Linking Behavior

I'd like to just ask -- beg, in fact -- that if a group of objects is linked when it is put into the inventory, it still be linked when you take it out again.

Linking in general is pretty unreliable, and for a fairly complex object, it's a relief if -- and that's a big 'if' -- you can finally get all the pieces linked together without any of them getting jogged out of place and having to tear your hair out and go back and re-adjust.

So when I make a backup copy, I don't want to have to start all over from the beginning because 'take' or 'take copy' failed to notice that I wanted all of those objects linked together, thankyou.

I'd also very much appreciate a selection mode in which no modifications are made -- you can click, you can select, you can link, and that's it. Right now the closest thing is 'select individual,' which is absolutely useless for linking purposes. It would be even better if it weren't a feature tied to the edit menu -- if you could just click a button that ensured that you wouldn't mess anything up if you're just puttering around. Locking objects down is not the same. Not the same at all.

Thanks.

while i personally have never had a problem with linked objects coming out of my inventory unlinked, i think a straight "Select only" tool would be incredibly useful.

for the time being though, if you notice something moved right when you click it, you can use CTRL+Z to undo the move.

CTRL-Z is even more unreliable than linking. It's not a solution, it only makes the problem worse. And if you come to depend on it? Hah!

As it is, the ease with which you can accidentally send a crucial tiny piece of a complex object zinging into never-never land is a pain. It's inconvenient, it's aggravating, it's unnecessary, and boy howdy is it ever a deterrent to building intricate and interesting objects.

Linking also seems to have a cap on the number of objects which can be linked together, which I think needs to go, or at least be raised. I can only link about 3/4ths of my gazebo together before it decides not to link any more pieces. No error message or anything, it just makes the attempt, hangs my machine for a little while, and then quits with no change. No matter how many times I repeat.

Leave a cap on it if you must, but dammit, at least give us an intelligent error message that tells us that's what's going on. I don't enjoy building at all anymore, because it takes hours of hair-tearing over little things that were just fine before I tried to link them.

Ugh.

Control Z always seemed to be working correct... I used it a lot. But I think with the the latest version you can get some very messed up results

CTRL+Z applies separately to whatever object you currently have selected. scenario:

* move object "A" +10m along the X-axis
* move object "B" +2m along the X-axis and -4m along the Y-axis
* move object "C" -5m along the Z-axis...

i then deselect everything, and then select object "B". if i hit CTRL+Z, object "B" will move <-2,4,0>, back to where it was before i moved it. objects "A" and "C" will stay put. if i then deselect everything and select "C" and do CTRL+Z, object "C" will move <0,0,5> back to where it was. object "A" will remain where i moved it, and object "B" will remain back in its original place.
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as far as the link cap, i experienced a dirty problem with it tonight... if you try to link WAY too many things at once, they ALL unlink! that is, i had linked the stairwell pieces together, then the walls together, and then the doorway together (without linking those three groups together yet). all is well and good. i go to link the three groups, and *POOF*... everything is unlinked. i would've given my left arm (i'm a lefty) to have simply gotten an error message telling me i was trying to link too many objects, instead of having to spend over fifteen minutes going back and re-linking each of the segments, and then moving each segment by itself to move my entire building.

Yes, sorry. Both the link problem and some of the CTRL-Z bugs are things that I've been meaning to fix however they've been pushed below some other bugs and features. I'll try to bump their priority up in the queue.