roadmap.txt

See Also: https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Hammer_Feature_Requests

--==Must Have Features==--
Lighting preview
    Shadows, room darkness & lightmap errors
Transparent materials proper draw order
Viewport render modes
    Wireframe, flat, texture, shaded, shaded & textured
Settings Menu
    Keybinds, game config, render limits, default texture, default point & brush entities
Load from VPK
I/O Autocomplete
    Use .fgd
    Know type of !self
    Allow users to choose expected !activator (but expect player & check flags)
Realtime skybox & sun preview
Multiple viewports
    Like blender subwindows
    Split / Merge
Process .vmt & .vtf
    Material flags & texture compression
    Thumbnails
    Material sounds & impact particles
    Proxies (scrolling etc.)
Compile Through Compilepal
    QtPyHammer file -> .vmf -> Compilepal -> Release Quality .bsp
    One button
Auto-save
Custom QtPyHammer format (.qph, .qph.backup)
    Convert to .vmf for compile (or a button for changing devices)
Inner angle more visible when adjusting light_spot
    Brightest patch should be instantly clear
Save appearance settings to file
    Presets (Lightmode / Blender 2.49, darkmode)
    Layouts Tab (detail, blocking, texturing, logic)
    Custom Icons
    Share with .zip
Undo & Redo
3 point plane clipping tool

3D selection
    https://www.opengl.org/archives/resources/faq/technical/selection.htm
    https://graphics.stanford.edu/courses/cs348b-98/gg/intersect.html
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZXz-uPyCyA
    

--==User Requested Features==-- (from the Official Discord)
Mobile version [bikkie]
in-editor particle editor and preview [exactol]
Map tabs [pont]
registering multiple "nudges" with arrow keys as a single action when undoing [pont]
particle browser, zoos & search tags [bikkie]
select brush by material [bikkie]
model browser tags [bikkie]
various grid types: radial, angled ratio [narpas]
disembodied head of gordon freeman to represent other mappers in multiplayer [narpas & yoshimario]
way for a mapper to highlight an area to aid discussions in multiplayer [narpas]
multiplayer moderation tools (ignore repeated pings etc) [narpas]
import custom asset from anywhere (gameinfo independent) [maarten]
text to brush like Sledge [savva]
curve to brush [everyone]
forest fill snap to ground [asd]
forest fill randomly rotate Z (optional) [narpas]
blender2.8-esque view type selector [narpas]
blender vmf editing tools [asd] (wait, is that not what he meant?)
T-junction locating and minimising tools [yoshimario]
more in-depth way of using object groups (selections and visgroups) (see blender collections) [narpas]
wireframe displacements that cannot be selected for sealing & nodraw placement [bikkie]
easy macro creation [bikkie]
materials favourites (shortcuts) (sky, nodraw, trigger, black) [pont, yoshimario, exactol]
group materials in browser by map (optional) [maarten]
blend material "invert alpha" on non-displacements [bikkie]
instance collapse options: create new visgroup, texture lock [yoshimario]
auto-align & scramble textures for beams, stairs and other tedious repetetive brushwork [bikkie]
remember material browser filter(s) across all types (when browsing decals, overlays & general materials) [pont]
auto-generate blend texture preview in material browser [yoshimario]
group faces to share material (not just replace) [narpas]
select faces by material as it's own button, not an obscure function of replace [asd]
preview dynamic prop scale in editor [narpas]
toggleable "symmetrically edit" (mirrored or rotated) [asd]
preview setbodygroup [bikkie & yoshimario]
list named attachment points for models [bikkie]
highlight parent / children of selection [pont]
lines in viewport showing I/O connections [pont]
always store an editor camera in the .vmf (pick up from where you finished in your previous session) [pont]
pan views with middle mouse [narpas]
full preset keybind sets based on other 3D editors [yoshimario]
allow mappers to share their keybind configs [yoshimario]
UI custom colour configs [pont]
alt+rmb texture wrap without reassigning materials [pont]
preserve skin index when changing world model [pont]
?better alignment options? [yoshimario] (grouped brush snapping? materials?)
?The ability to move vertices within fractions, like using Ctrl+M, while editing vertices? [narpas]

