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The Galaxy Map Editor[1] (also called the StarCraft II Editor or SC2Edit) is the map editor for StarCraft II.

The StarCraft II Map Editor improves upon the World Editor from Warcraft III in every way.[2]

Startools, a proprietary toolset, is included along with Galaxy. Startools lets modders design and create doodads.[3] The functionality will be exposed to the community by Legacy of the Void.[4]

Blizzard intends to support the modding community. Some mods will be available for pay.[5]

Downloaded files can be accessed by opening Galaxy, finding any file anywhere on the computer (usually in My Documents\StarCraft II), and selecting "publish file". This makes it available on battle.net. Non-Premium accounts are required to make a content purchase before they can publish any files.

With patch 5.0.3 [6], the requirements of license and the dependencies of campaigns HotS and LotV was removed, allowing anyone to create maps or open Blizzard maps then without errors.

Features

CustomMapPreview_SC2_VDevGame1

CustomMapPreview SC2 VDevGame1

Custom map demo.

Files

  • All unit abilities are data driven, enabling great freedom when designing unit abilities.[2]
  • Every game database file is exposed for modification. The trigger editor features the ability to define custom functions and libraries.[2]
  • Galaxy maps are capable of holding thousands of triggers, locations and doodads. It makes all the triggers in the program available to mapmakers.[7]
  • Map "locking" is enabled, which ensures that no one will lose credit for creating a map.[8]

Graphics

  • Climate graphical effects are available in the map editor.[9]
  • The map editor supports text color.[8]
  • Lightning effects can be adjusted.[10]

Terrain

  • A number of tilesets are available, such as wasteland (Mar Sara), volcanic (Char), twilight (Shakuras), space platforms,[11] jungle[12] and desert.[13] A few new ones are also available, such as a new Shattered City tileset.[11]
  • Terrain can be mixed and matched; you can define your own tileset in the editor.[8] The terrain textures can be blended, so that a jungle can smoothly transition into a desert.[10] Doodads such as traps can be freely added to any tileset.[2] Maximum map size is fixed at 256 x 256[8] and sizes of 32 to 256 are available. Map size can be artificially restricted by controlling the camera, preventing units from entering "off-screen" terrain or building there.[14]
  • Water (and lava) levels are adjustable.[10]
  • There is no auto-mirror function.[15]

Units

  • Unit coloring and neutral units are supported in the editor.[8] Blizzard added and modified unit models which are not even in single-player to make them accessible to modders.[16]
  • Many of the units[17][18][19][20] and abilities[21] that did not end up in the final version of the game are still be accessible by modders. However, units that have been cut completely from the game are not in the editor.[22]
  • Units can be "attached" to other units, and units can even be used as special attacks (for instance, modifying spore crawlers to launch banelings as an anti-ground attack).[25]
  • Heroes can carry items in StarCraft II UMS maps through the use of a toggle,[8] and can carry more items than heroes in Warcraft III.[26]
  • Blizzard made sure that heroes and units can also gain experience in Galaxy,[11] although this ability is not available in the campaign or standard multiplayer games.[8] This enables map styles such as Defense of the Ancients to be reproduced in StarCraft II.[8]
  • Map makers can define any number of custom attributes for a hero, based on their level.[27] However, the UI can only display three attributes.[28]
  • The footprint of structures can be adjusted to whatever the editor desires (such as "square" buildings).[8]

UI

  • The UI was supposed to be customizable, but it was not a user-friendly process.[29] The files would be externalized, and while they could be edited, there would not be support for that.[27] Later Blizzard said there would be no UI modding.[30]
  • The map editor is designed to handle third-person shooting maps.[1]
  • Blizzard was able to design an old-fashioned "Lost Viking" top-scrolling space shooter game within the editor.[25]
  • The map editor can create new HUDs, quest interfaces and dialogue. It even supports "mouselook", so moving the mouse influences the player's view.[25]

