Special
Text Conventions Used in This File
- Keys with the (Usage ???) text beside
them have an unknown usage. Let me know if you have a use for them.
- Keys with the (Version 1.4 and 1.5
Compatible Only) text beside them only work with the Build version
that came with versions 1.4 and 1.5 of Duke Nukem 3D.
2D Mode
In this section, all of the keyboard
commands for 2D mode will be listed.
[A]
Zoom in.
[RIGHT ALT]
Used with the mouse to select all sectors within a rectangular area.
After selecting the desired sectors, the [INS] key can be pressed to
copy the selected sectors. Selected sectors can also be rotated with the
[<] and [>] keys.
[B]
Toggles the "block movement" flag on a line or sprite.
[C]
Turns a line into a circle. Move the mouse around to change the circle
itself. [+] and [-] changes the number of points on the circle,
[Spacebar] draws the circle, and [C] aborts the process.
[CURSOR KEYS]
Moves the players position. Right mouse button also performs this
action.
[LEFT SHIFT]+[CURSOR KEYS]
Moves the player position at a higher speed than above.
[DEL]
Deletes a sprite.
[RIGHT CTRL]+[DEL]
Delete the current sector (the one that the white arrow is in).
[E] (Usage ???)
Changes a sprites status list number.
[ENTER]
Displays the message "Highlighted line pointers checked". This
supposedly fixes lines that have had problems (see the following key
command). I'm assuming that this key combo only works with the vertices
that are currently selected.
[ENTER]+[LEFT CTRL]+[LEFT SHIFT]
Displays the message "ALL POINTERS CHECKED!". This supposedly
fixes lines that have had problems. For instance, if a red line is
accidentally changed into 2 white lines (how this would happen I don't
know, but SemiCharm says it works), checking all the pointers changes it
back to a red line. This might be the command that fixes some problems
when editing in 2D mode.
[ESC]
Pops up the Escape Menu: (N)ew, (L)oad, (S)ave, save (A)s, (Q)uit
- (N)ew - Starts a new map
- (L)oad - Brings up a selection list of
all .MAP files (DOES NOT PROMPT YOU TO SAVE YOUR WORK!)
- (S)ave - Saves the map under the
current name, overwriting any level with the same name. If the level
is unnamed, the level is automatically saved as NEWBOARD.MAP
- save (A)s - Asks for a name to save
the map under. Use this when saving a new map for the first time
- (Q)uit - Quits the editor after asking
you if you really want to quit, and if you want to save your work
[F1]
Displays a short help screen, and the version number of Build. Also
moves the current Build position one unit to the left.
[F2]
Moves the current Build position one unit to the right.
[F3]
Moves the current Build position by one unit upwards.
[F4]
Moves the current Build position by one unit downwards.
[F5]
If you are in a valid sector, this will show some general information
about your map, including the name, number of items in the level (blue
numbers represent items found only in Dukematch), and more.
[F6]
If a sprite is selected, it will display a help screen listing the
numbers of all sector effectors and their function. If a sprite is not
selected, it displays some information about your level such as next
free tag and number of monsters placed.
[F7]
Shows a help screen with all sector lotags and their function.
[F8]
Allows you to search for a wall with specific hi and lotags. If a sprite
is highlighted, you can search for a sprite with hi and lotags also. '['
and ']' start the search.
[F9]
Same as [F8], but allows you to search for a sector instead.
[F10]
Changes the current angle of the Build position by rotating one unit to
the right.
[F11] (Usage???)
Displays some sort of cryptic message ("Grabbed Wall Picnum #"
where # is the number of the "wall picnum" grabbed).
[F12]
Takes a .PCX screen shot. Turn off the grid before using this feature.
[G]
Changes the grid size.
[H]
Set the sector hitag.
[ALT]+[H]
Sets the sprite or wall hitag.
[CTRL]+[H]
Sets the "Hitscan" bit on a two-sided (red) line.
[INSERT]
Inserts something. If some objects (points or sectors) are selected, it
will copy these and insert them (don't forget to drag them afterwards).
If nothing is selected, it inserts a point on the selected line.
[J]
Joins two neighboring sectors. Press [J] in the first sector and again
in the adjacent one. The adjacent sector will take on all settings
(ceiling height, textures, etc.) of the first sector.
[L]
Toggle grid lock. The color of the mouse cursor tells which mode Build
is currently in: red is grid locking on, white is grid locking off.
[']+[M]
Displays a memory status window. This option is not recommended, as
Build begins to act strangely.
[NUMBER PAD ENTER]
Switches between 2D and 3D modes.
