New SGDK2 - folders

[Vincent]

Hi!

I have a suggestion for a new feature inside SGDK2 that I would like very much in the (not yet officially released) 2.1 version: folders.  Let me explain!
With a new SGDK2 project, it's easy to find all the elements in the project: there is not many sprite definitions, tilets, maps, etc.  But as the project goes further, many more elements are added and soon, it becomes a complete mess.  Unless, of course, you decide on a method for naming the elements, but even with that, it gets too big eventually.

So, i would like to separate all the basic elements (except for sourcecode maybe) into folders.  So, whe you expand, let's say, Graphic Sheets, you would see a set of folders that you can can name and arrange the way you want, and separate your graphic sheets into categories like characters, furniture, special effects, anything that comes to mind.  For a new project, each basic element could have only a "main" or "default" folder and every new element would be assigned to it by default, but you could specify another folder in the element's properties form.

I guess, since it is in XML, it wouldn't be too hard to implement, and it would save me a lot of trouble to make my projects a lot neater.

What do you guys think?

Thanks!

[bluemonkmn]

That may be a worthwhile feature, but 2.1 should not take on any more new features before being released.  Maybe 2.1.1 or 2.2 can have such a feature.

[Vincent]

Great, it's not an outright no!

Thank you for considering it bluemonkmn!

[bluemonkmn]

Wouldn't it help almost as much to just sort the items in the existing folders?  That would be easier.  Is there anything else that might be relatively simple that would help you on your project?  Hope it's still going well.

[Vincent]

Hi Bluemonkmn!

Sort the items in the existing folders...  Yes I guess it would help.  It wouldn't be as slick as subfolders, but it would help.  I could do this by hand within the XML file I suppose.  Anyway, it would be a "nice to have" feature, but without it, it's not a show stopper.

Hum, no.  I think nothing "simple" would help me!     The next "difficult" features I would really like are:
- the mini-map: I started making little graphics for the minimap, but I didn't implement any code to make it work yet.  I'll work on this after my first level is complete
- Zooming the game by resizing the game window without the dark lines appearing between tiles: I've got to dive in OpenGl to solve this problem, and it would really be an asset to SGDK2 as well.  I'll try to find the courage to do this after the first level too!

Other than that, I'm still working on the first level.  It's coming along nicely!   I would post an image of the first level of the game, but even compressed in png format, it's still about two megabytes large, so not a good idea...

I think I will a a beta of the first level in a couple of weeks if all goes well.

Thanks for your interest!