Mission Editor Manual
From AAManual
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Introduction
This manual is a reference guide to the functions of the America’s Army Mission Editor. It will cover the functions of each of the sections and buttons in the Mission Editor. To learn to build maps for the America’s Army game please refer to the Dusk and Border tutorials.
The most useful reference for the Editor is at http://wiki.beyondunreal.com/wiki/ which contains much more detailed information on level building and Unreal based Editors.
Startup
The main sections of the editor are the Drop Menu, General Editor functions, Editor Mode and Building functions, the Viewports, and the Editor settings.
Drop Menu Options
The drop menu is at the top of the screen. Its main sections are:
- File: Saving and opening files.
- Edit: Undo and Redo, Search for Actors, Cut, Copy and Paste, Delete, Duplicate and Selection options.
- View: Open Log window, Show browsers for various types of Objects, Properties for Actors, Surfaces and Level, and Viewport configuration.
- Brush: Working with the current Builder Brush, Add and Subtract brush, Add special brush types.
- Build: Various build options to play the level, rebuild different parts of the level for testing, or build the whole level.
- Tools: Tools to Scale Lights, edit Particles, check map for errors, etc.
- Help: Tip of the Day option, link to UDN – the Unreal Developer Network site that has very detailed information on map building and editing.
You may use these functions here or in other parts of the interface as buttons.
General Editor Functions
The general editor functions mirror many of the functions in the drop down menu.
Map File Functions
- New Map - Create a new map. It will close the current open map.
- Open Map - Open an existing map. It will close the current open map.
- Save Map – Save the current open map.
Undo and Redo buttons
- Undo – Undo your last action, also Ctrl-Z.
- Redo – Redo your last undo, also Ctrl-Y.
Search for Actor button
- Search for Actor – brings up the search for actor window.
Browser Buttons
These buttons bring up the browser windows for different types of objects.
- Actor Browser – Browser for Actor Classes.
- Group Browser – Browser for User defined groups.
- Music Browser – Not used.
- Sound Browser – Browser for Sounds.
- Texture Browser – Browser for Textures.
- Mesh Browser – Browser for Vertex Meshes.
- Prefab Browser – Not used
- Static Mesh Browser – Browser for Static Mesh objects.
- Animation Browser – Browser for Characters and Animations.
Actor Browser
Group Browser
Sound Browser
Texture Browser
Mesh Browser
Static Mesh Browser
Animation Browser
Actor and Surface Properties
These buttons bring up the properties of the currently select actor or brush surface.
Actor Properties
Surface Properties
Note: The texture applied to the surface is in the title bar of the window.
Build Level Buttons
These buttons control various elements of building your map. If you need to rebuild to test only lighting or moving a brush, you can build only that type of object.
Build Geometry
Use this to build the map when you have made geometric changes, adding brushes, moving volumes, subtracting new spaces, etc.
Build Lighting
Use this to build all lighting for the level.
Build Changed Lighting
Use this to build only the lights that have changed or are new to the level.
Build Paths
Use to build all paths. Generally not used in this version.
Build Changed Paths
Use to build only paths that have changed. Generally not used in this version.
Build All
Use to build the entire level and all objects based on settings in Build Options.
Build Options
These settings affect how your level is built. Generally, the default settings will be fine. If your map has speed problems, you may wish to adjust the BSP settings to try to get better performance. If you deselect any of these sections they will not be rebuilt using the build all button.
Play Map Button
This will play your map in a window. It provides a quick way to see your level run and test changes.
Editor Mode and Building Functions
Camera Mode
General camera mode allows you to move the camera freely in viewports with ctrl key and mouse buttons.
Edit Vertices Mode
Mode to make vertex editing easier.
Scale Brush Mode
Select a brush, then select this mode to scale it. Use ctrl key and mouse buttons to scale brush smaller or larger.
Brush Rotate Mode
Select a brush and then this mode to enable rotating a brush on all 3 axes.
Texture Pan Mode
This allows you to pan a texture along the surface of a brush in the 3D viewport.
Texture Rotate Mode
This allows you to rotate a texture on the surface of a brush in the 3D viewport.
Brush Clipping Mode
Not used. See UDN for more info.
Freehand Polygon Drawing Mode
Freeform editing mode that allows you to draw the outline of the shape you want and then extrude it into 3D.
Face Drag Mode
Select the face of a brush and stretch it using ctrl key and mouse buttons.
Terrain Editing Mode
Opens the terrain editor. See tutorials for more information on editing terrain.
Matinee Editor Mode
Generally not used. See UDN for more info.
Builder Brush Shapes
These buttons create various builder brush shapes. Each has properties related to its shape. Right click on each button to display its properties, then click build.
Cube
Used to create rectangular or square shapes.
Ground Spiral Staircase
Used to create a spiral staircase that is solid from the top step to the ground.