[S]
Insert a sprite. It is possible to store a sprite in 3D mode by pressing
[TAB] on it, making it the default sprite to insert.
[ALT]+[S]
Turn an inner sector into valid player space.
[SCROLL LOCK]
Moves the starting position to the current Build position. NOTE: If the
start position is made outside of the map in an invalid area, the level
will crash upon starting.
[RIGHT SHIFT]
Used with the mouse to select a rectangular region of objects to move.
Press this key again to deselect the selection.
[CTRL+RIGHT SHIFT]
Select all points of a sector. These points can then be dragged around
with the left mouse button, and can be "stamped" (copied) with
the [INSERT] key.
[SPACEBAR]
Draws new sectors.
[T]
Set the sector lotag.
[ALT]+[T]
Sets the sprite or wall lotag.
[CTRL]+[T]
Toggles the tag box display on sprites, walls, and sectors.
[TAB]
Shows information on the current sector:
- Sector - The number of the sector
- Firstwall - The number of the first
wall (Changeable with [ALT]+[F])
- Numberofwalls - The number of walls
surrounding this sector
- Firstsprite - The number of the first
sprite in this sector
- Tags - The hitags and lotags of the
sector (also shown in HEX). These values are changeable with the [H]
and [T] keys.
- Extra - Described as "Used by the
Game Programmer Only"
- Visibility - The visibility in this
sector
- Pixel Height - The height of the room
in pixels. Each [PGUP] or [PGDN] changes this by 4 (which equals 256
units)
- Ceiling Flags - The ceiling flag shown
in HEX. The flags are as follows:
- 0: Set if parallaxing [P]
- 1: Set if tilted '[' or ']'
- 2: Set if x and y are swapped [F]
- 3: Set if texture size is halved
[E]
- 4: Set if x-flipped [F]
- 5: Set if y-flipped [F]
- 6: Set if texture aligned with
first sector wall [ALT]+[F]
- (x,y) pan - The x,y amount the ceiling
has been panned. Use the numberpad arrow keys for this.
- Shade byte - The amount of shade on
the ceiling (0 is full bright, less than 0 is brighter, and greater
than 0 is darker)
- Z-Coordinate - The z-coordinate of the
ceiling. Smaller means higher. [PGUP] or [PGDN] changes this by 1024
units.
- Tile Number - The number of the
ceiling texture. Use [V] to change
- Ceiling heinum - Amount of tilt
- Palookup number - Color palette to use
(0 is normal)
[ALT]+[TAB]
Shows information on the current wall or sprite:
- Wall - Number of the wall (red lines
are actually two walls, so it is important which sector you are in
when pressing [ALT]+[TAB])
- X-coordinate - X-coordinate of the
wall
- Y-coordinate - Y-coordinate of the
wall (same as above if wall is horizontal)
- Point 2 - Number of the next wall to
the right, in the same sector.
- Sector - Sector number the wall is in
- Tags - The hitag and lotag values for
this wall, also shown in HEX
- Wall Flags:
- 0: Set if wall blocks movement [B]
- 1: Set if wall has two different
textures [2]
- 2: Set if tile is aligned to
ceiling (0 if floor) [O]
- 3: Set if x-flipped [F]
- 4: Set if masking wall (like
window) [M]
- 5: Set if 1-way wall [1]
- 6: Set if hitscan enabled [H]
- 7: Set if transparent [T]
- 8: Set if y-flipped [F]
- 9: Set if reverse transparent (?)
[T]
- Sprite Flags:
- 0: Set if sprite blocks movement
[B]
- 1: Set if sprite is transparent
[T]
- 2: Set if flipped left/right [F]
- 3: Set if flipped up/down [F]
- 4: Set if sprite is flat upright
[R]
- 5: Set if sprite is flat on ground
[R]
- 6: Set if sprite is single-sided
[1]
- 7: Set if sprite is half-submerged
[C]
- 8: Set if hitscan enabled [CTRL]+[H]
- 9: Set if very transparent [T]
- Shade - The amount of shade on the
walls (smaller is brighter). Use [+] and [-] to change.
- (X,Y) repeat - Used to stretch
textures
- (X,Y) pan - Used to move textures
- Tile number - The texture number used
on this wall
- OverTile number - The extra texture
number for 1-way and masked walls
- Nextsector - The number of the sector
on the other side of the wall (-1 if there is not one)
- Nextwall - Number of the wall on the
other side (only used if the wall is two-sided)
- Extra - Described as "Used by the
Game Programmer Only"
- Wall Length - Wall length in pixels.
