Editor Setup
The Tool Suite
Chisel ships with three tools in the MapToolSrc solution alongside the engine:
Rockwall 2 The map editor. This is where you build levels, place entities, and compile maps.
Model Editor Manages the .ccmdl format the engine uses at runtime.
Particle Editor Creates and previews particle systems saved as .crp files.
All three tools share the same startup window and project config system. You only need to set up a config once and all three tools will use it.
Building the Tools
Before setting anything up, you need the tools built so their executables exist on disk.
Navigate to Chisel/MapToolSrc and open:
Build the entire solution. This creates executables for all three tools. You’ll need to point Rockwall 2 at the map compiler executable specifically in the next step.
Set Rockwall 2 as the startup project and run it. The startup window is where you create and manage project configs.
In the future, prebuilt binaries will be provided. For now build directly from source.
Creating a Config
When Rockwall 2 launches it shows a list of saved configs. On a fresh install this will be empty. Make sure your game has been built and run at least once with the -compile flag so the necessary data files exist before continuing.
Click Add New in the top right of the startup window.
Enter the name of your game. This is purely cosmetic and only appears in the startup list.
Click … and navigate to your game’s build output folder. Find:
This file is generated when your game runs with -compile. If it doesn’t exist yet, run your project once with the flag.
Click … and navigate to the map compiler executable you built in the previous section.
Click … and select the folder containing editor_settings.cfg. For the FPS template this is the Working folder.
Click … and select your game’s built executable. Rockwall 2 uses this to launch your game directly from the editor with Ctrl+Shift+B.
Click Save. If it doesn’t appear immediately, try relaunching Rockwall 2.
Once your config is saved, double-click it in the startup window to launch Rockwall 2 with the correct settings for your project.
Updating After Entity Changes
Every time you add a new entity class, rename one, or change its exposed properties, inputs, or outputs, you need to re-run your game with -compile before the editor will show the changes. The editor reads the def.eds file, not your source code directly.
The workflow is: make code changes, run with -compile, then restart Rockwall 2. You only need to do this if you’re adding editor-side things to entities or adding new entities, simply adjusting functionality obviously doesnt affect the editor.
Using the Other Tools
The Model Editor and Particle Editor both use the same startup config you just created. To switch which tool you’re using, just change which project is set as the startup project in Visual Studio and run it. The startup window will appear and you can select your config as usual.
See Models and Particles for guides on using those tools specifically.