Floating Spiral Staircase
Used to create a spiral staircase with steps that are only as thick as the step thickness setting that rise up from the ground.
Staircase
Used to create a straight staircase.
BSP Terrain
Used to create a bsp-based terrain patch, that may be edited in the vertice editing mode.
Sheet
Used to create a flat sheet based around the selected axis.
Cylinder
Used to create cylindrical bsp objects.
Cone
Used to create conical bsp objects.
Sphere
Used to create smooth spherical objects by adding a high number of polygons.
Volumetric Shape
Used to create volumetric low-polygon objects, like card trees or fire.
Subtract, Add, Volume and Mesh Objects
Add Button
Adds a bsp shape based on the current Builder Brush.
Subtract Button
Subtracts a bsp shape based on the current Builder Brush.
Intersect Button
This alters the shape of your builder brush to fit it inside any bsp geometry it may intersect.
DeIntersect Button
This alters the shape of your builder brush to keep it outside of any bsp geometry it may be intersecting.
Add Special Brush Button
This creates a special brush such as an anti-portal. See the tutorials for info on anti-portals.
Add Static Mesh Button
This adds a static mesh based on the currently selected static mesh in the static mesh browser.
Add Mover Brush Button
This adds a move object based on the currently selected static mesh in the static mesh browser. The type of mover object may be selected by right-clicking on the Add Mover button.
Add Anti-Portal Brush Button
Used to add an anti-portal. See tutorials for more info on anti-portals.
Add Volume Button
Used to add a game volume type to map. See tutorials for more info on game volumes.
Selection and Camera Buttons
Show Selected Actors Button
This will hide any actors that are currently unselected, and ignore actors that are selected.
Hide Selected Actors Button
This will hide any actors that are currently selected. Unselected actors will display as normal.
Show All Actors Button
This will show all actors( unhide them ).
Invert Selection Button
This will unselect any selected actors, and select all the unselected.
Change Camera Speed Button
Changes the camera movement speed, 3 settings, slow, medium, fast.
Align Cameras Button
This aligns the cameras in all viewports to the currently selected actor.
Copy Builder Brush to Selected Polygon Button
This will create a Builder Brush that is the same shape and size of the currently selected bsp object.
Editor Setting Buttons
These buttons affect the settings for the viewport and provide information about object selection.
Show Terrain Button
Use to show terrain in the current viewport.
Show Fog Button
Use to show fog in the current viewport.
Lock Selections Button
Turn on to disable object selection, to ensure your current selection stays selected or to disable selecting of any new object.
Toggle Vertex Snap Button
Turn on to have vertices snap to nearest grid point.
Toggle Drag Grid and Grid Size
When on, objects move to nearest grid point, based on the current grid size.
Toggle Rotation Grid
When on, rotated objects snap to nearest rotational unit in 64 unit increments. Approximately 5.625 degrees per rotation.
Selection Counter
Show the number of currently selected objects.
DrawScale3D
Allows you to change the draw scale of the selected object in X, Y and Z. Values of 1.0 are the value of a normal sized object. 0.5 for each would make it half-size. 2.0 for each would double the size.
Viewports
Each viewport may be changed to whichever setting or view you like. The default configuration will have a top-down view, a front view, a side view and a 3D perspective view. You may change the configuration under the View menu.
Realtime Preview
Turns on some realtime views of systems such as particle systems.
Top View
A 2D top-down view.
Front View
A 2D front view.
Side View
A 2D Side view.
Perspective
A wireframe view.
Texture Usage
A view with no lighting. BSP brushes are rendered with the same color. Static meshes are rendered with textures.
BSP Cuts
A view that shows where the engine has made BSP cuts. An area with a large number of cuts may need to be simplified or modified to improve performance.
Textured
A view with textures applied but no lighting. Allows you to see texture alignments without lighting and shadowing hindering your view.
Lighting Only
A view that shows how much light a particular area is receiving. Black is the least light, white is the most light.
Dynamic Light
A view that is closest to how the level will look in the game engine at runtime. This is not dynamic lighting, however, to see dynamic lighting also, turn on the Realtime Preview.
Zone/Portal
A view that shows how a level is divided up into Zones and Portals. Each Zone is its own color.
Depth Complexity
This view shows the levels of overdraw from a viewpoint. Green is the least amount of overdraw and the fastest. Red is the most amount of overdraw and the slowest. A useful view to optimize your level.
Lock To Selected Actor
Locks the camera to the selected actor so that the camera and actor will move as one.
Show Large Vertices
A view to show brushes with large amounts of vertices that could affect performance.
Note : The following views apply to a viewport that is not in a 2D Front, Top or Side view.
Default Perspective
Sets the perspective to be the standard 3D perspective.
Orthogonal Top
Sets the perspective to be top-down, but still a 3D view.
Orthogonal Front
Sets the perspective to be from the front, but still a 3D view.
Orthogonal Side
Sets the perspective to be from the side, but still a 3D view.