Joystick Magazine 1995 July & August

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+==================================+ | Dark Forces UtilitieS and Editor | +==================================+ LEVMAP.EXE : multilayered level geometry and objects editor. Author : Yves BORCKMANS (yborckmans@abcomp.be (work)) (Please state the package version when you email me) Thanks to: Serge DEBROEYER for beta testing of the level editor, for A LOT of very useful ideas and tips, and for making a huge demo level. Welcome to the centerpiece of DFUSE: the level editor. You should also read the df_specs.doc and the levkeys.doc files. Notes: * you may access this file at any time in the level editor by hitting Ctl+F1. * search on the [NEW] keyword to see what's new since release 0.91 * also check the history.doc file. +-------------------+ | TABLE of CONTENTS | +-------------------+ O. OVERVIEW I. BASICS 1. Layout of the screen 2. Moving around and zooming 3. Changing mode 4. Selecting things 5. Changing layers II. MOVING THINGS - THE GRID III. ADDING THINGS 1. Adding sectors 2. Adding walls 3. Adding objects IV. DELETING THINGS 1. Deleting sectors 2. Deleting walls 3. Deleting objects V. ADJOIN/MIRROR/WALK 1. Adjoin/unadjoin 2. Selecting the adjoin of a wall 3. Flipping a wall VI. EDITING THINGS 1. Normal text edit 2. Flags 3. Object sequences 4. Textures and object pickers VII. SAVING THE LEVEL - NEW LEVEL - LEAVING LEVMAP 1. Saving 2. Creating a new level 3. Quitting LEVMAP IX. GOODIES 1. DOS Shell 2. Edit the .INF and .GOL files 3. Allocated things and free memory 4. Consistency checks 5. Automatic texture stitching - altitudes and light distribution 6. Deformations [NEW] 7. Polygons [NEW] X. MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS O. OVERVIEW ======== LEVMAP will permit you to: * load a Dark Forces level * make any modifications to - its geometry - its texturing (ie its look) - its objects * save the modified level In addition to this, you will be able to edit the .INF and .GOL files as text, shell out to DOS, ... I. BASICS ====== [NEW] Please note that when I use the word 'thing', I mean sector, wall, vertex or object. This isn't to be confused with DOOM THINGS which are only objects. 1. Layout of the screen -------------------- The top of it is divided in two panes. The left one is again divided, the top showing general information such as the level name, the mode, the layer, grid and scale values. The bottom presents information about the currently selected thing, focusing on its dependencies (ie If it is a wall: which sector does it belong to? What are its left and right vertices?). [NEW] You will also find there if it is a trigger, and possibly its FIRST client. The right pane displays more specific information about the thing, and also serves to edit it. [NEW] If the object is an elevator, its FIRST class will be shown. All the rest of the screen is filled by the map of the level. In the lower left corner, you'll also find the current position of the pointer, a reminder of the editing mode, and the number of 'multiselected' objects. 2. Moving around and zooming ------------------------- When you begin a LEVMAP session, the map will be centered on the screen, and displayed at a 1:1 scale. However, this isn't by far the best way to work on it. You will need to be able to scroll the display to the point that interest you, and then zoom in to make details visible. Use the cursor keys to move the screen. [NEW] The cursor keys are also emulated with the mouse. Just put the pointer completely against the side of the screen, then click (and optionally hold) the LEFT mouse button to scroll the screen. Note that if you don't find this natural and would like to invert the movements and move the map instead, type Alt+R for reverse. To zoom, use the '+' and '-' keys. Notice how the coordinates are updated, and how the scale changes in the top/left pane. Two more keys: '/' will recenter the map, and '*' will reset the scale back to 1. To quickly setup to edit something, point to it and press the 'c' key. This will center the screen on the cursor AND zoom * 4. 3. Changing mode ------------- At startup, the editing mode will be SECTORS [S]. You can change to VERTICES by pressing [V], to WALLS with [W], and to OBJECTS by hitting [O]. Try them all, and notice how the panes and the map change. [NEW] See how elevators, triggers and secrets are colored. Notice how the selected wall shows to which sector it belongs by drawing a perpendicular in its direction. Also note how the selected object's orientation is represented, and how objects are differentiated by shapes and colors. [NEW] A quick note for DEU users: you can also use [L] for walls, and [T] for objects. 