Miscellaneous

  • Upgrades can be extended arbitrarily, and can be modified using triggers.[2]
  • Custom races are supported, even with melee maps.[31]
  • There is support for one more resource.[32]
  • The AI is script-driven and completely exposed. It attempts to analyze data and see what the player is doing without "cheating", instead scouting.[33]
  • "Wrap-around" maps can be made, so that units that walk off one edge will appear on the other side. However, they cannot exchange shots.[35]
  • Story Mode Space is all done in the map. Heroes from Story Mode can appear in-game, and in-game units such as the Thor can appear in Story Mode.[36]
  • Information can be stored in "banks", such as characters, which can be moved from map to maps and games.[25]
  • All information for maps is stored within the map file (such as sound files). Mods can be made available as a single mod pack.[15]

Galaxy Language

The editor features a proprietary scripting language called Galaxy[27] based on C, but users also have access to the more user friendly Trigger Editor which allows beginner and intermediate map designers to make advanced maps without having to learn the scripting language.[3][17]

Galaxy is not object-oriented, but most of the functionality is based on modifying game objects.[27]

Triggers are able to "communicate" with each other. The editor supports custom function definitions; for instance, a map maker can create their own actions built up from actions (or custom script code) and use them in triggers.[27]

Galaxy features a "garbage collection" system which will prevent memory leaks.[27]

Development

The map editor was made available in the beta in April 2010.[37]

Heart of the Swarm features a number of upgrades for the editor, including making the UI more accessible.[38]

Heart of the Swarm

The editor includes tool improvements, such as trigger debugging, a UI editor, a cutscene editor, and art tools which enable custom art and models, a model exporter, and more documentation, tutorials and example files.[39]

Art Tools Beta Test

In August 2013, Blizzard made an open beta for its art tools available, using the same ones that were used for the development of Heart of the Swarm. The package consisted of documentation, tutorials, plugins for 3DS Max and source art files.[40]

