Section 1 - Creating a Room

First, get back into the 2D view by clicking the 2D MAP button. Click the SELECT ROOM button and scroll down to the first empty room, select it and hit OKAY. This will make a new room the default size of 18x18 squares by 20 clicks high. It fills the entire grid (remember, the gray squares don’t count as real estate!).

Naming your Room

Click in the ROOM TEXT WINDOW below the PLAN VIEW grid; and name your room something identifiable. (You don’t HAVE to name the rooms, but it makes it easier to find specific rooms in more complex levels.) An easy way to name your rooms and one that will help prevent confusion later on in the tutorial is to use the same name as the rooms in the demo model but add a letter at the end. So your version of “First Room” would be “First RoomX”, “Dome Room” would be “Dome RoomX” and so on. . Use the Backspace button to get rid of the existing text, then type your room name. You must hit ENTER for the name to “stick.”

Moving your Room

You probably noticed the large red square that appeared in the upper left corner of the EDITOR WINDOW. All new rooms appear in this location. Right click and drag your room into the space below the demo model.

Sizing your Room

Back to the PLAN VIEW grid. You’ve got to reduce your new room to a more manageable size. Right click in the light blue area of the grid and drag a selection the size of 8 squares down by10 squares across (the selection will have a red outline). Now hit the BOUND ROOM button located in the ROOM EDIT buttons below the grid. Your room is now 8x10 squares.

TAKING A LOOK

Time to look at the room you just built. Make sure the room is selected (red) and click off the 2D MAP button. You should see a room with a light blue floor and ceiling and medium green walls.

Go to the PLAN VIEW grid and click one of the light blue squares. Notice that the corresponding square on the model (in the EDITOR WINDOW) is now highlighted in red, both on the floor and on the ceiling. When a square is red, it is ready for “action.”

NOTE: You can select a square from the model, but if you accidentally click on it twice, a white arrow will appear in the middle of the square. Don’t worry about these arrows now, you will learn more about them later. To get rid of the arrows, right click once.

Go back to the PLAN VIEW grid and click one of the gray “wall” squares. Find the corresponding wall section, now highlighted in red, in the model. If it isn’t visible, rotate your room using the arrow keys until it comes into view. You can select multiple squares by right clicking and dragging a selection box around those you wish to select.

To manipulate the squares you have selected, use the CEILING and FLOOR buttons from the ROOM EDIT BUTTONS just below the grid. Try clicking on the “+” or “-” buttons to raise or lower the floor and ceiling accordingly. (One right click = 4 single clicks)

CAUTION: The ROOM button raises and lowers the elevation of the entire room. You’ll use this feature when you begin stacking rooms.

Get in the habit of occasionally checking the elevation (ceiling and floor height) of the room you are working in. Look in the INFO BOX below the EDITOR WINDOW for the numbers. They should read Floor: 0 Ceiling: 20.