Recognized Freeform Building

[Benevolent27]

Ok, so this idea is kind of simple. Basically, in the advanced build mode, have an option called "Freeform Building" that can be check on or off. What this does is enables you to build in the air, whether there is a block there or not. It'd work just like how placing the core of a "Create Docking" entity works, except you could zoom in and out with the mouse wheel.

Some Uses:
1. Building on diagonals and creating curvy shapes. Currently one has to build one block back, then one block up, build one block over, then remove 2 of the blocks to place the one block they wanted when building diagonally. But with freeform building, it'd be much easier. It'd also be easier to create wavy type shapes.

2. When copying/pasting, this would make it a LOT easier to copy and paste what you want and to place it where you want it.

3. When using the build helper, a player could easily fill the shape, even if it's larger than the max building area of the server. For example, let's say a player decides to build a sphere which is 80x80x80, and the server they play on has a max build size of 50x50x50. Normally that player has to kind of create a frame either on the inside or outside, restrict building to the helper, and then proceed to slowly fill up the outside edges by placing large blocks or blocks, while targeting the frame. This can be very time consuming. With the option to freeform build, they could simply go to the edges and place some blocks down. This would also allow the player to create some groovy designs directly onto the build helper, without having to fill the entire shape.

4. When building separate sections of a base or ship, the player could simply enter a build block and then move to the area they wish to build in and start building. Presently the player has to create lines of random blocks out to that area and then remove them.


There are plenty more uses of course for this ability. I think having this as an option would improve the ability of our ship and base builders. :D

As always, thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

 

[kiraen]

The problem with this: the 3d grid that makes up the build area is technically infinite. How does the game know which of the grid cubes you want to place the block? Try selecting a single block inside a solid mass. Zooming in/out is pretty much worthless in this situation. It can only select the cube directly in front of the camera.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not good enough to eyeball my measurements in this game. Exact spacing is very often important

The only way this could work is to manually move the placement selection with the keyboard, like moving around the map. Which mean you could not just go to anywhere in space and start building. You would have to start at the selector and then move it to where you wanted.

I admit, this could have it's uses and it sounds good. But it's really only useful in edge cases.
Creating the line of blocks is easier and I have never had issues filling in the build helper (and I use the default 10^3 build size).

Finally, being optional, I don't have to use it if I don't want to. If the devs can do program this in less then a day then it's fine by me. But if it takes more then that, I think their time is better spent on something more useful.

 

[Benevolent27]

The problem with this: the 3d grid that makes up the build area is technically infinite. How does the game know which of the grid cubes you want to place the block? Try selecting a single block inside a solid mass. Zooming in/out is pretty much worthless in this situation. It can only select the cube directly in front of the camera.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not good enough to eyeball my measurements in this game. Exact spacing is very often important

The only way this could work is to manually move the placement selection with the keyboard, like moving around the map. Which mean you could not just go to anywhere in space and start building. You would have to start at the selector and then move it to where you wanted.

I admit, this could have it's uses and it sounds good. But it's really only useful in edge cases.
Creating the line of blocks is easier and I have never had issues filling in the build helper (and I use the default 10^3 build size).

Finally, being optional, I don't have to use it if I don't want to. If the devs can do program this in less then a day then it's fine by me. But if it takes more then that, I think their time is better spent on something more useful.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by the first paragraph. I'm not suggesting freeform building be used inside solid shapes. I'm suggesting it be used to allow blocks to be placed in empty space in front of the camera, as is already in the game when you select where the core goes for the "Create Docking" function. That selector is pictured above. It simply puts the selection block out by a block or two's length. I do wish I could use my mouse wheel to move it out a little though. With that selector, it's very clear to me where the core goes though, since the block of space is outlined. I'd suggest a block outline also be used for freeform building.

Another good use for you to consider, which I think the general public (and I) could appreciate would be for building diagonal slopes and rounded (but not perfectly round) shapes. When building diagonally, I find it awkward having to build one block back, one block over, one block up, and then removing 2 blocks, just to place the one. And when attempting to build more of a rounded shape (which is not perfectly round), the 3 dimensional etch-a-sketch kind of building kind of inhibits my creativity. If I could simply move my selection back and up by one, and then place a block, it would make my life a lot easier.

For shapes, I don't know about you, but for myself, when I was building a sphere with a 200 radius, it took forever to fill it. And I don't believe it's because I'm inept; I just had to build a rather large framework, then use larger cubes to fill it, and every cube I placed took a while for my computer to process (I have an older phenom processor). With freeform building, however, it would remove the need to build that framework and I feel I could more quickly place smaller cubes of blocks (with restrict building on) to reduce the calculations necessary on my CPU.

But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this feature would suddenly make StarMade 100 times better, but very few ideas would, right? Progress is cumulative. However, I imagine this wouldn't be too difficult since they already have the code necessary to implement it. I would assume that the current block creator method simply uses a coordinate system (with the core at the center), fed to it by the selector, which uses the edge of a block it's facing as the base for the coordinates (with an offset of 1, depending on which side of the block it's looking at). I imagine what they'd do is reuse the code from the core selector in the "create docking" function and feed it through the block creator instead. So, easy peasy, nice and easy.

But no really, I appreciate your insight, so thank you for that. Just keep in mind that other people also weigh things differently. I like to build on diagonals, so for me, this would actually be a pretty useful feature.

 

[Magrim]

If this was in the game already, I for one would have probably used it on every build i've done. Sure its a minor annoyance to place a row of blocks down then delete that row -1. The thing is, annoyances even minor ones should be, within reason, stamped out. I feel like this idea is reasonable.

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

The game obviously already has the capability to do this so I could see the benefit of an option that lets us place any block in space... well I can think of one way this can be abused but I don't think that should prevent this.

 

[cyberus111]

As Kiraen said, looking at the idea, upfront it seems like a major coding project due to the *possibly* massive/infinite build area.

That being said would you be happy with the function if it only was an option in shipyard builds? That way clicking the option would bring up a 3-d grid *within* the shipyard build area (like the grid you get with build helper shapes)

 

[Benevolent27]

As Kiraen said, looking at the idea, upfront it seems like a major coding project due to the *possibly* massive/infinite build area.

That being said would you be happy with the function if it only was an option in shipyard builds? That way clicking the option would bring up a 3-d grid *within* the shipyard build area (like the grid you get with build helper shapes)

This would only be useable while building in an entity, so all blocks placed would be done in relation to a core or station. Are you referring to an area needing to be initialized prior to blocks being placed down?
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If this was in the game already, I for one would have probably used it on every build i've done. Sure its a minor annoyance to place a row of blocks down then delete that row -1. The thing is, annoyances even minor ones should be, within reason, stamped out. I feel like this idea is reasonable.

Think about copy/pasting too..

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

Think about copy/pasting too..

Yeah, copy and paste is always an issue, you almost always need helper blocks

 

[Criss]

Sounds great. The only concern is flying out thousands of kilometers and placing a block in far off space. I suggest a distance limit is put on this freeform tool, probably tied to build area size limits.

 

[Benevolent27]

Sounds great. The only concern is flying out thousands of kilometers and placing a block in far off space. I suggest a distance limit is put on this freeform tool, probably tied to build area size limits.

I'd say make it only usable in initialized area. So if a person wants to build thousands of blocks out, they'd still have to build out to the area as they have to now.