Just a few tips for speedy mapmaking I thought I'd jot down in a tutorial. Lets get started.
The 3 letter search
When you are looking for something in a list, such as Data or Triggers, you dont need to use the search bar. You can just type the name of the thing you want. As long as you type quickly it will move your selection down the list. Say you press just 'C'. You will select the first thing in the list starting with C. But theres still 200 other things in the list. Pressing C-A instead of just C will move to the first word starting with ca. This works and is really helpful, since you can avoid using the search bar. The extra few seconds it takes to click the search bar, type the thing, then scroll down the results and find your object will slow you down every time you need to find something. Trust me, it speeds things up a lot. Note that this also works in the tab in the data editor. So to go to actors, you can click the drop down menu and type act.
Hotkeys
All good mapmakers should learn hotkeys for everything. This combined with the previous tip makes it very easy to navigate with minimal mouse usage. A few hotkeys to note would be
F6 for trigger editor
F7 for data
ctrl + W for new trigger element (creates the appropriate object depending on what you have selected. This may be a trigger, variable, condition, event, etc..)
ctrl + G T and B G is for folders, T is for triggers, and B is for variables. You need to make a lot of these and knowing the hotkeys speeds things up.
T, U, P, R, and D (in terrain editor). They open (in order) terrain pallet, units pallet, points pallet, regions pallet, and doodads pallet. These will help a lot with your work and are easy to remember (1st letter of the thing you want)
Obviously theres lots of these so I wont go into depth. But you can find most hotkeys listed next to the action.
Use the Object Explorer!!
There is an amazing tool in the data editor called 'object explorer'. Turn it on by clicking the observer button in the data editor (at the top by the search bar). It shows you in a window everything that connects to the object you are looking at. This is GREAT way to find out if you linked your actors, weapons, abilities, behaviors, and effects properly. You can also troubleshoot to find why certain things are not happening. People post questions all the time which can be answered with a quick press of the object explorer button.
Preferences in File Menu
This is a minor pointer. You can set the editor to auto save and backup the map. This is good, since we all know how often things like "Oh no! I killed my entire map that took me months to make! oops!". Also I have set my editor to start with no document instead of creating a new one. Creating a new document every time you start up (the default setting) slows the editor start up and 99% of the time you wont be creating a new file with the exact size and terrain pallet of the one it auto-creates.
Also- happen to have a drawing tablet for digital art? Galaxy editor can pick up on your pen pressure for terrain creation. Pushing harder = faster action. Light strokes = more subtle terrain adjustments. You can set these in the preferences menu. Don't know what a drawing tablet is? Here's the one I own.
Use variables for dialog dimensions
I may have been the only one that didn't do this. But I'm changing my ways. For complicated dialogs, use variables to store things like spacing, size, etc... This way you can change one variable and it will update all of your dialog items. Obviously this is a waste of time for smaller, more simple dialogs but a good idea for anything on the larger side.
Leave Sc2 running for faster tests
If your computer can handle running the editor and sc2 at the same time, this is the way to go. The game only has to load your changes, so when you try to test the map a second time it loads in a second or two. Just minimize sc2 and return to the editor instead of closing it.
Contribute!
Think you have a tip or trick up your sleeve I've forgotten to add? Please post here or send me a PM. This will be an ever-expanding list, so feel free to contribute. Contributers will have their name placed next to any tips they suggested that I used. Hopefully you learned something of value :D
Feel free to post your own tips or tricks or send them to me in a PM. You will have your name added next to any tip you give.
edit- updated. I added some information about pen tablets in the preferences section. Just a nifty little feature I discovered yesterday. Might help some of you terrainers out there...
Tips and tricks all mapmakers should know.
Just a few tips for speedy mapmaking I thought I'd jot down in a tutorial. Lets get started.
The 3 letter search
When you are looking for something in a list, such as Data or Triggers, you dont need to use the search bar. You can just type the name of the thing you want. As long as you type quickly it will move your selection down the list. Say you press just 'C'. You will select the first thing in the list starting with C. But theres still 200 other things in the list. Pressing C-A instead of just C will move to the first word starting with ca. This works and is really helpful, since you can avoid using the search bar. The extra few seconds it takes to click the search bar, type the thing, then scroll down the results and find your object will slow you down every time you need to find something. Trust me, it speeds things up a lot. Note that this also works in the tab in the data editor. So to go to actors, you can click the drop down menu and type act.
Hotkeys
All good mapmakers should learn hotkeys for everything. This combined with the previous tip makes it very easy to navigate with minimal mouse usage. A few hotkeys to note would be
Obviously theres lots of these so I wont go into depth. But you can find most hotkeys listed next to the action.
Use the Object Explorer!!
There is an amazing tool in the data editor called 'object explorer'. Turn it on by clicking the observer button in the data editor (at the top by the search bar). It shows you in a window everything that connects to the object you are looking at. This is GREAT way to find out if you linked your actors, weapons, abilities, behaviors, and effects properly. You can also troubleshoot to find why certain things are not happening. People post questions all the time which can be answered with a quick press of the object explorer button.
Preferences in File Menu
This is a minor pointer. You can set the editor to auto save and backup the map. This is good, since we all know how often things like "Oh no! I killed my entire map that took me months to make! oops!". Also I have set my editor to start with no document instead of creating a new one. Creating a new document every time you start up (the default setting) slows the editor start up and 99% of the time you wont be creating a new file with the exact size and terrain pallet of the one it auto-creates.
Also- happen to have a drawing tablet for digital art? Galaxy editor can pick up on your pen pressure for terrain creation. Pushing harder = faster action. Light strokes = more subtle terrain adjustments. You can set these in the preferences menu. Don't know what a drawing tablet is? Here's the one I own.
Use variables for dialog dimensions
I may have been the only one that didn't do this. But I'm changing my ways. For complicated dialogs, use variables to store things like spacing, size, etc... This way you can change one variable and it will update all of your dialog items. Obviously this is a waste of time for smaller, more simple dialogs but a good idea for anything on the larger side.
Leave Sc2 running for faster tests
If your computer can handle running the editor and sc2 at the same time, this is the way to go. The game only has to load your changes, so when you try to test the map a second time it loads in a second or two. Just minimize sc2 and return to the editor instead of closing it.
Contribute!
Think you have a tip or trick up your sleeve I've forgotten to add? Please post here or send me a PM. This will be an ever-expanding list, so feel free to contribute. Contributers will have their name placed next to any tips they suggested that I used. Hopefully you learned something of value :D
Reserved for space.
Feel free to post your own tips or tricks or send them to me in a PM. You will have your name added next to any tip you give.
edit- updated. I added some information about pen tablets in the preferences section. Just a nifty little feature I discovered yesterday. Might help some of you terrainers out there...