4. Selecting things ---------------- Change back to OBJECTS [O]. Move the mouse pointer near one of them, and click the left mouse button. The object becomes selected. [NEW] Change to SECTORS, try the same on a few sectors. Notice how you cannot select 'outside' of all the sectors, or 'inside' a sector gap. Important: there is a problem when two sectors overlap ON THE SAME LAYER ! You simply have to change the layer of one of the sectors to avoid problems in SC and WL selection, and also in objects layering. [NEW] Change to WALLS and select a few walls. Notice how clicking on both sides of adjoined walls selects one or the other. Then switch to VERTICES. Remember that there are very often two vertices at the same place. If you don't seem to be able to select the one you want, try to hold down the Control key when clicking with the left button. This will in effect select the 'next nearest' vertex, and is quite useful. You may also use the keyboard to select things. In SECTOR or OBJECT modes, the 'N' and 'P' keys will respectively select the next and previous SC/OB. In VERTEX or WALL modes, they will select the next and previous VX/WL, but cycling INSIDE the sector. In sector mode, you have yet another possibility: if a sector has a name, you may press the 'F' key to obtain a sorted picklist of the sector names. The same key, but in wall mode, will select the adjoin of a wall. [NEW] In object mode, 'F' will select the PLAYER start position. [NEW] Also in object mode, you may elect to show only the difficulty level you want to see by using the '1', '2' and '3' keys respectively for EASY, MED and HARD. The '0' (zero) key will restore the display to ALL objects. Note that you won't be able to select hidden objects. There is another kind of selection: the MULTIPLE selection. This will allow you to perform some operations on many things at the same time. You may either hold the Shift key while selecting, or make a normal selection (including with the keyboard or with the Control key) and add it to the multiple selection by pressing the SPACEBAR. Note the different color for the selected things, the color change in the upper left pane, and the number of multiselected things that appears next to the mouse position. Also note that some texturing multi operations require you to select things IN A CERTAIN ORDER. If you multiselect one or more sectors and switch to WALL or VERTICES modes, the multiselection is converted to a wall or vertices multiselection. Idem if you multiselect walls and switch to VERTICES mode. Note that the reverse is NOT true. To clear a multiselection, use the BACKSPACE key. 5. Changing layers --------------- You may have noticed that some lines seem to be 'shadowed'. These are in fact on other layers. Imagine that the level is drawn on stacked transparent plastic sheets, and that one of them is hilighted. You can change the current layer by using the 'Page Up' and 'Page Down' keys. You can toggle the shadow on and off by hitting the Alt + S key combination. [NEW] Objects also have been given layer information, and they are drawn accordingly. Objects that couldn't be associated with a sector are drawn on all layers. The Alt + O key combo will toggle the use of object layering. It is also useful to do a double Alt + O toggle from times to times, because object layers are only updated when the OBJECT is modified, and not when the sectors, walls or vertices are modified (moving a wall could pass an object outside, or in another sector, ...) as this would be MUCH too long to check. Note that making the OB -> SC link is a lenghty operation in big levels, but as it is the default option, LEVMAP will do it a load time. So, if you are currently working only on the geometry, you may want to disable object layering in DFUSE.INI: simply set OBLAYER=0 in the [LEVMAP-OPTIONS] section. Also notice that if multiple keys are in the buffer, LEVMAP will stop drawing the shadow (and the grid) to gain some time. The last key will draw it correctly except if you enter an editor but this isn't really a big issue. The current layer is always drawn correctly. So, if you haven't done it yet, go and take a look at it. From DFUSE main menu, select [L]evel [C]hoose, select the level you want, then choose [M]ap. Try moving the map, zoom and unzoom it, center it, change the current layer, then try changing modes and selecting some objects. II. MOVING THINGS - THE GRID ======================== Once you have selected something, the most frequent operation is to move it. This is done with the RIGHT mouse button. For instance, select an object, then move the pointer, and press the right mouse button: the object moves to the pointer position. Note that this is 'point and click', not 'drag and drop'. Often, you