A Simple First Map

This is the barebones guide to creating a barebones map. It won't have terrain nor much gameplay, but it will demonstrate the basics of mapping for ETQW, including how to launch the editor, create a basic map, then compile and run it.

Launch the Editor

editWorld loaded for the first time

Having installed the SDK and set up its paths correctly, tick the 'editWorld' tickbox and press the 'Launch SDK' button. A few moments later and the editor should be loaded with a blank, empty map.

Map Basics

Before we do anything further, you need to be aware of the basic requirements for a map:

• A sealed environment
• A player start entity placed inside the environment
• A light entity placed inside the environment

Once we have those, the map can be saved, compiled and run.

The Environment

The most basic environment consists of four walls, a floor and a ceiling. Each of these is made out of a brush - a brush for each wall, a brush for the ceiling, and a brush for the floor. These brushes need to be placed to form a box with no gaps in between them, and assigned an attractive texture.

The simplest way to do this is to use the 'Hollow' tool. This tool lets you create a brush the size of the room you want, and then uses this single brush to automatically create the 6 brushes (walls, floor and ceiling).

Creating a brush

Creating a simple 256x256 brush.

The 2D view is a 'top-down' view of your map. So by creating a brush here, we can choose the length and width of the room, but not its height.

Creating a brush is simple - just drag your mouse in the 2D (grid) view. This will draw a red outline representing the brush you've now created.