Stage Editor - Feature Highlights **WIP**

Core Editor

• Isometric grid system with 2:1 diamond tiles (64x32px), height levels, and proper depth sorting
• Multi-tool placement: Single place, line draw (axis-locked), rectangle fill, and paint brush
• Full transform controls: Rotate, flip H/V, scale, pixel nudge, and per-object z-offset
• 4-layer system: Ground, Objects, Decorations, Overlay with visibility toggles
• Undo/redo history with unlimited steps
• Multi-select with box selection, Shift+click, and group operations

Asset Management

• Auto-scanning asset library that indexes your res://assets/world/ folder
• Keyword search with relevance ranking
• Style folder filtering (e.g., "32x32", "64x64", "isometric_dark")
• Animation detection - automatically groups numbered frames into playable animations
• Persistent cache for instant startup after first scan

Visual Effects

• 9 built-in shaders: Outline, glow pulse, wind sway, flag wave, water surface, silhouette, pixelate, dither, group outline
• Tween animations: Bobbing, swaying, pulsing presets
• Weather system: Rain, snow, fog overlays
• Per-object VFX overrides in properties panel

Quality of Life

• Ruler/alignment guides (Shift+G) - axis lines, diagonals, vertical guides
• Eyedropper tool - click to pick asset from placed objects
• Copy/paste/duplicate with offset
• Properties panel - edit position, rotation, scale, color, layer, VFX all in one place
• Keyboard shortcuts for everything (R rotate, H/V flip, [ ] scale, arrows nudge)

Save/Export

• JSON save format to user://stages/ with full state preservation
• Export to .tscn - generates standalone Godot scenes ready for game use
• Runtime loader - load stages dynamically in your game

Technical

• Built entirely in GDScript for Godot 4.5
• No class_name conflicts - uses preload pattern throughout
• Modular architecture with clean separation between core, editor, UI, and VFX

Stage Editor - Development Roadmap

Status Key

• [x] Complete
• [~] In Progress / Partial
• [ ] Planned
• [!] Bug Fix Needed

Core Editor

Grid & Viewport

• [x] Isometric grid system (64x32 tiles, 2:1 ratio)
• [x] Height levels (Z-axis) with visual offset
• [x] Depth sorting (proper draw order)
• [x] Pan camera (middle-mouse drag, arrow keys)
• [x] Zoom camera (scroll wheel)
• [x] Grid overlay toggle (G key)
• [x] Origin marker
• [ ] Minimap preview
• [ ] Grid size configuration (32x32, 64x64, custom)
• [ ] Coordinate labels on grid

Selection

• [x] Single click select
• [x] Box selection (drag rectangle)
• [x] Shift+click multi-select
• [x] Select all (Ctrl+A)
• [x] Deselect (Escape)
• [ ] Selection outline customization
• [ ] Select by layer
• [ ] Select by asset type
• [ ] Invert selection

Transform

• [x] Move (drag or arrow keys)
• [x] Rotate 90° CW/CCW (R / Shift+R)
• [x] Flip horizontal (H)
• [x] Flip vertical (V)
• [x] Scale up/down (] / [)
• [x] Z-offset adjustment (= / -)
• [x] Pixel nudge (arrow keys)
• [x] Grid nudge (Ctrl+arrows)
• [ ] Free rotation (any angle)
• [ ] Scale handles (drag to resize)
• [ ] Rotation handles (drag to rotate)
• [ ] Transform gizmo overlay

Tools

Placement Tools

• [x] Single place (click to place)
• [x] Line tool (axis-locked line drawing)
• [x] Fill tool (rectangle fill)
• [x] Brush tool (paint with asset groups)
• [x] Eyedropper (pick asset from placed object)
• [x] Eraser (remove objects)
• [!] Cursor preview offset - cursor shows lower than actual placement position
• [!] Line/Fill drag constraint - should lock to lines/rectangles, not freeform
• [ ] Scatter brush (random placement with density)
• [ ] Stamp tool (place predefined patterns)
• [ ] Replace tool (swap asset, keep transform)

Ruler & Guides

• [x] Ruler tool (Shift+G toggle)
• [x] Axis-aligned guides (X/Y)
• [x] Diagonal guides
• [x] Vertical guides
• [ ] Snap to guides
• [ ] Persistent guide lines (user-placed)
• [ ] Guide color customization

Templates & Prefabs

• [x] Basic template system
• [ ] Save selection as template
• [ ] Template library panel
• [ ] Template preview thumbnails
• [ ] Template categories

Asset Management

Asset Library

• [x] Recursive directory scanning
• [x] Keyword extraction from filenames
• [x] Category detection (tiles, props, characters, etc.)
• [x] Keyword search with relevance ranking
• [x] Style folder filtering (32x32, 64x64, etc.)
• [x] Persistent cache for fast startup
• [x] Variant grouping (grass_01, grass_02, etc.)
• [ ] Tag editing (add custom tags to assets)
• [ ] Favorites list
• [ ] Recently used assets
• [ ] Asset usage statistics

Animation Detection

• [x] Frame sequence detection (asset_01, asset_02, etc.)
• [x] Animation master asset creation
• [x] SpriteFrames generation
• [~] Automatic PNG group detection - improve pattern matching
  • [ ] Support naming patterns: name_001.png, name-1.png, name_frame1.png
  • [ ] Support folder-based groupings (all PNGs in a folder = one animation)
  • [ ] Animation preview in asset palette
  • [ ] FPS detection from filename hints
• [ ] Spritesheet support (single image with grid)
• [ ] Aseprite JSON import
• [ ] Animation tag support (idle, walk, attack, etc.)