The grid at maximum height has a square width of 64 pixels
- Pixel height - Height of the wall in
pixels
[Z]
Zoom out.
[']+[3]
Changes the tag display mode.
- 0: No tags displayed
- 1: Show sector tags only
- 2: Show wall tags only
- 3: Show sprite tags only
- 4: Show all tags
- 5: Show item tags only
- 6: Show tags of current sprite only
[ and ]
Allows you to search either forward or backward for a certain sector or
wall. Select the tags to look for using [F8] for walls, and [F9] for
sectors and then press [ to search backwards and ] to search forwards.
If the sector or wall/sprite is found, the map will jump to it, placing
the cursor at one of the points.
[<] and [>]
Changes the angle of a sprite or selected sector.
[SHIFT]+[<] and [SHIFT]+[>]
Change the angle of the sprite or selected sector in smaller increments.
3D Mode
This section covers all of the keyboard
commands in 3D mode.
[A]
Raises your viewing height in the level.
[']+[A] (Versions 1.4 and 1.5 Compatible
Only)
Autosize on or off.
[CTRL]+[A]
Aims your current viewing angle down.
[B]
Toggles the "block movement" flag on a masked wall, one-way
wall, or a sprite.
[C]
Sprite centering ("half-submerged"). If a sprite is resting
directly on the floor, and [C] is pressed when the cursor is over it,
the center of the sprite will rest on the floor. Very nice when making
effects that deal with sector raising and lowering.
[']+[C]
Changes the global shade of a sector to the shade of the object
currently selected.
[CAPSLOCK]
Cycles between three different movement modes:
- Game Mode: You walk around like the
player in the game.
- Height Lock: You are always at the
same height above the floor.
- Float Mode: You're completely
unaffected by the floor.
[']+[CAPSLOCK] (Versions 1.4 and 1.5
Compatible Only)
Turns autorun on or off (But it doesn't seem to work).
[CURSOR KEYS]
Moves the player around, just as if in the game. [LEFT SHIFT] and the
cursor keys at the same time, will speed up your movement.
[']+[D] (Versions 1.4 and 1.5 Compatible
Only)
Changes the skill level of the selected actor sprite. In versions 1.3D,
this key command is available, but does not work.
[ALT]+[D]
Alters the clipdist (clipping distance) of a sprite. The value for this
can be anything from 0 to 255. When a sprite or actor is blocked (see
the [B] key above), a "force field" (for lack of a better
term) is set up around the sprite. The clipdist value determines how
close an actor can get to the sprite before being blocked by that
invisible "force field". The lower the value, the closer the
player or an actor can get. A clipdist of 255 equals the distance of the
largest grid size in Build which equals 1024 Build units. The default
for <value> seems to be 32. Also, it would appear that this only
works on a sprite that rotates with the player. If you press the [R] key
to align the sprite to the grid or to the floor, altering the clipdist
value has no effect. In addition, this attribute does not work on all
sprites. At this time there is no explanation for why this primitive
should either work or not work.
[DEL]
Deletes the current sprite you are pointing at.
[']+[DEL]
Sets the cstat to 0. The cstat function tells a sprite (via coding in
the CON files) what type of sprite to be (flat on the floor,
transparent, etc.). This command removes all user-set flags, placing the
sprite in "default" mode.
[E]
Toggles the tile size of floors/ceilings between default (large) and
small.
[ENTER]
Copies the selected object to whatever you are currently pointing at.
The shade and the x-repeat values are copied as well.
[']+[ENTER]
Copies the tile only, leaving everything else (shade, size) as it is
normally.
[CTRL]+[ENTER]
Copies the selected texture to all walls in a closed loop. Use this to
change the texture of a whole room at once.
[SHIFT]+[ENTER]
Copy the shade value only.
[CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[ENTER]
Auto-shades a sector. Make one of the walls the lightest shade, and
another the darkest one. Point to the lightest wall, press [CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[ENTER],
and all the walls will be smoothly shaded. WARNING: This function has
been known to not work as well as it should have, as it can crash the
system, and produce undesirable effects.
[ESC]
Displays the message "Do you really want to quit?". Press [Y]
to quit, and [N] to back out. Build will then prompt to save your level
if you do decide to quit.
[F]
Flips the selected texture. Walls can be flipped 4 ways, while ceilings
and floors can be flipped 8 ways.
[ALT]+[F]
Determines which wall will be the 'first wall'. Use this to make tilted
floors and ceilings tilt in the right direction.
[F1]
Displays a short help screen that lists the less commonly used commands.
