Map Editor

## Opening the map editor

The Map editor is used as part of the Map editing and modding.

The Map editor can be opened from the top menu. There are 2 options in the popup:

* **Create Blank Map:** in this case the map name (only letters allowed, but no spaces) and the map size must be specified
* **Edit Map:** it opens the selected map for editing

The maps created in the map editor can be played in Custom game menu.

## Global map settings

The Map editor has a top menu. By default the Map (settings) is open to set the following global map settings:

* **Map name:** the name of the map, please note if you change it it will be as the new name when saving the map (works as a "Save as" function)
* **Description:** This will be displayed in the map description when the map is selected for editing or playing
* **Starfield:** the value selected from the dropdown affects the general blackground color and style of the map from dark deep space to green alien world
* **Show stars:** whether showing stars extra starts on the map or not (note: the map editor need to be restarted in order to have an effect)
* **Velocity (x, y):** Setting the velocity of the starfield clouds (can be negative value as well), only visible during playing the map
* **Density:** affects the density of the starfield clouds, strangely the lower the value (eg. 0.1) the higher the density
* **Color:** the RGB color components affecting the color of the starfield clouds
* **Start Location:** clicking on Set updates the start location, the starting camera when the game is played, by clicking Show the camera scrolls to the selected start location

## Placing entities

Different kind of entities can be placed on the map for the selected player:

* **Entities:** these are the mobile units (space ships)
* **Structures:** all the immobile space stations (buildings)
* **Space objects:** neutral objects, like resource asteroids, note the space objects are always assigned to a neutral player
* **Heroes:** the special units with unique attributes, which cannot be produced during the game

The orientation of the entities can be set by selecting them using the left mouse button drag selection and pressing the right mouse button.

## Player settings

Set the maximum number of players available on this map and set some of the basic attributes for the currently selected player:

* **Color**
* **(Player) Type**: the first player is always the user, other players can be neutral or controlled by an AI
* **Race**
* **Name of the player**: visible in the game summary
* **Initial resources**: metal, helium-3, tachyon and energy (note: excess energy over the player energy capacity will be lost)

Please note that player alliances and vision can be set in the Map file settings.

## Placing background objects

The menu with the misleading name "Space objects" allows the placement of background ornaments which are decorations only and do not have any effect on the gameplay.
Two attributes can be set before the placement:
- **Depth**: Wow far is the given object from the viewpoint. This effects how the object moves when the camera is scrolled resulting in a parallax effect.
- **Scale**: the size of the object can scaled up or down

## Placing effects

These are the effects which may affect the gameplay, eg. background clouds in which the entities are either damaged or move slower. Wreckages can be placed from this list as well.

## Placing locations

Locations can be placed by holding the left mouse button, rendering a rectangle and release the button. These locations can be used during the Map scripting in order to define conditions, eg. a mission objective is to bring a specific unit to the given location.

## View settings

These two view settings can be changed:
- **Show grid:** showing or hiding the grid which is used to align the structures placed on the map
- **Align to grid:** switch on or off the grid alignment of structures

## Victory and defeat conditions

Victory and defeat conditions can be set. The victory condition "Lose all units" means that user player wins the game when all enemy players loses all of their units. The defeat condition "Lose all units" means that the user player is defeated when she loses all her units. The "Custom" condition means that the victory or defeat condition is set in the Map scripting eg. accumulate resource, wait for a countdown timer, lose a unit or bring it to a specific location.

## Testing the map

The map under edit can be quickly tested by clicking on the "Test Map" button in the in-game menu.