“Hello!” So you want to make good HPL3 maps? Well, here are tips and tricks to get you started on creating good HPL3 maps…

Please make sure you have followed these tutorials as they are essential in developing a mod:

https://wiki.frictionalgames.com/hpl3/community/hpl3_getting_started - General Basics

https://wiki.frictionalgames.com/hpl3/community/other/cs_setup - Setting up a Campaign Mod (the most common mod)

The Level Editor is the main program used when making a HPL3 map. Open it up from SOMA's main root folder. Four different areas will be seen. Hover over the bottom right area and press the space bar. Here you will be able to move around in two ways:

Maya - The primary modding tool for SOMA, Autodesk Maya, has a unique camera control used in this option

Fly - This camera control is used in most game development kits from Source Film Maker to Unreal Engine 4 Select one by clicking on View (located on the top left corner of the editor), hovering over Controller and clicking on the desired control. We will assume for simplicity that you know how to control the Fly controller.

To control the Maya view hold the Alt Key and Left Mouse to rotate the level according to your axis. Hold the Alt Key and Right Mouse to zoom the camera. Hold the Alt Key and the Scroll Wheel to scan the surface of the grid (it is also important to note that you can zoom in using the Scroll Wheel). Keep in mid that you cannot zoom in or out infinatly. The camera will slow down and stop until you zoom out/zoom in again.

Now you can move the camera in the Level Editor, so lets put down some stuff!

Placing down static objects will take up the majority of creating a map so it is essential to get acquainted with the controls. Note that these controls apply for most of the things you will use in the Level Editor.

Click on the red cube with the white outlines on the left of the editor, once you have done that you will see a window pop up on the right side. Using the scroll bar locate the text “station” and press the + button. Make sure not to click on the Station text itself! From the dropdown menu click on “floor”. A notification will tell you that it needs to load the objects before you use them. On completion use the new scroller to locate “catwalk_straight” and click on it. You will notice a white outline of a cube follows your cursor, this shows were you will place the object itself. Click on any area to place it in your map. Congratulations, you made your first edit on your map!

If the object itself is pitch black press the buttons “A”and “P” on your keyboard. This lights up your level in the Editor, keep in mind it doesn't do light up your object in your level just yet. Now will be a good time to save.

Saving will be a constant habit, and a good one to have. Saving a map often means that you will not loss progress on a map if something goes wrong with the Editor or your computer.

Hold down your “Ctrl/Cmd” and the “S”to use your saving shortcut. A window will pop up showing the SOMA root folder. Navigate your way to your mod's “maps” folder. There, using the blue folder with a green plus icon, make a new folder called “test” without the brackets. Open the folder up and name the map to “test”. Your map is now saved securly in your mods folder.

When using the saving shortcut from now on you do not have to go into the window again unless you use the “Save As” feature located by clicking the “File” tab located on the top left of the Editor.

Placing the object down in the map is a start but we want to move, rotate or scale the object to suit our mod's needs. Click on the catwalk you just placed down. Here you will see three icons: A Four Pointed Plus, A Plus With Curved Arrows and a Four Squared Plus. Click on the first icon. Here you will see green, red and blue arrows pointing in different directions. Green goes up , Red goes front and back and Blue goes side to side . Click and hold on the blue arrow and drag it about when highlighted: Notice how to follows your mouse and changes direction according to its direction. You have now moved your catwalk.

The second icon will rotate your catwalk and the third icon will scale it. For now lets just keep the object straight and normally shaped.

Setting up a Player Start Area will make sure the Player will be able to move around in the game. Click on the box with the dotted, white outlines located on the left of the Editor. Click on the drop-down menu located on the top right corner of the Editor and select “PlayerStart”. Click in the middle of the catwalk to spawn in the Player Start Area. Using the Move controls from the previous section click the area and move it so that the area is not going through the catwalk. You can now spawn in your map. Save the map.

Play-testing your map is testing your map to see what it looks like in-game. To do this go into the “main_init.cfg” file located in your mod's “config” folder. Open it up and edit the following part to this:

<StartMap
    File = "test.hpm"
    Folder = "maps/test/"
    Pos = "PlayerStartArea_1"
/>

Now open up the ModLauncher located in the SOMA root folder. Find your mod's name and select OK. Start a New Game, you can now play your map! The maps is pitch black so use your flashlight to look at the catwalk you are on.

As the name implies you can now place down whatever you want in your map as you have learnt the basics. Play with monsters, pick up items, make a chair mountain, light the sky blood red it's up to you! Go through the rest of the symbols on the left of the Editor and play around with the tools at your disposal, this is your map, it doesn't have to make sense or have gameplay yet. Have fun with HPL3!

Holding the Ctrl/Cmd buttons will select multiple objects in your map

Pressing F while selecting a placed-down object will align the grid to that objects axis

While placing down an object, hold the Left mouse to see the objects hitbox as you put it down in your map.

Press the 1 key to shortcut to the Select Tool

Floating decals? After placing a decal in your level, edit its Layer to 1.

Flickering/merging decals? After placing a decal in your level, edit its Layer above that off the other Layer (Example: Decal 1 = Layer 1, Decal 2 = Layer 2, ect.).

This feature is broken. Will crash the editor.

This feature is broken.

The Magnet located at the bottom of the editor can turn on and off grid snapping

The A button is for Ambient lighting, P for the Editors Point Lighting while I is used to hide the Editors icons in the map

Maps are running slow? Go into Edit, Preferences and Performance to edit with the Editors rendering

Ctrl/Cmd and F will pop up a window showing all the objects in the map. You can use this to select multiple objects and delete or focus on them

Edit, Level Settings can edit if your map has a skybox, universal particle effects for the entire level and others like if the level is underwater

Edit, Show Projected Memory Usage shows you how much space your map is making (measured in Megabytes)

You can export certain objects in a map for reference in an animation or a custom model by clicking on the desired object(s) and selecting File, Export Objects. You can also import objects too

Ctrl/Cmd and D will duplicate objects in your map

Ctrl/Cmd and C will copy objects, Ctrl/Cmd and V will paste them according to your focus point

Select Object Type helps you select certain categories of objects only, such as only selecting Static Objects or Entities