have to move a vertex and place it exactly on another vertex. To do this, hold down the ALT key while right clicking. The vertex will be moved right on top of the one nearest to the pointer. This has been implemented to help move the vertices of adjoined walls. I could have moved the vertices together, but you would have lost the chance to "move a vertex and see what's under" (I really don't know how to explain this, I just know I do it when I'm a bit lost in a 'knot' of vertices !). When you move a wall or a sector, everything happens as if you moved its first vertex (the one that is bigger). All the other vertices undergo exactly the same displacement. Note that the ALT key trick also works for the walls and sectors, and that the adjoins are ALSO moved. A grid has also been implemented. It will help you position the things you move more efficiently. To activate it, press Alt + G. Notice the dots that appear on the screen. They mark the grid positions. If you now move something, it will 'SNAP' to the nearest grid position. You can decrease or increase the grid size with the 'g' and 'G' keys. To get rid of it, press the Alt + G key again. Note that the ALT key 'drop-on-a-vertex' function will continue to function correctly, even with the grid on. When you have made a multiselection, you move the 'bigger' vertex (which is vertex 0 of the current sector or wall, or the current vertex), and all the others follow. Again, try to move a few things, with and without the grid. Change the grid settings. III. ADDING THINGS ============= Please note - and this is true in all the modes - that LEVMAP does NEVER create a thing, it ALWAYS works by duplicating something that already exists. As you will always start a new level either by modifying an existing one, or by using newlevl!.exe, this will never be a problem, because you'll always have at least one sector and one object. That may seem strange, but it has many advantages. The first of which is that you construct levels logically, so if you have set settings for a sector and its walls, a copy will inherit them all. The second advantage is that you can copy a very complex sector and duplicate it elsewhere. [NEW] The only 'exception' to this is the POLYGON goodie (see). 1. Adding sectors -------------- This is quite easy: select the sector you want to copy, then move the cursor to where you want the duplicate, and press the 'Insert' key. And hey presto, another sector. Note how it has exactly the same settings as its ancestor. Also note that this sector is completely independent and one of its walls will need to be connected (adjoined) to a wall of an other existing sector. [NEW] This also works in multiselection, with just one slight modification: here the relations between the selected sectors are preserved (adjoins), but the links to sectors OUTSIDE the multiselection are severed. Note that you will probably still have to edit the sector names, and the .INF file. During that time, the color representation will possibly be wrong, but I prefer to leave it that way, because it gives a visual feedback of things to change. You will be asked if you want to transfer the selection: this means set the multiselection to the copy instead of the original sectors and is quite useful, as you'll probably want to rotate it, or move it more precisely in place. There is another way to create a sector, and it is done at the wall level. It is called 'extruding' a wall, and will create another sector, AND adjoin/mirror it to the selected wall. This is done by pressing the 'E' key. This new sector has the sector settings of the sector to which belong the extruded wall, and its walls have the caracteristics of the extruded wall. Also note that it is created orthogonally to the extruded wall, the perpendiculars having just one quarter of the extruded wall lenght. BIG HINT: this is a very quick way to construct doors and stairs. A third thing concerning sectors: you may create a 'gap' in a sector by selecting it, positionning the mouse cursor somewhere inside and pressing the 'Alt + Insert' keys. This is the base of inserting a sector inside another one. You just have to use the first method to create a new sector, set it in place, and adjoin the walls ! 2. Adding walls ------------ As we have seen just above, a wall may be extruded to create a new sector. There is another operation that needs to be done on a wall: splitting it. The 'Insert' key will do just that. The wall will be 'cut' in half, in effect creating a new wall (and a new vertex). Splitting adjoined wall is supported, also splitting the adjoined wall, and reestablishing the links. This is a bit slow (around 2 or 3 secs), as it forces two hard disk 'insert' operations on the walls swap file which is generally quite big (you have to pay somewhere for the direct access !). Please note that splitting multiple walls still isn't supported (and seeing the time the preceeding one takes, I don't know if it will ever be !) Also note that there is no vertex insertion, because the wall insertion does it ! 