Main Screen

Main Editor Screen

The main screen of the editor consists of 5 major parts:

  1. Dungeon View
  2. Toolbar
  3. Item/Monster Panel
  4. Status Bar
  5. Menu Bar

Dungeon View

The Dungeon View provides a graphical overhead representation of the current level. Each grid square corresponds to a square in the dungeon. The icon displayed represents the basic type of the square (wall, floor, alcove, etc.).

Any items contained in the square will be displayed as blue dots. The position of the dots indicate the position of the item on the square. For most squares, this will be what corner the item is in. For alcoves, it will represent what side of the square the item is in. Monsters are also displayed, but as red dots. Again, the position of the dots determines the location of the monster. Some monsters occupy an entire square, which is represented by a dot directly in the center of the square. Finally, the initial location (or current location for saved games) of the party is displayed as a 4-color circle (this location can be changed with the Set Party Info menu option, or you can hit the Insert key while the mouse pointer is over the desired square). Targets of the current square, if any, are shown with red lines and boxes. Squares that have any targets on other levels of the dungeon will have red circles around them.

Editing is accomplished by first using the toolbar to set the mode. The default mode is Wall, which toggles between a wall and a floor. (For complete information on the toolbar modes, see below.) The mouse is used to select the square to change. Information about and coordinates of the square are shown in the status bar, and any items or monsters on the square are displayed in the item/monster panel to the right. A square can be locked by clicking the right mouse button or hitting the enter key while the cursor is over it, or by using the Lock mode toolbar button. Locking a square prevents modification of any other squares and is necessary to modify items and monsters already on it. The statusbar will indicate the locked status, and a white circle will be drawn around the square.

To edit an existing square instead of replacing it, just change the mode to its type before clicking (a shortcut for this is to click it with the middle mouse button, or hit Ctrl while the pointer is over it, or to use the Edit mode toolbar button). The resulting wizard (dialog window) will display all values of the current square, allowing some or all to be changed. Note that this only works for squares that have a wizard. Simple squares like walls have no wizard or special settings.

One other editing shortcut is the Delete key. When pressed, it will delete one item from the square the mouse pointer is currently above. If there are no more items, it will start deleting monsters, until finally when there are no items or monsters, it will convert the square to Floor.

Toolbar

The toolbar provides the basic tools for level building and for manipulating the view.


Item/Monster Panel

Displays pictures/buttons of every monster and item in the current square. When clicked on, the buttons allow modifications to be made to the monsters and items. Changes include deletion, modification of identity or other attributes, and change of corner or alcove location. Before being used, you must lock the square you are working with (right mouse button, enter key, or toolbar button).

Note that items on the square are displayed in order, with the items closer to the top of piles further down the panel. Some items, such as those carried by monsters or inside chests, will not have a button and can only be changed by editing whatever they are part of (the monster or chest holding them, for example). Items carried by monsters or inside chests always come directly below the monster or chest they are a part of.

Status Bar

The status bar displays basic information about the current square (either the currently locked square or the square the mouse cursor is currently over). If a square is locked, this will be noted. Coordinates are always displayed (level,x,y) along with the basic type. Some additional information is provided for most squares (such as target coordinates for teleporters).

Menu Bar

The menu bar provides file and map operations and sets various properties.

File Menu
Edit Menu
Levels Menu
Import Menu
Custom items and monsters you create are automatically saved into the files "custom_items.dat" and "custom_mons.dat" respectively, every time you quit the editor. These are a convenience for editing, as the items/monsters defined in the files will appear in the Item/Monster Wizards custom lists. You do not need to distribute these files with dungeons; dungeons can be played and edited without them. You can distribute these files if you wish others to be able to add the items and monsters you have designed to their own dungeons.

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