Room Editor

The Room Editor is reached by selecting a room in the Editor screen.  You can use it to edit any room in the game's data file.

The Room Editor displays a view of the selected room as it would be seen in the game.

Selecting Objects for Placement -A tabbed menu of game objects is shown on the left side of the screen.  The objects in DROD have been broken down into three categories, also called layers: (1) room pieces (what the room is made from, such as walls, doors, pits, etc), (2) room objects (what goes in a room, such as orbs, scrolls, potions, etc), and (3) monsters (including tar, and placing the player's starting position in the level entrance room).  Select a tab to display that object category.  Click on an item in the menu to select it for placement.

Placing Objects - Left-click on a square in the room to place the currently selected item there.  Items cannot be placed on a square if something already exists there on the same layer as the object being placed.  To delete placed objects, see "Deleting Objects" below.  When an item can't or shouldn't be placed on a square, it will be shaded red to indicate the object won't be placed there.  The player's level start position is placed in the level's entrance room.  Placing it in another room will make that the new level entrance room.

Setting Object Orientation - For certain objects, their orientation is significant (such as force arrows, monsters, and the player's starting position). Use the "Turn clockwise" and "Turn counter-clockwise" keys or the mouse wheel to rotate the way objects will be placed. While holding down the left mouse button, the orientation of the object being placed can be changed until the mouse button is released.

Placing Multiple Objects - Dragging the mouse with the left button down will fill the highlighted region with the selected object on all open squares.  Some items are commonly placed only one at a time (such as scrolls or checkpoints).  For these items, placing more than one at a time is disabled.

To make a duplicate copy of a room region, drag the mouse to highlight a rectangular area and press <Ctrl-C> while the mouse button is down to mark the region to be copied.  The region marked for copying stays chosen until a new region is marked or you begin editing a different room.  Press <Ctrl-V> at any time to copy the marked region.  Click on a square to paste a copy of that region, the clicked square being the top-left corner.

Deleting Objects - Right-clicking on a square will delete any object on that square from the currently selected menu layer.  Dragging a region with the right mouse button down will delete all objects of that layer in the selected area.  Objects can also be deleted by selecting the empty floor tile on the menu for a specific layer and placing it as a normal object.

Undo/Redo - Press the "Undo" button or <Ctrl-Z> to undo changes you've made to the room during this session (since selecting the room for editing). Press "Redo" or <Ctrl-Y> to redo changes that have been undone. Note that undone commands cannot be redone once you starting making other changes to the room.

Editor Settings - Enabling the "Show Errors" checkbox will highlight objects in the room that have an improper or questionable placement (see Room Errors below).  Uncheck "Save room automatically" on the player settings screen if you want the editor to prompt you before saving any changes you have made to a room.

Choosing a Room from the Map - Click on the level map to select any room in the selected level.  You can also click on an area adjacent to an existing room to add a new room to the level at that location.  Hit <Ctrl-X> to cut and <Ctrl-C> to copy the current room.  Hit <Ctrl-V> to paste the marked room to the currently selected spot on the map.  Hit the <delete> key to permanently erase a room from the game.

Customizing Objects - Several items can be customized to act a certain way.  Customizable objects are the following:

  1. Orbs.  Click on an orb to view which yellow gates it affects.  Lightning bolts will flash from the orb to all gates it is currently acting on.  Gates highlighted green will be opened when the orb is struck, gates highlighted orange will be toggled, and gates highlighted red will be closed.  Clicking on a yellow gate while in orb editing mode will change the effect the orb has on this gate.  Clicking on a square without an orb or a gate will exit orb editing mode.
  2. Yellow gates.  Click on a yellow gate to view which orbs affect it.  Lightning bolts will flash from the gate to all orbs acting on it.  Clicking on an orb while in door editing more will change the effect the orb has on the selected gate.  The color coding scheme is the same as for orb customization.  Clicking on a square without an orb or a yellow gate will exit door editing mode.
  3. Stairs.  After placing stairs, a dialog box will appear with a list of levels in the hold.  Select one of the levels to determine which level the player will go to from this staircase.  Selecting "End hold" means the player finishes the hold on descending these stairs.  Clicking on the checkbox "Show levels from all holds" will list levels from all holds to which your player has editing privileges.  Selecting a level from a different hold will take the player to that level and hold.  The destination level can be changed at any time by clicking on the staircase again.
  4. Serpents.  Serpents are placed a piece at a time.  Once you start placing a serpent, click on a room square to mark a turn in its body.  Continue placing segments by clicking to lay down each new piece of the serpent.  Pieces that have already been placed can be removed by clicking on part of the last segment placed.  To finish placing the monster, click twice on the same spot.  Click on any previously placed serpent to modify it.

Room Errors - Errors highlighted in the room include the following:

  1. Matching room edges.  Room edge squares are highlighted blue if they don't match the squares of an adjacent room. An open square will be highlighted if there is an obstacle (or no room) on the other side, for instance.
  2. Orbs.  Orbs generally affect yellow gates.  Orbs that don't affect any gates are marked orange.
  3. Gates.  Yellow gates that don't have any orbs affecting them are marked orange.  Red gates in a room without trapdoors are highlighted.  Green doors in a room without any monsters are highlighted.
  4. Strange placement.  If an object is put in a location that might not allow it to be used correctly, it will be marked red. Examples of this are placing scrolls or potions on walls where the player can't get to them.

Playtesting - You can test the current room by hitting F5, then clicking on the room position where you want to begin play. Playtesting continues until <Escape> is pressed.

Misc. Notes - When saving a room, any demos and saved games recorded in that room might no longer be valid and will be deleted.

Press <Escape> to return to the main editor screen.


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