3. Adding objects -------------- This is the easiest addition: select an object, move the cursor and press the 'Insert' key to get a copy. Note that you may have to change its altitude. [NEW] This also works in multiselection. You will be asked if you want to transfer the selection: this means set the multiselection to the copy instead of the original objects. IV. DELETING THINGS =============== 1. Deleting sectors ---------------- Just select the sector an press the 'Delete' key. Notice that the sector doesn't disappear, but that its color changes. This is because the sector can be UNDELETED (by pressing the Alt + Del key combo). This may be done until you quit the editor OR you use the 'save and reload' function. Also note that the walls of the deleted sector AREN'T unadjoined/unmirrored so that you can also use the undelete function as a quick UNDO. 2. Deleting walls -------------- Again, select the wall and press 'Delete'. Be careful, as there is NO undelete for the walls. Notice how the other walls are affected, and how a vertex is also deleted. Also note that there is no vertex deletion, as the wall deletion does it. Try to get a feel of which wall to delete, as it is a little confusing at the beginning. 3. Deleting objects ---------------- The simplest of all: you can use 'Delete' and Alt + Del. V. ADJOIN/MIRROR/WALK ================== 1. Adjoin/unadjoin --------------- If you select a wall and press the 'A' key, the editor will search for an adjoin/mirror to that wall, and if it finds one, will do all the modifications to the adjoin, mirror and walk fields for you. Note that this will also work in a multiselection. On the opposite, you can UNadjoin a pair of walls by selecting one of them and pressing the Alt + A keys. This also works in a multiselection. 2. Selecting the adjoin of a wall ------------------------------ This is very useful in many cases. All you have to do is press the 'F' key. 3. Flipping a wall --------------- Flipping a wall will swap its start and end vertices. Be careful with this, as a wrongly oriented wall in a sector will give you a 'Hall of Mirrors' effect, which DOOM level creators know very well. You should try it voluntarily once, just so that you know and can recognize HOMs. [NEW] Warning: it seems that some game engine quirks also give HOM like effects, with complicated non-convex and imbricated sectors, but also simply if the area is too big (> 250 units). So don't get confused ! So, why is flipping useful ? Well, there is a very specific case in which this option may win you a lot of time. This is a little difficult to follow, so don't hesitate to come back to it later. Imagine you have a sector into which you must insert a very complicated other sector. Normally, the technique would be to insert one or more gaps (Alt + Ins), split the walls of the gaps and put their vertices into place, then copy one or more sectors, split their walls, put their vertices into place, and finally select all the walls that need to be adjoined, and press the 'A' key. This works perfectly well, but did you notice that exactly the same things were done twice ? So, here is a much faster solution (taking about half the time). Construct your first sector as you like it, inserting the gaps, and so on. Then copy THAT one, and put it on a free space on your map for now. Quickly switch to WALLS mode. The first wall is selected. Delete it and delete all the 'exterior' walls, so that you stay with all the 'gaps'. Now, you could copy them in place, and adjoin the walls. WRONG ! Because the walls have exactly the same orientation as the original ones, and mirrors must be 'piggy back'. Switch back to SECTORS, press the spacebar to multiselect, then switch back to WALLS. Press Alt + F to flip all the selected walls! Now, all you have to do is to move all these walls into place (take note of the 'big' vertex position, and use the Alt + right mouse trick). Once they are, just press the 'A' key to create all the adjoins/mirrors. OK, it seems much longer in text, but believe me it is actually much faster on complicated interior sectors than the first method. - So, we know all we need about modifying the level geometry, except one thing: "How to set the altitudes ?" - To answer this and a lot of other things as well (life, the universe, ...), it is time to introduce ... the EDITORS ! VI. EDITING THINGS ============== There are five editors in LEVMAP: for