ID:2404043
 
Applies to:Dream Maker
Status: Open

Issue hasn't been assigned a status value.
The ability to load dmm files at runtime.
The ability to save dmm files would be nice too.

The native support for built-in map functions only seems logical as the majority of games take place on the map. Having dynamic and efficient map instancing would be a large boost to developer productivity while at the same time allowing devs to easily create and venture out into other genres more easily.
y is this not a thing
+1

this is on my list of most wanted features
This has already existed since 2011.

http://www.byond.com/developer/IainPeregrine/dmm_suite
In response to Zewaka
Zewaka wrote:
This has already existed since 2011.

http://www.byond.com/developer/IainPeregrine/dmm_suite

binary has existed so why use dm
In response to Kozuma3
Kozuma3 wrote:
binary has existed so why use dm

He misinterpreted what you wrote, because you wrote it bad. You can already do saving and loading of DMMs natively (that is, in soft code using DM). You want to have it built-in, as an API thing.
bump
Loading .dmms at runtime is slightly problematic because you can't define modified types at runtime; it requires parsing and the creation of init procs, which soft code only simulates. But in theory this could at least be made faster than soft code.

Saving to .dmm isn't possible at runtime because the format does not allow for var relationships beyond loc/contents.
BYOND's savefile format is actually scarily suited for saving and loading map data. The issue is that it's nightmarishly slow because of the file IO overhead BYOND has.

It handles the var relations in such a good way that it's easy to break it by saving players along with it.

You'd actually be amazed how well saving/loading an /area via Write()/Read() works as long as you make the right exceptions and don't save more than you should.

The savefile system is probably the best place to start internally for a route to runtime saving and loading.

The magic trick of the century would be making the map editor able to open and visualize a map saved this way, and then allow it to be edited.

For soft-code solutions right now, dmm_suite is what we've got and it's aging rapidly. I've resorted to using savefiles and writing an editor in DM itself and it's ugly but works.
I'm bumping this. There's been talks about native map saving/loading/new map format for years and I wouldn't be surprised if it's #1 on most dev's feature wishlists but it just never seems to manifest or even get tested for feasability.

IMO it should be way higher priority than it is right now. I would even prefer it over CEF.
Bump #515