Editor V0.96 Frequently Asked Question - READ FIRST!
Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 6:23 pm
FAQ
Until the Editor tutorials are updated to the latest version, the information below is hopefully enough to get you going on v0.96.
The Editor itself can be downloaded here: http://www.midnightsynergy.com/adventures/editor
How do I get started?
Player:
1. Start the Player.exe file. Create a user profile, then click Start New Adventure.
2. This will get you to the Adventure List. The Editor comes with two Adventures to play.
3. Download the “A Test Download” adventure from the forum. Place the .wa2 file into your “User Data\Adventures\Downloads Inbox” directory. Restart the player (or press F12 from within the Adventure List screen to refresh) to play this level. You are now ready to download and play other user levels as they appear.
Editor: (this assumes you have some familiarity with v080)
1. Start the Editor.exe file and select an Editor User Profile. Your username should be the same as the name you use on the forum, so that other players can easily recognize your adventure creations. You do not need to use the same name in the editor and in the player.
2. You are now in the Adventure Select screen. There are no adventures yet, so type in the filename of and adventure you wish to create (e.g. Test1).
3. You will now be taken to the Master Screen. This is similar to the v080 version (and allows you to enter a title, intro text, starting position, etc), but it also has a screen (on the right) to select Editors and Dialogs to edit. Select 01 in the Editor List.
4. You are now in the 3D Editor section. Create a test level - this section is the same as in v080. Save and Exit when you’re done. This takes you back to the Master screen.
5. You can switch back and forth between Master/Editor/Dialog screens as needed. When you’re done, press “Compile and Exit”. This will make a *.wa2 file and place in into both your “User Data\Adventures\Downloads Inbox” directory (to test in the Player) and your “User Data\Adventures\Downloads Outbox” directory (to upload, if you’re happy with it).
How do I convert v0.80 editor files to the new version?
You will need to do two things.
One: Copy the entire Adventure directory from its v0.80 location to “User Data\Adventures\Editing\Current”. You may wish to rename the directory (=the adventure’s filename) to better suit your new adventure naming system, but use no more than 38 letters for the name.
Two: Load the new 3D Editor. In the Master Screen, select each level file and save it. Then press compile to finalize the conversion. (You don’t need to make any changes to the levels, just load and save. Some additional information is added when you save the level in its new format. For example, without this conversion adventure names will not correctly appear on save game files. Note, however, that adventures with customtextures/icons might need some additional tweaking to run on the new system.)
Where do I download new Adventures (*.WA2 files) to?
Downloaded adventures should be placed into the “User Data\Adventures\Downloads Inbox” directory. Each time the Player is started, this directory is searched and all new files automatically extracted into the correct location for play.
Upload adventures should be compiled (within the Editor). The *.wa2 files will be placed into your “User Data\Adventures\Downloads Outbox” directory, and should be uploaded from there (a copy is also placed into your Inbox, so that you can test the adventure by starting the player).
How can I view/edit other users’ downloaded adventures in the level editor?
First, copy the entire directory (e.g. “Midnight Synergy#Test Adventure”)
from “User Data\Adventures\Current” to “User Data\Adventures\Editing\Current”.
Then, rename the copied directory to just “Test Adventure”, i.e. remove the name of the creator and the hash symbol (“#”). This is important, as otherwise the naming structure of adventures will be messed up. In fact, if the “#” is still present in the directory name, the adventure will not appear in the editor list.
Note: Do not rename the level in the original directory.
In RTW I could keep both Editor and Player open to quickly test changes. Is this possible?
Yes. In the Editor, press the Compile button after making your changes. In the Player, the list is automatically updated each time the “Select Custom Adventure” screen is started. If you are in the actual adventure, open the menu and select “Abort Adventure” (not “Restart”). If you are already in the “Select Custom Adventure” menu, you can also press F12 to refresh it.
What Features Are NOT Available?
In the Editor: You cannot load individual levels or dialogs into a new adventure, only start a new adventure and edit from there. You also cannot delete individual level or dialog files once created. If you wish to do the above, you’ll need to create directories and move .wlv and .dia files manually. (You may wish to keep a general “Ideas” adventure to just play around with levels etc).
In the Player: You currently cannot sort your adventures, instead the entire list of adventures is presented. We hope that the next version will include options to sort adventures by name, creator, completed status (e.g. just list uncompleted), etc.
