What would make Gish plus the editor much more versatile? (and take quite some time to implement)
- Levels should be able to have custom data.
- A custom file hierarchy for groups of levels, the levels itself, and their data.
- Pistons you have full control over (particularly start positions), and that extend/contract by the distance you enter, not something that is hard to correct if that isn't what you want.
- Java for custom stuff in levels (and everything else). It is relatively fast, safe, stable, object-oriented, multi-platform, easy to learn, you can use all classes that already exist (including java.lang.Math, of course), you can use security managers (including your own), developer tools are free, etc. I think it is possible in some way to use the existent VM on the system? About everything should be able to be replaced with Java classes, which should have full control over everything. That extends possibilities for advanced users a lot.
- Support for strings (including file names) inside levels. Probably with a TOC at the beginning of the file giving everything an ID, which is used in the rest of the level.
- Read the main thread about the editor.
Just my ideal world... may be over the top. I can try to create an initial file structure and format descriptions which might ease it a bit.