Release Raptor:Level Editor Basics
Contents
Step 1: Finding The Level Editor
Not that we want to hide it, but we also don't want it right in the face of everyone who starts the game. So you have to go into the Misc tab of the settings menu and click to turn on the level editor. Then it will appear on the main menu for you from then on.
KEY CONCEPT: Exterior "Doors"
Interior Vs Exterior "Doors"
You might be making a chunk of a level that has one or more rooms in it, and in that you might have some doors. That's all well and good, and those are called "interior" doors. It doesn't mean they are inside -- indeed, there's nothing to say this couldn't be outdoors or a cave. But it means it doesn't leave the current level chunk you're editing.
EXTERIOR doors are very important, though, and have a blue portal marker on them, with a trio of lines pointing outwards from them. These doors are how the level chunk may be connected to other level chunks by the procedural generation.
Minimum of Two Exterior "Doors"
Every level chunk you create MUST have at least 2 exterior doors or it cannot be used by the procedural generation tool. But ideally they should have more than that -- it increases the variability of levels in how they use this level chunk.
Occluder Bounds
Wait a second, I thought we were talking about doors? Yep! This is an important concept related to that. In the bottom rightmost part of the level editor, there is a little OCCLUDE button that you can toggle on and off. This shows a cyan bounding box that defines the size of your level chunk.
This is always a rectangular box. Aka, if you make your level chunk so that it is a diagonal zigzag, that's great and I'm sure will be very fun to play in, but it creates an overall AABB (Axis-Aligned Bounding Box) around whatever you create. When the procedural level generation is happening, no two AABBs can overlap at all. This is done for speed, mainly.
Why do you care, particularly in a section about doors? Well...
Exterior Doors Must Be At The Occluder Bounds Edge And Pointing Outward
This is why you care about the occluder bounds. If you have an exterior door, it has to be on the very edge of this blue box, and pointing outwards. If you place it inside the box somewhere, even though it's on the "edge" of your nice zigzag level, it will cause all sorts of overlapping problems during procedural generation.
When you save the level you are working on, if you notice your exterior door suddenly shooting forward from where you placed it, this is why. It's putting it aligned to the AABB of the Occluder, so that you can actually see the mistake you've made and then decide how to fix it. The alternative is invisible errors that only show up in munged-up levels.
About Backups
Note that the game makes a backup every time you save your level with actual differences in it, so you can save super frequently (these are miniscule) and never lose any work. All the old versions are there in case something gets messed up.
