Help:Map Editor
From Tribes2Wiki
Tribes 2 has a powerful map editor that is actually quite easy to use once you get used to it. The many options might be confusing at first, but in the end there are only a few of them that you actually need to know how to use - the rest aren't very important.
To open the editor in most cases, you need to be hosting a listen server and then press Alt-E. If this doesn't work, you can bypass the key-press using the console command toggleeditor(1); which will open and close the editor. If you are going to be making maps, it is generally a good idea to do it with a clean install. Make a second installation of Tribes 2 on your hard drive and don't add anything to it except for map packs that you will be using. If you only want to make server-side maps, then you might not even want to add any map packs - this will keep you from accidentally adding a client-side structure to your map. Finally, make sure Vertex Lighting is disabled in your settings or else you will crash every time you place a structure.
This page will list all of the selectable options in the menu at the top of the screen. For more info about a specific feature, make your way to the page of that feature.
Contents |
[edit] File
[edit] New Mission
This only works if you have a mission file called newMission.mis in your missions directory. If you don't, it will give you a warning message. If you do, then this is no different than simply changing the mission to newMission.mis with the Open Mission option.
[edit] Open Mission
Selecting a mission from here is the same as simply changing the map to the desired mission from the Lobby vote menu.
[edit] Save Mission
This will save all changes made to the map you are currently editing. If the MIS file of the map you are editing is inside a VL2, then a new MIS file will be created outside the VL2 containing your modified version of the map. Otherwise, if the MIS file is not in a VL2, it will be overwritten.
[edit] Save Mission As
This is similar to the above option, except new MIS and TER files will be created based on the name that you provide. If you want your map to use a TER file from another mission rather than its own, you will have to open the MIS file and change it manually (or use the World Editor Inspector and change it in the TerrainBlock section).
The remaining File options are not very useful, so don't worry about them for now.
[edit] Edit
[edit] Undo
As you might expect, this reverts any change that you just made. It will cycle back through all of your recent changes if you select Undo multiple times. However, this option cannot replace objects that you delete, and it won't delete objects that you have placed. It can only revert changes to those objects.
[edit] Redo
From what I can tell, this option doesn't work.
[edit] Cut
Deletes all of the currently selected objects, but stores them so that you can replace them in a new location with Paste.
[edit] Copy
Same as above, except the original objects are not deleted.
[edit] Paste
Places objects on the map based on whatever objects on which you have most recently use Cut or Copy.
[edit] Select All
From what I can tell, this option doesn't work.
[edit] Select None
From what I can tell, this option doesn't work.
[edit] Relight Scene
This is a useful option that you should use any time you place new objects on the map. This will recalculate all shadows cast by all of the objects on the map, and will also properly light the interiors. If you don't do this, any interior you place will appear solid black until you do.
The remaining two options allow you to do advanced configuration of various editor functions. For the most part you won't need to do any of this, so we'll leave it out for now.
[edit] Camera
[edit] Drop Camera at Player
If you are currently running around on the map as a player - as opposed to flying around in observer - then this option will switch you to flying around in observer and start you out at the position of your player.
[edit] Drop Player at Camera
If you are currently flying around in observer and have your player somewhere on the map already, then this option will switch you to controlling that player and move the player to where your observer camera just was.
[edit] Toggle Camera
Similar to both of the above options, except it does not move you after switching between observer control/camera control.
[edit] Slowest - Fastest
These determine the speed at which you will fly when in observer mode. Flying fast is good for flying around the map. Flying slow is good for if you want to focus on a small area or a single object.
[edit] World
This option only appears if you are in one of the object editing windows (top half of the Window menu).
[edit] Lock/Unlock Selection
This will lock/unlock all selected objects. If an object is locked, you won't be able to move it or make other changes to it from the main window. You can still make changes to it by manually specifying values in the World Editor Inspector window. This option mainly exists to keep you from making any accidental changes to certain object on your map by clicking on the wrong thing. Careful: If you have multiple objects selected and even one of them is not locked, then you will delete all of them if you press the delete key.
[edit] Show/Hide Selection
Makes all selected objects visible/invisible.
[edit] Delete Selection
Deletes all selected objects.
[edit] Camera to Selection
Moves your camera to the middle of all of the selected objects.
[edit] Reset Transforms
Turns all selected objects to the default rotation angle.
[edit] Drop Selection
Moves the selection to the current drop point.
[edit] Add Selection to Instant Group
Changes the containing folder (or SimGroup) of the selected objects to the currently selected instant group. This is what you see in the box on the top right of the World Editor Creator and World Editor Inspector windows.
[edit] Drop at...
The option selected here determines where objects will be created in the World Editor Creator, and where they will be dropped from the Drop Selection option.
- Drop at Origin: Position "0 0 0" on the map.
- Drop at Camera: Current location of your camera or player, depending on which you are currently controlling.
- Drop at Camera w/ Rot: Exactly the same as above (the w/ Rot part doesn't work).
- Drop below Camera: Places the object a short distance below your current position.
- Drop at Screen Center: Where you are currently looking. Will place the object on top of another object or the terrain. If you aren't looking at anything, this will place the object at your current location.
- Drop at Centroid: Only works when creating objects. They will be placed near the center of the map.
- Drop to Ground: If you are creating an object, this places it on the ground at the center of the map. If you are using Drop Selection, this moves the object up or down to the surface of the ground.
[edit] Window
[edit] World Editor
This window doesn't have boxes on the right side of the screen, unlike the following two windows. In this window you can only move and modify objects by clicking on them - something you can also do in both of the following windows, except you don't have the extra options on the side. For that reason, this window should probably never be used - just use one of the other two instead.
[edit] World Editor Inspector
This window has all the abilities of the standard World Editor window, but also shows the SimGroup structure on the top right, and the currently selected object's properties on the bottom right. You can modify any of the properties there, and click Apply to see the effects. If you change the position of the object from this box, the changes might not appear correctly at first - the 'box' surrounding the object will move, but the object will appear to stay in place until you make another change.
[edit] World Editor Creator
This window has all the abilities of the standard World Editor window, but also shows the SimGroup structure on the top right, and a collapsible list of all creatable object on the bottom right. To place an object on the map, simply find the one you want among the bottom right list and click on it.
[edit] Mission Area Editor
Details to come later, but you can modify the mission area all you want from the World Editor Inspector window.
[edit] AI Editor
Details to come later. Spawngraphs can be generated from this window.
[edit] Terrain Editor
From this window you can make changes to the shape of the terrain. Select different options from the Action and Brush menus.
[edit] Terrain Terraform Editor
Details to come later. Almost every option in this window causes my game to crash.
[edit] Terrain Texture Editor
Details to come later.
[edit] Terrain Texture Painter
This window allows you to choose what textures your terrain will use and 'paint' the terrain with them.
