Read Me
Since creating this post, I’m currently working on a new better version of the plugin since I’ve learned a lot about some of the libraries that I was using since the release of Archimedes 3 (the current live version). The new version will have the same general appearance, but with more customization, and the source code will be available immediately on GitHub upon release.
Important
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If you’re capable of using something like Blender, then It’s HIGHLY recommended to use that instead. Archimedes is not a magic solution to creating “bendy” parts - excessive use can lead to high part count, which is undesirable for performance reasons.
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The new Auto-Resize feature is essentially in beta and is highly unstable, so it will likely have many issues. If you run into any, please disable the feature and manually resize-align instead.
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You DO NOT need to click precisely on the CheckBoxes in order to toggle them; you can click anywhere to the right of them and they will still toggle.
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I’m working on refactoring most of the code and will be setting up a GitHub repository for this plugin at some point.Edit: See “Read Me” section at the top of the post. -
Scroll to the bottom of this post to see my future plans for this plugin.
Features
These are all features that didn’t exist in Archimedes 2.
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Window Mode
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Archimedes now allows you to switch between “ScreenGui” and “Widget” modes. Widget mode has more advanced controls that are not provided on the compact ScreenGui form in order to make the update more comfortable for long-time users of Archimedes 2.
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To switch modes between Widget and ScreenGui, click on this button here:
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Quick Face Selection
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Users no longer have to click through every axis option in order to figure out which one matches the direction that they’re wanting to arc from. Simply click on the “Face” property box and then hover over a part; you’ll see a SurfaceSelection with the TargetSurface set to the face that you’re actively hovering over.
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Only the Pitch will be selected with this feature. The purpose is to quickly figure out which axis is the proper one. You will still need to manually click the Yaw/Roll checkboxes.
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Currently only usable for selecting the faces of parts. Will be making an update soon to select the faces directly from a model.
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Direction Preview
- Hovering over the axis options in the widget will also create a SurfaceSelection on the selected parts, showing which face will be affected so that you can quickly tell whether or not the axis you’re hovering over is the correct one.
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RadialProgressBar Angle Selection
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Users can drag their mouse across the angle circle to quickly increase/decrease the current angle value.
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The number in the center is still a TextBox, so you can also type in the angle that you desire.
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Auto-Resize
- This feature tries to detect and connect parts that overlap towards the edge of the model.
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It’s recommended to have this feature disabled whenever you aren’t using it.
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This is currently an experimental feature that will automatically resize-align the edges of your models when pressing the render button.
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Works best on models that have the same parts on either end.
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Fix Neighbors
- This will force neighboring instances to resize-align back towards the deleted instance so that they don’t have jagged edges.
Notice the parts that don’t line up with the edge of the model; this toggle will force them to resize towards the edge.
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Alignment Mode
- Default: Inside
- There are three alignment modes: Inside, Middle, and Outside.
- Changes the point from which the object should rotate around.
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Vector3 Offset
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Easily apply a Vector3 offset value through the widget. This will offset the rendered object by the set value.
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It currently isn’t recommended to use this feature with the Auto-Resize feature; consider them as incompatible for right now.
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Render Amount
- Set the # of times you want the “Render” button to trigger whenever pressed. The maximum number matches the amount of renders that the old plugin would’ve taken for the “Render Circle” button (360/angle).
Future Plans
Some features have been left out of this update due to some time constraints. They will be added as soon as possible. Edit: Current priority is refactoring the code - see “Read Me” section at the top of the post.
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Multidirectional toggle
- Allows you to select multiple directions at once. The result will not in any way be smooth, but a few people have been asking for this feature so this is confirmation that it’s on my radar.
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Ropeater style handles toggle
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Connect Ends toggle for Auto-Resize
- If you create a full circle of roads, the very start/end won’t be ResizeAligned. At the moment you’ll still have to do this manually with an actual ResizeAlign plugin.
Credits
- Roact
- @sircfenner for StudioComponents
- @stravant for some ResizeAlign / Ropeater code
- @Serinos for the drafting compass icon
