Supermega Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 Disclaimer: All ideas are based on the publicly available info, not under NDA. Hello, so one of my biggest concerns with the voxel building tools so far, is the lack of support for curved shapes. I really think it would be sad to see an amazing game like this, filled with only Minecraft Box spaceships. Because curved shapes are so impossible to make. So here are a few basic additions I think could really improve on the current voxel building system. I know, more advanced voxel editing are planned like being able to edit control points, and a Voxel Element Library for more complex shapes. But, there are other, more simple things I think that can be done to get curved shapes into the game sooner rather then later. So, the basic idea is to make curved voxel shapes easily available so players would be encouraged to build none box shaped ships and constructs. I did some artwork to help illustrate my ideas. Please feel free to discuss and give feedback on this thread in the comments. Ok, So lets dive right into it. These pictures are examples of designs that can be made with these shapes. Starting Primitives So, there are several shapes to begin with when using the voxel deploy tool. Here are some important primitives I suggest should be added as voxel brush shapes. Those shapes are Oblate Sphere, Prolate Sphere, Cone, Torus, Elbow Joint. Why these shapes? The reason I chose these shapes is because they are nearly impossible to make with with the current tools. An even with advanced editing options, they would still be difficult to get right. So it seems like a no-brainer to have these shapes as starting primitives for the voxel brush. It would make it much easier to start creating curved shaped constructs, and encourage more creative designs. This picture is of the voxel shapes I think should be added to the voxel brush tool. Voxel Shape Options So the next thing is an a expansion on the voxel shapes, by adding parameters before/after the shapes is deployed. For example, having an option like size, and diameter of the TORUS shape before/after you deploy it, or option to set how extreme the elongation is on the SPHERE or CONE before/after you deploy it, and even maybe set the angle of the Elbow joint. So, the way I imagine it would work is, when you select a starting primitive shape, shortcuts like arrow keys, numbers keys are used to set the value of the shape options, then you can deploy it as normal. Also, having an option box that would stay on screen as long as you're using that shape could work too, so that you can continue to change options and deploy new shapes. This pictures give an example of what changing the options would look like on each shape. Bevel, Fillet, sharpen edge tool So, we currently have a tool that allows builder to smooth edges, but to expand on that idea, I think we should also have the option to Bevel, Fillet, or sharpen edges as needs. The issue is that most times the smooth tool does not give the desired result, or maybe you only want to bevel an edge but not smooth it, or maybe you want some edges with a fillet and some edges sharpen. I imagine it working exactly like the current smooth edge tool, except you would be able to Bevel an edge, Fillet an edge, or Sharpen an edge. This pictures below illustrates how the tool would effect the edge. This is the current smooth tool. Additional Ideas ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Scale Axes I think this is a simple, but vary important option that needs to be available. Basically we have the option to scale the size of voxel primitives, but we should also have the option to scale voxel primitives on a specific axis (X, Y, Z). This I think would definitely add greater control to create the desired shapes, as well as enhance the freedom of creativity. Hollow Primitives So, this thought came to me last minute, but I think its something that shouldn't be overlooked. The ability to start with hollow voxel primitives. Either a voxel brush option to deploy hollow voxels, or solid, and set the wall thickness, or have hollow voxel shapes as a standard starting shape to choose from. I know that there is an option to cut out voxels using primitives shapes, but the main issue is that cutting out voxels gives a very ugly looking result, most times the edges don't look right at all, or you need a hard edge but the cut out has a rounded edge with a messy texture. Also, hollow primitive shapes would improve the speed, and ease of use when building constructs. Especially when working with curved shapes. Trying to hollow out a curved shape would be a nightmare, so starting with a hollow shape would be great. Voxel Elements So my last suggestion is in regard to Voxel Elements. Novaquark mention in this DevBlog that will have a Library of detail, or complex voxel shapes that players could use in their constructs. They mentioned a spiral staircase as an example. Well, here are a few shapes that I think should be included in that database of Voxel Elements. Pictures of suggested Voxel Elements to add to the Voxel Library. I know that a voxel point cloud editing system is in development, list on trello Here. That will really open up lots of possibilities for builders. But, in addition to that, having a variety of voxel brush shapes to start with is still needed to give builders alternative options, because sometimes doing things one way just may not work out how you need it to, so having other ways to create shapes is a big help. I think that covers the general ideas I had. My overall goal is to see more spaceships and constructs that aren't just limited to boxed shapes, and enable