Upon initially running Editor Strikes Back (henceforth ESB) you can't really do much. You'll have to create a new dungeon or load an old one in order to be able to proceed. We'll start by creating a new dungeon. Go into the "File" menu and choose "New" and you'll be able to choose a location. Create a new folder (call it new_dungeon or something) and select it. ESB will then initialize your dungeon, and you'll be treated with a view of a brand new (and very empty!) dungeon, as well as many options for objects that you can place into that dungeon. All standard DM and CSB objects are available, and of course you can make your own, too!
You should see a screen that looks something like this.
Basic Dungeon Editing!
ESB starts out in dungeon drawing mode, which is the mode that you use to toggle between walls and floors. Any time you want to get into this mode, select Dungeon Draw in the Edit menu, or press D on the keyboard. Click and drag around to draw a bit of dungeon, like this:
Now let's put the party into this maze. To position the party, choose Set Party Start in the Edit menu or press Y on the keyboard. Then click somewhere that is open. The party's initial location and direction will be positioned wherever you clicked.
In the upper right, you will see four arrows. The section of the tile you're currently over determines the party's initial facing direction: the top for north, the left for west, the right for east, and the bottom for south. Go ahead and move around inside of a tile and see how the arrow direction changes.
This subtile positioning is used all over ESB. If you find the tiles too small to use it comfortably, you can select Double Zoom from the View menu to increase the size of the tiles.
Go to the File menu and choose Save to save your dungeon. Be sure to save often!
After saving, try loading up DSB and test your new creation. There won't be much there yet, but at least you'll get to wander about your maze. This tutorial won't specifically prompt you to try things out in DSB very much, but you should feel free to do so at any time, whenever you want to see how things look or try out new mechanics.
Adding Some Stuff!
An empty dungeon is pretty bland. Let's add some stuff. Go to the list on the right, and expand "Things." Find the "FOOD" class, and choose an "apple."
This will automatically place ESB into Add Object mode, which you can also enter by pressing A on your keyboard. However, please note: if you do not have an object selected, entering Add Object mode will not work. So if it seems to not be working properly, make sure that you have an object to add actually selected.
Click to add some apples throughout your dungeon. You can use the subtile selection, just like before, to place the apples wherever you like. Each click will add one more apple, so add as many as you want.
Let's add a couple of doors, next. Find "Doors" and choose a type that looks good; for this example, I'll go with "door_wood" which is found in the "WOOD" class. Doors and their doorframes are considered separate objects in DSB, but if you attempt to add a door to a tile without a doorframe, ESB will automatically add a doorframe for you. So all you have to do is just click to add a door. Place the doors in areas that are likely to be blocked off.
Next, add a button to the door sealing the party in its room. A door button is called, logically, a "doorbutton" and is located in "FloorUprights" in the "DOORBUTTON" class.
Champions!
There is just one problem so far. Nobody can open these doors or pick up these apples because there is nobody in the party, yet. Let's add a character. In the Edit Menu, select Champion Roster. You'll see the following window:
Click "New" to add a character. You'll be asked for a unique id. This is not the character's name in-game or anything like that, but rather a unique internal name for DSB and ESB to use when referring to the character. On the other hand, the character's name isn't the worst choice for this, either. Give the character the identifier "TEST" for now. Then highlight your newly added character, and click the "Edit" button.
Let's give him some levels, maybe 4 or so. Change the 0 under each of the four skills to a 4. Also, who someone who looks like Mophus? Pick someone more suitable, let's say, Zed. Delete "port_mophus" and change this text to "port_zed" and this will replace the character's portrait with Zed's. Go ahead and boost the stats, change the character's name, and add a title, too.
We'll worry about inventory later. Click "Ok" to get out of this, for now.
To add this character to the party, click on party slot 0, labeled "(0) --Empty--" (under "Current Party") to highlight it. Make sure "TEST" is still highlighted as well, and click "Add" just below the "Current Party." The party slot will now be replaced with "TEST" which means that member is now in the starting party. The "Remove" button will, logically enough, remove the currently highlighted party member. After you've added "TEST" to your party, close this window, and go ahead and save, and then test this out in DSB. You'll be able to run around your dungeon, opening the door with a button, and picking up apples.
What about those other doors that we can't open yet? We'll have to create some means to open them. Sure, we could just add door buttons for them, too, but DM dungeons have so many more options than that. Next time I'll talk about buttons, triggers, and such-- as well as adding some nasty monsters to fight, and multiple levels to delve into, too!
Please, please, pwetty please.
