Only raw ever worked for me from SME.

[prandipadaro]

just downloaded
there is a tutorial for this tool?

[code_man]

Do you have a github/project page?

Nope, source and (pathetic) documentation included.
Changes are mostly simple, i see no reason to use a version control system at this point.

One thing you coudl fix is the terracing effect it causes if you output height to a low depth file format. Only raw ever worked for me from SME.

I have not looked into this yet, but i will revise the exporting stuff to use 16bit png exclusively next, i hope nobody really needs bmp/raw support.

there is a tutorial for this tool?

There is a small page called "CreateFirstMap.html", inside the folder that you can open with your browser, it should have some basic instructions to use it.
Tough its probably insufficient for totally new users, so eh if you arent prepared to do some experimentation then you shouldnt bother probably now.

Alright here is another version out.
With this one i revised internally the heightmap and height brush code to make things easier for me in the future, tough it was a fucking pain in the ass.

Now i have a small request for the community, i need feedback, especially with the height editing.
I revised heightmap editing so that each submode now remembers its properties and respects the brush pattern(except copypaste and erode).
I dont know if this is practical or not, so i need people telling me if you want some properties shared again.
Also the size extremes and defaults have been changed to what i think are more sensible values, tough i have improved smoothing, it still remains ineffective at already relative smooth areas sadly.
Note tough that the brush strength modes may be unreasonable scaled with extreme map height settings, if this is the case report me this.
Another neat feature is a copypaste heightbrush mode that can even be dragged along, this can make interesting patterns if used right.
I could also use feedback if any of the brush patterns could be improved or even replaced.
So if the more professional mappers could have a peek and tell me what you think this could go a long way in terms of useability.
Tough keep in mind i have not had the chance yet to look at how reliable heightmap exportation is, so be careful when wanting to use your work for an external workflow method.
I also think i fixed these "random spikes", if they still happen then please report.
I will try my best tweaking these things in between releases and see if we can come up with good values for these.

Other than that i have not changed anything really noteworthy other than the things i have struck out in the original post, which should be clear.
The one good feature other than heightmap stuff is the new texture importer, tough it does not copy it to the textures in the texture pools, so you have to do this again when if you restart the editor and need the texture again.
Note tough for consistency i had changed the rotate mirror buttons in texture mode to operate on the brush pattern rather than the texture, you cannot rotate textures for the time being, i hope this is not an inconvenience.
I tried squeezing in more fixes and improvements, including threaded saving, but things didnt work out as easy as it seemed so i need to give them more time.

I really hope this releases is stable, i changed things here and tested but you never know when things might just crash, so be careful.

Download link in the original post.

[gajop]

Do you have a github/project page?

Nope, source and (pathetic) documentation included.
Changes are mostly simple, i see no reason to use a version control system at this point.

Github is useful for more than just tracking changes. It allows for clean issue reporting, discussion and third party contributions.
Strongly advise you use that or any other VCS tool + issue tracking site.

[code_man]

Github is useful for more than just tracking changes. It allows for clean issue reporting, discussion and third party contributions.
Strongly advise you use that or any other VCS tool + issue tracking site.

I dont see this thing dragging on itself too far so i think its overkill at this time and its not like a have the capacity or interest currently for collaborative development, i will consider that for the medium to far future however.

[FabriceFABS]

Thank you for your job and updates
I'm under Linux, SME is my only tool with the Gimp for generating maps.

I have not looked into this yet, but i will revise the exporting stuff to use 16bit png exclusively next, i hope nobody really needs bmp/raw support.

AFAIC, I really prefer PNG import/export instead of BMP.


[EDIT]I had to fix something under linux regards to GeoThermal problems.
Would you include it on your next releases (fix can be applied easily on current version)

1/ Open SME/features/geovent.tdf replace Buds.s3o by buds.s3o
2/ In SME/objects3d drawer, rename Buds.S3O with buds.s3o
As you may know, the upper/lowerkeys should be strict under Linux, otherwise it won't work correctly.

Without this fix, It's impossible to place GeoThermal holes on the map.
Maybe some others objects3d files should also get their parts of name/extension in lower-key eventually (S44tree_01a.S3O,Tyranid1.S3O...), to be checked.

[prandipadaro]

[EDIT]I had to fix something under linux regards to GeoThermal problems.

happy to see this fix, i remember the trouble to make a GEO under linux

[code_man]

@FabriceFABS:
Thanks for notifying me, i noticed this problem in the s44 trees aswell.

Shit i fucked up the renaming after all tough!
So if you want to use geovents you will have to rename them again, sorry for the trouble but its better than reuploading the thing again just because of some case.

I had considered doing a VFS and a error message, but due to how things are internally its not quite clear on how to do this in a non hacky way at this time so people using assets must consider case correctness.

@prandipadaro:
I take it you figured out how to use SME? Do you have any feedback on the help file, or anything else for that matter?

Here is another version, however this one is a testing release!
The stable one remains for the time being, however the feature problems remain and need to be fixed manually.
I have introduced a new multi threading approach, there are some minor regressions, but on the whole it should be an improvement.
Note also even tough it has been tested, there is a chance that some features may crash, be careful when using it and save often.
I will fix the regressions as soon as i can and add new features for the next version, this should be rather interesting.