SECTORS, WALLS, VERTICES, OBJECTS, and for the general level information (level name, palette, ...). The first four of them will work with multiselection, and will use the right pane to edit (see the specs for an explanation of all the fields). Note that you can access them two different ways: - if you press the ENTER key, you'll edit the selected thing - if you press Alt + ENTER and you have a multisel, you'll edit ALL the things The first field of the pane will be hilited (note that if you selected a multiple edit with Alt+ENTER all the LABELS will also be hilited). You can now use the cursor keys to move that hilite, and the ENTER key to edit the current field. Press the Esc key to leave the editor. You can also press the 'c' or 'C' key to change the current picklist file for textures when in SECTOR or WALL editing modes. Note that you'll have to create new textXXXX.dfu files in DFUDATA and update textures.dfu to use this feature. So, you'll be able to dynamically select picklists which you created with your own selection and sorting. [NEW] You can press the 's' or 'S' key to automatically generate sequences for the current object when in OBJECT editor mode. You can also use the 'g' or 'G' key to transform the current object into a generator. If different LOGICs may be associated with the chosen object, the editor will insert all of them, and signal it to you with a 'Choose LOGIC !' message next to the Seq field. When you create a generator, you will get the 'Edit GENERATOR !' message to remind you it has default settings. Important: these operations do affect ONLY the current object, EVEN if you are editing a multisel with Alt + ENTER. To propagate the changes, you must edit the 'Seq' field. There are four possible types of fields: 1. Normal text edit ---------------- These are classic edit fields. You start with the previous content, and edit by using Delete, Backspace, the cursor keys, Home, End and so on. Press Enter to accept changes, or Esc to get the original value back. 2. Flags ----- The flags will show as a list of bits you can select or deselect at will with the Spacebar. Press ENTER to accept changes. LEVMAP now fully supports the 20 bits of SC FLAG 1. Important: when editing the flags in multiple selection, you are NOT copying the final flag value across the multiple selection, as is the case for all the other fields. What happens is that you propagate the changes made. Suppose you set the bit 2, all the bits 2 will be set, but the other bits are left alone. 3. Object sequences ---------------- The .O file contains data for the objects that is very variable and delimited in the file by the SEQ and ENDSEQ keywords. The 'Seq' label shows the number of lines between SEQ and ENDSEQ. When it is current and you try to edit it, your text editor will open up, with SEQ, ENDSEQ and all the lines between. Edit it as you like, but watch the comments on the first and last lines which will tell you how much lines/columns you may enter. When you have finished editing, save and exit from your text editor. Note: remember the automatic sequences ! 4. Textures and object pickers --------------------------- It would be tedious to type texture or object names, so when you edit them, a list of values appears, as well as a graphical view. Note that you don't need to wait while the images are being drawn to move in the list. You can use the Up, Down, Page Up, PageDown, Home and End keys to move. Pressing ENTER will accept your choice, and ESC will cancel. Warning: if you press ESC while selecting a texture for a SIGN, its value will be set to [none]. Please note that the textures sizes are in the map 'scale' you have to multiply them by 8 to get the size of the image in pixels. [NEW] Remember you can change the picklist with the 'c' or 'C' keys. If you edit the OBJECT Class, a small list of values will also appear, and if you change the Class you will immediately jump into the list of values for that Class. The fifth (and less used) editor is still in a text mode 'beta' presentation, you can access it by pressing the 'M' key. Also note that the editing is very bad (a simple cscanf) and you cannot backspace, and so on. It allows you to alter the level name, both in the LEV and O files, the music file, the palette, and so on. Note that this data may be irrelevant (see the specs). The author information and map comments should be set in DFUSE.INI instead, as cscanf won't accept whitespace between words. VII. SAVING THE LEVEL - NEW LEVEL - LEAVING LEVMAP ============================================= 1. Saving ------ Saving the level is easy: just press the 'F2' key. The screen will switch to text mode to show the progress of the save, then come back to graphics. If it is the first time