[Requests] Template & Navigator Related

[Rabcor]

There are some things i'd like to be able to do with templates that i can't.

Mutable Lists

Example:
Lets say i have two races, "elf" and "dwarf" or something, and i want to list their special abilities/effects without using a text-box (because i don't like scrolling for example)

I'd like it if i can create a list (similar to the dropdown list) that can have values added or removed from it outside of the feature editor. (I.e. it can have different values for every entity it's used on)

This way i could use the dropdown styled list instead of a text-box to store information about the special abilities or racial traits of the specific race. To make it even better, it would be cool if clicking a value in the list would open up a "description" window (so say if i have special abilities for example, i could make a note about what exactly they do.)

Another example would be different variants of a weapon, available colors for an armor, etc.

It wouldn't have to be dropdown styled (it could be a box like the textboxes), but if it isn't then it would be preferable if it would come with various vertical sizes or be configured somehow like rather than being a vertical list, to have values added in a line.

Resizable Property Types

It kind of bugs the hell out of me that all property types have a fixed size, sometimes they just don't need all that space, for example a boolean value could be one 3 letter word but takes up enough space for a full sentence. Same deal with numbers, the number could be on the scale 1-1000, but takes enough space that you can fit more than a billion in there. The perfectionist in me would like to have more control over the layout of my templates by being able to resize the boxes horizontally

But it would also be useful to be able to vertically resize these things, if i need to include a large text (such as a big background story for a character) and don't want to have to scroll down through the limited amount of lines that can be displayed at any time in the large text box.

It would be even more useful if i want to have a full sized picture rather than an icon in the reference slot (for whatever reason...).

Number Ranges

When it comes to the number property you can only enter a floating or integer number. But what if it's not a number but a number range? then i'll have to use a string value (like small text). Say i have a leveled monster, i cannot use the number value to say level range "5 - 12", a possible way to do it would be to create a different property, "Number Range" that accepts 2 or more separated numbers.

Navigator Auto-Close

One thing i find annoying about the "navigator" is that it automatically extends entries when i access the element above them (so if i open a folder it extends said folder and lists all the objects inside of it) but it does not automatically close these things, i'd like it to have an option to disable this "auto extend" function, or if the navigator would automatically close all extended entries that i did not open manually through the navigator itself (i.e. opened by double clicking the folder or flow fragment)

Even better (in my opinion) would be if it just automatically closes all elements below the one i'm currently working in (so if i open a flow fragment, it makes sure nothing beneath that fragment is extended) unless i manually open them myself through the navigator while i'm working in said element.

[craftomega]

Well I was going to make a long post of everything that I would like to be changed; but someone beat me to it.

So ya basicly this.

[Kai Rosenkranz]

Thanks for your feedback, Rabcor and craftomega.

The number range is on our roadmap.

The mutable list sounds very helpful. It could be set to one of the following two modes: Only allow elements from predefined set or Allow predefined elements and new elements. So, for your species' abilities, you could define a set of abilities and then let the designers multi-select from that set to fill the mutable list. For a more general "tags" list, you could still provide some standard tags, but users can also add their own ones.

Would you need the list of "available abilities" to change when you switch between "elf" and "drawf"? That would mean that the set of possible list entries will have to vary depending on the value of another field (like the race dropdown).

Also, thanks for your comments about the auto-expanding folders in the navigator. Yet, I cannot reproduce what you are reporting. What version are you using? Folders shouldn't automatically show all their children unless you click the "expand" icon to the left of the folder name.

-Kai

[Rabcor]

Being able to control the values of a field (not just dropdown list) depending on what another value is set to (like you said, having a race dropdown menu that then sets the default values for another list) would be a priceless feature i think. In fact just earlier i was being bothered by not being able to affect the template by what values i've selected (for example, i would like it if i can add another script or textbox if a certain Boolean value is "True")

Thinking about it further, such a feature could be used to set different default values in fields depending on what a certain field is. So if i've got two weapon types, "Sword" and "Axe" i could have a dropdown list that says what type it is. (Examples for sword could be: "Katana", "Claymore", "Dagger/Shortsword", "Longsword", "Lance", "Saber"... and for Axe: "Hatchet", "Battle-Axe", "Kama", "Great-Axe/Halberd"...) which could then in turn change the default values in other fields (for example, Range, Weight, One/Two-hand, Damage(For balance), Value(For balance), Attribute Requirements (For example a longsword relies on strength more than a katana which relies heavily on dexterity))

In the case of a character, i could select a race(Elf or Dwarf) and have a dropdown menu that defaults to certain abilities (of that race). But for a character it would always be useful to have a mutable list so i could add more abilities unique to that character. In other words, i'm saying "Yes to all" the things you said

With such a feature, mutable lists might not be so important anymore since you could just add values to the list in the template/feature editor depending on another value in the template. You'd still be limited to a framework, but you'd have more control and it'd be easier to re-use features/templates for different kinds of objects instead of making more features for something you might not have had to.

Maybe you misunderstood what i meant about the navigator auto-close issue. Understandable, my description wasn't exactly perfect. I've used both 1.5 and 2.X and i have this "problem" although it isn't a bug, it's a feature, but a feature that i don't want to use.

Say i have a flow fragment, and inside of it i have another flow fragment. I'm navigating through the flowcharts with the flow menu (not the navigator). I open the first fragment, it expands and shows me the contents of that fragment in the navigator(ok), then i open the next fragment and it does the same again (ok) but when i go back, it remains open rather than automatically closing again (not ok).

What i mean is that i do NOT want it to remain open unless i pressed the "expand" button in the navigator itself. This became less of an issue for me when i "found" the "Collapse all" button which has been extremely useful to me in dealing with this issue (Steam library system needs a button like that, sheesh.) But it could often save me the trouble of needing to click that button if the navigator objects would automatically close when i leave something i did not "expand" through the navigator itself (this includes things i opened with the navigator, but didn't double click or click the "+" icon on.)

A simple solution would be to disable automatic expanding in the navigator entirely for all navigation done outside of the navigator.

Thanks for your reply.