Ability to change wallitem/flooritem/monster types

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Gambit37
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Ability to change wallitem/flooritem/monster types

Post by Gambit37 »

It's been quite a while since I used the RTC editor, so forgive me for asking a maybe silly question.

How do I change the graphic of a wallitem or flooritem without changing all it's other properties, triggers etc.? There doesn't seem to be any way of changing an item in the editor to something else once it's been placed. Seems like I have to delete it and start again?

This seems to be a pretty major oversight and I was certain I'd done it before.

Help!?
Last edited by Gambit37 on Sun Feb 18, 2007 3:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Trantor
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Post by Trantor »

I'm not good at RTC editing, but I never found a way to change something that has already been placed, though I did look for it for quite some time. If what you are saying is possible Gambit, I'd be very curious how it works, too!
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Post by Gambit37 »

It seems it can't be done. In fact, you're right, you can't change the type of anything once it's been placed. I would expect at least being able to change:

Wallitem types (say a drain into a switch)
Flooritem types (a pillar into a table)
Monster types (a giggler into a dragon)

I realise certain parameters wouldn't get copied for certain types (you couldn't easily change a trigger into a teleporter for example). Is this why it's not possible, GG?
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Post by beowuuf »

Umm, you forget the awesome power of notepad :D

I certainly have a text copy of a dungeon open in something note word, just to make sure I can tweak when tweaks are needed!
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Gambit37
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Post by Gambit37 »

Yeah, true, but this is a fairly standard thing to want to do and I think not having the capability in the editor is a bit of an oversight.
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Post by THOM »

If I understand it right - you want to change the bitmap of a wallitem, that ist already placed?!

If you open your Dungeon in the Editor, follow

Menu/Recources/Add-Replace Graphics

There you can do exactly what you want.
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Post by linflas »

what do you mean by "has already been placed" ?

- replacing bitmaps and sounds is possible for anything that already exists in the original objects.
- replacing other items properties is not possible.
- editing properties of a cloned item is possible at any time, even if you "placed" the item in your dungeon.
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Post by Gambit37 »

No, no, no, you've misunderstood me.

If you edit a tile and place an item on it, such as a drain, you can't then edit that item to be a switch or a keyhole. You can edit all the other stuff EXCEPT it's type. You have to delete it and place a new object and rebuild all the options, and if it's a complex trigger doing all sorts of wild things, this is a huge pain.
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Post by linflas »

ahhhhh.. well... i never encountered that kind of situation but i see what you mean.
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Gambit37
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Post by Gambit37 »

Really? You never want to change something after you've placed it? I can't believe that!
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Post by linflas »

in the same idea of your complex triggered stuff, rarely.
the most complex triggers i made was in Sukumvit where you have to put gems in holes in a unique combination and if you fail, you are given the 3 gems back into 3 alcoves. there were teleporters, shooters, plates, counters and tons of relays.
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Post by Trantor »

It's not only a matter of complex triggers and so on, but simply a cosmetic issue. Often, I would decide I'd put a different key, keyhole, flask or door in a place because it looks or feels better, or just to try out something different. And in those cases, the ability to change the type would be really handy, especially if the item is a trigger (think of keyholes).
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Post by Parallax »

There's no way to do it inside the editor. I remember this question being asked before but I can't find the thread. If I recall, GG's answer was that it would be a nightmare to code because someone was bound to want to turn a counter into a keyhole or a monster into a relay or some other weird stuff like that, and the editor would have to be able to handle it without crashing.

So, as Beo pointed out, notepad is your best friend in this case.

It has annoyed me before too, if it's any comfort.
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Post by Gambit37 »

I appreciate that some aspects of object conversion don't make sense, as in your example. But for simply changing the graphics used by a wallitem from one to another or changing a monster type, I think this is an entirely reasonable feature to expect in the editor.

It can't be that hard to limit the conversion options to items that are of the same type as the one your editing. You clearly wouldn't give the option to change a standard wallitem into another wallitem that doesn't have the same properties (an ambient sound item for example).

CSBuild can do it. :P
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Gambit37
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Post by Gambit37 »

I've moved this to Suggestions for consideration.
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