--==Nice To Have Features==--
https://tf2maps.net/threads/3-most-wanted-features-for-hammer.37807/
Forest fill (prop family, density, falloff side, sort by tricount)
    should be fast & intuitive
Model Copy & Edit
    flip prop along axis (some recompile scripts for this are being made)
Brushwork to Model (.smd / .obj export)
Preview I/O Sequence
    Payload gates
    Timed Logic
    Scrub Timeline
Ghost players
    Record like SFM
    Can shoot recordings (dummy bots)
    Rewind & re-take
    Think co-Op TAS speedrun
    Sentry nest previews
Packed .bsp peek
    Updated Crafty equivalent (Nem's Tools)
    Detail / scale reference
    Copy entities & I/O from packed .bsp / .bsp.bz2
    Cubemap / lightmap editing
    Copy to locked visgroup (will not compile by default)
MvM Tools
    Load Bots from MvM popfile
        Scale, Cosmetics, Weapons, Buff Indicators
        Visual Popfile Editor?
    Sweep tank along track
    Wave March
    Edit .nav in pyHammer
I/O flowcharts and/or nodes
Fast overlay copy
    Keep dimensions & orientation
    Assign to nearby faces
Copy displacements to other faces / brushes
Generate Asset Zoo from map(s)
Import sky/sun/fog from map
Export to obj (one object per solid)
.obj import (each object is a solid)
Suggest Version Numbers (Alpha, Beta & RC)
Entity render effects preview
Displacement blend modulate preview
    Render as close to in-game as possible
Output <-> AddOutput Converter
Scaled prop_dynamic preview
Particle previews
Displacement Tools
    Quick Hydro sattelite dish
    Quick spiral staircase
    Cylinder
    Multi-res sculpt
    ANT Terrain Generator (Skybox / Inspiration)
    Sew with 3D Skybox
Rulers
    Jump Arcs (Double, Detonator, Scorch Shot, Pill, Trimp, C-Tap / No C-Tap)
    Rocket Jump Chains
    Fall Damage Calculator (and jump damage too)
    MvM giant scaling guides
     -- load from popfile
Load Rollouts / Ghosts from Demo File
Load Heatmap (heatmaps.tf)
Ragdoll Preview (for that perfect deathpit / finale)
Stair Tools
    Rise / run
    Random texture offset
    Scale to fit
Sightline spotter
    Point out the longest and narrowest sightlines to a given point
    Hardest to spot (lighting or size) should be prioritised
    Anti-Ghost sniper aimbot
Quick gamemode (Ctrl+N Menu)
    NEW 5CP, NEW PLR (MULTI-STAGE) etc.
    Boojum Snark's Gamemode Prefabs / Zoo
Mirror map (Invert team logic & colours)
    Texture palette to replace many textures at once
    Mirror Line, Mirror Rotationally (Ignore skybox)
    Allow for assymetrical detail (but warns when balance is effected)
Per file diff (utilise Undo List)
    Remove redundant changes
    Auto Changelog (with screenshot suggestions)
    Green Yellow Red: New, Changed Removed
Selecting an entire group (or part of) in object or solids mode, copies of the selection will group parts of groups
Meaningful sub-grouping
per entity output organisation (group lines of outputs)
copied objects retain the visgroup of origonal object (optional)
carve that just extrudes smoothly
browse for sprites / hud materials in texture browser (context aware)
 -- auto-filter textures
edit vmf in cinema4d / blender (would take years you absolute madman, stop doing this to yourself) [oh no he's actually doing it]
Action Log
Plain English IO Debugging
    Identify Keywords, Contexts and Discern what should be examined
    Consistency is key
Demo playback tools
    Rewind
    Jump to target (scoreboard, click in 3d, name in chat)
    Chokemap (mark rough owned territories & front lines)
    Heatmaps with decay (radius, heat & decay sliders)
    As close to player experience as possible
Snap to vertex
Customise Background / Skybox
    Skybox Browser
    Skybox Editor
    Void Skybox / Colour
    Replace "tools/skybox" with skybox
Preview map in 3D skybox & vice-versa
    Optional Tint / Transparency
Quick Instance
    Duplicate a brush model while working on it
Mirror edit
    Texture / vert changes etc
    Model flipper (auto-pack)
Vertex Edit also moves point entity centres & overlays (toggle on key)
Cylinder texture wrap (automatic)
 -- keep wrap when shifting in vertex edit / clip
Deformable Grid
    Spline displacement warp section
    Ratio locked segments (2:3 etc.)
    tools snap & align to grid
    bend straight segment to alt-grid
    grid preview (render warped segments over regular)
Tool wheels
 -- quick palette (textures, brush shapes)
Mute / Solo Visgroup
 -- Changing visible objects does not affect selection
 -- Hidden & Selected objects are not affected by changes made while they are hidden
    (That's just a hammer bug, why would you replicate that)
Autogroup
 -- proximity
 -- built / focused on in the same session
 -- detail density
 -- trace diff to see original shape and reworks
Check if material needs a cubemap
 -- automatically make one if speed mapping?
 -- remind / warn on compile (not for fast) 
Choose material of new face made with clipping tool
    be smart
   Auto select new face if you switch from vertex/clip to texture mode
Filter out specific material folders in browser
Filter out specific model folders in browser
Faster load times on asset browsers in general
 -- single cached maps of the vpks
 -- search bins, (filter then load)
 -- multi-thread / load one folder tier at a time
 -- propper but fast, reliable and in-editor
Nearby displacements base brushes snap together (hammer4 sew support)
 -- move disp base brush but keep disp verts still
Draw brushes / displacements
 -- grease paint with rough perspective detection and projection (insane)
Autocomplete in asset browsers
Suggest similar asset names in asset browser(s)
 -- rock0*: boulder* etc
 -- floor* / wall*: metal
 -- *trim* / *beam*
 --- big unofficial list of alternate tags in a separate file
Compare size & silhouette of previous model in browser when changing a model (ghost wireframe / CM)
randomly rotate prop along Z-axis (foliage)
full texture proxy preview (scrolling)
 -- make all texture scroll