The World Editor is a set of tools that help on creating and modifying the game levels and related data and resources.
It is built using core functions written in C++, with most of the logic in Lua scripting language. Dear Imgui is used for the UI side of it.
The default key to toggle the World Editor is F11. There is also an editor safe mode which loads only core editor tool extensions, use Ctrl+F11 for that.
The Interface
The World Editor interface is made out of two main components:
- Toolbar: always visible on the top, it contains the main edit modes
- Windows: the various tools you can add to your interface at any time (i.e Scene Tree, Inspector, Material Editor..)
Toolbar
This area is the control center of the World Editor, giving access to most of its features and basic editing modes. The toolbar is always visible.
Tabs
In the top part of the toolbar are the Tabs:
Open, load and save a level
Editing related functions, as well the Editor Preferences
Function related to the select object
Contains all Tools the editor comes with
On the right-side of this section, various Render Statistics are displayed.
Edit Options
Below this section, on the left side are located the buttons to access various Edit Options. The below table will explain some of them:
Enable driving in the editor
Toggle the vehicle bindings. Useful to not accidentally drive the vehicle away
Toggle the gizmo mode between World or Local (to the selected object) coordinates
If enabled, objects will snap to a virtual grid when moved around. Grid size can be adjusted
If enabled, objects will snap to certain angles when rotated. Angle steps can be adjusted
If enabled, objects will snap down to the terrain heightmap. Right-click the button to reveal various snapping modes
Edit Modes
On the right of this section are located the Edit Modes buttons:
Select objects and edit them in various ways
Add new objects to the level. An additional toolbar will appear where to pick the type of level object to add
Edit forest item, mainly used for vegetation
Create and edit mesh road objects
Create and edit river objects
Create and edit decalsroad, similar to decals but along a curve projected on the terrain. Often used for roads and paths
Tools to import heightmaps, paint and edit Terrain objects
Every Edit Mode has its own different operative mode and keyboard shortcuts. These shortcuts are often found on the bottom bar of the editor.
On the rightmost side of this section are the sliders to control the Camera Speed and Time Of Day of the level.
You can type values into any text-box or slider by using CTRL + Click on them.
Windows
The World Editor also comes with several tools in form of Windows. These are available in the toolbar’s Window tab.
Windows have various purposes and can be arranged and combined in any way possible. This allows for full workspace customization and allow to access various tools at the same time (for example Material Editor, Scene Tree and Inspector). Windows can be:
- Moved around and resized
- Snapped to certain areas of the viewport
- Snapped and grouped with other windows
They can also be moved outside of the game’s viewport, useful for when using multiple monitors.