By: Brad 'BadDog' Streng
Descriptions by:
astro'
Functions:
New.
This one is pretty self explanatory, it creates a new level.
Open.
This button is used to open an existing level from your Unreal/UT
Maps folder. Any level with a .unr suffix can be opened.
Save.
This button will save the current level under it's current filename.
Undo. This button is used to
undo the last operation, or operations. You cannot undo operations
made prior to rebuilding your level. Once a level has been rebuilt,
you can only undo operations made after the rebuild.
Redo. This
will allow you to redo an operation if you click the undo button one
to many times.
Search
for Actors. Use this button to find specific Actors in your
level. Every Actor has a corresponding name associated with it as
shown above. You can search by Name, Event, or Tag. Once the Actor
is displayed on the left hand side under "Names" double
click it and all the viewports will center on the Actor. Great for
finding Actors in larger maps.
Actor
Class Browser. Use this button to browse different
"Actors" which can be placed into your level. An Actor is
any object you place into your map. Select your Actor, then right
click in the 3D viewport and add the actor from the pop up menu.
Group
Browser. All Actors and Brushes can be managed by using the
Group Bowser. Use this to easily select and modify a user defined
group. Highlight a set of Actors you want to be grouped together in
any of the viewports. Next click the Group Browser button. Next
click the New Group button and name it. Finally click the Add
Selected Actors to Group button. In the future you can activate that
group of brushes by going to the Group Browser, selecting the group
name then clicking the Select Actors in Group button.
Music
Browser. Use the Music Browser to select music to insert music
into any level. Also has the ability to import music in many
different formats as seen above. The onboard Galaxy Sound Viewport
can handle all the above file types. Use ModPlug
Tracker to make your own music! Unfortunately the
Unreal Engine does not and probably will not support MP3's.
Sound
Browser. The Sound Browser is used to insert various sound
effects to add sounds for a richer gaming experience. Make your own
custom sounds and import them into your map. As long as they
are a .wav file you are all set. Remember that .wav files can become
very large. Avoid using large .wav files because the Unreal Engine
will have a tough time with them. I have had a large .wav file not
play at all. Very useful for importing custom sounds for lifts,
doors, environments and the such.
Texture
Browser. The Texture Browser is used to apply textures to all
surfaces in your level. You can also import your own images and
create your own texture package. The current supported texture
import specs are : PCX format, 256 colors. As quoted by Tim Sweeney:
"Unreal
texture dimensions may be any powers of two from 1 to 1024. Textures
need not be square. For example, many of the textures in Unreal are
128x128, 256x128, and 256x256. Unreal's software rendering code
supports textures of any size from 1x1 up to 1024x1024."
There are a few ways you can texture and object. Highlight the
surface you want to texture then click on a texture in the texture
browser. That will add the texture to the surface you highlighted.
OR, you can select the texture you want to use in the texture
browser then hold down the ALT key on your keyboard and right click
the surface in the 3D viewport. This method is quick way to apply
textures. Also an excellent way to REMOVE a texture from a map is to
highlight the texture in the texture browser then press
"Q" on your keyboard. Then rebuild the map and save. That
hint should save you some woes down the road.
Mesh
Browser. Objects within the Unreal Engine use a Mesh to provide
a skin and/or animation for a graphical representation. All meshes
can be displayed through the Mesh Browser.
2D
Shape Editor. One of the most important editors used for
creating complex and non-standard Brushes. The 2D shaper has evolved
greatly with UnrealED2.
Unreal
Script Editor. Use this editor to manipulate scripts already
used in the Unreal Engine or create your own from scratch. Every
actor in your level can be modified through the use of scripts. You
can even create your own classes from scratch. If you want to dabble
in code, this is the place to start.
Go to Chimeric to get started with UScript.
Actor
Properties. Another extremely important interface for
configuring the advanced properties of an Actor or Brush. Notice all
of the configurable aspects of this example actor. Tweaking these
settings is where it is at.
Example usage: Let us use a light as an example. This is the interface you would use to change the color, radius and brightness of a light - just to name a few.
Surface
Properties. Used to configure the properties of a surface.
Surfaces can be scaled, panned and rotated using this interface. All
Flags for textures can be modified as well. In order to see changes
made to a flag on a texture you must rebuild first. Highlight a
surface (or surfaces) in the 3D viewport then click the Surface
Properties button. You can also right click on a surface then choose
properties from the pop up menu.
Build
Geometry. This button will only rebuild the geometry. Use this to rebuild
quickly and save time by avoiding a sometimes lengthy rebuild
process on larger maps.
Build
Lighting. This button will rebuild the lighting only.
Build
Paths. This button builds the Path Node network. Use the Actor
Class Browser to add path nodes for the Bot AI. In order for bots to
function properly you must lay path nodes then build the paths.
Otherwise the bots will stand in place - NOT a good thing
Build
All. This button builds all as defined by the current build
settings
Build
Options.
Use this button to access the interface for selecting the various build options: Lighting, BSP, Geometry and Paths. The Create Path Network button will prompt the editor to automatically add in path nodes for the bots. The editor will make it best guess as at laying the Nodes. This is not the best method for Path Noding and usually needs a lot of debugging. The Stats tab will give in in depth information including BSP, Zones, Lights and Geometry.
Thanks to Warren Marshall for the following explanations:
Portals Cut All: Defines how aggressively portal brushes cut the BSP. If you find that water zones and such aren't getting created properly, try moving this slider up a little. Most of the time you don't have to touch it ...
Balance
Tree: You can choose how you want the BSP compiler to
prioritize the polys...
less cuts or more balance in the tree. The default value is fine
99.99999% of the time ...
Build Visibility Zones: Do not change this setting!
Play
Level. This will play your map straight out of the editor. The
editor automatically saves your map before playing under the name
"autoplay" (without an extension). This in essence creates
a backup of your map in case of disaster.