[Obsolete] Artemis Map Tool (ver. 12.03.31.1)

What a hero you are! I will play around with this tonight.

So I opened it but all I could do was open vesselData.xml and then highlight a ship selection. All other options were grey. I couldn't place a ship through clicking on the map, double-clicking on the map, or double clicking on the ship design I wished to place.

That said, from your description this kind of thing is exactly what we need and you should definitely continue work on it!

You place ships/objects by clicking numbers 1-8 (only 3 and 5 work now) while pointing on the map. Just like in Module_3_bases.

If you have placed (using numbers) an object and selected it (a red arrow/white dot is present and a white square around it, like on screenshot), and it says "1 object selected" (or more) in the bottom right, you can now add hullkeys, racekeys etc to it, name it, etc.

Checklists and textboxes become "Enabled" (possible to interact with) only when you select something.

"Apply" and "Discard" buttons become non-gray only after you make some change to the object's properties.

PS: After you understand how to do what you couldnt understand, please tell me where in my Instructions.txt i missed something or was misleading. I thought i explained all basics on how to work with the program in the attached instructions file. But english isnt my native language and i was writing the instruction file in haste so...

New version 12.03.27

* now you can add: station, player, enemy, neutral, anomaly, monster
* now you can set properties first (with nothing selected) and then spawn an object - it will have the properties assigned to it
* now spawned object is automatically selected, deselecting whatever was selected before. If you hold shift while spawning, it will be added to the selection instead.
* now you can clone already existing objects by selecting them and then spawning a new object
* now it will comment in the XML file which create statements are illegal (and will crash the server when it tries to execute them) because they are missing required fields like name for stations
* now property windows will be disabled if they are unappropriate for current selection (like, if you select a monster - hullkeys, racekeys and fleetnumber will not be available)

Updated links in first post.

Very cool!

New version 12.03.28

* now supports everything from "named objects" create statement (can create everything except nebulas, asteroids, mines)
* hotkeys to move objects and save changes
* you can import objects from existing mission xml file (havent tested this thoroughly yet, but seemed to work on all stock Artemis missions)

PS:
Can someone tell me how hullID and hulltype work? Supplied txt file says that hullId is used to specify exact ship ID, but then doesnt list hullID in the attributes for create node! hulltype is present there but it doesnt seem to work for me (tried hulltype=5003 didnt get an executor to spawn)

Is hulltype a typo or is it actually a parameter that does something? Is hullId obsolete (and to be removed in future versions) or is it a valid attribute when you want to spawn a ship by ID?

I love it, Hissatsu! Assuming you have no objections, I plan to use it at Notacon9.

I'm a pirate :) Meaning, i am against any form of "copyright" (though i have no problem paying for job well done, like Artemis for example). Meaning, you can use my program, exploit it, "steal" it, break it, profit off it, whatever you like :) I'd be glad if it'd be of use to anybody out there.

Giving credit (where appropritate) is appreciated though :)

This just popped into my head.

Hehehehehehehehe :)
EvanHawman, were you able to resolve your issues with the editor? Does it work all right now?

Yes it does. I derped hard and quit reading as soon as I ended the "instructions" section, completely missing the stuff about the hotkeys. It was totally my fault.

Btw, this stuff is amazing! Keep it up!

New version 12.03.29 + 12.03.30 + 12.03.30.2 + 12.03.31.1

* object's Y position is now displayed graphically, you can change this in Settings
* mousewheel now moves objects on y axis (+ctrl moves em faster)
* ditched checklists and textboxes for a propertyGrid, editing object properties's supposed to be easier now
* added context menu to the map
* added option to move objects to the end or to the beginning of the object list (in context menu)
* added object list, you can now select/deselect objects from a list instead of clicking on a map
* added support for hullID property
* can now edit any object the game can <create> - named and nameless
* new hotkeys
* no more "flickering" of the map
* selection rectangle is now shown

This is going to be it for a while. I'll only update it if some bugs are found. When i'll have a load of time at my hands again, i'll redo this into a complete mission editor. So far, hope it will be of use to somebody :)

PS: EvanHawman, yes i understand instructions are probably not very well written right now, lack of in-program help doesnt do any good either. But first priority if the functionality right now.

When it can edit missions as whole - then i'll make it all fancy, customizable, and with many help tips etc...

I'd like to give an update on the progress. I have finished my damn study and paper (i'm a "candidate" now, its like an equivalent of PhD) so i can get back to work on the editor :)

I'm making the complete mission editor right now. I thought about not inventing the wheel and going with an interface made by professionals: i'm trying to mimick Starcraft II editor's event interface.

Here is how it looks:


You can add folders for the events and commentary (and folders inside folders etc) so you can have your mission structured and all tidy, when you select an event, you can see its details - if's and actions on the right, and edit them in a very comfortable way (basically you see it in plain text and click, or use hotkeys, to change parts of the text, like, you click on timer name and you can chose any timer used in the mission or make a new name).

You will be able to open any event's create statements in the space map editor, edit it there, and then apply changes to the event in the mission editor.

Well, thats all i have to say for now. Tell me if you got any feedback or ideas, since i'm making this for those guys who write missions (and i am unfortunately not a good writer myself, though i did some modules for target practice of my crew but thats it...) so i'd love to hear what you want implemented, what you feel as useful or not-so-useful for the purpose of making missions, etc etc.

This looks amazing, Hissatsu!

Fantastic, Hissatsu! I haven't tried it yet but I will this week.