I spent some of this week making an I/O system for level scripting in Unreal. I have long had thoughts on why these kick ass. Here's an unusually long blog post on:
-why these kick ass
-why they are necessary
-how mine works
-etc etc
https://www.joewintergreen.com/i-o-systems-for-level-scripting/
@joewintergreen Thanks for writing this. Saved for reference in the unlikely event that I ever actually get motivated to make a game.
It's been a very long time since I've done any level-editing but, from skimming your post, it seems like the classic Doom engine had a greatly simplified version of this, which Hexen slightly improved while also adding scripting, then I think Quake took the system a bit further.
joe wintergreen
Emma in Hobart