The Level Editor is reached by choosing "Build" from the Main Menu. You can use it to edit any hold (dungeon), level or room in the game's data file.
The Level Editor has the following options available:
Choose Hold - Choose any of the holds to edit them.
Choose one from the hold list to select it, or add one of your
own by clicking "New Hold". You will be asked to provide your new
hold with a name and
description that users will see it by. Click "Rename" or
"Describe" to change the hold name and description at any time.
Click "Copy" to make a duplicate copy of the selected hold. Click
"Ending" to create a personalized message that players will see upon
finishing your hold. Click
"Delete" to permanently erase the selected hold from the game.
This is a serious
thing, so make sure it's what you want to do!
Holds you create can be exported for other players to import and use
from the
hold selection screen.
Who Can Edit? - Each hold is
accessable in the editor depending on its editing
privileges. The "Who Can Edit?" box specifies which
players can view and edit your hold. "Anyone" means that any
player who has imported your hold can view
and
modify it any way they want to. Selecting
"You and Conquerors" means that a player will be
able to view and edit your hold once they have completed it (found a
stairway exiting the hold).
Selecting "Only You" means that no other player can ever access your
hold in the editor. (this is the default)
When you modify a room in someone else's hold, you will be asked to confirm the changes. If you agree, a modified copy of the original hold will be made and you become listed as the creator of the new, modified hold. The hold name and description are changed accordingly. This denotes to you and other players that your version of the hold is a modification of someone else's hold.
You might want to release one or more versions of your hold for playtesting, fix any problems that players find, and then release a final version of your hold. If so, keep in mind that editing privileges that you give away in early versions of your hold can allow players to edit your hold in the final release. For example, suppose you set "Who can edit?" to "You and conquerors" for a hold you were making. You release an early version of it with one level for playtesting. Players who beat this one level gain editing rights to all versions of the hold--past, present, and future. If you release an improved version of your hold the following month with 30 levels, all the people that beat your much smaller hold will still have editing rights to your 30-level masterpiece. They can use the editor to learn secrets and skip past hard rooms. Maybe you don't want this kind of thing to happen. If so, I recommend that you leave "Who can edit?" set to "Only you" until your final release. There's no rule that says you have to let other people edit your hold either--that's up to you.
For collaboration with other authors, you can set "Who can edit?" to "Anyone" and distribute a private copy of your hold just to the people you trust. For instance, suppose a guy named "Bubba" is putting together a "Bubba's Best of 2004" hold that contains a collection of levels from different authors, and you want to send him some of your favorites. To accomplish this, create a hold and set "Who can edit?" to "Anyone". Then copy the levels you want to send into the hold, export the hold to a file, and e-mail the file to Bubba. When Bubba gets your hold, he can copy levels from it into his hold. Bubba's hold can have different editing rights so that nobody who receives the final version will be allowed to edit.
Choose Level - Choose any of the levels in the selected hold to edit them. Choose one from the level list to select it, or add one of your own by clicking "New Level". You will be asked to provide your new level with a name and description (the introductory text) that users will see when playing. Click "Rename" or "Describe" to change the level name and description at any time. Click "1st Level" to make this level the hold entrance, or the level a player starts on when playing your hold. Click "Delete" to permanently erase the selected level from the game. You will be asked to designate where level exits that went to the deleted level will now go to instead. Hit <Ctrl-X> to cut the selected level or <Ctrl-C> to copy it. Hit <Ctrl-V> to paste that level to the currently selected position in the level list.
Level Settings - Displays
the author of the selected level and the date the level was created.
Choose Room - Click on the level map to select any room in the selected level. A miniature view of the room will be displayed in the bottom right corner of the screen. Click on a blank area of the map adjacent to an existing room to add a new room to the level at that location. Hit <Ctrl-X> to cut and <Ctrl-C> to copy the selected room on the map. Hit <Ctrl-V> to paste that room to the currently selected spot on the map. Hit the <delete> key to permanently erase a room from the level.
Room Style - Each room can have a given style, or motif,
associated with it. Choose one from the list to set the selected
room to that motif.
Is Required - Check this box
to require players to beat the currently selected room before the level
can be completed (i.e., blue doors open). If no monsters exist in
a required room, the player is at least required to visit it
once. Unchecking this box means the player does not have to visit
or conquer the selected room in order to complete the level.
Click the "Edit Room" button or click on the mini-room image to begin editing the selected room.