Tool: A resource library with preview ?

[Ardenian]

Hello,

something that came to my mind, does there anywhere exist a resource library for custom Warcraft resources ?

To specify: It is very annoying downloading tons of models, skins and icons and then asking yourself two days later what is exactly what.

Wouldn't it be a great idea to have a resource library that simply allows you to add files into it and then it gives you the option to browse through your custom resources ? With preview images ( maybe linked to the .mpq), customizable folders, the option to add tags to entries, just like the Hive resource section, but offline and for private use.

I could imagine such a tool would greatly speed up progress as you can find your stuff much faster.

So, does there anywhere already exist such a tool ?
Would be difficult to create such a tool?

 

[Xonok]

Well, I personally use a homemade script that adds local files to the editor listings. I suppose that qualifies.

 

[Ardenian]

Well, I personally use a homemade script that adds local files to the editor listings. I suppose that qualifies.

Hm, but if I wan to go through my downloaded resources and search for a perfectly fitting cold aura and there are many auras called 'Cold_Aura' ?

I think a tool that allows to preview resources would be very useful and I am surprised it does not exist yet.

 

[Xonok]

Well, what my script does is only streamline things for editor use. Thus, they are previewed.
In order to find and preview specific models you can find their paths with a simple search in the folder and then input those paths(relative to WC3) into your editor to preview them. Typically browsing the editor's list is enough for me though, even though I have around 1300 models in a single list.

WaterKnight has also made a script that works with his postproc API to import all local files into the map in such a way that their paths will be correct. It even imports the textures used by those models.

 

[Ardenian]

Well, what my script does is only streamline things for editor use. Thus, they are previewed.
In order to find and preview specific models you can find their paths with a simple search in the folder and then input those paths(relative to WC3) into your editor to preview them. Typically browsing the editor's list is enough for me though, even though I have around 1300 models in a single list.

WaterKnight has also made a script that works with his postproc API to import all local files into the map in such a way that their paths will be correct. It even imports the textures used by those models.

With editor you mean WE ? So there is a map that contains 'all' the downloaded files and therefore you can preview them ?

I think it is somewhat a bit complicated, couldn't there be a tool, like the Warcraft Viewer, that allows to view them as it is linked to the .mpq ?

Is this script you use somewhere available, just for interest ?

 

[Xonok]

Basically I have a folder inside my Wc3 that I've called "Local".
Inside this folder I have a lot of models organized by author. If there is no author, the model is inside the root folder(Local), while otherwise it's in a folder with the author's name.
In my JNGP folder I have a lua script that, when run, creates a few text files for UMSWE to use. The script has to be run and UMSWE has to be toggled off and on to refresh the list, but that doesn't really take long.
One of the functionalities of UMSWE is changing the editor menus. I've looked at how the hidden models were revealed and used it to supply my own list of file paths in addition to the hidden ones.
Thus, the local files in my warcraft folder are visible in editor.
I've attached the 'starter pack', which actually contains everything that I use atm. Note that the script is not finished yet.
To use it you need JNGP WE that has UMSWE included. You'll also need something that can run lua files(I use LuaEdit). The rest is probably possible to understand from the readme.

When editing maps like this I realized that eventually I will want a way to finalize maps, because local files have to exist on every player's computer in the same place(relative to WC3, preferably). I discussed this with WaterKnight and he made a script that imports local files based on what is used in the map. Those things combined make it easier to browse models for me.

 

[Ardenian]

Thank you, I will take a close look on it and check it out!