creative builders to really unleash their imagination. An I feel adding additional shapes to the Voxel Brush tool would be a good way to accomplish that goal. Please feel free to give feedback in the comments. Thanks for reading, see you in the next thread. Kurock, Sokker, hdparm and 22 others 25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lethys Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 didn't read everything and not interested at all in building - but well written and nice pics ? well done EDIT: oh and just because I saw that: https://twitter.com/dualuniverse/status/1128014611540840450 so it's not only blocks rn Supermega 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destrin Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 I'll take "Things I didn't know I needed until now" for 1000 Alex. @NQ-Nyzaltar Solid suggestions on the base shapes here and hope you consider them for the builders when you have time :D The_Kurgan and Supermega 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack_Blade Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 I am in no way a builder, but I would love to fly those ships for my org and I know for a fact the builders we do have would love those shape options! Supermega 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Cain Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 Agree on all points, having shapes like these would make a huge difference in designing. Great design art @supermega! Supermega 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serula Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 Excellent post and good suggestions on the base shapes! I really want to say a lot about this but this would break NDA unfortunately. titimoby 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titimoby Posted September 29, 2019 Share Posted September 29, 2019 Your suggestions are exactly what I would love to have in my discovery of voxel building. Very well described, thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ieael_ Posted April 15, 2020 Share Posted April 15, 2020 Fantastic ideas. Hopefully we will see some of them in place soon enough. And, since we are asking and asking is free, it would be amazing if we could get a Voxel Slicer Tool, like the orange planes in this image. PS not sure if its doable from a technical perspective in a Voxel/Vertex environment though. Supermega 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blazemonger Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 This post needs to get back on top and NQ needs to start paying attention to posts like this AND provide feedback on them. It's all relatively simple additions with potentially massive impact on the level of building players can get to without the need for deep voxelmancy or using voxel libraries.. Maybe something for @NQ-Naunet to bring to the attention of the dev team.. NQ-Naunet, Anomaly and Supermega 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anomaly Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 I want those shapes. All of them. It baffles me how limited the building tools are. Do we not want better looking ships in this game? Supermega 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ochiniwa Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 On 4/15/2020 at 5:41 AM, _Ieael_ said: Fantastic ideas. Hopefully we will see some of them in place soon enough. And, since we are asking and asking is free, it would be amazing if we could get a Voxel Slicer Tool, like the orange planes in this image. PS not sure if its doable from a technical perspective in a Voxel/Vertex environment though. As far as I have understood the Voxels, some of these are not possible. Just know that each Voxel has only 8 points, so for example c) is not possible as it has 9 points. I have seen some other figures up in this thread that are technically not possible unless the complete engine is adjusted. However what I would want to see in game is quite straightforward, take a Voxel in a seperated editor and be able to manually display each corner individually. This is currently technically possitble in the game with the "reactors", but this is such a p*** in the ***...:-(. It would be quite straight forward to do this in game and I do not understand why this was never implemented. It would give "amarteur" builders like myself such a powerfull tool. Right now I am going through hours of videos and different Voxel galleries, without being able to do what my weird mind comes up with... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazard0814 Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 *bump* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seijuro Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 This need a NQ acknowledgement.... the OPs tool request should be given priority as it would limit the need for voxelmancy libraries to get desired shapes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NQ-Naunet Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 On 11/14/2020 at 2:02 PM, blazemonger said: This post needs to get back on top and NQ needs to start paying attention to posts like this AND provide feedback on them. It's all relatively simple additions with potentially massive impact on the level of building players can get to without the need for deep voxelmancy or using voxel libraries.. Maybe something for @NQ-Naunet to bring to the attention of the dev team.. This is a really well thought out suggestion, and I really appreciate that it comes with such solid visuals. I'm definitely going to re-surface this post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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