Until the Editor tutorials are updated to the latest version, the information below is hopefully enough to get you going on v0.96.
The Editor itself can be downloaded here: http://www.midnightsynergy.com/adventures/editor
How do I get started?
Player:
1. Start the Player.exe file. Create a user profile, then click Start New Adventure.
2. This will get you to the Adventure List. The Editor comes with two Adventures to play.
3. Download the “A Test Download” adventure from the forum. Place the .wa2 file into your “User Data\Adventures\Downloads Inbox” directory. Restart the player (or press F12 from within the Adventure List screen to refresh) to play this level. You are now ready to download and play other user levels as they appear.
Editor: (this assumes you have some familiarity with v080)
1. Start the Editor.exe file and select an Editor User Profile. Your username should be the same as the name you use on the forum, so that other players can easily recognize your adventure creations. You do not need to use the same name in the editor and in the player.
2. You are now in the Adventure Select screen. There are no adventures yet, so type in the filename of and adventure you wish to create (e.g. Test1).
3. You will now be taken to the Master Screen. This is similar to the v080 version (and allows you to enter a title, intro text, starting position, etc), but it also has a screen (on the right) to select Editors and Dialogs to edit. Select 01 in the Editor List.
4. You are now in the 3D Editor section. Create a test level - this section is the same as in v080. Save and Exit when you’re done. This takes you back to the Master screen.
5. You can switch back and forth between Master/Editor/Dialog screens as needed. When you’re done, press “Compile and Exit”. This will make a *.wa2 file and place in into both your “User Data\Adventures\Downloads Inbox” directory (to test in the Player) and your “User Data\Adventures\Downloads Outbox” directory (to upload, if you’re happy with it).
How do I convert v0.80 editor files to the new version?
You will need to do two things.
One: Copy the entire Adventure directory from its v0.80 location to “User Data\Adventures\Editing\Current”. You may wish to rename the directory (=the adventure’s filename) to better suit your new adventure naming system, but use no more than 38 letters for the name.
Two: Load the new 3D Editor. In the Master Screen, select each level file and save it. Then press compile to finalize the conversion. (You don’t need to make any changes to the levels, just load and save. Some additional information is added when you save the level in its new format. For example, without this conversion adventure names will not correctly appear on save game files. Note, however, that adventures with customtextures/icons might need some additional tweaking to run on the new system.)
Where do I download new Adventures (*.WA2 files) to?
Downloaded adventures should be placed into the “User Data\Adventures\Downloads Inbox” directory. Each time the Player is started, this directory is searched and all new files automatically extracted into the correct location for play.
Upload adventures should be compiled (within the Editor). The *.wa2 files will be placed into your “User Data\Adventures\Downloads Outbox” directory, and should be uploaded from there (a copy is also placed into your Inbox, so that you can test the adventure by starting the player).
How can I view/edit other users’ downloaded adventures in the level editor?
First, copy the entire directory (e.g. “Midnight Synergy#Test Adventure”)
from “User Data\Adventures\Current” to “User Data\Adventures\Editing\Current”.
Then, rename the copied directory to just “Test Adventure”, i.e. remove the name of the creator and the hash symbol (“#”). This is important, as otherwise the naming structure of adventures will be messed up. In fact, if the “#” is still present in the directory name, the adventure will not appear in the editor list.
Note: Do not rename the level in the original directory.
In RTW I could keep both Editor and Player open to quickly test changes. Is this possible?
Yes. In the Editor, press the Compile button after making your changes. In the Player, the list is automatically updated each time the “Select Custom Adventure” screen is started. If you are in the actual adventure, open the menu and select “Abort Adventure” (not “Restart”). If you are already in the “Select Custom Adventure” menu, you can also press F12 to refresh it.
What Features Are NOT Available?
In the Editor: You cannot load individual levels or dialogs into a new adventure, only start a new adventure and edit from there. You also cannot delete individual level or dialog files once created. If you wish to do the above, you’ll need to create directories and move .wlv and .dia files manually. (You may wish to keep a general “Ideas” adventure to just play around with levels etc).
In the Player: You currently cannot sort your adventures, instead the entire list of adventures is presented. We hope that the next version will include options to sort adventures by name, creator, completed status (e.g. just list uncompleted), etc.
