Which component should be improved?
Hammer
Describe your feature suggestion in more detail
Currently, the Block tool in Hammer is limited to a small set of hard-coded primitives (Block, Cylinder, Arch, etc.). This often restricts mappers to "square" structures or forces them to perform tedious manual vertex manipulations for conventional architectural forms.
I suggest implementing a system that allows Hammer to load external plugins or scripts (for example, Lua or C++) that define new procedural primitives. Instead of being limited to the "Arch" or "Torus" by default, the "Objects" drop-down list in the "Blocks" tool could be filled with generators created by the community.
- The user selects a new custom primitive from the Objects list in the Block tool.
- The tool uses a draggable bounding box as the base dimensions.
- The plugin provides its own set of parameters in the "Tool Properties" (for example, "Number of steps" for the stairs plugin or "Wall thickness" for the room generator).
- Hammer invokes the logic of the plugin to create a brush/mesh geometry based on these inputs.
This would significantly speed up the process of selecting graphic objects and would allow you to create more complex, non-rectangular map structures. This would allow the community to create specialized tools for things like procedural stairs, pipes, or complex cornices, taking the workflow of designing levels beyond basic primitive shapes without the need for external 3D software to work through every detail.
Which component should be improved?
Hammer
Describe your feature suggestion in more detail
Currently, the Block tool in Hammer is limited to a small set of hard-coded primitives (Block, Cylinder, Arch, etc.). This often restricts mappers to "square" structures or forces them to perform tedious manual vertex manipulations for conventional architectural forms.
I suggest implementing a system that allows Hammer to load external plugins or scripts (for example, Lua or C++) that define new procedural primitives. Instead of being limited to the "Arch" or "Torus" by default, the "Objects" drop-down list in the "Blocks" tool could be filled with generators created by the community.
This would significantly speed up the process of selecting graphic objects and would allow you to create more complex, non-rectangular map structures. This would allow the community to create specialized tools for things like procedural stairs, pipes, or complex cornices, taking the workflow of designing levels beyond basic primitive shapes without the need for external 3D software to work through every detail.