From The Air Combat Wiki

Contents 1 Welcome to the adventure that is the World Creator! 1.1 Unzipping the World Creator 1.2 Setting up the Shortcut 1.3 Starting World Creator 1.4 Opening a sample project 1.5 Looking around 1.5.1 Terrain Editor Tab 1.5.2 3D View Tab 1.6 Exporting Your Project 1.7 Seeing your map in Fighter Ace 1.8 How to use the editor

Welcome to the adventure that is the World Creator!

It is essential that you follow the setup instructions exactly! If a step is missed, the World Creator will most likely crash or just simply refuse to open any projects.

Unzipping the World Creator

After downloading the World Creator, you must first unzip it.

• Create a folder on your hard drive called WC (this can be on any drive, in this example we will be using the D drive.
• Extract the contents of OpenWorldCreator.zip into the WC folder.

Setting up the Shortcut

To be able to run the World Creator, you must first create a shortcut for it and set it up.

• Navigate to OpenWorldCreator\MFC_DLL folder and copy MSVCP70.DLL and MSVCR70.DLL to Windows system folder (C:\Windows\system32 for WinXP). This is VC7 runtime.
• Navigate to the WC.exe file. It is located in the OpenWorldCreator\UTIL folder.
• Right click on WC.exe and choose Create Shortcut
• Right click on the newly created shortcut (called Shortcut to WC.exe) and select properties.
• Click the Shortcut tab.
• The Target will look something like this:
  • D:\WC\OpenWorldCreator\UTIL\WC.exe
• Add the following text to the Target window
  • -devpath=D:\WC\OpenWorldCreator\UTIL\
• The Target window should look like this when you are done:
  • D:\WC\OpenWorldCreator\UTIL\WC.exe -devpath=D:\WC\OpenWorldCreator\UTIL\
• Next, change the Start In window to look like this:
  • D:\WC\OpenWorldCreator\GAME
• Click OK to save your changes.
• NOTE: The path above is an example; your path may be different depending on which hard drive you have saved the World Creator to.

Starting World Creator

• Double click the Shortcut to WC.exe that was created in previous steps.
• A Game Settings window will appear, in most cases the default settings are correct. Make sure that your video card is displayed in the “Render Name” box. If it is not, select it from the drop down.
• Click “OK”.

Opening a sample project

• Click the Database pulldown menu and choose Open.
• Navigate (if necessary) to the DATABASE folder and click 038_Classic.q6
• Click Open.
• Next, click the Terrain pulldown menu and choose Open.
• Navigate to the Projects directory and click on 038_Classic.q6.
• Click Open.
• The WC will load the scene information and show dots that represent each scene.
• Next, press F5 to “build” the terrain and render it. This may take a few moments.
• Once complete, you should see an overhead view of the “Classic” map.

Looking around

Terrain Editor Tab

• Make sure the Terrain Editor tab is selected at the top left of the window.
• Below the Terrain Editor tab, make sure the Drag/Zoom tab is selected (it should be by default)
• Hold your mouse over the terrain window and:
• Left click (and hold), and move the mouse to move around the terrain.
• Right click (and hold), and move the mouse to zoom in or out.

3D View Tab

• Click the 3D View tab.
• Instructions on navigating the map in 3d will appear.
  • To Drag (or move the camera): Hold the left mouse button and move the mouse.
  • To Rotate (the camera): Hold the right mouse button and move the mouse.
  • To Zoom: Rotate the mouse wheel, or press the + and – keys. Hold down the CTRL key during any of the above operations to slow down the movement.

Exporting Your Project

When you are done editing your map, it is time to export it. This will create a folder called TRNXX in your OpenWorldCreator\GAME\EXPORT directory. Follow these steps:

• Click Terrain/Properties. Choose a name for your map and enter it in the Title box. Click Ok.
• Save both your Database and Terrain. Note: Always save your Database THEN the terrain (also known as the project).
• Click the Terrain Tab and choose Export.
• A window will appear with several options. For most projects, it is ok to leave the default items checked.
• Terrain Index: This will need to be a unique number. Change it to a number between 50 and 99.
• Click OK. The World Creator will then create a folder called TRN with a number that matches the terrain index number you specified.
• The TRN## folder will appear in your Export directory.
• Navigate to the \Game\EXPORT directory and located a file called hgt2ai0.exe.
• Double click hgt2ai0.exe. This file will complete the map building process so that it will be suitable for the FA client.
• Finally, copy and paste the TRNXX folder into your Fighter Ace directory.

Seeing your map in Fighter Ace

To view your map (and fly around in it) in Fighter Ace OFFLINE mode:

• Start Fighter Ace Offline
• Choose “Create Arena”
• Your new map will appear in the Maps list.
• Finish creating the room and go see your map!

How to use the editor

To use the map editor:

Q: How do I exit the polygon tool?

A:

Q: What tools create terrain mesh?

A: Photoshop/The GIMP 256 gray scale. Black = min, White = Max

Q: How do I gain more control over the rotate tool?

A:

Q: How do I insert my own bitmap textures?

A: Texture tools are not open and you can not add textures into FA directly.