[url=http://code_man.cybnet.ch/SpringMapEditTesting.zip]SpringMapEditTesting.zip[/url]
SHA1SUM: 50f95e904b11604537ce275b17f162627ce4bca1
If people have suggestions for textures and features to be included/replaced drop a line.

[Buumi]

One user was having issues on Windows and we found out it was needed to modify start batch file in order to run it. Maybe you could change those to use JAVA_HOME environment variable instead?

Edit: Damn never should write when tired. Not JAVA_PATH but JAVA_HOME. Fixed.

[aeonios]

I just changed the bat script back to how it was with the old SME and it worked fine.

However, it also crashes when you try to switch to metal view, and may have other issues.

[code_man]

Alright here is another version.
The highlights of this one is selective mirroring, flipping and shifting as well copypasting of all maps(height, texture, metal (but not features) and etc).
Not only can you perform those across the whole map but also on parts of it, that way you can do some crazy repetitive patterns and copying and such sort.
Of course there are other minor improvements too.
Another aspect is the improved auto texturing tool config, give it a shot when you make a map, it makes life much easier.

This particular version was a real fucking pain in the ass, but i made many important internal changes that will give good results in the future im sure of.
It took me much longer and much more out of me than i had anticipated, but here it is before i dig myself in deeper.

I worked on sme for over half a year now and many significant improvements, but frankly almost didnt get to work on maps at all, i hope i can change this now.
Though its nowhere near complete there are many changes and fixes to be made still and those arent easy ones either.
Regretably i didnt mange to push in map resizing and support for sdz as i had hoped for, but surely next time around.

I hope that in the future i can add some better handling of features, but due to how they are handled it will take a good while because most of the code has to be rewritten.

Also i was informed that the link went down, i dont know how long ago that was however, i hope not too many people got disapointed by this, i will host it on my own site now that should be reliable.
That left only that horrible broken testing version, i hope not to many got a sour a taste from it, this version should be reliable.
I wanted to finish this up a week ago but got held up by last minute fixes and my new factorio addiction, i tested it but i hope no ugly rare glitches got in.
And this time around i got the geovents fixed.

I would like to once again mention that i am open to suggestions for textures/features inclusions.

Another thing i was wondering about was if i should make sme be able to produce random maps, but now im not so sure if other programs would not be better suited for it and i leave sme for editing, would appreciate some opinions on this.

As always enjoy and give feedback and most importantly save often.

Link in original post.

[MasterBel2]

I'm trying to get this working for mac; would you know the command-line prompts required to get this thing going? It'd be great to finally compile my map after so long of so much trouble trying to install different libraries…

[code_man]

And comes another.

This is mostly a bug fix release, the most important ones basically being all the mirroring, flipping and shifting ops being properly working and also all import/export.
There should also be a noticable increase in speed when editing now.
Also increase in code quality, which should pay off in the long run, specially for me.
This was a real pita to do, but i think it will be worth the effort.

After nine months of modding this i can finally say i got around cleaning up most parts of it and have a decent overview.
I admit i made quite a few mistakes here and there mostly because i had little energy left to test, i hope it didnt leave a sour taste in peoples mouths, i think i finally squashed them out however.
But this is no way the end, only the beginning, now i can easely work on implementing cool new features.
Though i should give myself a break for now.
I tried to squeeze in sdz support, feature vfs and a new smoothing, too but that is going to be more work than anticipated so far.

I had barely the energy left to make maps, i hope i finally get around making cool new maps for spring.

Also could a wiki moderator change the sme page and link to this thread instead.

I'm trying to get this working for mac; would you know the command-line prompts required to get this thing going? It'd be great to finally compile my map after so long of so much trouble trying to install different libraries…

Sorry for not replying earlier, but i was always either overworked or tired and its always such a chore for me to login any place, besides import/export was broken anyway so i gather it would have been little use to you.
sme is written in java so in theory should be portable, but it needs a startup script which should be trivial, though im not sure if have proper libraries included for mac.
You will just have to try it yourself and see if you are still interested, i cannot help you since i am not familiar with osx but the readme should have sufficient information to do this yourself.

Fun mapping to everyone who uses this.

[FabriceFABS]

Thank you VM, I will try it.

[code_man]

Thank you VM, I will try it.

Whoa you sure are quick on the reply button.
Be sure to check sha1 sum, cuz im still uploading it just right now.

[FabriceFABS]

hehe :)
Yes, I took again your previous version LOL.

Humm, may I suggest you something ?
I don't remember when, but I downloaded a dev version you made, and something was wrong with export of height map orientation, not sure to remember it correctly.

I had chance you let initial post with your very 1st version, that is ok.

What about put it back on your initial post, and on your last post put your last dev version ?
Or maybe you're sure everythings rocks ?

[code_man]

Erhm what?

That dev version was rather horribly broken, i only made it since i switched to multi threading and had to get people to test it, but it has been well tested by now.
There are some internal uncleanliness associated with it but in practice the multi threading works well now.
Since i dont plan on making any experimental changes in the architecture in the future, i dont think i will resort to making any dev releases.

Though now that you point it out it might be possible that export orientation could w/h inverted as it says, but it internally it should work just fine.
I tested that and unless i messed up again in a hurry, which i doubt, it should be just fine.