1. Players guide
  2. Creating your own levels
  3. Map editor
  4. Scripting Language
  5. API Reference
  6. Examples

The Map Editor

To start the map editor in trackballs press the "map editor" button in the begining of the game. This brings up an empty screen with a menu in the top. You can here select "File>Open" or "File>New" if you want to open an existing map for editing or if you want to create a new one.

Keyboard controls for the Editor

ESCAPE

Exits the editor without saving changes (confirm dialog)
 

F1 - F6

Toggles the through the the various MODES:
  Save Map - Press SPACE to save
  Edit - Edit terrain structure
  Set Color - Color and paint terrain
  Flags - Set cell attributes eg: sand, acid, kill, ice, etc
  Add Feature - Create hills quickly. Use 1-4 to select size
  Move Map - Shift entire map in direction you choose
 

Q, E

Increments or decreases the amount terrain is 'raised' when altering terrain
 

W, A, S, D or ARROW KEYS/B>

Moves the cursor to a neighboring square on the grid. Combine with CTRL to jump 20 cells each time.
 

U, H, M, K, J

Alter the current square. If in Edit Height mode the corresponding corner of the marked square/region is raised/lowered. Otherwise, if in Set color mode the correponding corner is coloured with the current color.
 

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9

If in Flags mode, these keys toggles the flag for the current square. If in Set color mode, keys 1,2,3 alter the red/green/blue component of the current color.
 

B

Toggles Birds-Eye View mode.
 

L

Loads the objects from the .scm file corresponding to the level into the editor. Script actions altering map cell properties will be ignored. The objects will be frozen at their initial location.
 

C

Clear loaded objects if there are any.
 

R

Rotates camera viewpoint 90 degrees, if the View menu is open.
 

R

Used to mark and manipulate rectangular regions. Press once to turn on and then move cursor to opposite corner (region is highlighted during this operation). Press once again to turn off.
 

SPACE

Alters entire cell in one go - whether modifying terrain height or color.
 

SHIFT

Holding down the SHIFT key has a number of functions depending on what additional key is pressed. When in Edit Height mode, holding down the SHIFT key while using U, H, M, K, J will lower the terrain instead of raising it. Holding SHIFT while moving the cursor, will make the cursor hop in the direction pressed. Holding SHIFT while raising/lowering the amount to raise/lower with the Q and E keys, while result in the values incrementing/decreasing in larger hops. When in Set Color mode, SHIFT-[U,H,M,K] is a color picker. The color in your palette will be copied from the current cell.
 

CTRL

When in edit terrain mode, CTRL-J will reset the cell (or selected terrain) to default heights. Useful when you've made a mess and need to start over. CTRL-[U,H,M,K] paints the wall next to the corresponding corner.
 

TAB

 In 'Edit Heights' mode, TAB smooth all the cells heights in the current area selected.
With the CTRL modifier, it flatten the current cell.