As I’ve been building worlds in Studio, there’s a problem I’ve come across. The current interface is actually really slow and messy. I’m constantly needing to re-position my camera, and I can’t see everything on screen at once. When I resize or move a brick, I have to drag my mouse in an inconsistent direction. This can be tiring over long periods of work, and can cause me to forget what I did previously. My proposed solution to this: Additional two-dimensional viewports, that allow me to see everything at once in addition to being easier to work with when it comes to bricks.
Here’s a mock-up to demonstrate my solution.
As opposed to the original single viewport, there would now be four. One that shows the current, original view, one that shows an over-head view of the map (x/z), one that shows a z/y view of the map, and one that shows an x/y view of the map.
I think this remedies the previously-mentioned issues for the following reasons. Instead of needing to move my camera around to find whatever I need, I can see everything laid out in front of me, and from multiple perspectives, making it much easier to find. In addition, rather than dragging in whatever direction the brick is facing to resize or move it, as per the current view, everything in this method is done through predictable, linear angles. This is more optimized for long periods of time working on the same map, where every bit of energy counts. This could also make way for keyboard-oriented object editing, which is a completely different subject I’d like to touch on on a later date.
Furthermore, to prevent inevitable clutter, every brick is color-coded according to its purpose (although, this could also be exchanged for brick color), and some may even have bits of information displayed when selected, such as its Properties. Not to mention it gives good use to the “Zoom To Brick” command. When you select a brick, it is also selected on every other viewport at the same time, so you can seamlessly shift focus between them.
Now, there is one imminent problem with this whole idea, with a simple fix that I’d like to propose. I can imagine that this would take a lot more processing power to handle all viewports at once in addition to the full 3D viewport. Here is my proposal to fix that: The option to disable graphics-intensive options for the 3D view. While we’re developing a map, we don’t always have a need for highly-detailed lighting or even textures. The option to turn said options off would help to optimize this experience even further.
Keep in mind, every bit of this would be completely optional – preferably a toggle in the View tab. The current system is perfect for other purposes, such as for those just starting out, and we don’t want to exclude them at all. This method has a bit higher of a learning curve, which is why I suggest it be optional.
Hopefully you consider my points. If there are questions or concerns you have about it, I probably have an answer for you. Thanks!