ID:2257522
 
Applies to:Dream Maker
Status: Open

Issue hasn't been assigned a status value.
In DreamMaker, the "Generate Instances from Directions" feature is quite handy, saves the tedious task of editing dir manually on instances when you want stuff facing different directions.

Only one problem:
The instances it creates not only have dir overridden, but also tag! Having tag set is something people usually do not want. (It makes the objects un-GCable, and it is returned by \ref)

It unfortunately makes the feature useless to me, as now I have to go in and clear the tag, or try to do it post-hoc by editing the dmm.

If you'd rather not change the default behavior for backwards compatibility, a preference option to turn it off is perfectly good!

P.S. Same story for "Generate Instances from Icon-States"


This would probably also help http://www.byond.com/forum/?post=2089976 because my bet is any tag mapped in by SS13 map makers was most likely done by accident when using this feature.
http://www.byond.com/forum/?post=1822015

Tom wrote:
I suspect it's just a front-end thing to give the instance a unique name in the editor, but obviously that is easy to fix. This is from so long ago that I don't even remember our intent, but i don't think it would be an issue to change.

Mar 31, 2015.

Plz Lummy. Plz.


I'm outright putting a $100 bounty on this feature. The minute the bug report is resolved, I will donate $100 even if it's not released yet.
Yay incentives!
Just promise to only use it only for evil.
ADDENDUM
"Generate From Directions" also sets icon_state in the generated instances. While not as egregious as tag, I think this would also unwanted many (most?) times.
  • It hard codes icon states into the .dmm so changes to source code don't have any effect on them.
  • "Generate from Directions" wouldn't intuitively update icon_state any more than Generate from Icon-States should update dir.
But this is a "nice to have" compared to the tag thing. If its non-trivial, I'd be happy to create a separate ticket for that one.
Ter13: Thank you, I am glad to see your support
I think I'm going to try simply not setting the tag and not doing anything with the generated name. Maybe that should be an internal var for the editor only; I dunno. Anyway it's worth trying tagless for a bit in 512.

Of course existing maps will need changing manually.
A PSA should probably go out when this feature is dropped and stable. Something like:


Historically, BYOND's map editor had a feature that allowed you to generate instances from icon states and directions. This was intended to speed development and shelter artists from having to muck about with code to implement new visual assets into a game.

Unfortunately, this feature has received a lot of criticism as it sets the tag of all instances generated using these two features.

Objects with a set tag will never be garbage collected, and tags are intended to be unique. Due to these complications, the features have either fallen into disuse, or problems have slipped unknowingly into a number of games through the years.

Moving forward, these options will no longer set the tag manually, and developers should consider ensuring that their maps are free of accidental tag setting due to use of generated instances over the years.
As promised: $100 bounty on feature paid out.