you save in a session, a backup will also be done in the BACKUPS directory. An alternative is to use the 'F3' key, which will save AND RELOAD the level. This will have two major consequences: - the deleted sectors and objects will now be TRULY deleted (no more UNDELETE) - their memory and disk usage will be reclaimed 2. Creating a new level -------------------- You'll have to quit LEVMAP and DFUSE to do this. Go to the DARK directory, and launch newlevl!.exe . This will create six NEWLEVEL files, with the extensions .LEV, .O, .INF, .GOL, .PAL, and .CMP . Now, all you have to do is rename them with a level name of your choice. It isn't laziness not to have put this in a menu, it's security ! Those files contain a minimal level, with useful things already in place. You will find a complete sector, a start sector with the SPIRIT, and a 'shopping center' sector containing a selection of useful objects to copy. The .INF file contains a complete elevator. 3. Quitting LEVMAP --------------- Just press the ESC key! If you have any unsaved changes, LEVMAP will ask you if you want to save them (F2), lose them and quit (ENTER) or return to the editor (any other key). IX. GOODIES ======= These are the features that I couldn't place anywhere else, which doesn't at all mean that they are not frequently used. 1. DOS Shell --------- Just press the 'Z' key. Type 'exit' to return to LEVMAP. This is also a quick way to force a refresh of the screen. Windows for instance has a bad habit of trashing my screen when I switch back to LEVMAP from a Windows app. 2. Edit the .INF and .GOL files ---------------------------- Just press the 'i' key for the .INF, and the 'I' key for the .GOL . 3. Allocated things and free memory -------------------------------- Pressing Alt + C will show you a statistics display, with the number of sectors, walls, vertices, objects, textures, and objects by class. It will also show you the 'far core left', which is a only a cute little name for 'free conventionnal memory'. 4. Consistency checks ------------------ The 'F10' key will generate a report on level consistency. * check all the possible adjoin/mirror/walk errors. * check that number of VX and number of WL match. [NEW] * check that Floor is not higher than Ceiling. [NEW] * show the objects for which a sector could not be found. [NEW] * show if PLAYER start is missing, or if there are more than one. [NEW] * check that items: in the .INF is the number of item: [NEW] You really should use it after complex modifications, it is super and may help find a lot of 'stupid' mistakes. Notes: * Errors of the type 'ADJOIN not CORRECT' may be detected if you change the adjoins in the .INF and set the 'wrong' value in the .LEV . * #VX different from #WL isn't a true 'sector closed' check, but it helps. What's more, DF accept open sectors (see SECBASE SC #3). * Some objects give an sector error. This occurs when two sectors overlap on the same layer. Solution: change the layer! If the sectors don't overlap, then the object is completely out of the map or not between a floor and a ceiling. 5. Automatic texture stitching - altitudes and light distribution -------------------------------------------------------------- These features all work on ORDERED multiselections which is to say that you have to create your multiselection in the correct order (remember SECTOR multiselection for 1 sector converted to WALL multiselection IS in order!). Here are all the keys: F5 MID TX horizontal stitching from start Alt + F5 TOP TX horizontal stitching from start Ctl + F5 BOT TX horizontal stitching from start F6 MID TX horizontal stitching to end Alt + F6 TOP TX horizontal stitching to end Ctl + F6 BOT TX horizontal stitching to end F7 MID TX vertical stitching Alt + F7 TOP TX vertical stitching Ctl + F7 BOT TX vertical stitching F8 Distributes Floor and Ceiling altitudes Alt + F8 Distributes Floor altitudes Ctl + F8 Distributes Ceiling altitudes Shf + F8 Distributes Ambient lights What does this mean ? Well, texture stitching is a very important part of your level. It is only aesthetical, but will make all the difference between a good level and a beautiful level! So, texture stitching is the art (?) of choosing correct offsets for your textures, so that the walls look continuous. You have to know that Dark Forces will apply the chosen texture on each wall (this is called 'texture mapping') from the same start point. So, if you look at the lateral walls of a staircase you'll see something like this: +------+ | **** +------+ | | **** +------+ +------+ | **** | +------+ | +------+ If the texture is uniform, all will be good, but suppose there is a pattern in it (represented by the ****). This will look awful as the lines of stars won't match