Patches

  • More Comprehensive Documentation
    • Extra Tutorials such as Ragdoll Physics, M3A files, and advanced animation topics.
    • Full Technical Documentation for Nodes and Materials
  • More Example Files
  • Cliffs and doodad examples have been added to help make new tilesets.
  • Improved Tool Stability
    • Fixed a crash that could occur with the Behavior Editor
    • Fixed a crash involving Cubic Environment mapping
    • Fixed a rare crash when cloning particles
    • Fixed a crash that could occur when exporting an SC2 Physics Node set to Convex Hull with no points defined
  • Middle-mouse scrolling in the Export Floater should no longer lock up the UI
  • Fixed a hang that could occur when switching files with the Material Editor open
  • Fixed a hang that could occur when the Mental Ray Renderer was used with SC2 Art Tools installed
  • Usability Improvements
    • Behavior Editor can now be scaled vertically
    • Inner Shape parameters are visualized for Cylinder Particle Emitters
    • Unbounded SC2Force nodes no longer disappear from view
    • Many unused parameters have been removed from the User Interface for various SC2 Node types.
  • Fixed Exporter Errors
  • Model Particles no longer display as missing model spheres
  • Fixed an export error where physics meshes could become corrupt
  • Fixed a bug where flip book animations would display incorrectly on splats
  • Added an export error for circularly-referenced, and therefore invalid, SC2 Particle Systems.[41]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 On a side note, going along with the Galaxy Map Editor can do anything trend, I hear it may even be able to create a first person shooter style custom game :) Anyone miss those StarCraft paintball games? Our devs internally have already tried out some pretty clever side projects that have been quite successful. Karune. 2009-08-14. Starcraft 2 UMS mini-campaigns. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2009-08-14.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Karune. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 39: Map Maker Series. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2008-05-28.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Park, Andrew. 2007-05-19. Blizzard talks Starcraft II art design. Gamespot.
  4. StarCraft Legacy staff. 2010-10-22. BlizzCon 2010 StarCraft II Custom Maps and Editor Panel. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2010-10-23.
  5. Blizzard Entertainment staff, Greg Canessa. 2010-02-009. Battle.net Preview. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2010-02-09.
  6. 2020-08-24. StarCraft II 5.0.3 Patch Notes. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2020-08-29.
  7. Karune. 2007-10-22. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 18: Map Maker Series. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2007-10-22.
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 Xordiah. 2007-11-20. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 22: Map Maker Series. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-11-20.
  9. Karune. 2009-01-22. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 48. StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-01-22.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Webnet. 2009-08-22. Starcraft 2 Map Editor Features Unveiled. StarCraft Source. Accessed 2009-08-23.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Karune. 2008-05-15. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 38. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed on 2008-05-15.
  12. 2007-06-28. Colossus. StarCraft II Features at Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-07-01.
  13. 2007-09-28. Battlecruiser. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-09-28.
  14. Blizzard staff, StarCraft Legacy staff. 2009-10-31. Korean Blue Post Translations. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2009-11-03.
  15. 15.0 15.1 Zarhym. 2010-03-12. #BlizzChat Developer Chat on Twitter – 3/12. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2010-03-13.
  16. Samwise Didier, Brian Sousa, Alan Dilling, phdfour. 2009-08-21. Blizzcon 09: Starcraft 2 Art Q&A Panel (Part 2 of 3) (approximately 1:30). Youtube. Accessed 2009-11-19.
  17. 17.0 17.1 Karune. 2007-07-23. StarCraft II Q&A - Karune Briefings. StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2007-09-06.
  18. Karune. 2007-09-14. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 13. StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-09-14.
  19. Karune. 2007-10-01. Re: Question to Karune or another Blizzard Member. StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-10-01.
  20. Karune. 2007-12-06. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 23 Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-12-07.
  21. Karune. 2007-09-25. Mothership Abilities. StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2007-09-26.
  22. Zarhym. 2010-03-12. #BlizzChat Developer Chat on Twitter – 3/12 (page 2). Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2010-03-13.
  23. Dustin Browder, StarCraft Legacy staff. 2009-09-21. BlizzCon 2009 StarCraft II Fansite Q&A. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2009-09-28.
  24. Karune. 2008-04-16. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 35. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2008-04-16.
  25. 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 Zetaras Xal'Kurat. 2009-08-24. BlizzCon 2009: Battle.net 2.0 and the Galaxy Editor’s Hour. StarCraft 2 Blog. Accessed 2009-08-29.
  26. CoTweet. 2009-11-13. The #StarCraft2 programming team has revamped the inventory system to allow units/heroes to carry more items than #WoW!. StarCraft on Twitter. Accessed 2009-11-14.
  27. 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 27.5 Karune. 2009-06-12. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 52: Map Maker Series. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2009-06-12.
  28. Cydra. 2009-11-17. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 55. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-11-17. Source
  29. All UI layout is defined in external files, so this should be possible. However, we are not planning on having any user-friendly support for this (i.e. no UI Editor). Karune. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 39: Map Maker Series (page 2). Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2008-05-28.
  30. JonEagle X. 2010-04-24. StarCraft2Forum.org Single Player Coverage. StarCraft 2 Forum. Accessed 2010-04-24.
  31. Yes, custom races are fully supported, including the ability to choose them from the game lobby while playing melee maps, as long as the mod defining the race is loaded. Karune. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 39: Map Maker Series (page 2). Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2008-05-28.
  32. Karune. 2008-07-25. StarCraft II Q&A Batch 42. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-07-25.
  33. Chris Sigaty, ScuttleMonkey et al. 2008-10-15. Blizzard Answers Your Questions, From Blizzcon. Slash Dot. Accessed 2008-10-25.
  34. Whitcomb, Daniel. 2008-10-11. Blizzcon 2008: Notes from the DVD production panel. Big Download. Accessed 2009-02-01.
  35. Blizzard Entertainment, Teamliquid. 2009-04-13. TL/Blizzard Q&A. Teamliquid. Accessed 2009-04-15.
  36. Dustin Browder StarCraft Legacy staff. 2009-09-04. BlizzCon 2009 StarCraft 2 Fansite Q&A - Part 5/5. Youtube. Accessed 2009-09-30.
  37. Nethaera. 2010-04-22. Patch Notes - Beta Patch 9. Battle.net StarCraft II General Beta Forum. Accessed 2010-04-22.
  38. 2011-05-31, May 2011 HoTS Fansite Interview. StarCraft Legacy, accessed on 2011-05-31
  39. Nethaera. 2011-10-22. StarCraft II – Blizzard DOTA & Mod Tools Panel. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2011-10-22.
  40. Traysent. 2013-08-30. StarCraft II Art Tools Open Beta. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2013-08-31.
  41. Traysent. 2013-08-30. StarCraft II Art Tools Open Beta - Feedback. Art Tools and Cutscenes Accessed 2013-08-31.


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