Shop Editor still a bit mystifying

[Magellan ID:Magellan]

I tried editing a previously assembled and problem-free shop interior today. I didn't have that silly but amusing problem where the editor tries to create multiple version of the interior. I was able to open the zip, and could edit the various shelves and decorations. But the first difficulty I encountered was that the shop building was not visible, so the visual guidelines were not available. This is not such an issue for me, as I am happy to position things by numbers, having a good idea of how my shop sits within the coordinate system. However, the next problem seemed insurmountable; no matter what I did I could not get the 'pack item for upload' menu option to come alive. In the end I just discarded all my edits and built another shop interior completely from scratch. And of course, I had to extract the display.xml file, adjust the radii, and replace it in the zip file. Another 90 minutes of my day pretty much going up in smoke for no good reason.

Anyway, it is submitted for QA now. Do your stuff, Scottie!

[andrei ID:andrei]

Before opening the saved zip, did you load a .B2S file and selected the shop that you wanted to re-edit? If the shop is not selected, the Shop editor simply doesn't know where to place all these shelves and decorations, so they appear at the "center of the universe" which is of little use, as your shop exterior is somewhere else. And, of course to pack the interior, the shop must be selected, otherwise the pack menu is disabled.

Andrei

[Magellan ID:Magellan]

No, there was nothing to indicate that I needed to open a b2s file first.

I didn't need to select a shop, apparently, as all I needed to do was scale and move shop elements, all of which appeared where I'd left them.

I guess that's why I couldn't pack the shop, despite having selected all the elements.

I hope everyone trying this in future gets to see this thread.

[rosh ID:rosh]

I hope everyone trying this in future gets to see this thread.

...and hopefully they will also see this Wiki article, which starts off telling you that you need to open the .B2S file for the Shop you want to edit.

http://dev.bluemars.com/wiki/index.php/ ... p_interior

Would reading this first have helped you? Or, if there are other ways we can ensure the .B2S is opened before the Shop is modified, please let us know.

[Magellan ID:Magellan]

Yes, of course reading that page would have helped. I didn't know that page existed.

It's very hard to know what one needs to know. I still feel after well over a year of trying to get to grips with BM that I have little insight into the logic or rationale that underlies it. I follow or attempt to follow learnt or published procedures quite blindly, unsure what most steps are for, or what effect my changes will have.

EDIT: to answer the second part - yes, why not have the editor give the user a message saying that they probably ought to load a b2s file when they try to reopen a zip file?

[rosh ID:rosh]

EDIT: to answer the second part - yes, why not have the editor give the user a message saying that they probably ought to load a b2s file when they try to reopen a zip file?

Working on it...the next release of the Shop Editor should contain warnings when you open the interior item.zip or try to select a Shop without loading a .B2S file first.