from step to step. The solution to this is to apply offsets to the textures, so that they will match. This is vertical stitching. Note that this is also the case on simple walls. Suppose the wall is mapped with a 16 units wide texture, and the geometry of the room asks for the following walls: +----------+----+-------------+ |0123456789|0123|0123456789ABC| | | | | +----------+----+-------------+ Your texture will normally start at 0 at each wall, and again give an awful look. You must use offsets to make it look like the much better: +----------+----+-------------+ |0123456789|ABCD|EF0123456789A| | | | | +----------+----+-------------+ This is horizontal texture stitching. The difference between 'from start' and 'to end' is that the program will calculate the offsets 'from' the offset of the first selected wall, OR 'to' the offset of the last selected wall. Try to completely stitch a staircase manually, and you'll understand all this ! While we are speaking about stairs, lets explain the altitudes distributions. Suppose you construct a simple staircase: +----+----+----+----+----+----+ | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | | | | | | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+ You'll decide that the floors and the ceilings will be distributed between sector 1 (-3.00, 6.00) and sector 6 (5.00 and 14.00). All you have to do is to complete those values, multiselect all the sectors, then Distribute! The program will calculate all the intermediate values. Please note that you must do this BEFORE vertical texture stitching. Light distribution is exactly the same, to create fading ambient lights. A last note on texture stitching: there is another kind of stitching which isn't automated for now. Look at this door, which is surrounded by 'beautifiers' sectors. +-------------+--------+--------------+ | | TOP | | | | | | | MID +--------+ MID | | | | | | | | | | | | | +-------------+--------+--------------+ The TOP texture above the beautifier sector should be aligned both horizontally and vertically with the MIDs on each side. You may use the value calculated for its MID texture x offset, but you'll have to calculate the y offset. This is quite easy, just make in your mind the TOP texture start at the place where the MID texture would! 6. Deformations [NEW] ------------ The 'D' key will open a dialog box where you can encode values for multiple deformations. Translate, Scale and Rotate are self explanatory. The reference point for those last two is as usual (ie the same as for the moves). Note that the values for flip are 0 (DON'T FLIP) or 1 (FLIP). Flipping works in object and sector modes. Because after the flip the walls and vertices are completely shuffled, it is near impossible to determine which I can modify and which I cannot modify, so I'll allow only complete sectors to be flipped. And even so, it isn't clear how to rearrange the sectors with gaps. Sector flipping is still to be considered BETA, always SAVE before trying it. The dialog box will clear the fields each time you use it, but: 'P' will get previous values 'R' will get the reverse of the previous values (note that only the inverse of a simple operation will work correctly, as LEVMAP will apply the deformations in the same order the second time) 7. Polygons [NEW] -------- The 'K' key will open a dialog box where you can encode values for generating polygons. It will default to the mouse pointer position (nearest grid point if the grid is on) for the polygon center X and Z values, but you can of course choose completely different coordinates. The last two values are simply the radius of the polygon and the number of sides it will have. As in the Deformations, the 'P' key will restore the previous values in the dialog. By using the Alt + K key combo, you can create a polygon as a GAP INSIDE a sector (exactly like Alt + Ins, but prettier). Important: don't forget to SELECT the sector before. Ctl + K will do both operations, and adjoin all the needed walls. This in effect makes it a 'Create Subsector' function. Note that from times to times, some adjoins may not be made correctly because of some obscure rounding problems in the vertices coordinates. Take the offending vertex, move it, then use the Alt + RIGHT MOUSE trick to put it back exactly on the other, then readjoin the walls. X. MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS ===================== LEVMAP will read the .INF file correctly if comments are used in the following ways: /* class: elevator move_floor */ /* class: elevator move_floor */ /* class: elevator move_floor */ /* class: elevator move_floor */ Things will go very badly if you use comments embedded in a line: class: elevator /* move_ceiling */ move_floor [WRONG!]