In-Editor Animation

• [~] In-line animation playback - play animations in viewport
  • [ ] AnimatedSprite2D for animated assets
  • [ ] Play/pause toggle per object
  • [ ] Global animation play/pause
  • [ ] Animation speed control
  • [ ] Preview animation on hover in palette
  • [ ] Frame scrubbing in properties panel
• [ ] Animation sync (all same animations play together)
• [ ] Stagger option (offset start times)

Layers & Organization

Layer System

• [x] 4 default layers (Ground, Objects, Decorations, Overlay)
• [x] Layer visibility toggles
• [x] Active layer selection
• [x] Per-object layer assignment
• [ ] Custom layer creation
• [ ] Layer renaming
• [ ] Layer reordering (drag)
• [ ] Layer locking
• [ ] Layer colors/tints for visibility
• [ ] Collapse/expand layer contents

Object Organization

• [x] Z-offset for fine sorting
• [ ] Group objects (Ctrl+G)
• [ ] Ungroup (Ctrl+Shift+G)
• [ ] Lock objects
• [ ] Hide objects (H in selection)
• [ ] Object naming
• [ ] Object search/filter

Visual Effects (VFX)

Shaders

• [x] Outline shader
• [x] Glow pulse shader
• [x] Wind sway shader
• [x] Flag wave shader
• [x] Water surface shader
• [x] Silhouette shader
• [x] Pixelate shader
• [x] Dither shader
• [x] Group outline shader
• [ ] Dissolve shader
• [ ] Hologram shader
• [ ] Shadow/drop shadow
• [ ] Color replacement shader
• [ ] Palette swap shader

Tween Animations

• [x] Bobbing animation
• [x] Swaying animation
• [x] Pulsing animation
• [ ] Floating animation
• [ ] Shake animation
• [ ] Bounce animation
• [ ] Custom tween curves

Weather System

• [x] Weather overlay framework
• [ ] Rain effect
• [ ] Snow effect
• [ ] Fog effect
• [ ] Falling leaves
• [ ] Dust particles
• [ ] Day/night cycle preview

VFX Panel

• [x] Preset selection
• [x] Per-object VFX override
• [ ] VFX parameter sliders
• [ ] VFX preview toggle
• [ ] Batch apply VFX to selection
• [ ] Custom VFX preset creation

Properties Panel

Current

• [x] Position display (grid + pixel)
• [x] Rotation control
• [x] Scale controls
• [x] Flip toggles
• [x] Layer selection
• [x] Z-offset adjustment
• [x] Color/modulate picker
• [x] Visibility toggle
• [x] VFX preset selection

Planned

• [ ] Transform reset button
• [ ] Copy/paste properties
• [ ] Multi-object editing (shared properties)
• [ ] Property locking
• [ ] Animation controls (for animated assets)
• [ ] Custom metadata fields
• [ ] Collider shape preview (for export)

File Operations

Save/Load

• [x] JSON save format
• [x] Save to user://stages/
• [x] Load with file browser
• [x] Auto-backup on save
• [ ] Auto-save interval
• [ ] Recent files list
• [ ] Save as (rename)
• [ ] File versioning / history
• [ ] Cloud save integration

Export

• [x] Export to .tscn (PackedScene)
• [x] Preserve transforms and sorting
• [ ] Export selected only
• [ ] Export layers separately
• [ ] Export with colliders (StaticBody2D)
• [ ] Export with navigation (NavigationRegion2D)
• [ ] Export to TileMap (if using tileset)
• [ ] PNG export (render to image)

Import

• [ ] Import .tscn back to editor
• [ ] Import Tiled .tmx files
• [ ] Import LDtk files
• [ ] Import from clipboard (image)

UI/UX

Toolbar

• [x] Tool buttons with icons
• [x] Layer dropdown
• [x] Transform buttons
• [x] File operations
• [ ] Toolbar customization
• [ ] Tool options bar (context-sensitive)
• [ ] Search/command palette (Ctrl+P)

Asset Palette

• [x] Grid view
• [x] Search box
• [x] Category filter
• [x] Style folder dropdown
• [ ] List view toggle
• [ ] Thumbnail size slider
• [ ] Drag from palette to viewport
• [ ] Right-click context menu
• [ ] Asset info tooltip

Dialogs

• [x] Save dialog with file list
• [x] Load dialog with file list
• [x] Export dialog
• [x] Overwrite confirmation
• [x] New stage confirmation
• [ ] Keyboard shortcuts help (?)
• [ ] About dialog
• [ ] Settings/preferences dialog

General UX

• [x] Keyboard shortcuts
• [x] Undo/redo (Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y)
• [x] Copy/paste (Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V)
• [x] Duplicate (Ctrl+D)
• [ ] Context menu (right-click)
• [ ] Tooltips everywhere
• [ ] Status bar (cursor position, selection count)
• [ ] Notification toasts
• [ ] Dark/light theme toggle

Future Considerations

Integration

• [ ] Godot editor plugin version
• [ ] Standalone executable version
• [ ] Web-based version (Godot 4 web export)