Press the key again to remove it.
[F2]
Moves the current Build position one unit to the right.
[F3]
Moves the current Build position one unit forwards.
[F4]
Moves the current Build position one unit backwards.
[F5]
Screws up the 3D display, forcing you back to 2D mode.
[F6]
Same as [F5].
[F7]
Same as [F5].
[F8]
Same as [F5].
[F9]
Rotates the current view left by a small amount.
[F10]
Rotates the current view right by a small amount.
[F11]
Changes the gamma correction. The settings are not saved when exiting
Build.
[F12]
Takes a .PCX screen shot.
[G] (Usage ???)
This is supposed to give a floor height mapping.
[']+[G]
Toggles the display of the selected texture (used with [TAB]).
[H]
Toggles the "hitscan" bit on a two-sided wall. If this bit is
set, the wall will show bullet holes when shot (or will perform
appropriately). When used on a sprite, the sprite blocks bullets even
when it might not block you.
[']+[H]
Allows you to change the hitag of the selected object.
[M]
Creates a masked wall. Point at the floor near a two-sided wall to
create one. Note that maskable walls have two independent side that must
be edited.
[SHIFT]+[M]
Make a maskable wall with only one side. You will be able to see through
in one direction.
[NUMBER PAD CURSOR KEYS]
These change the size of a texture or sprite. You can use this to size
tiles to the correct proportions, and change the size of sprites. These
keys only scroll the texture on floors and ceilings. The keys are [2],
[4], [6], [8] on the keypad.
[SHIFT]+[NUMBER PAD CURSOR KEYS]
These keys are used to "scroll" the texture of the wall,
without resizing it.
[O]
Changes the wall orientation. A wall texture can start on either the
floor or the ceiling. Useful on DOOM-like doors (the door rail doesn't
move with the door). When used on sprites, this can cause the sprite to
be on either side of a two-sided wall. So if you have a sprite that
disappears from view when playing the game, and it is on a two-sided
line, this will change the side of the line the sprite is on.
[P]
Parallax the floor or ceiling. Only works well on some textures (city
scapes, sky, etc.)
[ALT]+[P]
Change the palette of the selected object.
[CTRL]+[P]
Sets the type of parallaxing (there are 3 different types).
[']+[P] (Usage ???) (Version 1.4 and 1.5
Compatible Only)
Turns Global Parallax Panning Off.
[PGUP]
Raises the height of the object that you are pointing at. If you are
pointing at a wall, the corresponding ceiling will be change height.
[PGDN]
Lowers the height of the object that you are pointing at.
[CTRL]+[PGUP]
Places a sprite exactly on the ceiling. In version 1.4 of Build (the
version that came with versions 1.4 and 1.5 of Duke Nukem 3D), this
command can raise the height of a floor or ceiling by a factor of 8.
[CTRL]+[PGDN]
Places a sprite exactly on the floor. In version 1.4 of Build (the
version that came with versions 1.4 and 1.5 of Duke Nukem 3D), this
command can lower the height of a floor or ceiling by a factor of 8.
[']+[Q] (Usage ???) (Version 1.4 and 1.5
Compatible Only)
Turns "Quick Speed" on.
[R]
Toggles the floor/ceiling tiles between relative and absolute alignment.
In absolute alignment, the floor and ceiling tiles are aligned to the
grid itself. In relative alignment, the tiles align themselves to the
first wall of the sector. This is useful for oddly shaped, rotating, and
moving sectors. This also makes floors and walls move with moving
sectors (subways, etc.).
[']+[R]
Toggles the FPS (frames per second) display.
[S]
Inserts a sprite at the pointer's location.
[']+[S]
Allows you to change the shade of the selected object.
[T]
Toggles the transparency flag on a wall or sprite. There are three
states: normal (can't see through), slightly transparent, and very
transparent. For walls, only two sided walls are able to have this
function performed on them.
[']+[T]
Allows you to change the lotag of the selected object.
[TAB]
Places the current sprite or texture into the memory buffer. It
remembers the tile number, the shade and texture setup, and the current
cstat value. When used, some text appears on the screen, showing you the
name, lotag and hitag, number of times it is used in the map, and MEM
(amount of RAM free?). If the graphic toggle is on (use [']+[G]), and
image of the selected object is shown as well. In version 1.3D, pressing
[TAB] again turns the text off. The text automatically disappears in
later versions of Build.
[V]
Change the selected tile or sprite.
[ALT]+[V] (Usage ???)
This is supposed to change the "groudraw height map".
[']+[V]
Allows you to change the visibility of the selected object.