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
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
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.
